Best Golf Resorts of the World

Death Valley Heatstroke Open June 22-24

Home of the world’s lowest golf course, Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley National Park will host the 2nd annual “Heatstroke Open” Golf Tournament, June 22-24, 2012.

At 214 feet below sea level, the course is located in North America’s hottest and driest location. Last year 50 intrepid golfers braved 100+++ temps, staying hydrated and hitting toward the shady trees. Practice swings? Lining up putts? Forget it.

The Ranch at Furnace Creek Heatstroke Open package:

• 2 nights accommodations
• 36 holes of tournament golf
• optional Friday practice round
• cart, prizes, gift
• from $199 per night

A Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, the 6,236 yard Furnace Creek Golf Course (69.7/117) has been named one of Golf Digest’s “America’s 50 Toughest Courses”. The track features small greens, strategically placed palm and tamarisk trees and water hazards on 9 holes. Originally opened in 1931, the course underwent a major renovation by Perry Dye.

The Ranch at Furnace Creek is a charming, casual place with 224 air-conditioned rooms and cabins, a huge swimming pool, a General Store, the Borax Museum, restaurants, a saloon, headquarters for horseback riding, touring, tennis, family activities and more.
 
Mere mortals and less adventurous golfers enjoy Death Valley during the winter and spring. More here about Death Valley Resort.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com, Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She blogs International Golf Travel here and writes about culture and eco-travel at DeepCultureTravel.com. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

CordeValle Resort a Top Place to Stay for 2012 U.S. Open Golf Championship

An hour south of San Francisco’s legendary Olympic Club, site of the 2012 U.S. Open Championship, the 45 luxurious accommodations at Cordevalle, a Rosewood Resort will be in high demand during the week of the tournament (June 14-17).

Favored retreats of Silicon Valley titans, the 4-star-rated accommodations include spacious guest rooms, villa suites, bungalows and multi-bedroom homes, all with stunning valley views, private patios and elegant fittings.

Fairways roll like ocean waves across a Shangri-la of an isolated valley, which is inhabited by massive, mossy oaks and ghostly stands of 50-foot-tall sycamores. Willows weep over seemingly endless, rocky creeks running across and along the entire length of some holes, while herons and egrets hide in reedy wetlands. Canyon drop-offs and 58 semi-flashed bunkers add to the fun.

A knee-knocker at 76.3/146 from the championship tees, the track is resort-guest-playable from the forward tees (with the help of the forecaddies). At the end of 2011, the greens received an unusually vigorous aeration, with the result that the undulating, tiered greens are now in a state of utter perfection.

At the far end of the valley, vineyards spread in rampant rows down from Clos LaChance winery, a popular spot for apres-golf touring and tasting.

Cordevalle's golf course turns up on the “best-of” lists, from Golfweek’s “America’s Best Resort Golf Courses” to Golf Magazine’s “Top 100 Courses You Can Play”, and it earned Gold ratings from Golf Magazine and Condé Nast Traveler.

And not only that! Awaiting guests at the end of their rounds are two restaurants, an outdoor café, a fitness venue, a pool with a view, hiking trails, and Sense, A Rosewood Spa.

The crowning glory of CordeValle, the 7,360 yard, Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed golf course is the home of the PGA TOUR Frys.com Open, and has hosted 3 U.S. Open Qualifying tournaments and the PGA Cup.

More here about CordeValle

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com, Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She blogs golf travel here and writes about culture and eco-travel at DeepCultureTravel.com. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay 2012 US Open Golf Package, Unlimited Golf

Just a half-hour's scenic drive from The Olympic Club in San Francisco––site of the 2012 US Open Championship this June––The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay is one of most conveniently located luxury properties near the tournament (crowds and traffic will be monumental).

The resort hotel is offering door-to- door car service to the event, and unlimited golf on the adjacent, seaside Half Moon Bay Golf Links. The US Open Package could be a once-in-lifetime gift to golf lovers, and for anyone who wants to treat their hubbie, dad or granddad to the Father's Day of his life! (final round is played on Father's Day)

The US Open Golf Package at the Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay includes:

• 5-star-rated, coastal view accommodations
• Daily breakfast for 2
• Valet parking, resort fee
• Daily roundtrip sedan service for 2 to and from the Olympic Club
• Unlimited golf for 2 after 5 pm at Half Moon Bay Golf Links
• Available June 11-17, 2012
• From $1420 per night (US Open Championship tickets sold separately)

A 261-room destination spa and golf hotel, a rambling, Shingle-style lodge reminiscent of the grand, eastern seaboard hostelries of the 19th century, the Ritz rides in glory atop a bluff overlooking 50 miles of rugged California coastline. Big stone fireplaces are often ablaze in the rather formal public rooms, all with stunning ocean views. English antiques, Portuguese ceramics and tapestries, and a notable collection of oil paintings and watercolors recall the 1800s, when the seacoast was settled by Portuguese shipbuilders. Tea is taken among the potted palms in the light-filled conservatory. Most guest rooms have fireplaces and comfy window seats.

Nature and the sea take the lead on the Half Moon Bay Ocean Course, a Scottish links-style layout with spectacular ocean views from every hole. Native grasses, low hollows and mounds, an absence of trees, and those constant sea breezes, call for the irons. Crashing waves create a soft curtain of sound on the finishing holes. 16 plays along the shore down a 350-yard slope, leveling off for a view of miles of coastline. The short 17th has no fairway, carrying over a yawning crevasse and a plunging waterfall to a putting surface with sound effects––barking sea lions. The boomerang-shaped, par-four 18th is right on the edge of the cliff. You shoot uphill, then down a fairway dotted with bunkers and grassy knobs, to a huge green laid on a windy plateau, requiring dead aim if you plan to avoid the sucking gorse.

A longer, yet less demanding layout, the Monterey pine and cypress tree-lined Half Moon Bay Old Course is an Arnold Palmer-Frank Duane-designed beauty with some narrow chutes, and gently mounded fairways crossed by wetlands, riparian areas and small lakes.

More here about The Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay and the golf courses.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld, Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She blogs golf travel and writes about Deep Culture Travel. Check out Karen's new iPhone app, California Coast North.

Masters 2010, Alister MacKenzie courses you can play

Lahinch Golf Club, an Alister MacKenzie-designed course in Ireland

The storied home of The Masters, Augusta National Golf Club is one of the world-famous courses designed by the English-born, Scottish architect and physician, Alister MacKenzie, whose timeless style has influenced every course designer who followed. In 1932, with a definite nod to the Old Course at St. Andrews, MacKenzie laid out Augusta with assistance from the greatest player of his generation, Bobby Jones.

From the World Golf Hall of Fame: "MacKenzie's book, Golf Architecture, published in 1920, was the first to present and explain the fundamentals of golf course design. He practiced before the era of bulldozers, which left him little capacity to force golf holes where they didn't belong. His approach to providing fair and strategic golf without disrupting the site is a model for golf course design that lasts to this day."

21st century course architects and players consider MacKenzie's classic 1920s and 1930s-era courses in the United States and abroad to be the undisputed icons of the game, from Cypress Point in Monterey to Lahinch in Ireland and Royal Adelaide in Australia.

Although many MacKenzie-designed courses are private, these are some that are open to public play:

• Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, Sacramento, California: two hugely popular public tracks, Arcade Creek and the 6,992-yard MacKenzie Golf Course, which got a $6.5 million renovation in 2001. The MacKenzie is graced by century-old oaks, small, super-fast greens and an absence of fairway bunkers (they're all stacked up around the greens).
• Northwood Golf Club, Monte Rio, California: In the Sonoma County wine country, a lovely, unassuming 9-holer beneath towering redwoods.
• Sharp Park Golf Course, Pacifica, California: A muni course owned by the city of San Francisco, MacKenzie's only public seaside links.
• Pasatiempo Golf Club, Santa Cruz, California: Restored (not updated) by the legendary Tom Doak, a semi-private course that is available most days to the public; pricey greens fees. MacKenzie lived here on the 6th fairway during the last years of his life.
• Lahinch Golf Club, Lahinch, Ireland: a classic links laid out by Old Tom Morris 1892, often called the "St. Andrew's" of Ireland. MacKenzie redesigned and lengthened the track in 1927.
• Royal Troon Golf Club, Troon, Scotland: Limited guest play is allowed at the private MacKenzie-designed Portland Course (the Old Course here has hosted the British Open eight times.)
• Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Melbourne, Australia: The oldest club in the country. The "Composite", a combination of the 18 best holes from the East and the West courses, is generally regarded as the top course in the Southern Hemisphere; the West was designed by MacKenzie in 1926 and opened in 1931.
• University of Michigan Golf Course, Ann Arbor, Michigan: A hilly course where bunkers are ball-grabbers and greens are hard to figure out. updated in 1994 by Arthur Hills. Visiting golfers are usually able to wangle a tee time, even though ilt's officially available only to students, faculty and alumni.
• Palmetto Golf Club, Aiken, South Carolina (near Augusta): During the week of The Masters only, this private club opens its course to the public (good luck getting a tee time). Established in 1892, lengthened by MacKenzie in 1932, updated by Rees Jones and Tom Doak.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld, Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She follows the little white ball around the world and blogs about International Golf Travel. And, she also writes a blog on Sustainable Travel.

Can't get into the 2010 Masters? play golf around Augusta

River Golf Club, North August, Georgia

Only a few lucky souls will get the chance to follow the golf greats around Augusta National Golf Club at the 2010 Masters, and even fewer get to play there any time, since it's private . . . . very private.

Nonetheless, lots of gorgeous, public-access golf is available nearby Augusta.

• Reynolds Plantation: one of the largest and most highly rated golf complexes in the Southeast, between Atlanta and Augusta along the shores of Lake Oconee, 117 holes of golf designed by Nicklaus, Cupp and Tom Fazio (plus 2 private tracks by Rees Jones and Jim Engh tracks). The Reynolds Golf Academy, 4 full-service marinas; 251-room Ritz-Carlton Lodge Reynolds Plantation; #5 on Condé Nast Traveler's “Top 100 Golf Resorts” worldwide. A Nicklaus Signature course that opened in 1992, Great Waters has been renovated by Nicklaus Design and has just reopened to guest play.
• Cuscowilla Golf Club and Resort: Coore and Crenshaw came up with a lovely layout in the pines of Lake Oconee. Golfweek says it's the "#1 Best Course You Can Play" in Georgia for 2009 and 2010. Courseside cottages and lakeside villas are where players and families like to stay.
• River Golf Club. In north Augusta on the Savannah River, a Jim Fazio design (72.7/129) that meanders through wetlands and alongside lakes--water on 12 holes. Reasonable greens fees. Multi-bedroom cottages.
• Mount Vintage Plantation and Golf Club: in North Augusta, a new 9 has been added to the 18 championship holes (7,127 yards, 144/74.5). Expect big-time elevation changes. The circa 1840 “Shaw House" is the beautiful clubhouse.
• Goshen Plantation Golf Club: In Augusta, 7,151 yards of Georgia pines with water on 12 holes, uniquely massive greens, updated in 2001; terrific practice facility. The course is very highly rated by locals and visitors.
• Jones Creek Golf Club: In west Augusta on pine-studded, softly rolling hills, a 7,008-yard Rees Jones design that has been renovated and updated by Tom Fazio (139/73.9).

• More about golf in Georgia.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld, Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She follows the little white ball around the world and blogs about International Golf Travel. And, she also writes a blog on Sustainable Travel.

Couples wins Cap Cana Championship at Punta Espada in Dominican Republic

Punta Espada Golf Club at Cap Cana, Dominican Republic

 For his third straight win in a row, Fred Couples won the $1.6 million Champions Tour Cap Cana Championship at Punta Espada Golf Club in the Dominican Republic, with a course-record 62. That makes 50-year-old Couples the first player in Champions Tour history to win three of his first four official tournaments. As he said during a practice round, “The Champions Tour is good timing for me." He also continues to complete on the PGA Tour.

For the second consecutive year, Golfweek Magazine selected Punta Espada as the best golf course of the Caribbean and Mexico for 2010. The 7,396 yard Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, operated by the prestigious management company Troon Golf, lies on a rugged and spectacular coastline on the Eastern tip of the island, where the surf sprays up in dramatic fashion behind several photogenic greens.

Cap Cana is a master-planned luxury resort and residential community with golf courses, yacht harbors and several 4- and 5-star hotels and resorts. 

More about vacations in the Dominican Republic.

More about golf in the Dominican Republic.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld, Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She follows the little white ball around the world and blogs about International Golf Travel. And, she also writes a blog on Sustainable Travel.

Ryder Cup Stay-and-Play Packages at Celtic Manor Resort

Host of the 2010 Ryder Cup, a 5-star, historic resort two hours from London, Celtic Manor Resort in Wales is offering once-in-a-lifetime "Last Chance to Beat the Best" and "Follow in the Footsteps of Giants" packages.

The Twenty Ten, the first course in history designed specifically to host the Ryder Cup, will close September 6 for final event preparations. In the meantime, golfers will have the "Last Chance to Beat the Best", playing the course under tournament conditions before the Ryder Cup begins October 1. The package includes:

• One round of golf on the Twenty Ten Course
• Overnight accommodations in the 5-star Resort Hotel with breakfast
• Complimentary use of the Forum Health Club facilities
• Ryder Cup souvenir cap, towel and personalized bag tag
• (Approximately $545-$580 per person per person, Sept 1-5)

A limited number of players will also be able to "Follow in the Footsteps of Giants," October 5-31 (approximately $725 per person). The package includes:

• One round of golf on the Twenty Ten Course
• 18 holes of golf on one of Celtic Manor's other championship courses -- the Montgomerie (designed by 2010 Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie) or Roman Road (a classic Robert Trent Jones layout)
• Two nights' accommodations at the Resort Hotel with breakfast
• Complimentary use of the Forum Health Club facilities

More about Celtic Manor

More about the US Ryder Cup Team

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld, Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She follows the little white ball around the world and blogs about International Golf Travel. And, she also writes a blog on Sustainable Travel.