Golf Review: Kiva Dunes Stay & Play Experience.

When you hear most golfers talk about taking a golf trip, it's usually somewhere historic or well known for having many golf courses. It is not usually somewhere you can technically drive to, play a round of golf, and drive home in a single day. That is exactly what golf in Gulf Shores is for us from New Orleans.

Only about three and a half hours' drive from downtown New Orleans are several good overnight, multi-round golf options. Kiva Dunes Resort is one of those options, and we opted to try their full stay and play experience. Situated in Ft. Morgan, AL, towards the end of the peninsula, the area looks a lot like the Florida Panhandle.

When I say stay and play experience, I mean where everything can be handled from within the resort. Where the lodging and golf can all be packaged into a single price. Unfortunately, during our booking and the two months leading up to our stay, there was a system issue at Kiva Dunes that resulted in me having to book the golf separately. The emails and messages I left got lost during a transition to a new system. This was explained to me once I was able to speak with someone to confirm our stay a few days before we left.

As a result of the system error, we did not get to have all our golf and stay packaged into a single price. When this is done, golfers usually get a preferred rate on the green fees, even at other local courses not owned by KIva Dunes. Because we didn't have it all packaged the way it should have been, we didn't get that discounted rate at every golf course. Kiva Dunes was able to get us a special rate at Craft Farms, and they had their own property guest rate for their own golf course. To make up for the error and confusion, Kiva Dunes did give us a discount for our lodging. The staff was wonderful at how they handled this and made up for it as much as they possibly could.

Overall, for the four of us, the lodging and golf for the whole trip was around $750 per person for 3 nights in a 2-bed 3-bath house that sleeps four and 81 holes of golf. That was 27-holes at Peninsula Golf & Racquet Club, 36-holes at Craft Farms, and 18-holes at Kiva Dunes. If we did the same trip and each got our own hotel rooms at say a Marriott or Best Western and the full rate at each golf property, the trip would have been around $1,100 each, give or take. This does not include groceries or meals. Plus, Kiva Dunes has its own private beach access for guests and its own beach club, although we did not visit it. We kept it all golf, eat, sleep, repeat for the 3 days.

The only thing I was not aware of until after we left was that we could have split everything through Kiva Dunes instead of one of us paying for lodging and collecting money after. Kiva Dunes allows each guest to set up their own charge account. This can be used anywhere on the property and i solely the person on the account's responsibility. Golf shop and on-course purchases, or at the beach club, which is cashless, so that person can have their own charges/bill. If not for the system error, it is my understanding we could have set up these separate accounts before arriving, and Kiva Dunes could have split the lodging cost four ways to each person's account.

The house we rented had everything you needed. All the kitchen utensils, cups, silverware, and they even do like hotels and add the soap and hand lotions. There are certain rules to follow as far as how to leave the place before checkout, like where to leave used towels and run the dishwasher when leaving, which are easy to follow. The house had a Firestick which allowed us to watch just about any streaming service, a patio on the main floor and 3rd floor, as well as a sitting area with a charcoal grill out back. The only thing we ever needed to leave for was to walk to the beach or drive to a golf course.

We arrived early on our first day to relax and get some range time in at Kiva Dunes. This was our first experience of what golf conditions may be like. The only hiccup on that day was dealing with the golf shop. Even as a guest staying on the property, Kiva Dunes has a $15 per 30min range cost. Free to chip and putt. Not a big deal, as we only had about 1 hour left of daylight anyway. The hiccup was about how we paid. We each received a $20 gift card. Something I think the resort gives every guest. When one of the guys asked about using the gift card for the range fee, the response was strange. Not rude, but not very friendly about it. He was told no, but then yes, with an explanation that they want guests to use the gift card on merchandise. When asked, isn't the gift card the same as money the response was, "Well, we would let you, but we don't want you to." I completely understand it from the golf shop's perspective, but we all felt there could have been a better way to handle it. After all they also didn't say a word when I gave my gift card away, so someone else could use theirs and not have to use cash. Same concept of how the gift card was used, but handled two different ways. Oh, and the range was off, hitting off mats that day, which they did not tell us, but they were worried about how we paid to use the range.

As for the golf, we couldn't have planned it any better. The weather was perfect each day. A bit cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoon. The only thing we discussed on the drive home was maybe not playing so much golf in such a short time and enjoying more of the resort, or just relaxing at the house more.

Our first golf day, Friday, March 2oth was at Peninsula Golf & Racquet Club. It's only about a 15min drive from Kiva Dunes with 27-holes, and we played them all. Every nine holes has its own distinct layout, making each of them play differently. Marsh, Cypress, and Lakes all have the same playing conditions but are slightly different in how they play and the difficulty. The greens are huge and undulating, and there are plenty of hazards around each course. The scenery of each layout is different on each nine as well, which is described well by the names. The staff at the property was great. From the moment we arrived at the bag drop to the time we left, everyone treated us great. There was even a par 3 that had a contest. Put up an amount between $10 and $100 to start. Hit the green, get double that in pro shop credit. Miss the green and get your initial bet in shop credit. Only two of us doubled our investment.

Overall, the conditions at Peninsula were pristine. The greens were smooth, firm, and fast. The tee boxes were level and plush, as were the fairways. The best part is the consistency from hole to hole and course to course. Even the bunkers were pristine, and the sand was great, even though it felt like beach sand. Without going into too much detail about the entire property, I give Peninsula a 4.5 out of 5. From the drive-in, the practice facilities, the staff, and the courses, everything at Peninsula is top-notch.

Golf day number 2 was at Craft Farms Golf Club. 36-holes awaited us on Sat, March 21st. Ever since the first time I ever played Craft Farms, back when they had 3 courses, I have always enjoyed playing there. They have great practice facilities and a beautiful clubhouse overlooking the 9th and 18th greens of the Cotton Creek course. The staff here was also great, maybe even the best of all the golf courses. Everyone greeted us with a smile, joked with us, asked where we were from, and just really made us feel welcome.

The two courses at Craft Farms are Cotton Creek and Cypress Bend. Two different layouts and even with the almost identical conditions, play differently. One has greens with more undulation, tighter fairways, and more layups off the tee or risk-reward holes, while the other has more subtle greens, wider fairways, and more holes you can rip driver on. Cotton Creek is the tougher of the two layouts, but both have their challenges. From tee to green, the grass was immaculate. The greens were firm, smooth, and quick on both courses, but slightly firmer and faster on Cypress Bend, our second 18-holes. Overall, for all 36-holes at Craft Farms, I rate them 4.5 out of 5 as well.

Golf Day number 3, we played at Kiva Dunes Golf Course. We planned it this way so that when we checked out, we could check in for golf at the same time. Kiva Dunes is the most challenging of all the golf courses we played. Built on sand dunes, with severely undulating greens, plenty of length, and plenty of trouble all around, Kiva Dunes will really test your game. The staff outside was great. The golf shop staff was indifferent. Again, not rude, but I almost felt like they didn't want to be bothered to check us in. I was the last to walk in, and without another person in the entire golf shop, I was not greeted with a Welcome to Kiva or anything. I had to walk up to the counter and say I was checking in for golf. The only course we did not get a welcome or ask any questions of us. Also, they did not mention that the range would be on mats again for our pre-round warm-up. Not a big deal as they have signage on the range letting you know, but a heads-up would have been nice.

The overall conditions of the golf course at Kiva Dunes were really good. I give them a 4 out of 5, but mainly because of the practice facilities. The practice green was lightly sanded, and of course, the mats. Other than that, there were a few tee boxes that could use a little more sunlight, heat, and water. Otherwise, the fairways were perfectly manicured, and the greens were rolling fast and smooth. They were firm as well, but even with the firmness, the balls would hold. This was the windiest day of golf, so that could have played a part. The layout looks wide open, and even though the fairways are pretty wide, you have to know the angles or the better side to be on. There is a good mix of long and short holes with a unique two par 5s on back-to-back holes. The 18th hole is a good finishing hole with a large green, and many times you will have a gallery watching from the condos.

The entire trip was a blast. Every golf course was in great condition, and the pricing was pretty decent. We did pay less for 36-holes at Craft Farms than we paid for 27-holes at Peninsula, but that could be because Peninsula was the only course we didn't get the stay and play rate. The courses we played are the 3 best and well-known courses in the Gulf Shores area, but there are others to choose from. Next time, we may decide to play at Gulf Shores Golf Club or Lost Key. I may make more day trips over there to play these courses more often as well.

All in all, I highly recommend a stay and play experience at Kiva Dunes Resort. Wheter it's just a guys or girls trip or a family trip, there is something for everyone other than golf.