Serious golfers recognize La Costa as a longtime stage for elite competition. Serious travelers see it as something more.
Built in 1965, the destination known today as Omni La Costa Resort & Spa welcomed its first marquee tournament four years later, hosting the Tournament of Champions. Gary Player won that inaugural edition. Over the next three decades, other future Hall of Famers followed in his footsteps. Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino and Johnny Miller all made the winner’s circle at La Costa, cementing the resort’s reputation as a proving ground for the game’s greats. (And future greats, since it’s hosting the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Championships this week.)
In 1999, the Tournament of Champions moved to Kapalua. But La Costa kept its place in the spotlight as the host of the newly minted WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Jeff Maggert captured the first title, and Tiger Woods claimed three of his own, though fans of a certain generation will also remember the stunning upset in 2000, when Darren Clarke thumped Woods 4 and 3 in the finals.
Ah, memories.
But as long as we’re hopping in the wayback machine, let’s talk about two other kinds of travel — the buddies’ trip and the family getaway. Omni La Costa is a magnet for both.
The resort is part of Omni Hotels & Resorts’ growing collection of 28 courses across 12 U.S. properties, a wide-ranging portfolio that spans Golden Age classics and modern masterpieces from architects including Donald Ross, A.W. Tillinghast, Tom Fazio and Gil Hanse. The golf varies. So do the surrounds. Mountain retreats in the Rockies and the Blue Ridge. Seaside escapes on both coasts. Cosmopolitan resort destinations close to major metropolitan areas, including Omni PGA Frisco Resort & Spa in Texas, the official headquarters of the PGA of America.
As for La Costa, it is Southern California to its core, by turns luxurious and laidback. Depending on your interests, a stay at the Spanish Mission-style campus can feel like a day at the beach or evening at a black-tie event. Or both.
For golfers, the case for a visit got considerably stronger in 2024, when Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner completed a multi-million-dollar renovation of the North Course. The result is a 7,500-plus-yard layout that has taken on new tournament life as the host of the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Championships through 2028. Risk-reward holes make it a scintillating match-play test, highlighted by a drivable par-4 at the 11th, a par-3 16th whose green pays homage to the 12th at Augusta and a closing par-5 that often plays as a bear into the wind.
The South Course is a sibling layout but not a twin, its fairways bending past mature trees, humpback greens and tight-lie surrounds that put a premium on creativity over power. Two courses, two personalities, one property.
With 137 villas and 179 one-, two- and three-bedroom suites, the property gives groups plenty of room to spread out, while eight pools, racquet sports, a full athletic club and a spot-on spa provide more than enough reason to linger after the round.
For groups traveling with families, that’s key. There’s enough happening on property — water slides, Kidtopia programming, dive-in movies, s’mores by the pool — that non-golfers won’t spend four and a half hours waiting for the round to finish.
For the golfers themselves, La Costa provides distinctive perks, including discounted buddy packages and unlimited range access. A dedicated golf experience ambassador handles the logistics from the moment you arrive, so the last thing you have to spend energy on is a lot of complicated moving parts. That’s the whole point of a great trip — getting out of planning mode and into playing mode. At La Costa, that happens fast.
The tournament pedigree is real. Hall of Famers won here. Tiger lost here. The NCAA’s best are still grinding it out on the North Course. But you don’t need a tour card to appreciate what La Costa is offering. You just need a tee time.
