Best Golf Resorts of the World

CordeValle resort gets the 2011 PGA Cup

One of the premier luxury golf resorts in California, a favorite of Silicon Valley titans, CordeValle has been selected to host the 25th PGA Cup, an international showcase of PGA Professionals, September 16-18, 2011.

The Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course at CordeValle will be the first West Coast venue since 1977 to host a PGA Cup, which is a Ryder Cup-style competition between a 10-member team of PGA pros from the U.S. and a team from the Great Britain and Ireland. (This week, the 24th PGA Cup is being contested at The Carrick at The DeVere Deluxe Resort in Loch Lomond, Scotland.) The U.S. has never been defeated at home, owning a 15-5-3 overall record.

CordeValle, derived from the Spanish phrase––el corazon del valle, meaning "heart of the valley"––has hosted three U.S. Open Qualifying tournaments ('01, '05, '08) and two U.S. Amateur qualifiers ('03, '06). Meandering through vineyards and oak-studded, stream-washed valleys, canyons and meadows, the 7,169 yard track has received rave reviews, including:

• Travel + Leisure: Top 50 Resorts in the continental United States & Canada
• Condé Nast Traveler: Top 100 Golf Resorts Worldwide
• Golf Digest: Best State Golf Course
• Golfweek: America's Best Resort Golf Courses
• Golf Magazine: Top 100 Courses You Can Play

Between San Francisco and Monterey, in the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, CordeValle is a luxury-level Rosewood Resort with a new 4-star-rated spa, Sense, A Rosewood Spa. More about the spa here.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com,  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 at www.examiner.com.

4 Seasons Scottsdale GolfFit Program

Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North now offers the Titleist GolfFit program. I have experienced the program at another resort and highly recommend it. You get a comprehensive, detailed fitness screening related to your body and your level of playing ability. The instructor gives you personalized advice and follows up with a report and individualized workout program that is accessible on your own GolfFit Web page.

Taught by Titleist Performance Institute certified golf fitness instructors, the programs help golfers improve their overall physical fitness and dramatically improve their games.

The 4 Seasons Scottsdale GolfFit program is taught by Dodie Mazzuca, who is a former LPGA pro, a Golf Digest Schools instructor and a professional Ashtanga yoga instructor. She conducts a personal, 90-minute physical fitness screen and golf-specific analysis focusing on flexibility, stability and strength. Then, she sets up your Web page so that you can make the most of your customized, 18-session workout program at home, tailored to your needs and your improving performance as a golfer. At $250--this is a real deal for a personal, golf-oriented physical assessment and follow-up fitness program.

One of the most luxurious and unique resorts in the Southwest, the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North is an intimate compound of Pueblo-style casitas in the cool, highland foothills of Pinnacle Peak, overlooking a glorious Sonoran Desert panorama. Rooms and suites have been recently renovated--most have kiva fireplaces and deep soaking tubs, and some have outdoor showers and private patios. 

The Four Seasons is the where savvy golfers stay when they play the legendary Pinnacle and Monument courses at Troon North Golf Club. The two courses were recently rerouted and transformed by the original creator, Tom Weiskopf, resulting in a dramatic marriage of the turfed landing zones with the stunning desert landscape and the iconic granite boulders, the towering saguaro cacti and the sandy washes. The greens are new, and bunkers were reconfigured or removed on both tracks.

Golf and spa deals in Scottsdale through 2009

More about golf resorts in Scottsdale.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com,  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 Resorts & Spas at www.examiner.com.
 

Golf and Spa Deals in Scottsdale

 

Troon North Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ

While the glam new Intercontinental  Montelucia Resort & Spa in Scottsdale may not have a golf course on property, golfing guests are going for the resort's "Ultimate Golf & Spa Getaway", which includes two rounds of golf per day at Troon North, Talking Stick, We-Ko-Pa or Grayhawk golf clubs.

Or, you can pamper yourself with two 60-minute spa treatments at the resort's Joya Spa each day. Also included is a guided hike up Camelback Mountain, daily breakfast for two and a fourth night of accommodations for free. The package starts at $310 per night and is available thru December 31, 2009.

Women golfers taking advantage of "The Practice to Pamper" package enjoy luxury accommodations at the Fairmont Scottsdale, a 2-hour lesson at TPC Scottsdale’s TOUR Academy and a relaxing 60-minute golf performance massage at Willow Stream, The Spa at Fairmont Scottsdale. (starts at $489 per person)

The Suite Golf & Spa Experience at Gainey Suites Hotel showcases some of Scottsdale’s top golf courses, spa and dining with a round of golf at Starfire Golf Club, McCormick Ranch Golf Club or TPC Scottsdale. Also included is a 60-minute spa treatment at the Spa at Gainey Village; and a $50 food voucher for the Village Tavern. Accommodations are in a studio suite, and included is daily breakfas, and evening beer and wine receptions. The package starts at $259 and is available through December.

More golf packages in Scottsdale.

Arnie is 80 today, designed 300+ resort courses

 

Four Seasons Aviara, Carlsbad, CA

The Arnold Palmer Design Company has designed more than 300 courses around the world, from China to Spain, Costa Rica to the Dominican Republic and Ireland. Arnie and his architects have created some of the world's most famous private, semi-private and resort courses. You can search by country, or browse the alphabetical list. Here are just a few of his notable resort courses:

Palmer Lakeside Course at Barton Creek Resort in Austin, TX        

The South Course at The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO

Four Seasons Resort Aviara in San Diego County, CO

Four Seasons Resort Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica

The Old Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links, Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, CA  

Hyatt La Manga Club Resort, Costa Brava. Spain

Whistler Golf Club, Whistler, B.C., Canada

Palmer Course, Turtle Bay Resort, Oahu, HA

The Club Course, Sea Pines Plantation, Hilton Head, SC        

Palmer Course at PGA West, La Quinta Resort and Spa, La Quinta, CA

The Club Course at Sea Pines Plantation, Hilton Head, SC  

Palmer Ryder and Palmer Smurfit courses, Kildare Hotel and Golf Club(K Club), Straffen, Ireland, host of the 2006 Ryder Cup

Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club and Lodge, Orlando, Florida, host of the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Arnie's 80th birthday, tweaks Bay Hill

As he approached his 80th birthday (which is tomorrow, September 10), Arnold Palmer and the Arnold Palmer Design Company decided to tweak his classic course at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando. The private course is open only to members and to guests at the small, charming lodge.

"We don’t want to change it, let's tweak it." Arnie said to his architects, "Let's get the greens closer to the water and take the sand where you can see it."

Greens were removed and reinstalled with Emerald Bermuda grass. Palmer said, "I've introduced firm, fast playing conditions on slopes around greens . . . along with putting new pin positions around the outside of the greens and cutting bunkers up closer to the greens, we have made my course more interesting to play and view."

Course aesthetics received a boost in visual impact with the bunker renovation. Arnie again: "The renovations had to be completed in 2 months so the course can properly grow in and open in September. I know the 2010 Arnold Palmer Invitational will be very exciting to watch with these new course changes in place."

A Junior Olympic sized swimming pool, a full-service spa, 6 tennis courts, 4 restaurants, and 70 lovely rooms and suites make up the intimate lodge complex.

Golf Digest and the Golf Channel are celebrating Arnie's birthday with stories, anecdotes and interviews.

Today Arnie will throw out the ceremonial first pitch as the Pittsburg Pirates play the Chicago Cubs. Tonight will be Arnold Palmer Bobblehead Night at PNC Park and will mark the first time Palmer has been honored with a bobblehead created in his likeness.

And to celebrate his birthday, tomorrow on September 10th, Arnie and some of his closest friends will tee it up at his home course, Latrobe Country Club.Arnie's father helped build the course in the 1920s and he went on to become the grounds superintendent and then the golf professional in the 1930s.

According to the club, "Arnold was born September 10, 1929 in Latrobe. His saga began when he was four-years old swinging a set of golf clubs that had been cut down by his father, Milfred (Deacon) Palmer. Before long, Arnold was playing well enough to beat the older caddies at the club. He began caddying himself when he was 11 and worked almost every job at the club over the years."

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsoftheWorld.com, Karen Misuraca writes about golf travel and resorts around the world in her examiner.com column.

Labor Day is Patriot Golf Day

Arnold Palmer and Major Dan Rooney support Patriot Golf Day.

More than 3,600 PGA-staffed golf courses and resorts around the country are participating in the third annual Patriot Golf Day, actually several days, Labor Day weekend, September 4-7, 2009.

Golfers nationwide are asked to add $1 or more to their greens fees to benefit the Folds of Honor Foundation, which provides educational scholarships for children and spouses of military service men and women killed or disabled while serving our nation.

Patriot Golf Day has raised more than $3 million dollars in the past two years. PGA Professional Dan Rooney, an F-16 fighter pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard, is the founder of the Folds of Honor Foundation. Major Rooney has served three tours in Iraq. He said, "We have lost more than 4,000 soldiers. America can come together in the spirit of golf and have a dramatic impact. We have an opportunity to make a difference for the families who have made the ultimate sacrifice."

Here are a few of the dozens of California courses and resorts where golfers can participate in Patriot Golf Day:

Links at Bodega Harbour on the Sonoma Coast

La Costa Resort and Spa in San Diego

Half Moon Bay Golf Links adjacent the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, near San Francisco.

Mount Shasta Resort in Northern California

On the Patriot Golf Day Web site, golfers can search for participating courses around the country.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsoftheWorld.com, Karen Misuraca writes about golf travel and resorts around the world in her examiner.com column.