The Best Golf Club Wine Programs in Every State

You can look at Golf Digest or Golf to see an annual list of the best golf courses in the world, whether you can play them or not. For the first time, swigcoach.com will undertake a similar rating for golf club-associated wine programs. The admittedly ambitious goal is over time to rate the best club wine experiences in every state in the US, not as determined by a professional wine critic, but from the perspective of a golfing member or guest with a little bit of expertise.

Why, you might ask? Well, because. There’s no denying the intersection. Everywhere it’s played, golf is a social sport, and wine, over its 5000-year history, is the most civilized and social of beverages, inextricably linked to food, conversation and good cheer. A great wine program can enliven everything from a 19th hole burger to a high-end celebration or the entertainment of key clients. It’s a tangible symbol of a golf club’s commitment to gracious living and refinement, even if a few hours earlier the membership was trying to beat each other’s brains out on the golf course. To say nothing of the fact that at least a half dozen of the world’s greatest all-time golfers market their own wines.

Our goal at Swig Coach is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a club’s wine program and make these transparent. The Swig Coach proprietary rating system is rigorous, objective, and quantitative, using a 100-point scale familiar to any wine drinker. Any score above 90 indicates that a club and its membership have made a serious investment in their wine program.

Special consideration will always be given to value. That is, in the context of a private club’s wine program, are members getting a good deal? Or are they paying what they would for the same wines in the outside world? You can probably guess which way will result in higher scores on the Swig Coach scale.

Since the Swig Coach is based in New Jersey, that’s where we are going to start. We’re proud to be able to feature Baltusrol Golf Club as our first review, and you’ll soon see why it’s the unquestioned leader in the clubhouse.

If you belong to or know of a club that deserves the spotlight for its wine program, write to us at info@swigcoach.com.