Top First-Tee Freebies That Are Turning Heads on the Course
September 15, 2025
By Jason Scott Deegan, GolfPass
There’s no greater feeling than stepping onto the first tee of a golf course you’ve always dreamed of playing.
It gets even better when the starter hands you a surprise gift. After a post-Recession decline in the practice, high-end resort and daily-fee golf courses are once again showering their golfing guests with swag to make a special experience feel even more memorable. Some of these items are consumable, while others are essentially free souvenirs.
I’ve been lucky enough to play a third of the world’s top 100 courses, and roughly half of America’s best courses. I’ve got all sorts of free trinkets from those rounds, a few that are photographed below. Let’s take a look:
Cookies
Cabot’s growing empire is an impressive mix of resort courses (Nova Scotia’s Cabot Cape Breton, France’s Cabot Bordeaux and Florida’s Cabot Citrus Farms), public courses they own (Castle Stuart and the new Old Petty) or manage (Lofoten Links, Cascata, Rio Secco, Grand Bear and Chariot Run) and a private escape (Cabot St. Lucia’s Point Hardy Golf Course). All of them except the managed properties offer complimentary cookies at the first tee. I can attest that the “CrackerJack” cookies made of oatmeal, coconut and cinnamon at Cabot Cape Breton in Nova Scotia are beyond delicious. When I played The Nest, the resort’s fun short course, after lunch one day, I wasn’t that hungry. I wisely tucked a cookie in my bag for later. Other Cabot properties serve chocolate chip, shortbread and sugar cookies. “The cookies came from this Michelin restaurant idea of surprise and delight. It’s the Cabot way of welcoming you to the first tee,” said Ben Cowan-Dewar, Cabot’s founder.
Bag Tags
I’ve written a lot about bag tags over the years. They make so much sense for the golfer (“Look where I’ve played!”) and the golf course (free marketing!) that they’re mutually beneficial to both parties. Two thumbs up for any golf course that spends the capital to hand them out.
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