Poconos: An Easy, East Coast Golf Getaway

Golfers pant over the thought of a vacation to the Pinehurst Resort or the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. But for many of us, the new economic realities mean staying closer to home.

With that in mind, my wife and I recently visited Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains for a quick getaway. This four-county region, situated halfway between New York and Philadelphia, offers 35 golf resorts.

The Country Club at Woodloch Springs in the Poconos in Pennsylvania is a short hop from New York City.

We stayed near Milford, an artsy town on the Poconos' northeastern edge, which put us within a 45-minute drive of the Woodloch Resort in Hawley and the Skytop Lodge in Skytop. Golfers obsessed with newness, brand names and history might want to try the two-year-old Jack Frost National Golf Club, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Great Bear Golf & Country Club or the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, which offers a layout by architect A.W. Tillinghast.

The Woodloch Springs golf course, designed by the wonderfully named Rocky Roquemore, offers a fun layout that's fit for experts and casual players. At about 6,500 yards from the back tees, it's not the longest test. The fairways are generous and the rough is manageable. Golf architecture aficionados might quibble with the unusual set of par 5s, which force layups off the tee.

The resort considers itself "family friendly," which too often means frayed around the edges. Not so at Woodloch. It's casual, but features up-to-date amenities and plenty of activities, from bocce to evening shows in its nightclub. Families should stay at Woodloch Pines. Golf buddies in town for the weekend should rent a home on the course.