Traveling Golfer Heads to OCMD — And Finds Out It’s Not Just a Golf Town
There’s a moment every visitor to Ocean City, Maryland knows: you cross the bridge, the salt air hits, and something in your shoulders lets go. That’s exactly where the newest episode of Traveling Golfer picks up — host Real John Daly, joined by ULD Long Drive champion Sophia Arthur, spending a few days finding out why OCMD has become one of the East Coast’s most desired golf-and-family destinations.
As John puts it early in the episode, Ocean City isn’t just a golf trip — it’s a buddies trip, a girls getaway, a full family adventure with sandcastles and boardwalk fries built right in. But make no mistake: the golf holds up on its own.
Three Courses, Three Personalities
Ocean City Golf Club — Newport Bay First stop is Newport Bay, and it announces itself immediately. Head pro Buddy Sass calls it a course “designed just for golf” — acres of marsh, wildlife, and water views that Jon didn’t hesitate to call some of the most beautiful he’s seen. The back nine delivers eagles (the bird kind) alongside eagle putts, and the par-70 closer at 18 — a mid-length dogleg guarded by water right — gave Jon a chance to match Buddy stroke for stroke. He walked away with a tied par and a new appreciation for how much the wildlife adds to the round.
The Links at Lighthouse Sound Next up, Lighthouse Sound — the kind of course where you catch yourself reaching for your phone instead of your yardage book. Director of Retail John Rudo walks through what makes it work: sweeping views across the Assawoman Bay, ten holes running along marshland, and greens firm enough that South Florida golfers will need to recalibrate their expectations. The signature stretch includes a par-3 fifth playing dead into the bay wind, where both Jon and Sophia found the green despite gusts that regularly hit 30–35 mph. Fair warning from Rudo: bring extra balls if you’re not a regular.
Eagles Landing The final stop is the one Jon calls “the gem of Worcester County” — Eagles Landing, a municipal course that plays like a resort. Ocean City’s Director of Tourism Tom Palazzo, who helped bring the course to life back in 1991, walks through how a public track ended up rivaling the area’s private and resort courses on conditioning and design. Salt marshes, ponds, and that same relentless coastal wind define the round — Sophia even talked her way around a stand of trees guarding the 7th fairway with a well-placed fade.
Where to Stay and Eat
The crew based out of the Courtyard by Marriott, right on the boardwalk with ocean views and, per GM Spencer Byrd, an easy walk to restaurants, nightlife, and the beach — dinner at the in-house Captain’s Table included a South African lobster tail that earned its own moment on camera.
Off the course, OCMD’s food scene got its due: breakfast at Barn 34, drinks and dinner at Coastal Salt, tapas and ocean views at Spain Wine Bar atop the Cambria, a stop at the farm-set Sinepuxent Brewery, and — no OCMD trip is complete without it — an Orange Crush at Harborside to close things out.
The Takeaway
Ocean City has spent the last several years building out its “somewhere to smile about” identity, and this episode makes the case that golf is a legitimate part of that pitch — not a side attraction. Three distinct courses, a short drive from anywhere between New York and Norfolk, and enough boardwalk, brewery, and beach in between to keep a non-golfing spouse or a whole family entertained.
Watch the full episode above, and keep swinging easy.
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