Best Golf Resorts of the World

Hilton Head Summer/Fall Stay-And-Play Packages

Nearly 20 golf courses and resorts on and nearby Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, are offering stay-and-play packages throughout the summer. 400+ golf holes lie on this low country barrier island, on lovely courses alongside salt marshes beneath a dense canopy of pines and moss-draped live oaks. Palmer, Nicklaus, three Jones, two Fazios, Player, Hills and more legendary architects have designed the famous Hilton Head golf courses. Make reservations well in advance, as more than two million visitors a year vacation here!

• Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa Summer Package: 3 nights at the newly renovated luxury resort, 2 rounds of golf at any of seven Heritage Collection courses and a 1-hour lesson with swing analysis. From $210 per golfer, per night, through July 25, 2014.

• Old South Golf Links Summer Fun Package: Just over the bridge in charming Bluffton. 2 nights at the Hilton Garden Inn, 3 rounds of golf including 1 round each at Old South Golf Links, Hampton Hall Golf Club and the Country Club of Hilton Head. Complimentary breakfast daily. From $325 per person through September 21, 2014.

• The Sea Pines Resort Stay-and-Play Villa Golf Package: 4nights in private villa accommodations. 1 round each at Harbour Town Golf Links and Ocean Course. Complimentary afternoon repeat rounds on the Ocean Course, range balls, 10% pro shop discount and 10% food and beverage discount. From $148 per golfer, per night through August 31, 2014.

• Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort Summer Stay-and-Play Package: 3nights and play 3 rounds at each of the resort’s championship courses (Robert Trent Jones, Arthur Hills and George Fazio. 2 hours of tennis court time daily, preferred rates on other resort activities; dining and merchandise discounts. From $154 per golfer, per night through October 31, 2014.

Once you drive across the bridge onto Hilton Head, your choices include miles of bike paths, fishing and swimming in the surf, and fresh- and saltwater sports and cruises. For family and non-golfers in your group: Gullah heritage tours; the Coastal Discovery Museum; guided nature and history walks in the island preserves. Shopping on the island in 200 boutiques, galleries and department stores, and 3 outlet malls. Biking is popular on miles of trails and along miles of beaches, and horseback riding through a leafy forest preserve. Canoe and kayak rentals are available for exploring the creeks, marshes and inlets. Motor cruises and sailboats from around the world sail into the Harbour Town Yacht Basin, which is loaded with boutique shops and galleries, restaurants and watersports venues.

If you haven't been to Hilton Head lately, $200 million in upgrades have been completed in the past two years.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com, 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.

Golf & The Caribbean by Mega-Yacht, January 2015

St Croix, Nevis, St. Kitts, Anguilla, St Barts & Virgin Gorda on board the luxury yacht SeaDream II

Now that you've survived the winter of 2014 (with your favorite fairways under snow banks), plan now to escape next year on an all-inclusive Perry Golf voyage aboard the glamorous yacht, the SeaDream II, which will sail to the French West Indies and the US and British Virgin Islands, including 24 hours in Gustavia on St Barts, considered the most chic destination in the entire Caribbean.

3 Rounds of golf - 7 Nights - 24-31 January 2015

Golf is on the itinerary on three of the area’s finest courses:

• Four Seasons Nevis
• Royal St. Kitts
• Greg Norman-designed Cuisinart Golf Club on Anguilla
• Outings are managed to perfection by Perry Golf, including greens and cart fees, tee times, golf equipment handling and ground transportation.

Carrying just over 100 guests and crew of 95, the yachts of SeaDream are among the most luxurious in the small ship category; all-inclusive, with fine dining, boutique wines, open bar and gratuities. 

A highlight of SeaDream is the spa, fully accredited by the Thai Spa Association.

Watch the SeaDream Yacht Club video.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com, 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 newly updated iPhone app, California Coast North.

Tee It Up With the Pros at Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu

Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu’s North Shore has expanded its recently announced, resort-wide North Shore Guides Club with the addition of a seasoned team of golf pros. The Turtle Bay Golf Guides will be available to play with guests, show them around, offer instruction and the like; most are highly trained to teach and some are well-known celebrities in the golf world.

North Shore Guides Club golf team:

• Matt Hall, Turtle Bay Resort Director of Golf: President of the Aloha Section PGA,; co-host of Hawaii’s No. 1 golf talk show; 2009 Aloha Section Golf Professional of the Year
• Dave Eichelberger, celebrity golf guide: 4-time winner on the PGA Tour, 6-time winner on the Champions Tour and a long-time Oahu resident
• Dean Wilson, celebrity golf guide: Born in Kaneohe on Oahu, after a successful golf career at Brigham Young Universityhe has since won 6times on the Japan Golf Tour and once on the PGA Tour, playing in all 4 major championships
• Tony Finau, celebrity golf guide: best known for his appearance on The Golf Channel’s “Big Break,” one of Golf Magazine’s “Top 10 American Players Under 25
• Parker McLachlin, celebrity golf guide: native of Oahu, 3-time Hawaii state champion in both golf and volleyball. On the PGA Tour, he won the Reno-Tahoe Open, among numerous top-10 finishes
• T.J. Kua, celebrity golf guide: A native of Kauai and recent graduate of the University of Hawaii. One of the top up-and-coming pro golfers in Hawaii, winning many amateur tournaments, he has competed in the PGA Tour’s Sony Open
• Anthony Valverde, golf guide: began on the Southern California PGA, now Executive Director and Tournament Director, Aloha Section of the PGA

About the North Shore Guides Club: with skills unique to their mastery of the North Shore’s land, water, and culture, more than 30 local guides host guests throughout the resort’s onsite programs and activities. .

Renovation News: the only resort on the quiet, gorgeous North Shore, Turtle Bay Resort will complete a multi-million-dollar renovation in fall 2013 that includes upgrades to all of its standard and premium guest rooms and hallways; two of its restaurants; the spa and fitness center; the main building roof and lobby area; and the addition of a media center.

Golf Digest calls the Palmer Course at Turtle Bay one of the "Top 100 Public Courses in the US, ” while the slightly more forgiving Fazio Course, rambling along the oceanfront, has hosted such events as the LPGA Hawaiian Open. (New Titleist high performance rental clubs have just arrived, and you can use them all week for one rental fee.)

More here about Turtle Bay Resort.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com, 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.

Nick Faldo Opens Laguna Lang Co Golf Club in Vietnam

Designed by Sir Nick Faldo, Laguna Lang Co Golf Club has opened on the Central Coast of Vietnam, which is becoming a major golf mecca. A short drive from the tourism capitals of Hue and Danang city, the Laguna Lang Co complex consists of the upscale golf club and two 5-star resorts, Banyan Tree and Angsana resorts, with more tourism development to come.

With a soaring backdrop of the Truong Son mountain range and a dreamlike coastline, 6,958 yard Laguna Lang Co Golf Club meanders between tropical trees, rice paddys and streams, through rock features and alongside the beach.

Sir Nick Faldo said, “There are six different environments, which give players an experience like no other – rice paddy, woodland, water, beach, sand and what I call ‘blowout’ areas. There’s something in it for everyone, as well as exceptional views all the way around. I believe it will hold up against the better courses in this region and maybe the world. The whole ambience of the course with a Banyan Tree resort makes it very special place.”

Nearby lie the UNESCO World Heritage site in Hue; the picturesque, ancient town of Hoi, and the Cham Kingdom sanctuaries at My Son.

Laguna Lang Co Golf Club has a fully stocked pro shop, really nice locker rooms, an expansive driving range and practice area, and restaurant. 

Review from a golfer: "Good course, top notch facilities, some of the best in Asia including locker rooms, practice range and restaurant. Service when I arrived was very personal, best greeting to a course I have ever had."

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com, 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.

Turtle Bay Resort Hawaii Part 1: Golf Packages Winter 2012-13

New owners, renovated golf courses, and expanded and refurbished infrastructure and activity programs have completely transformed Oahu's sprawling Turtle Bay Resort over the last couple of years. Less than an hour from the airport, the only resort on the North Shore, Turtle Bay is a long-established property on 840 mostly undeveloped acres of lush natural landscape, with 5 miles of shorefront consisting of little-known, sandy coves and some primo surfing beaches. Guests in 2013 will hardly notice that a complete renovation of more than 400 guest rooms and suites and the spa, will take place gradually over the year.

Golfers will find no homes in sight to mar the pristine surroundings of the Arnold Palmer Course and the George Fazio Course, both now in top notch condition, with Paspalum greens and fairways meandering along beaches and wetlands and through gauzy ironwood groves. At 7,218 yards, the Palmer is a challenge even from low handicappers at 143/74.4 from the back tees, while mere mortals play 6,225, 5,574 and 4,851 from the gold, white and red tees; while the Fazio is somewhat more forgiving. A variety of golf packages for resort guests and daytrippers:

3-, 5- and 7-day Unlimited Golf Play Packages for Turtle Bay Resort Guests

• From $249 for a single and $339 for two for 3 days on both the Palmer and Fazio courses

Group Golf Clinics for Resort Guests

• $30 each day; $100 for Mon-Fri clinics, each focusing on a different element of the game
• Tee It Up Afternoon Special for Resort Guests
• $65 on Fazio, $90 on Palmer, Mon-Fri after 2PM
• Includes green fees, golf car, Titleist rental equipment and a sleeve of Titleist golf balls

Learn & Play

• $75 on Fazio, $100 on Palmer
• 11:00AM clinic, lunch at Lei Lei’s (purchased separately)
• From 2:00 p.m. on either the Fazio or Palmer, play unlimited golf including golf car, Titleist rental equipment and Titleist golf balls

Palmer & Fazio Combo

• For either resort or non-resort guests
• Add $35 to the rate of the morning round (less expensive if you choose to challenge Fazio in the morning).

Golf & Shuttle From Waikiki or Kahala Package

• For Non-Resort Golfers
• $195 for Palmer, $175 for Fazio pp
• Includes round trip transportation

Golf & Drive Package

• $175 for Palmer, $125 for Fazio pp
• Pick up a vehicle at any of 3 Enterprise Rent-a-Car locations (two in Waikiki, another at the airport) and you’ve got a car roomy enough for 4 adults for 24 hours. Enjoy the gorgeous seaside drive to Turtle Bay and play the Palmer or Fazio course – or both! Includes golf car, practice balls, bottled water, course guide, and a commemorative bag tag.

Turtle Bay Resort is managed by Benchmark Hospitality International, a company known for superior operation of such luxury properties as Bardessono in the Napa Valley, the Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe, and Villas of Grand Cypress in Orlando.

North Shore and surf and locals culture? that's another story. Stay tuned here for Part 2 of the glories of Turtle Bay Resort.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com, 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.

4 Seasons Maui at Wailea is Top Hawaii Golf Resort

The Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea was named the top Hawaii Golf Resort in Conde Nast Traveler’s annual readers’ golf poll. 15 Hawaii golf resorts made the 2012 list.

#2 Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay

#3 Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

#4 Four Seasons Resort Lanai, The Lodge at Koele

#5 Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa
More here about golf in Hawaii

More about 4 Seasons Resort Hualalai  (we played golf there on our wedding day)

Non-stops to Hawaii from the West Coast

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com, 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.

Golf on Amelia Island, Florida

Across the St. Marys River from Georgia, the barrier island of Amelia Island lies between Atlantic Coast beaches and the Intracoastal Waterway. Unlike most destination resorts in Florida, the island is privately owned, secluded and protected by a gated entry. Lush, green marshlands and low marine forests cover the island, and one is never far from the sight and sound of the ocean. Condominiums, two resort hotels and residential developments are scattered on narrow roads beneath a shady canopy of oaks, palms, pines and tropical vegetation, along miles of duney beaches.

Tom Fazio, Pete Dye and Bobby Weed laid the Long Point, Ocean Links and Oak Marsh golf courses within maritime forest and marshlands; each is designated an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

Wrapped like a green velvet shawl between the ocean and the waterway, Long Point is Tom Fazio's inspired design in a setting of tidal marshes, towering sand dunes and a dense pine and oak forest. Natural waste bunkers, grass basins and deep pot bunkers guard rolling fairways and large, elevated greens. Mounds and moguls along the fairways prevent balls from flying into the impenetrable tree barrier and water hazards. Among several long carries, the second hole requires a 230-yard fly over  wetlands to a wide zone that narrows between savannah and the water to an almost blind putting surface surrounded by deep hollows. The Amelia River and the salt marshes are rich wildlife habitat, where Great egrets, wood storks, kingfishers killdeer and gulls are beautiful distractions. A private club except for resort guests, Long Point is set serenely apart, with its own clubhouse, restaurant and  golf school.

Serpentine salt marshes and creeks come into play on many holes of Pete Dye-designed Oak Marsh, where accurate shot placement is called for on skinny fairways and small, bulkheaded greens bordered closely by hammock groves and moss-draped cypress and oak trees. Dye uttered an understatement about Oak Marsh: "...we've left the rough in its natural state. Only the areas of play are manicured."

A good short game and efficient approach shots are called for on Ocean Links, a Dye/Weed track just 6,300 yards from the back tees. 7 seaside holes are predictably breezy, while 10 holes are menaced by marshy wetlands and lagoons, meandering through a unique coastal hammock. Greens are small, dipped, swaled and tilted.

Royal Amelia Golf Links is a parkland layout designed around small lakes, a creek and a forest of palmettos, myrtles, Southern pine and oak; fairways and greens are gigantic on this 6,850 yard track. Surprises include a peninsula green on 17n and a palm tree smack in the middle of the 2nd hole. The clubhouse verandah is a good perch from which to contemplate the sunset over the tidal marsh and the waterway.

Within of the surrounding private community of Summer Beach, the Golf Club of Amelia Island, adjacent to the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island, is a Mark McCumber/Gene Littler design open to members and resort guests. Wide rolling fairways, marshlands and lakes, oaks, palms and acres of sand dunes comprise the story here.

Where to Stay on Amelia Island
The 4-diamond rated Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort is undergoing n $85 million renovation to be completed in Spring, 2013.  

The Villas of Amelia Island Plantation are comprised of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units in several beachfront, medium-rise buildings, with extensive family recreation within walking distance.

The Ritz Carlton, Amelia Island sits elegantly above a 1.5-mile beach lapped with calm waters; little kids splash in the warm lagoons here at low tide. Guests staying in the 444 ocean view rooms and suites enjoy priority tee times at the Golf Club of Amelia Island, and tee times can be arranged golf at the other island courses. A full-service spa, nine oceanside, lighted tennis courts, three restaurants, and indoor/outdoor pools complete the package.

More here about golf in Florida.

And more golf in Florida.

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.

Nicklaus Golf and a Great Deal at Moon Palace Resort in Cancun

I'm a snob when it comes to all-inclusive resorts; at least, I was a snob, until I stayed recently at the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort Cancun. What a relief it was to wander into restaurants, snack bars and bars all over the place and not even think about menu prices. And I went to yoga and Pilates classes, paddled a kayak in the ocean, took advantage of the free WiFi and free phone calls to the U.S. and Canada, and lingered into the evening at live music concerts by the pool, ordered room service, and raided the mini-bar—all included—aaahhh. I got used to it.Although this resort doesn’t have the wide, palm-fringed beach and lively surf that some vacationers dream of, the soft, clean, off-white sand beach here fills the bill, with tons of umbrella-shaded lounge chairs and tables, and powered and unpowered watercraft at the ready.

Although this resort doesn’t have the wide, palm-fringed beach and lively surf that some vacationers dream of, the soft, clean, off-white sand beach here fills the bill, with tons of umbrella-shaded lounge chairs and tables, and powered and unpowered watercraft at the ready.

Just south of the Cancun airport, the huge resort sprawls along the beachside in several complexes of 3-story, peachy-colored buildings between perfect lawns, palms and gardens. Daytime and nighttime action is steady at a gigantic, ocean-view main pool area and other pools.

2,457 spacious rooms (I know, sounds like a lot but doesn't feel like it) each have double Jacuzzis and balconies or patios, most with water views. You can choose a quiet corner of the resort or get a room or suite near the pool terrace or the main lobby and restaurants.

Add to that 15 restaurants and a dozen bars, tennis, fitness centers, a kids club, a disco, a full-service spa and . . . . 27 holes of Nicklaus-designed golf. Using the dynamite resort credit deal, I scooted out to the golf course and played all three nines (even the drinks cart is free) and ended the day with a great massage.

The Moon Spa and Golf Club has the only Jack Nicklaus signature golf course in Cancun, consisting of the Jungle, Lake and Dunes nines. My suggestion is to get early tee times to avoid the hottest and busiest part of the day; also, it can get quite breezy in the afternoons.

At the top notch clubhouse and pro shop, a high-tech Nicklaus Academy, a very nice restaurant and a bar where you can get homemade ice cream, snacks and hot dogs all day long (of course, it’s included).

The three tracks are rather flat, with plenty of reedy wetlands, lagoons, lakes and ponds. BIG fairway bunkers are fiendishly located to catch the long hitters’ tee shots, and sandy wastes and brambly rough add to the fun. In typical Nicklaus fashion, greens are well protected by battalions of flashed bunkers. Herons, egrets and iguanas are on hand to create interest in your scenic photos.

Wildly rolling fairways and millions of deep, grassy hollows around the greens characterize the Dunes, which is just fine if you don’t mind sidehill lies and chipping to greens high above your head.

The practice venues are spacious and very well laid out and maintained. One of the best instructors on the staff, Jose Corona offers very useful tips and drills.

Resort Credit: Get this! Book before April 30 of this year for stays through the rest of 2012, and get resort credit to be used towards tours to Mayan ruins and theme parks, spa/beauty salon treatments, Dolphin encounters, outdoor recreation, golf, and more. When you consider that meals, snacks and alcoholic drinks are all unlimited, this is a great deal—especially for families.

•   3 nights, receive $500 vacation dollars per room, per stay.
•   4 nights, $750 vacation dollars
•   5-8 nights, $1,500 vacation dollars
•   9-11 nights, $2,000 vacation dollars
•   12+ nights, $2,500 vacation dollars

Moon Palace Resort Cancun is the flagship property of the 7 Moon Palace resorts in the Cancun area and on Cozumel and Isla Mujeres.

More here about golf on Riviera Maya.

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.

New Tom Fazio Corales Golf Course opens in Dominican Republic

Tom Fazio-designed Corales Golf Course at Puntacana Resort in Dominican Republic

PUNTACANA Resort & Club has announced the opening of the new Tom Fazio-designed Corales Golf Course. Long associated with the sprawling luxury resort in the Dominican Republic, Oscar de la Renta and Tom Fazio attended the opening.

The 7,500-yard Corales Golf Course features six waterfront golf holes along rocky cliffs, a spectacular clubhouse overlooking the Bay of Corales and a 28-acre practice area and training center. The 18th hole has a unique 'double-shot', where players drive over the ocean and the cliffs to the fairway on the other side.

The course is available to club members, to Puntacana residents and to guests at Tortuga Bay resort and Puntacana Hotel. Open for play by the public and resort guests is the award-winning, P. B. Dye-designed La Cana Golf Course, an established track with 14 ocean-view holes, including four playing right on the water’s edge.

Among other packages available at the Puntacana Hotel, the Golf Experience includes:

• 4 nights accommodation in a newly refurbished deluxe room 
• Roundtrip transportation from the Punta Cana International Airport
• Daily breakfast and lunch
• Golf cart to move around the resort
• Two rounds of golf at P. B. Dye's La Cana Golf Course
• One round of golf at Tom Fazio's Corales Golf Course
• Rates start at $295 per person per night  

More about golf in the Dominican Republic

More about vacations in the Dominican Republic: www.GoDominicanRepublic.com

Fred Couples wins the 2010 Cap Cana Championship at Punta Espada Golf Club, 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.

Can't get on Pebble? Tee off at affordable Monterey County golf courses

Bayonet & Blackhorse on the Monterey Peninsula

Not every golf course in Monterey County comes with a $495 green fee, the current price tag for a round at Pebble Beach.

In Carmel Valley along the Carmel River below the dramatic Santa Lucia Mountain range, the parkland-style East and West courses at Rancho Canada Golf Club undulate between sycamore and cottonwood trees. The 192-yard hole #13 on the East calls for a carry across the river to an elevated green up against the mountainside. At 6,357 yards, the West is a challenge, including #9 where an uphill dogleg left requires a lay-up short of the water for the average player. Golden eagles, bobcats, deer and 60+ species of birds share the fairways.

Pebble Beach Company’s hidden gem, the oldest course in continuous operation West of the Mississippi (since 1897), Del Monte Golf Course runs 6,357 yards through an oak, cypress and Monterey pine forest. Fairways are tight, greens are so, so small. Start right out with a 505-yard 5-par on #1. Johnny Miller calls it, “Sneaky hard and fun to play."

A 130 slope rating hints at the challenge of Laguna Seca Golf Ranch, a 71 par, 6,161-yard beauty with elevated greens and tons of doglegs, designed into rugged landscape by both Jones Sr. and Jr. The 13-acre natural grass practice facility has been called the best in the county.  Online specials at Laguna Seca.

After a multi-year, $13 million renovation, 36-hole Bayonet & Black Horse is back and better than ever. Hole routings were adjusted, and new tees, bunkers and green complexes were added; now 21st century Bentgrass stretches from tee to green and players get unobstructed views of Monterey Bay and Point Pinos. At 7,104 yards, Bayonet is considered by some to be the most difficult track on the Monterey Peninsula. 7,024-yard Black Horse is an ideal companion, with Pacific Ocean views, and millions of splashy, serrated-edged bunkers and super-undulating greens.

Known as the "poor man’s Pebble Beach", Pacific Grove Golf Links has fab ocean views. The front nine moves through deep forest, while the back, designed by the legendary Jack Neville, original designer of the Pebble Beach Golf Links, brings the dunes and ocean into play. Signature holes include #12, a scenic 513-yard par 5 that runs to the waterfront and into prevailing winds.

Across the street from Pebble Beach Golf Links, Peter Hay Golf Course is the only 9 hole, par 3 golf course open to the public on the Monterey Peninsula--a perfect practice ground for the short game, and for kids and other beginners. The 17 Mile Drive gate fee is refunded with purchase of one green fee.

Host to many tournaments including the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (until the 2010 season), Poppy Hills Golf Course weaves through the Del Monte Forest. A 74.3/144 force to be reckoned with, the popular Robert Trent Jones Jr. design is the home course for the Northern California Golf Association. NCGA members get nearly a 75% discount off the $200 public green fee.

Green fees do run up at Spyglass Hill Golf Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and part of Pebble Beach Resorts complex. The layout rolls through seaside dunes and cuts through a dense pine forest with elevated greens and maddeningly-placed bunkers and lakes. With a course rating of 75.5 and a slope rating of 147, this spectacular course is no slouch. Spyglass was ranked #11 on "America's 100 Greatest Public Courses" list by Golf Digest for 2009/2010.

More about golf in Monterey County.

More about Bayonet & Blackhorse.

Pebble Beach gets a facelift for U.S. Open.

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.

New non-stops to Maui, Hawaiian Air flys to Oakland, San Diego and L.A.

Hawaiian Airlines is expanding service with three new flights to Hawaii from California: L.A., Oakland and San Diego.

For San Francisco Bay Area passengers, the new daily flight between Oakland and Maui, Flight #23, will depart Oakland daily at 12:20 p.m. and arrive in Maui at 2:20 p.m. Return Flight #24 will depart Maui daily at 9:35 p.m. and arrive in Oakland the following morning at 5:30 a.m. The new flight runs June 17 through September 6, 2010.

Nearly a dozen world-class golf courses make Maui a golfer's dream destination. The main golf resorts are:

• Kaanapali Beach Resort
• Kapalua Resort
• Wailea Resort

Grand Wailea is the home of the Wailea Golf Club, which comprises three stunning championship courses: the Blue, the Gold and the Emerald. Also at the resort, the David Leadbetter Golf Academy is one of the most high-tech and highly rated golf learning centers on the planet.

More about golf on Maui

More about golf in Hawaii

And, even more about golf in Hawaii

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.

Book early for 20% off at Mauna Lani Resort, Big Island of Hawaii

Good news:  2010 Book Early Bonus Offer at the luxurious Mauna Lani Resort on the Kohala Coast of Hawaii. Book accommodations at least 14 days prior to arrival and save up to 20% off rates and packages (excluding bungalows and villas). Good thru 12/13/10

Bad news: reservations must be cancelled 14 days prior to arrival to avoid a two-night penalty fee.

Mauna Lani Resort’s two championship golf courses, the North and the South, have received Golf magazine's Gold Medal Award every year since 1988.

Golfer's Delight Package includes:

• Daily Golf for Two
• Daily Rental Clubs for Two
• Minimum three night stay, per room, per night, single/double occupancy.

More here about golf on the Kohala Coast.

Stay tuned here for news and vacation packages at Kohala Coast Resorts.

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.

New Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali Resort with Greg Norman golf course

The five-star Le Meridien Nirwana Bali Resort has been rebranded as the  Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali Resort.

A sprawling, lush, tropical resort on the southwest coast is surrounded by dramatic mountains and the Indian Ocean. With 278 rooms including luxury suites and villas, the resort offers world class recreational facilities including a championship Greg Norman-designed Nirwana Bali Golf Club that has been called "Best Course in Asia" for the fourth year in a row and also "Best Course in Indonesia".

The entrance road to this serene resort drifts through vivid green, water-filled rice terraces, some that are actually part of the golf course. Arriving in the open air lobby, guests are irresistibly drawn to the balcony above the crashing surf of the Indian Ocean and the unforgettable sight of the multi-roofed, Pura Tanah Lot, a dreamlike temple on a rocky islet. Balinese wood carving decorates the soaring peak of the “alang-alang” thatched roof of the main building. Along with vibrantly colored artworks and temples, impressive stone reliefs depict ancient Hindu tales, creating a mystical, calming atmosphere. Throughout the grounds are riots of blooming tropical trees and flowers, waterfalls, lotus ponds and interlinked, beachfront swimming pools.
           
A tropical beauty with wonderful sea views and devilish sea breezes. one of the most spectacular courses in Asia, the Nirwana Bali Golf Club drops gracefully down to a clifftop, against a backdrop of dramatic mountains. Freshwater creeks, wetlands and rice terraces, and thousands of palms, border the fairways and the gallimaufry of big bunkers. Carries are over high, green grasses, some deep valleys and, occasionally, over the beach or the ocean.

A 214-yard par three, the 7th hole carries from clifftop to clifftop across a blue bay. Twelve is a great short hole along a ridge studded with Balinese temples and a river to the right--aim your downhill second shot to the island green perched on a stone ledge. If your ball lands in one of the ten Hindu shrines, you can pick it out and drop without a penalty. Club up on 14, “the Shark”, in a headwind, to make it across the beach to the cliff-top green.

As at most resort courses in Asia, the caddies at the Nirwana resort are well-trained young women and men who are invariably charming and helpful, from marking and cleaning balls to wading into the rice paddies, searching for your lost balls. It is not unusual for each golfer in a foursome to have several caddies--one to tote clubs, one to carry an umbrella for sun and rain, or a chair, water and a mobile phone; and a forecaddie, too. This parade of people is a new experience for many players and may be unsettling. Just enjoy those sweet dispositions and all the personal assistance and local knowledge, and you may well play the best round of your life. The words for thank you are selamat tinggal!

Besides rooms, suites and villas in the hotel complex are homes and townhouses to rent. In low-rise, traditional Balinese-style buildings, with views of the ocean, gardens or golf course, 278 guest rooms and executive suites are oversized, done up in sleek, understated, contemporary Balinese style with lovely, Batik fabrics and original artworks. Villas have individual plunge pools, butler service, outdoor living pavilions, outdoor showers and lush tropical gardens, each quiet and screened completely for privacy. 

After golf, guests take the complimentary hotel shuttle to the artists' town of Ubud, for sightseeing and folk art shopping. The hotel will also arrange outdoor recreation in Kintamani and Bedugal, including white-water rafting, elephant trekking, hiking and four-wheeling.

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.

$1,000 resort credit at Hualalai

5-diamond-rated Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on the Big Island of Hawaii is extending their popular $1,000 resort credit through June 20, 2010. The $1,000 credit is awarded for every six nights booked, and you get a $2,000 resort credit when you stay in a 2-bedroom suite for every six nights booked. Credit can be applied to various resort experiences, from golf and spa treatments to a class at the Cultural Center and restaurants.

Read here about the recent $40 expansion at Hualalai, which included new suites, a major spa enhancement, an oceanfront pool deck, new retail shops and a beachfront bar, lounge and restaurant.

Read about Tom Watson's recent win at Hualalai.

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 at www.examiner.com. And, she also writes a blog on Sustainable Travel.

Dominican Republic golf resorts and tourism undamaged in Haiti quake

Dominican Republic (DR) golf resorts and tourism attractions are all up and running following the Haiti earthquake. Sharing the the eastern third of the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, the DR experienced no damage from the earthquake. All transportation and communication systems, airports, tourism businesses and medical facilities are operating smoothly, making the country available to support the relief effort. The DR has offered its international airports and seaports as staging areas, among other endeavors.

400 miles east of Haiti’s capital, with mountain ranges separating the two countries, the world-famous golf and vacation resorts, hotels, beaches and natural environment at Punta Cana, Capcana and Casa de Campo are open and functioning as usual.

More here on golf resorts in the Dominican Republic

Read more about on DR

Casa de Campo

DR Tourism Update:

• All of the DR's eight international airports are open and receiving flights.    
•  
• All of the DR's cruise terminals and seaports are open and receiving ships.
•  
• All of the DR's beaches, hotels, resorts and tourism businesses are conducting normal business operations.
•  
• At this time, no flights or group tours to the DR have been cancelled.

To learn how you can help Haiti, visit: http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/

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.

Makai Course reopens on Kauai

 

Makai Golf Course on the island of Kauai

18 of the 27 holes on the stunning, seaside Makai Golf Course at new St. Regis Princeville Resort on the island of Kauai have been under complete renovation for months, with reopening set for next week. The changes and upgrades were designed by the original architect, Robert Trent Jones Jr., who has a vacation home nearby.

Highlights of the course renovation include the installation of Seashore Paspalum turf on tees, fairways and greens--an eco-friendly, salt- and drought-tolerant turf variety. The course was lengthened, new bunkers were added and existing traps were reshaped and refilled, and the practice area was expanded.  

The Makai's "big brother" is the Prince Golf Course, a spectacular layout 300 feet above the ocean, ranked among "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses", with a 75.3/145 rating and slope.

More about the Makai Course and the St. Regis Princeville

More about golf on Kauai

More on golf in Hawaii

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.

Waikoloa Beach and Kings' courses better than ever, Big Island of Hawaii

12th hole on the Beach Course, Waikoloa Beach Resort

If you haven't played at Waikoloa Beach Resort on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii lately, it's time to return. Recent changes on the Kings and Beach courses have raised the bar for all of the resort courses on the coastline.
   
The Waikoloa Beach Course clubhouse is now closed, making the main clubhouse headquarters for everything, with a large, upscale pro shop, bar and restaurant. (The old favorite for wood-grilled steaks and seafood, Buzz's Sand Trap stays open at the old clubhouse.)

All of the holes on the Beach Course have been renumbered (i.e., the 6th is now the 1st, making for an over-water start), and bunkers have been deepened and filled with beautiful new sand from Australia. And, the greens have been subtly transformed from the previous bumbly-ness into perfectly even, true rolling condition. The par-70,  6,566-yard, RTJones, Jr.-designed Beach Course is menaced by dramatic black lava fingers and outcroppings, although generally wide fairways make it possible to proceed without too many disasters. Golfers on the back tees face water carries on four of the first seven holes. Haul out your camera on 12, where the iconic oceanfront panorama is fringed with a parade of waving palms.

The Waikoloa Kings' Course bunkers and Bermuda greens were also significantly upgraded. This 7,074-yard track is a Weiskopf & Morrish-designed, link-style beauty where the approach shot is of ultimate importance. Pot bunkers, six lakes, shifting winds off the ocean and a 73.4/135 rating/slope from the back tees make the Kings' a daunting challenge (four tees allow the average golfer to enjoy the round, starting from the 5,459-yard forward tees).

Not enough golf in the daytime? "Glow Golf" is a popular after-dark activity on the 18-hole seaside putting course, complete with sand traps. water features and fluorescent balls.

Dolphin Quest at Hilton Waikoloa Village, island of Hawaii

One of the best choices for stay-and-play at Waikoloa Beach Resort is Hilton Waikoloa Village, a sprawling, flamboyant and multi-faceted complex. Fresh from a recent $10 makeover, the resort is graced by a veritable botanical garden of riotously blooming flora in a water wonderland of lagoons, ponds, waterfalls, grottos and canals, all a-twitter with tropical birds. Besides 9 restaurants, many shops, and swimming pool extravaganzas, the Hilton has numerous hideaways waiting to be discovered, from the loungy sofas on the Kamuela Provisions Company terrace, overlooking a rushing waterfall and the ocean, to a labyrinth of meandering walking paths crossing under a waterfall, over bridges, past the dolphin lake and through quiet Japanese-style gardens. The spectacular "Legend of the Pacific" luau under the stars is a must-see.

Most rooms have ocean views, in fact it's practically impossible to be out of sight and sound of the sea here. My favorite place for lunch or dinner is the Provision Company ocean-front terrace, just above the crashing surf. There is a vast, sand-edged, calm lagoon for ocean swimming, with paddleboats, snorkeling and stand-up paddle boards. And, don't miss the dolphins. You can either sign up for a thrilling Dolphin Quest encounter, or just wander by the dolphin lake any time, to watch their 24/7 antics.

Lounging on the lagoon beach, Hilton Waikoloa Village, island of Hawaii

More about golf on the Kohala Coast.

Resort hotels, condos, restaurants and activities on the Kohala Coast at www.kohalacoastresorts.com (with tips and resources regarding weddings, meetings, spas and special packages).

Good through March 2010, the pre-paid, multiple-round packages are money-savers for golfers (rental club and merchandise discounts included):
 

Four-Round Package ($375 for FOUR 18-hole rounds)

Three-Round Package ($295 for THREE 18-hole rounds)

Two-Round Package ($225 for TWO 18-hole rounds)

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.

Kohala Coast resorts celebrate 50th anniversary of statehood with cost-cutting deals

Mauna Lani on the Kohala Coast of the island of Hawaii

On the 20-mile stretch of the Big Island’s Kohala Coast, nearly a dozen luxury resorts are heralding the 50th anniversary of statehood with great packages, good through the end of this  year.

"50 Years of Aloha" at Hilton Waikoloa Village: stay 5 nights and receive the 5th night at $50; plus a $50 resort credit for spa, dining or beach craft rentals, and more. Through December 20, 2009. (In addition, guests turning 50 in 2009 will receive a complimentary entrée at select restaurants.) One of the largest resorts in the islands, the 1,240-room Hilton (within Waikoloa Beach Resort) has a 4-acre, ocean-fed lagoon and pure white sand beach. Among activities are the Dolphin Quest; spectacular dinner show and luau, 8 restaurants; waterslides and waterfalls, the Beach and the King golf courses, and a meandering canal where guests ride in small boats, among other attractions.

The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa is offering the "Celebrate Hawaii Turning Five-O with Our Statehood Package" that includes 4th night free, room upgrade, $50 resort credit, daily breakfast, special gift and more (through December 24, 2009, rates from $385.).

The 5-star-rated Fairmont Orchid's "Hawaii 50% Off Sale" is a 50% discount off published room rates for new bookings; from $225, through December 20, 2009. Notable at the Fairmont is the gorgeous Spa Without Walls with waterfall massage hale (huts) and oceanfront massage cabanas. Tennis fans head for The Vic Braden Tennis College and the 10 plexipave courts.

One of my favorite resorts on the planet, Four Seasons Hualalai gives you a $1,000 resort credit for staying 4 consecutive nights--at this uber-upscale oasis, this is a fabulous deal! (through November 19, and Dec 5 - Dec 17, 2009). Don't miss the Jack Nicklaus signature Hualalai Golf Course.

Long the standard for low-key atmosphere, tropical elegance and top notch personal service, and the award-winning North and South golf courses, the Mauna Lani Hotel & Bungalows is offering the Hawaii 5-O Anniversary Special, with dates available through December 23 (so far--book soon).

Get the latest news about Kohala Coast resorts special packages and events at www.KohalaCoastResorts.com.

More about golf resorts in Hawaii.

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.

Fairmont Mayakoba sweet deal spa & golf

5-diamond-rated Fairmont Mayakoba on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, below Cancun, has come up with a cool wintertime Sweet Deal Package with Spa and Golf, that includes:

    One night luxury accommodation 

·    Purchase a round of golf at El Camaleon and play as many rounds of golf as you like on the same day

·    Purchase any 60-minute a la carte spa treatment at regular price and receive a complimentary 30-minute customized treatment

·    Enjoy a complimentary boat tour of the water canals with an ecology expert

·    $250 USD food and beverage credit per room, per stay

Sweet Deal Packages begin at $309 USD per room, per night, Nov. 1-Dec. 16, 2009 and $399 Jan. April 19, 2010.

If you ball ends up in the cavernous cenotes on El Camaleon’s first and second holes, just say no to trying to find it--it's not worth confronting the two-foot-long iguana guardians.

More about golf on Riviera Maya

Spas on Riviera Maya

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.

GolfWorld's Top 50 Resort Golf Courses for 2010

Readers of GolfWorld magazine have awarded the Top 50 Resort Golf Courses for 2010, based on a variety of criteria, including quality and condition of courses, reputation, practice and clubhouse facilities, restaurants, accommodations, pro shop and more. Here are the top ten; find the rest on the GolfWorld web site.

1. Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Kiawah Island, SC

2. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, OR

3. Turning Stone Resort, Verona, NY

4. Coeur d'Alene Resort, Coeur D'Alene, ID

5. Whistling Straits GC, Haven, WI

6. Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, GA

7. Sea Island GC, St. Simons Island, GA

8. Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst, NC

9. TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

10. Mauna Kea Beach Golf Club, Kamuela, HA

Sawgrass Golf Resort & TPC Sawgrass special for golfers, 7 weeks of the 17th

Home of THE PLAYERS Championship and the famed Island Hole 17, TPC Sawgrass and Sawgrass Golf Resort & Spa, A Marriott Resort, are offering "Seven Weeks of The 17th," including:

• Three-night stay at Sawgrass Golf Resort & Spa, A Marriott Resort

• One round on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course

• One round on Dye’s Valley Course

• One-hour instruction at the TOUR Academy

• Personal forecaddie on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course

• $75 bounce-back golf credit, good for one year

Package rate starts at $170, per person per night; available Oct. 1 - Nov. 20, 2009

Weather on the Atlantic coast of Florida is perfect in the Fall, making this a great beach-and-golf getaway, plus the chance to try the famous 17th Island Green on Pete Dye's legendary PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. The course is ranked by Golf Magazine among the top 80 golf courses in the world, and ranked #1 by Travel & Leisure on their list of Best Resort Courses in Florida.

Sawgrass Golf Resort & Spa, named “One of the Top 10 Best Golf Resorts in the World” by Travel + Leisure, is located in Ponte Vedra Beach between Jacksonville and St. Augustine on the Florida coast. The second-largest golf destination in the U.S., the resort features 508 guest rooms, suites and villas, the Spa at Sawgrass, four swimming pools and access to 26 miles of Atlantic beach at the Cabana Club.

Golfers from around the world come to TPC Sawgrass to try to make a dry landing and sink a putt on the island green, the one that Tiger missed at THE PLAYERS 2009, and to challenge themselves to play a bogey-free round, as Henrick Stenson did in the largest comeback in THE PLAYERS history, with a six-under 66 and a four-shot victory.

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.

New spa at 4 Seasons Hualalai, Island of Hawaii

5-diamond-rated Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on the island of Hawaii has completed a $40 million expansion that includes 20 new suites, a major spa enhancement, an oceanfront pool deck, new retail shops and a beachfront bar, lounge and restaurant.

Comprising between 1,150 and 1,950 square feet of indoor/outdoor living space, the new 1- and 2-bedroom suites have spectacular ocean views; all of the suites have living rooms, luxurious bathrooms with steam showers, and lanais with 180-degree views of the Pacific Ocean.

Newly expanded to 28,000 square feet, the Hualalai Spa welcomes guests into open-air tropical gardens and dark, cool interior spaces. Before treatments, guests can enjoy complimentary neck and shoulder massages while trailing their toes in the stream that trickles through the tranquil Waiea garden. Native plants and minerals known for their healing qualities are incorporated into signature treatments. More on the new Huaualai Spa.

Adjacent to spa, the new Seaside Boutique features such designers such as Allegra Hicks, Tory Burch and von Furstenberg, and glam resort wear––cashmere wraps, Kotur clutches, St. Tropez sandals.

The resort's beachfront restaurant, bar and lounge, the Beach Tree, has reopened with a transformed interior and exterior, a new menu and chef, and zowie ocean views. Awnings, a thatched roof crafted from local trees, and overstuffed sofas and chairs contribute to the “Hawaiian beach house” feel, encouraging long lunches, romantic dinners and cocktail hours.

$1,000 Resort Credit is available through September 30, 2009. Minimum stay of four nights required, starting at $725 per night. Among complimentary services and activities:
# Kids For All Seasons, full-day childrens' programmes
# Cultural Center classes and guided tours
# Weekly reception with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails
# All meals for children under five
# Self-service washer and dryer
# use of Hualalai Sports Club and Spa, with free classes
# Hale Kula, a teen activity center
# Ocean and pool play equipment

The Jack Nicklaus signature Hualalai Golf Course is one of the most challenging and spectacular oceanfront layouts in the islands.

More on golf in Hawaii

More on luxury resorts around the world

Summer resort and golf deals on Kauai

Waterfalls rush down the steep mountainsides on the north coast of Kauai, the Garden Island. Princeville Resort sprawls on a terraced cliff above Hanalei Bay, below the spectacular peak of Bali Hai. The film, "South Pacific", was shot in this gorgeous setting of velvet green mountains and sugar-white beaches.

Integrated into a rainforest on rolling tableland and along the oceanfront is the Prince Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. The course is all is waterfalls and streams, jungly ravines and thousands of trees and blooming shrubs––paradise with a formidable 75.3/145 rating and slope, earned by forced carries, stiff tradewinds and a clever dearth of bailout areas. Fairways careen downhill and over gorges, as on the 7th, which reminds golfers of the famous 16th at Cypress Point. With the Pacific all along the left, a 180-yard carry against the wind heads toward waves breaking on the reef off Anini Beach. Behind the green on the thirteenth, a waterfall cascades from a lava tube set in the middle of a cliff festooned with ferns and flowers, then drops into Anini Stream, which wanders around the green and dissects the fairway landing zone, 200 yards from the back tees. Whew!

Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa, island of Kauai, Hawaii

Princeville’s "2009 Tease for Two Package" offers a round of golf on the Prince Course and a 50-minute massage at the Princeville Spa for $275 (through 2009).

More news at Princeville:   Makai Course will unveil a substantial renovation to all 27 holes on Nov. 1.
    The St. Regis Princeville Resort is ccheduled to open here at Princeville on October 1    
    The Prince Course was rated #67 in Golf Digest’s “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses 2009-10” and rated #1 course in the state

The Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa on Kauai was rated No. 16 in GolfWorld magazine’s “2009 America’s Top 50 Resort Courses.” The resort is offering a summer fifth-night free promotion that includes daily breakfast for two adults and up to four children, 50% off a second room for children, "bottomless cup" for children 12 and under, 1/2 camp for one child, one free in-room movie and a 20% discount at the opulent Anara Spa.

Puakea Golf Course in Lihue is family and child friendly, too, allowing kids to play free all summer long (ages 7-18), one free junior for each paying adult (through August 31, 2009). This course was rated 13th best in Hawaii by Golfweek Magazine.

Kauai Lagoons golf course, island of Kauai, Hawaii

Also in Lihue, the  Jack Nicklaus-designed Kaua‘i Lagoons Golf Club is offering $85 green fees and $25 club rental this summer, including two sleeves of premium golf balls (available after 11 am daily). Children ages 6-17 play free with free club rental when accompanied by a paying adult anytime. (both special valid through August 31) This course was voted one of the “Top 50 Resort Courses” worldwide by GolfWorld in its “2009 Readers’ Choice Awards”. Kauai Lagoons is adjacent to the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club. Green fees for non-resort guests are normally up to $175 and club rentals at $55, so these summer specials mean substantial savings.
 
For more information about the Garden Isle, visit www.kauaidiscovery.com

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 golf travel at bestgolf.typepad.com/blog/

Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort celebrates 5 years, part 1, the hotel

 

Fringing the barrier island of Kiawah in South Carolna, a ten-mile stretch of sand slopes gradually into the Atlantic, producing calm, warm surf, ideal for families who love the beach. A private, gated resort community is cleverly tucked into thousands of acres of lush maritime forest and around a vast salt marsh, a veritable wildlife sanctuary inhabited by white-tailed deer and over 200 species of birds––osprey, heron, egrets, ibis, pelicans and gulls. Loggerhead turtles begin their annual egg-laying pilgrimage to the beach in May. And, on the five championship golf courses on the island, the occasional alligator wiggles out of a lagoon to sun itself on a cart path.

Five years ago, The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort opened its doors here as a spectacular oceanfront hotel and spa, soon achieving 5-diamond and 5-star status for both the hotel and at the Sanctuary Spa.

The special 5th Anniversary Celebration Package during the month of August, 2009, starts at $555 per room, per night:

     Garden View Accommodations
     Daily buffet breakfast for two at Jasmine Porch
     Nightly dinner for two at Jasmine Porch, Tomasso, Shrimpers or The Atlantic Room
     Welcome amenity
     Resort Credit for multiple night stays ($100 resort credit for 2 night stays, $150 for 3 night stays and $300 for 4 or more night stays)

On 10 miles of beach just south of Charleston, SC, the charming, Southern-style Kiawah Island Golf Resort is racking up the rankings:

     #1 resort in the U.S. by Golf World
     #2 golf resort in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure Golf
     one of top 5 tennis resorts in the U.S. by Tennis Magazine
     #3 resort in the U.S. by Conde Nast Traveler
     #2 island in North America by Conde Nast Traveler

Kiawah Island Golf Resort is comprised of the hotel and spa, 600 private villas and luxury homes, 9 restaurants, 2 tennis centers, and 5 championship golf courses, including The Ocean Course, host of the 1991 Ryder Cup, the 2007 Senior PGA and 2012 PGA championships.

For a charming scrapbook of guests’ stories, pictures and videos of Kiawah, go to www.kiawahmoments.com

Stayed tuned here for Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort celebrates 5 years, part 2, the golf

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 golf travel right here at bestgolf.typepad.com/blog/

Save on overnight and snorkel on Catalina Island

(Read about golf on Catalina Island)

26 miles across the sea from Long Beach, the Hotel Porftofino on Catalina Island in Southern California is offering a great deal with its new "Villa Venturer Package," through October (weekend rates are higher, and a 2-night minimum stay may be required).

From $161.50 per night, double occupancy, plus tax, the package includes:

• Accommodations at the oceanfront Hotel Villa Portofino
• Continental breakfast
• Welcome gift
• R/T boat transportation aboard the Catalina Express from Long Beach, San Pedro, or Dana Point (a $66 value)
• R/T taxi transfers between boat dock and hotel
• 1 ¼ hour snorkel trip with Catalina Ocean Rafting

For more info: Karen Misuraca is the author of the new book, Backroads of the California Coast.

Golf at Normandy Beaches, 65th anniversary of D-Day

During his ceremonial visit to the D-Day Beaches in Normandy this weekend, Barack Obama wishes he could take the time to play golf. If a round of golf were on his itinerary, he would head for the Arnold Palmer-designed course at Omaha Beach Golf Club, a favorite of visitors to U.S. WWII cemeteries and the Normandy beaches. In a Scottish-links style layout, all of the 27 holes––the Sea Course, the Orchard Course and the Pond Course––are named for war heroes––Eisenhower, Churchill, etc.

The signature hole is a dogleg right with large bunkers guarding a fairway that leads to a green perched a clifftop above Mulberry Harbour and D-Day beaches. The Golf Club is nearby to famous "artificial port" at Arromanches and the Normandy American Cemetery where almost 10,000 Americans are laid to rest. A few of the scenes of Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" were filmed on the golf course, which was liberated by the American 1st Division on June 7, 1944.
 

Hotel Mercure Omaha Beach

40 km east of Caen and 8 km from the ancient and historic city of Bayeux, the 3-star, 70-room Hotel Mercure Omaha Beach is a perfect headquarters for Normandy coast visitors. Specializing in seafood freshly caught at the adjacent fishing harbour of Port-en-Bessin, L'Albatros restaurant overlooks the golf course. Part of the Mercure hotel chain in 10 European countries, the Hotel Mercure Omaha Beach is making available the “Mercure Summer Offer,” a 40% discount on a 2-night stay, including breakfast (through September 15, 2009).

For more info: read Karen Misuraca's article in her examiner.com column, "Obama attends 65th Anniversary of D-Day in Normandy."

No flu in Cabo: Las Ventanas Al Paraiso celebrates with special package

The 15th green at Cabo Real Golf Club is perched just above the pool terrace at Las Ventanas Al Paraiso in Los Cabos. Celebrating the complete absence of H1N1 influenza in Cabo, the 5-star beachfront resort Las Ventanas has created some powerful incentives (besides the great golf) for visitors to head down to Cabo.

The Rosewood Escape offer, good May 25-Oct. 14 includes:

Significantly reduced rates from $515 per night

Upgrade if available (i.e. pay $515 but stay in a $750 suite)

Daily breakfast for two and $200 resort credit per stay

A small, ultra-luxurious enclave, the only 5-star property in Los Cabos (and my absolute favorite), Las Ventanas is for lovers, and for vacationers seeking solitude and the ultimate in service. Your personal butler will greet you with a beverage, then escort you through the tropical grounds to your suite where you can relax on a banquette on your balcony or hop right into your own outdoor whirlpool. Intricate stone inlays enhance the white marble floors and a wood-burning fireplace awaits the match. Spa suites each have two balconies with banquettes and infinity edge Jacuzzis; 2 bedrooms, each with double Jacuzzis; a full kitchen, separate dining and living room--and 4-foot-tall candles, and also a private spa room with double massage tables and a giant steam/rainforest shower. Your spa butler will meet with you to discuss treatments to enjoy in your suite and/or at the full-service spa. You may choose appearance-enhancing peels and facial lifts, body evaluations, the Ultimate Fitness and weight loss programs, and traditional and exotic massage and skin treatments. (A tip: although nearly every suite is quite private, those on the ground floor near the main pool may be less so.)

Butlers at the beachfront pool offer sunscreen, iPods, sorbet, frosty Evian spritzers and racy novels. As the evening draws near, hundreds of lanterns and candles flicker on the balconies, terraces, in the windows and down the stairs leading to fine dining in The Restaurant and in the open-air Sea Grill, where a wood-fired ovens and grills turn out luscious gulf shrimp, cabrilla(sea bass) and huachinango(snapper), pizzas and locally-produced meats and poultry. Fire bowls cast soft light on Guitaras de Luna, a duo renowned in Baja for the soft Spanish guitar music. As guests seeking seclusion often stay at the resort for all meals, menus change daily. Private dining is also available in the Spanish-colonial style La Cava, the wine cellar. (Up to 40 guests who are not staying at the resort may make reservations for dinner each day.)

A large telescope is set up for star-gazing on the beach, which is smoothed and cleaned each night. The exotic and very romantic setting at Las Ventanas makes it popular for marriage proposals and weddings, which are coordinated by the Director of Romance. You can arrange for a private pavilion for dinner on the beach, and she'll be surprised when a fellow gallops up on horseback and hands down flowers and the ring--that's your cue to pop the question. Or, have the D of R put your note in a bottle, and bury it in the sand next to your table. And, don't be surprised if you open the door to your suite to see a rose petal path leading to dozens of lighted candles in the bedroom. Las Ventanas al Paraiso translates as Windows to Paradise . . .

The resort will arrange guided tours for deep sea fishing and ATV expeditions, whale watching, wave runner and snorkeling tours, and golf. And, they will send a car to the airport for you, and for your return flight, the driver will whisk you, your packed lunch and your luggage right past the long economy-class lines and through First Class check-in, even if you are not a First Class passenger--this is a much-to-be-desired service at the Los Cabos airport.

Golf is on the menu, too--the Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed, world-famous Cabo Real Golf Club is a chain of green islands of turf in a fearsome desert landscape of huge cardon cacti, ball-snatching fronting the ocean. The track ascends on skinny fairways and small, elevated greens into mountainous terrain to the fifth hole, which runs 454 yards along the edge of a steep canyon to a green sandwiched between canyon and sea at the course's highest point, 460 feet above sea level, whereupon the course begins winding back down. The 14th sweeps to the ocean through a palm-lined fairway, ending in an elevated green at surfside--whales spouting offshore put on a show for TV viewers who watched the PGA Senior Slams here in the 1990s. Get out your camera for the spectacular view of the course from 15th. 

Balancing a 74.1 rating and 140 slope from the blacks, five sets of tees make Cabo Real fair for high handicappers contending with rocking and rolling fairways and unpredictable sea breezes. The starter strikes fear, and encourages the forward tees, when he says, "These are the hardest 9 holes on Cabo."

For more info on Los Cabos: www.visitloscabos.travel

Read about resorts on Riviera Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula

Karen Misuraca is the Resorts & Spas columnist at examiner.com 

New spa garden at 4 Seasons Hualalai, Big Island of Hawaii

Soon to open, the new addition to the spa at the Four Seasons Hualalai at Historic Kaupulehu, the Waiea Garden (Water of Life) will be an enclosed tropical garden with a waterfall that flows into a pond and stream. Guests will retreat to this lush, secluded environment to cool their tootsies and have hand-and-foot massage and back-shoulder massage--or, just enjoy the greenery while waiting for spa treatments. Several private "hales" (cabanas) are under construction in the spa garden, too.

To enhance and personalize the array of exotic and traditional body/beauty treatments, a unique apothecary is the guest's first stop, where they choose from a fragrant inventory of local ingredients that have been grown and harvested locally--such as awapuhi(ginger), coconut, kukui nut oil, honey, sea salt and more. Custom-created mixtures are then used in the scrubs, wraps and massages, and guests are able to take home a supply of their special concoctions.

Within the Hualalai Spa is a full-service salon, indoor and outdoor showers, steam, sauna, and a big lap pool is right outside, along with separate fitness and aerobic venues, yoga and pilates rooms, the tennis center, and a convenient coffee garden where guests gather for snacks and drinks throughout the day.

For guests who cannot bear to leave the oceanfront pools or their 5-star-rated rooms and suites spa treatments can be arranged at poolside cabanas and on the private balconies, and patios of guest accommodations--aaahh. On the Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, the Four Seasons Hualalai is comprised of a scattering of low-rise buildings amid a blooming jungle of gardens and trees, all within the sight and sound of the ocean. On the menu of activities are golf on the spectacular Jack Nicklaus Signature Hualalai Golf Course, paddle-boarding and outrigger canoeing, tennis, "Kids for All Seasons," a cultural center, shopping, and just relaxing on the beach.