The first Canadian design by Arnold Palmer, the Whistler Golf Club is celebrating its 25th anniversary––the layout features 9 lakes, 2  winding creeks and gorgeous mountain views  At just over 2,000 feet in elevation, in the Canadian Rockies, Whistler has four stunning golf courses with views of snow-capped mountain peaks. The golfing season runs from May through the middle of October. Laid on a rugged, densely forested site on the shores of glacial Green Lake, Nicklaus North is watered by Whistler’s famous “River of Golden Dreams”, while feisty Fitzsimmons Creek creates havoc for golfers on the 18 hole, where it fronts the green along with a huge cottonwood tree. At the base of the glacier-capped Coast Mountains, Chateau Whistler Golf Club was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. on tilting terrain studded with monumental granite outcroppings. Cascading across the course are three glacier-fed streams, spawning grounds for Rainbow and Kokanee trout. A David Leadbetter Golf Academy is here, too, on a gorgeous high-mountain hillside. A Robert Cupp original at the foot of Mount Currie, Big Sky Golf and Country Club is a stunner, relatively flat with plenty of reed-bordered lakes and ponds. Stay and Play Whistler Golf packages start at $355 per person for 2 nights' accommodation and a round of golf on three courses, and $448 per person for three nights' accommodation and a round of golf at all four courses. (800) WHISTLER

A prominent travel photographer, John Montgomery spent recent weeks in Bhutan, the tiny country in the Himalayas that is bordered by India, China and Sikkim. Here in one of the most isolated and least developed nations in the world, he came across the charming little Royal Thimphu Golf Club in the capitol city. With a backdrop of the 17th-century Tashichhoe Dzong––a royal palace, monastery, capitol and fortress all in one––and snowy Himalayan peaks, the course runs 2,800 yards, a par 34. An Indian Army officer in the early 1970s convinced the king to OK the building of the track, which today is rather rough around the edges, but with a clubhouse, caddies, and members who take their game seriously. Take a look at John's web site to see a dazzling slide show of his work.
 

A best-kept secret in the Vail Valley, the all-suite Beaver Creek Lodge has many charms, from the sexy lobby to a hot-spot restaurant and spacious two-room guest suites with fireplaces, mini-kitchens, sofas and armchairs, and balconies above a bubbling stream. The sound of snowmelt rushing over the boulders guarantees a good night's sleep. You can ski-in, ski-out in the wintertime, lounge by the pool all summer and step into the village for dining, shopping and entertainment. Somehow the lodge manages to avoid the hubbub of the high season––I recently shared the quiet streamside path with an ambling young bear, as shoppers also ambled along in and out of the boutiques a few yards away.
    Five minutes by shuttle, the very pretty, medium difficulty Beaver Creek Golf Club makes a nice warm-up for the more challenging courses nearby: Red Sky's Norman and Fazio courses; and Cordillera's Nicklaus, Fazio, Irwin and Pelz tracks--more than enough here for a week or so of dynamite golf at 8-9,000 feet.
    In the lodge, the hip Rocks Modern Grill has a new chef and a new menu. Diners linger on the terrace by the fire features, overseen by a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of a Seminole bow-stringer, one of dozens of striking pieces of art throughout the property (one of the privately-owned Kessler collection of resorts and hotels).
    More about Vail Valley golf to come . . . 

Although golf is not likely to be a priority on your trip to Venice, you may save a day for the lovely parkland course on the island of Lido. Easily reachable by public sea bus from various points in the city, Lido is a quiet, green getaway from the hubbub of tourism. A strip of beaches facing the Adriatic and tree-shaded parks are popular with daytrippers all summer, and visitors in the know stay in Lido hotels, zipping back and forth on the frequent water taxis, ferries (you can bring a car) and sea buses. Families opt for lodging on Lido, so that kids can run around, swim in the hotel pools and play on the beach--not possible in the city.
    Opened circa-1930, the Golf Club of Lido is a pretty thing, fortunately walkable, the better to enjoy the spreading willows, pines, poplars and mulberry trees. Among notables to have dined in the pleasant glass-in dining room of the clubhouse are the Duke of Windsor, Henry Cotton and Bing Crosby -- and although they are not known to be golfers, apparently Mussolini and Hitler lunched here, too. You can rent clubs; green fees are about 75 Euro; hotel discounts are 20%-30%. Makes tee times ahead during the high season.
    Staying over on Lido? the Westin Excelsior Resort, Venice Lido is the top choice, a smashingly flamboyant, century-old resort with private cabanas on the beach, luxe designer boutiques, a sunny, beachside terrace for drinks and meals, and 5-star accommodations and service. The hotel offers complimentary private launch service to and from Venice all day and into the evening, connecting with sister Starwood hotels, the Danielli, the Westin Regina-Europa and the Gritti Palace.
    How to get to Lido from the train station? It's either a $100 private water taxi (up to 6 people); or the public sea bus, with taxi to the hotel, about $50 altogether for two people. Because we were jetlagged and exhausted upon our arrival, we took the water taxi to Lido. Days later, we departed on the sea bus to the train station, which was fun, as the bus makes several stops and goes through the port area and along the waterfront; the water taxi jets along so fast that you don't get that nice tour.

Can you imagine unlimited golf at Pelican Hill Golf Club, the Tom Fazio-designed Ocean North and South courses at Newport Beach?  The Sky's the Limit package is good June 29-July 9, and August 31 to Sept. 3, including accommodations for two at the nearby 5-star Island Hotel, unlimited golf with cart (Laser Link Range finders), $25 pro shop credit, and VIP golf services; from $595 per night, this is a great deal at one of the planet's most spectacular golf clubs and a wonderful hotel. (866) 554-4620, www.IslandHotel.com.

June is the best month here in the Vail Valley––even though the weather is dazzling clear and warm, visitors and 2nd home people haven't yet arrived (according to the locals, it's July 4 before the rush). The Valley Course at Cordillera is a Tom Fazio masterpiece, as dizzying as a tilt-o-whirl as the holes rampage up and down the hills. Not much water and not a lot of sand. The challenge is comprised of, first of all, the jet-fast greens that stay rather dry from the steady breezes funneling down the valley. Thanks to the golf gods for providing caddies, as many greens are either blind or semi-blind, with terraces, quirky aprons, hidden bunkers and drop-offs––big surprises without course knowledge. Fairways are wide, secondary rough is thick and high and the rough is just about impossible, well covered with low-growing pines and sage. You drop down through the rugged hillside on every hole on the front 9, and head back up on the back. Elk, deer and the occasional bear and mountain lion love it.  

Also here at Cordillera, a Dave Pelz Short Game academy and his 9-hole short course. And, one of the 100 top golf instructors in the country, Tom Stickney, runs the Cordillera golf school. The Hale Irwin Mountain Course is next on our itinerary, followed by Red Sky. The Lodge at Cordillera is the lodging of choice -- 4-star rated, upscale amenities, gorgeous views, fab location, large, comfortable rooms with fireplaces and view balconies. Stay tuned!

I spent some time recently with Shawn Cox, Director of Golf at the stunning new Grand Del Mar resort in San Diego County. Formerly at Torrey Pines and LaJolla County Club, Cox is the only pro in Southern California to be a PGA member.
        A veteran of the TPI Experience at the Titleist Performance Institute, a unique program that assesses physical fitness, swing and equipment fitting, Shawn has distilled it all into a “Train with the Pros” program, available only here at the resort. He starts you off with a detailed flexibility test, then sets up on the private teaching site a custom-designed, daylight screen––the only one of its kind in existence––and a video camera. In a 3-hour or full-day lesson, you work with Shawn on your swing while frequently watching yourself on video. Among other techniques, he compares, on split screen, your swing to that of a variety of PGA and LPGA pros whose body types match yours. He inputs your information and details into his computer, and after the swing, putting and chipping intensive, he e mails to you the results of your fitness test with recommendations and how-to videos for specific exercises; and, he custom designs a practice program according to the teaching experience you had together. You can also schedule on-course playing lessons.
    A veteran of golf lessons at resorts around the world, I recommend this program above any other I've tried. A note: Cox was on the National and Rose Bowl Champion football team at the University of Washington, and is in the Husky Hall of Fame.
    Only guests at The Grand del Mar and members of the 150-member private club may play on Tom Fazio's smashing beautiful Grand Golf Club course, which rambles into the wilds of Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. Built nearly a decade ago, the track received a multi-million-dollar re-do shortly before the resort's grand opening at the end of 2007. The newest resort in Southern California, the Grand Del Mar is an extravaganza of Mediterranean opulence.

After nearly 20 years at top of the heap in Scottsdale, Mary Elaine’s restaurant at The Phoenician has closed its doors. Debuting in October will be J&G Steakhouse, a high-end eatery from one of New York's star chefs, Jean-Georges.
    The Terrace at The Phoenician, which currently serves traditional American dishes, will soon reopen as Il Terrazzo, an Italian restaurant featuring authentic national cuisine. On the upper level will be a more casual dining area named Luce di Terrazzo (Terrace Light).
    The very private, very luxe Canyon Suites––a separate boutique resort within a resort––got a $5.5 million makeover of the 60 rooms, private lobby, pool and cabanas. Guests in the suites get a personal Phoenician Ambassador, sterling silver coffee and tea service wake-up call, complimentary wine tastings and use of a chauffeured Mercedes.

Can’t get enough of the world of golf? Save a couple of hours to browse In Celebration of Golf on North Scottsdale Road in the Seville Plaza. The 15,000-square-foot bastion of all-things-golf houses an emporium of golf apparel and equipment, books, jewelry, furniture; rare, autographed memorabilia, hole-in-one plaques, an art gallery and even on-site instruction, a golf concierge services and an artist in residence annexes at  Kierland Commons and at the airport (www.celebrategolf.com).

No time for a golf junket to Arizona? Go online and play the Scottsdale Fantasy 18 Virtual Golf Game, where you choose clubs for each shot and “play” on eighteen of the famous golf holes in Valley of the Sun (www.ExperienceScottsdale.com/GolfGame).

Too short in the pocketbook for a golf vacation? Beat the high cost of green fees by checking in with local discount services Stand-By Golf (www.discountteetimes.com) and TeeBone Golf (www.teebone.com).

Golf lovers dream of playing in the dramatic desert settings of Arizona where the world’s top architects have created a unique style of course design––target desert golf.  Players are asked for near-perfect accuracy, with forced carries over wilderness terrain from the back tees, as on the North and South courses at 5-star resort in Scottsdale, The Boulders. Like cool mirages at 2,500 feet in elevation above the Scottsdale Valley, the two tracks are notorious for their wild canyons and arroyos and for startling displays of massive red and gold rock formations. Cooing doves, speeding roadrunners, fat Gila monsters and the occasional bobcat and coyote roam the groves of cacti and the rocky streambeds that cross the fairways. The starter hints at some interesting indigenous fauna: "You are welcome to hit out of the rough, but, bring a stick. And, the coyote rule allows you to replay a shot without penalty when a coyote grabs your ball.”

Director of Golf at The Boulders, Tom McCahan gives tips for surviving desert golf courses:

1. At all costs, stay on the grass! If you miss the landing zones, you will have rough desert to contend with, so consider carefully your choice of tees. (At The Boulders, we have five tees, one for every skill level.)

2. On desert courses, distance is not as important as alignment. Leave your driver in the bag and go for clubs you can count on to hit straight.

3. If your ball ends up in the desert, pound the ground a couple of times to announce your arrival to wildlife. Take a very stable stance and grip down to shorten the club. Then, take a ½ to ¾ swing to get back on the fairway. If you are shooting for the green, take 1 or 2 more clubs.

Dressed head-to-foot in his traditional black, Gary Player looked up at an elegant lady spectator, also in black, and said, "Oh you're my American wife (which she was). I have a wife in South Africa, too––but, I take better care of you, don't I?"

Regaling the crowd at Wendy's Champions Skins Game at Ka'anapali on Maui this February, Player said, "I've been coming to Hawaii for 50 years. These islands exemplify the word love––I always get the feeling of great peace and love here. This time we're staying an extra day, it's a such a delight."

Paired with Jack Nicklaus in the tournament, Tom Watson said, "I like playing skins with Jack, because on the first tee when your opponent asks you, 'Who is your partner?' and you say Jack Nicklaus, they look at you like 'We're cooked. . .'  Jack has the ability to hit a meaningful when it counts––I trust him." (the two had 8 skins after Day 1). Watson said, "I first played with Jack in 1966 in Topeka when I was 16 years old. One of the best days of my life as a kid."

In fine form at age 68, with his son Steve as caddie, Nicklaus dazzled the spectators. After Watson called out, "Bring out the magic, partner!", he sunk a 15-footer for a $150,000 hole to put the two in the lead. Nicklaus went on to pitch in from 50 feet away in the sand on the 6th and putt in on the 7th for $90,000. They led until the last hole on Sunday, when they tied with Zoeller and Jacobson, then finally lost in a tie-breaker.

Striding down the fairway beneath the fluttering palm trees, ready for his 51st appearance in the Masters this year, Player summed up his 72 years: "I have achieved everything that I wanted to do. Now, I want to be a role model(for physical fitness). Obesity is killing more people than wars."

Open to members and the public in March, the Scottish-links-style golf course, The Dunes, stretches a whopping 7,538 yards from the back tees. The Butch Harmon School of Golf and a 60,000-square-foot Mediterranean design clubhouse, 19th hole and restaurant will soon open, along with a Manchester United Soccer School, a David Lloyd Tennis Academy and the ICC Cricket Academy(dubaisportscity.ae).

Tatler says the Stoke Park Club spa is one of the Top 10 British Spas, while Harpers Bazaar added it to their "Top 100 Spas in the World". A short ride from Paddington, the 350-acre estate was the first country club in Britain in 1908. A Palladian mansion with 21 sumptuous guest rooms and 27 holes of parkland golf make this a popular weekend destination.

The newly built Spa, Health, and Racquet Pavilion sports an indoor pool and a spa menu packed with sports-oriented treatments. The Sports and Remedial Massage boosts circulation and relieves aches and pains, while the De-stress Muscle Hydrotherapy Bath is a relaxing underwater massage. The SPC Men’s Tonic Facial cleans, exfoliates and invigorates with plant extracts and essential oils, followed by hot towel compresses, a facial massage, and ayurvedic scalp and foot massage.

Overlooking the terrace and the golf course, dining and cocktailing are sublime in a newly redone, 1920s Art Deco-inspired  dining room and lobby lounge. 21 English-country-luxe rooms in the historic main hotel, and spacious new accommodations adjacent to the spa.