International golf courses worth getting a passport for to experience

Our European and Canadian friends remind us often about this: far to few Americans have passports that affords access to international travel. Allow me to defend my fellow citizens though: A German can travel six hours by car and be in about a dozen different countries. In parts of Texas, I could travel six hours by car and still be in Texas.

Not only that, let's toot the U.S.'s horn a little bit: Is there a more ecologically diverse and beautiful country in the world? Hard to believe so. We've got desert golf, mountain golf, tropical golf and even a small collection of pure links that can compete with Scotland and Ireland.

It can be an arduous endeavor to travel abroad for the first time. Not only do you need the right paperwork, but itineraries get trickier. Making sure you have enough layover time in airports for customs and transfers, and also ensuring your hotels are booked for the right days (you lose a day going to Europe, two going to Asia), plus language and monetary issues are all barriers.

Despite the fact the U.S. has probably the deepest roster of must-play courses of any country in the world, there are certainly golf courses worth traveling beyond our borders for.

The Golf Advisor staff has compiled some of the most unique experiences worth enduring all the travails of international travel for. What's your most coveted international golf destination? Let us know in the comments below.