| Travel the world for new golf experiences | |
| By Leonard J. Hansen | |
Take golf clubs on your next trip. A mature traveler can plan travel around golf and do well, according to Larry Olmstead, editor of The Golf Insider, recognized as the best newsletter combining the sport with domestic or international travel. Olmstead is an active member of the Society of American Travel Writers who approaches golf in the interest of traveling consumers, not tour players.We asked the expert about golf, courses, values and more and present his recommendations. What and where are the best golf course values in the United States? We consider a value a good course for the money, not a bad course that is cheap which, unfortunately, is the more common experience. Most warm weather courses are bargains in summer. For example, the renowned courses in Scottsdale, Palm Springs, Tucson and Florida typically drop their fees up to 80 percent in the off-season - courses that cost $175 in winter can be played for $40 in summer. The best combination of excellent facilities, good courses and first rate maintenance are two golf trails - the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama and Bear Trace by Jack Nicklaus in Tennessee. The two trails present two dozen courses which rival high-end daily fee courses anywhere. In Alabama, the most expensive course is $49. It is easy to get packages of golf and lodging for under $60 per day. Piñon Hills, a five star course in New Mexico, has about the lowest greens fees, $14, but you may spend a lot for transportation getting there. In the British Isles which courses are the best and which will my friends back home be the most impressed with? If you return without playing the Old Course at St. Andrews, your friends might look at you as if you had two heads. This, however, does not make it the best or even a must-play. I think the Ailsa course at Turnberry is the best in Scotland and one of the best in the world. Royal Troon, just down the road, is likely to impress friends who have seen it on television, yet it is the single most overrated course I’ve ever played. The Royal County Down in Northern Ireland is a great course but it is for great players; and if you struggle elsewhere you’ll suffer here. Ardglass, also in Northern Ireland, is one of my first choices. It is a true seaside course that I consider the Pebble Beach of Ireland. In Ireland also consider Waterville, Ballybunion, Tralee and Hahinch. The names will impress your friends; but they also happen to be very good golf courses. If I take a cruise in the Caribbean, can I still play a good game of golf during the time allowed in port? Yes and no. If serious about golf take a golf oriented cruise which specifically carves out time and logistics for playing. Otherwise you might have trouble with time for travel and play. Lots of cruises visit Bermuda, home to Mid-Ocean, a classic layout overlooking the Atlantic. The Four Seasons Nevis has a fantastic course. The new White Witch at the Ritz Carlton Rose Hall in Jamaica is that island’s must play. On Puerto Rico, all four Robert Trent Jones, Sr. courses at the Hyatt Dorado and Cerromar beach should be in great shape. The Lucayan on Grand Bahama has added a second course that is generating a lot of buzz. But the pride of the Caribbean is the Teeth of the Dog at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, simply one of the world’s best. Where are the most exotic courses to play? Tough to answer because exotic means so many different things. I played a nondescript nine hole course at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club where the golf was not memorable but the experience was - playing across the equator, through two hemispheres and amid roaming antelope and elephant, all in just 75 minutes. A best combination of exotic locale and great golf would be the Bali Handara course in the Balinese jungle. Japan’s Kawana is exotic for taking a round of golf to a level of civility, a day-long experience unmatched elsewhere. Is golf etiquette in foreign countries different from the United States? Not really. We have the best and worse of golf etiquette here, with many people who haven’t been taught the etiquette. It isn’t their fault; public courses don’t do a good job of educating people. If anything, we are stuffier here than overseas. Go to a fabled course like St. Andrews and the locals are totally laid back. I’d say the single biggest breach of golf etiquette is that we seem to have the monopoly - talking on the cell phone when you should be hitting. |
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