Annika Sorenstam and her new wine

Golf diva Annika Sorenstam will host an all-day affair on July 25 at Wente VIneyards in California's Livermore Valley to present the newest wine from her ANNIKA Vineyards label, a 2008 Chardonnay.

Guests at the event will enjoy:

• continental breakfast
• golf clinic led by Annika
• shotgun golf tournament at The Course at Wente Vineyards
• ANNIKA Vineyards' 2008 Chardonnay tasting on the 7th tee.
• ANNIKA Vineyards' 2006 Syrah on the 14th tee
• awards and wine reception
• gala dinner on the vineyard lawn
• bottle of 2006 ANNIKA Syrah to take home

Annika Vineyards 2008 Chardonnay

Pricing for the day is $350 (dinner only option is $75). Participants can sign up through Wente Vineyards’ web site

Winemaker Karl Wente describes the Chardonnay as "full-bodied with apricot, peach, tangerine flavors throughout that lead to graham, vanilla and ground spice on the finish,”

The greatest female golfer of our time, Annika Sorenstam offers junior golfers opportunities to pursue their dreams through her ANNIKA Foundation. Along with Jack Nicklaus, she was named a Global Ambassador by the International Golf Federation and aided in the successful bid for golf in the 2016 Olympic Games. .

 
A spectacular layout tucked away in an idyllic valley and clifftop setting, Greg Norman designed, The Course at Wente Vineyards meanders through scenic rolling hills, vineyards, and grasslands of the Livermore Valley. Nestled up against the cliffs of Cresta Blanca, the course is lined with sycamore, oak and cottonwood woods and runs dramatically up onto high plateaus.

The Course at Wente Vineyards, Livermore, California

More about playing golf at Wente Vineyards.
 

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.

The Bridges Golf Course in San Ramon, California

About 40 minutes east of San Francisco near the Silicon Valley, the "Tri-Valley" area is all about wine and golf, with more than 50 wineries and several top notch golf courses.

Named by Golfweek as one of the top 50 munis in the nation out of more than 8,000 courses, Callippe Preserve Golf Course in Pleasanton is the newest in the area. The club was developed as part of a cooperative effort to create an 18-hole golf course, hiking and equestrian trails, endangered species habitat, wetlands and grazing land. The front nine runs through a beautiful valley, while the back nine rises higher, with Happy Valley Creek winding through oak woodlands and wetland habitat. Views are of ridgelands and from the higher spots, Mount Diablo. Greens fees here are great values.

At The Bridges Golf Club in the hills above San Ramon, eleven wooden bridges cross a meandering creek, gorges and ravines in a deep, wooded valley. Most holes on this links-style track are rimmed with meadows and eucalyptus, with plenty of tilting sidehills and ball-sucking shrubs. Bring extra balls for the many (many) carries and don't set off on your round without a yardage book.

Elevated tees and greens  (you'll feel like a mountain goat just getting up to the 5th tee), large, undulating greens, rolling approaches, big bunkers, and rather windy afternoons on this Johnny Miller and Damian Pascuzzo collaboration. (A former partner of Robert Muir Graves, Pascuzzo now works with PGA pro, Steve Pate.)

Excellent multi-level putting greens, a night-lighted practice range and a very nice, urban-chic clubhouse restaurant/bar with lovely views make The Bridges a place to linger. Play in the morning and stay for a long lunch.

A 27-hole Rees Jones-designed, heathland-style course, Poppy Ridge Golf Course is particularly beloved by NCGA members, who get a 45% discount off the public green fee. The Merlot, Chardonnay and Zinfandel nines are cut out of rugged foothills amid indigenous vegetation, with one lone tree and lots of sand creating a "inland links" feel, complete with steady afternoon winds. Prepare to run the ball up the open approaches, avoid the lakes and practice your sidehill shots. Zagat Guide has called it one of the top 15 courses in the nation for value.

Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Northern California's "Tri-Valley" area

 A spectacular layout tucked away in an idyllic valley and clifftop setting, Greg Norman designed, The Course at Wente Vineyards meanders through scenic rolling hills, vineyards, and grasslands of the Livermore Valley. Nestled up against the cliffs of Cresta Blanca, the course is lined with sycamore, oak and cottonwood woods and runs dramatically up onto high plateaus.

(More here about The Course at Wente Vineyards)

The Tri-Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau describes the golf courses in the area and offers packages.

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.

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.

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 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.

Tom Fazio-designed Grand Golf Club at the Grand Del Mar, San Diego

Opened recently to instant acclaim, the snazzy 5-star Grand Del Mar resort in San Diego County has one of the finest golf instruction centers in the West. Headed by PGA pro, Shawn Cox, this year's programs at the Grand Golf Performance Academy address long and short irons, pitching/sand shots, trouble shots, chipping, putting and more. With decades of experience between them and an avalanche of awards and endorsements, the pros at The Grand deliver top-notch instruction and access to state-of-the-art swing analysis and technology.

Grand Golf Performance Academy Golf Programs:

• 3-day Program: June 11-13; July 23-25; Aug. 27-29; Oct. 22-24, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  On-course instruction, computerized video analysis, mental strategy/evaluation, Titleist Performance Institute Physical Screening and daily lunch.  ($2,395/person)
• 2-day Short Game Program: Aug. 7-8; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Program highlights include SAM Puttlab technology, green reading and strategy, chipping, pitching, bunker and lob shots, ashort game practice techniques. ($1,595/person)
• 1-day Putting Program: Aug. 1, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mastering the art of putting through a comprehensive look at saving strokes on the greens, from understanding individual strokes to green reading and practice drills. ($695/person)

Close enough to the Pacific to catch ocean breezes, making it supremely comfortable year round, San Diego’s only Tom Fazio-designed golf course, the 7,160-yard Grand Golf Club at The Grand Del Mar winds through the rugged Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve through chaparral and scrub oak hillsides, meadows, valleys and ravines. The course is private, open only to members and to resort guests.

More about PGA pro Shawn Cox and improving your game at the Grand del Mar

Don't need a tune-up of your swing? Take a look here at the stay-and-play packages.

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.

Stanley Thompson golf course at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in the Canadian Rockies

Nestled between the Canadian Rockies and a stunning alpine lake, the historic Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in Western Canada announces the "Golf For Free" package, from $299 CAD per person, per night, to include:

• Luxury accommodations for a minimum of two nights
• One round of golf per day
• Golf cart
• Range balls

The lovely, rugged golf course designed by Stanley Thompson meanders through aspen groves around gigantic boulders, along the edge of azure Lac Beauvert, surrounded by mountains and pure wilderness. Bear, elk and coyote play on the fairways while golfers contend with elevated tees and huge, undulating greens, devilishly sloping off at the sides.

Like an upscale summer camp, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge has a Great Room with comfy sofas and armchairs, writing tables, rocking chairs, fireplaces and views of what seems to be half of the Canadian Rockies.

More about golf in western Canada.

and even more about golf in western Canada.

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.

The secret to saving money on lodging, golf and other activities at Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley is to come in the summertime--yes, when it's a zillion degrees outside! Early, early mornings are gloriously fresh and pleasant for golfing, bike rides, hiking and exploring.

And, when the sun starts to blast down, guests head for the mineral-spring-filled swimming pool and for the two museums, the General Store and the restaurants at family-oriented Ranch at Furnace Creek. Star-gazing on summer nights is magical, as the resort uses very minimal lighting in order to enhance the amazing star show each night.

At only $169 per night for two people, from May 9 through October 7, 2010, stay-and-play rates at the Ranch at Furnace Creek include:

• accommodations for two 
• one day of unlimited golf
• cart rental for 18 holes
   

Made in the shade on Furnace Creek Golf Course

At 214 feet below sea level, the Furnace Creek Golf Course is the lowest golf course in the world. Palm- and tamarisk-lined, against the dramatic, jagged backdrop of the Panamint Mountains, 18-hole Furnace Creek Golf Course has earned a place on Golf Digest’s list of “America’s 50 Toughest Courses.” Originally opened in 1931, the course received a major renovation by world-renowned architect, Perry Dye.

More about golf at Furnace Creek Resort.

Museums at Furnace Creek Ranch.

More about Furnace Creek Resort.

Adjacent to the golf course, the Ranch at Furnace Creek has 224 rooms  and cabins that recently underwent complete renovation.

Cozy cabins have two doubles or one queen bed, air conditioning, mini-refrigerators, flat-screen TVs, while standard rooms have new French doors leading to small patios or balconies. These rooms have two queens air conditioning, new TVs and mini-frigs with room for roll-a-ways.

Deluxe rooms fronting on sprawling, tree-shaded lawns have new French doors, two queens or kings, with air conditioning, new flat-screen TVs and all amenities. RV parking with utilities is also available.

You can now rent new bikes at Furnace Creek. Besides the fabulous Scott Aspect 45 mountain bike, the Workman Heavy-Duty bike, especially designed for downhill rides, is used on Death Valley "Hell's Gate Downhill Ride" and "Artist's Drive Ride". (Tours include bike and rider transfers to and from the start and finish of each ride, along with light snacks and beverages.

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 articles about Sustainable Travel and a blog on Sustainable Travel

The new 497-room Talking Stick Resort on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community just east of Scottsdale has opened, with an official debut scheduled for June. Besides championship golf, the resort has a glamorous 13,000-square-foot full-service, open-air spa; a cigar and wine bar and eight restaurants. The upscale fine dining restaurant, Ocean Trail, serves traditional Creole cuisine, such as steamers, raw oysters, and spicy gumbo, on the top level of this 15-story resort, with 360-degree views of the Sonoran Desert below.

Unique to the resort are the live Native American performances and Shadows, an old school music venue highlighting the classic sounds of Frank Sinatra and Big Band. And, of course, 240,000 square feet of gaming and daily live entertainment at the slick Casino Arizona.

36 holes of championship golf at the adjacent Talking Stick Golf Club are managed by the prestigious Troon Golf company. A stunning desert layout designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, since its opening in 1998, the 7,133-yard track has received an avalanche of awards, including 4.5 stars from Golf Digest; "Top 100 You Can Play" in Golf Magazine; ranked #1 in the state by Golfweek, and many more. Talking Stick is the home of Tim Mahoney Golf schools and a Troon Golf Academy.

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 articles about Sustainable Travel and a blog on Sustainable Travel

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

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

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

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

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

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

River Golf Club, North August, Georgia

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

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

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

• More about golf in Georgia.

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

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.

On the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the Poipu Bay Golf Course and clubhouse will close between April 1 and about December 16 for extensive greens renovation (golf shop remains open). On all of the greens, Bermuda grass will be replaced with Paspalum, to provide a faster, more consistent putting surface, and will use less fertilizer, water and herbicide.

The links-style championship course, site of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf from from 1994 through 2006, is a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design laid between dramatic mountain peaks and jagged bluffs a hundred feet above the surf. On the shoreline holes during the winter, you can watch humpback whales rolling and spouting offshore. On the beach below fifteen and sixteen, green sea turtles and monk seals are often seen sunbathing.

Tiger Woods held forth at Poipu Bay Golf Course in 2001 to win his fourth straight Grand Slam of Golf with a record twelve-under-132, and a three-stroke victory over David Toms--the rolling terrain and wildly undulating fairways failed to faze Tiger. Golfers contend with fairway bunkers on nearly every hole, and when breezes blow in the afternoons, headwinds and crosswinds are a given. When your ball lands in the stony ruins of ancient places of worship, called heiaus, there they must stay, as the ruins are off-limits. On the final four holes, the sound of the surf will be in your ears and the tradewinds in your hair are you play along the oceanfront.

Anchoring the Poipu Bay resort is the new, 4-diamond Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa  (formerly the Hyatt Regency Kauai), an elegant, tropical 602-room resort on a hillside overlooking Keoneloa Bay. Guests enjoy acres of tropical lagoons and gardens, a white sand beach and the Anara Spa (soon to be expanded with additional gardens and treatment hales (huts), each with its own soaking tub). Guest rooms are to be renovated this year; each has a private lanai, a separate seating area, and most have full or partial ocean views. 

Reserve now through March 17th at the Grand Hyatt and receive a hotel credit, good towards activities, hotel amenities and more.

More on golf in Hawaii

And, even more on 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

More about Celtic Manor

More about the US Ryder Cup Team

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

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.

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.

The Mount Washington Golf Course at The Omni Mount Washington Resort has been restored to the original Donald Ross-designed plans of 1915 and upgraded to 21st century standards, part of a $7 million renovation of the entire golf complex. The glorious 900-foot wrap-around veranda, the Great Hall and dining room at the resort were also restored.

Along the banks of the Ammonoosuc River with views of the Presidential Mountain Range, the 9-hole Mount Pleasant Golf Course, first opened in 1895, was recently restored and updated, and now offers a more challenging game for golfers.

The year-round vacation destination amid nearly 800,000 acres of the White Mountain National Forest, the resort is anchored by the 200-room Mount Washington Hotel.

A National HIstoric Landmark opened in 1902, a grand masterpiece of Spanish Renaissance architecture, the building of the hotel was a 2-year labor of love for 250 master craftsmen.

Other lodging at the resort is the Bretton Arms Inn, a restored Victorian Inn built in 1896; the family-friendly Lodge, and two-to-five-bedroom townhomes.

The resort is located in Bretton Woods, 2.5 hours from Boston. Besides golf, guests enjoy the spectacular landscape on the longest zip-line in New England (open year-round); and Nordic and Alpine skiing; fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and luxuriating in the 25,000-square foot spa.

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. And, she also maintains a blog on Sustainable Travel.

Come for the golf, stay for the St. Patrick's Day celebrations at Ashford Castle, set on 350 acres in Ireland's County Mayo on the shores of Lough Corrib and the River Cong, with a spectacular backdrop of woodlands, lake, river, and mountains.

Ashford Castle is offering a "Green with Envy" package for St. Patrick's Day, from March 12 until March 19, 2010 (US $1,076) in a Corrib Standard room with glorious lake view, ilncluding:

•     breakfast daily
•     an Emerald Phyto Body Treatment for two
•     cooking demonstration
•     Guinness pouring with the chef
•     St. Patrick's Day "Pot of Gold" treasure hunt
•     "Long Puck" hurling competition and other games
•      boat trip to the Isle of Inchagoill
•     visit St. Patrick's 5th-century church Templepatrick   
•     Bellinis on the house
•     The Quiet Man movie, a classic filmed in part at Ashford Castle

Dating to 1228, Ashford Castle has 83 luxurious rooms and suites, an equestrian center, fly fishing, a beautiful nine-hole golf course, Ireland's first school of falconry and sporting clay shooting. Guests can also arrange to play golf at other world-famous courses in the area, such as Connemara, Carne, Enniscrone and Sligo. Donegal, Rosapenna, Portsalon, Ballyliffin, Castlerock, Portstewart and Royal Portrush.

Read more here about Ashford Castle.

More here about golf in Ireland.

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. And, she also maintains a blog on Sustainable Travel.

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.

The Swiliken Bridge on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, home of the 2010 Open Championship

Golf Vacations UK is offering guaranteed times at St. Andrews Old Course this year, from April through August, including golf and accommodations.

For an individual or a group, tee times on the Old are hard to come by and must be booked months, even up to two years, in advance. About half of the starting times are put into a daily lottery drawn for the next day's play. Also, sometimes individual golfers just hang out to see if they can get into a foursome that is missing a player for some reason.

To obtain a guaranteed tee time in advance on the Old Course on your own, you can place a reservation with the St. Andrews Links Trust; it's a rather complicated procedure. Tee times are often gettable on the other courses that the Trust represents (New Course, Jubilee Course, Eden Course, Strathtyrum Course, Balgove Course, The Castle Course--all gorgeous, highly rated courses).

To bypass the reservation process, look into packages that include accommodations and tee times, such as those offered by these reliable companies:

• Old Course Experience
• Links Golf St Andrews
• Scotland Golf Tours
• Classic Golf Tours
• GolfPac International

The 2010 Open Championship will be at St. Andrews, July 15-18. The last two Opens at St. Andrews were won by Tiger Woods, in 2000 and 2005. For the first time in a century, the famous 17th "Road Hole" is being lengthened, and this will also be the first year of high definition TV broadcast.

Every golfer dreams of a pilgrimage to St. Andrews, the birthplace of the game, the site of the oldest and most revered golf course in the world––the Old Course. From Old Tom Morris to Tom Watson and Tiger Woods, for over six centuries and in more than two dozen British Opens, players have battled the elements on this formidable, true linksland, against bracing winds off the North Sea, in rain and swirling mists, through prickly, knee-high gorse, across rolling dunes and into grassy hollows. You will find no waterfalls or railroad ties, no palm trees; no trees at all, just low mounds and long stretches of scruffy, natural heathers, and brooms, shockingly deep pot bunkers and mammoth double greens, each with two flags, swept dry and hard by the nearly unceasing breath of the sea. Practice your knock-down shots, pitch-and-runs and long, long putts; stay low at all costs.

If you are fortunate enough to snag a tee time on the Old, come early to experience the look and the palpable spirit of the place. Shoulder to shoulder, the picturesque buildings of the ancient town create a backdrop unlike any other in golfdom. Expect an audience on the first tee––a crowd of sightseers, townspeople, caddies and golfers is omnipresent, rapt as the starter calls, “Gentlemen, hit away.” A decent drive earns applause, an errant one gets sympathetic sighs. As you step across the hallowed stones of Swilican Bridge on the finishing hole, look up to see the venerable members of the Royal and Ancient, single malt whiskeys in hand, peering out the bay windows of their clubhouse.

Read more here about St. Andrews

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. And, she also maintains a blog on Sustainable Travel.

To keep our golf game sharp when it’s cold out, here are a few tips from Dan Pasquariello, Director of Instruction at Pebble Beach Golf Academy (Pasquariello has been selected by Golf Magazine as one of its "100 Best Teachers in America" since 1995):

During the winter months we need to make some adjustments in our game due to the lack of play (and perhaps, practice), and the change in weather conditions.

• Do some stretching exercises indoors to loosen your back and neck muscles to prevent injury.
• Swing a weighted golf club, or training device such as the Momentus, to keep your muscles loose and elongated.
• On the course, layer your clothing with materials such as thermals, silk and wool to keep body heat in and cold out.
• Carry a pair of winter gloves to keep your hands warm between shots.
• Wear a pair of waterproof golf shoes to protect your feet.
• Most of all remember the ball will not go as far due to the lower temperatures, so take two more clubs and swing easy and with tempo. Remember, at no time should your feet leave your shoes . . . 

Snow at the Crosby: from its earliest days in 1947, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (originally called "The Crosby Clambake" or "The Crosby") has been known for three things: great golf, a sparkling array of golfing celebrities, and unpredictable weather. The rain and winds off the Pacific Ocean are as much a part of the championship as the competition they often interrupt.

Yet, no one expected the cause of the final round's delay in 1962: snow. This was the first time in 40 years it snowed on the Monterey Peninsula, prompting golf pro Jimmy Demeret to make the famous remark, "I know I got loaded last night, but how did I end up in Squaw Valley?" (Squaw Valley is a ski resort in California). The tournament was completed on the following day; it has not snowed at Pebble Beach since.

Read more about the 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, February 8th – 14th

More winter golf tips.

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. 

Troon North Golf Club in Scottsdale, AZ, a Troon-managed course

The best golf course management company on the planet, Troon Golf has announced their 2010 Troon Card Program, which offers green fee discounts of up to 50% at some of most highly rated courses in the world--more than 40 golf clubs are participating.

Card holders and their guests also get replay rounds for just $10 per player, and the card ensuresbest rate by extending $5 off promotional rates at participating clubs. Card choices include the Arizona TwoSome and FourSome, accepted at 11 courses across Scottsdale, Phoenix and Tucson, as well as the California/Nevada Troon Cards accepted at eight courses in Las Vegas and Southern California. The National card option extends rate privileges at more than 40 courses located in 15 states and in Mexico.

To see a list of participating courses and to purchase a Troon Card online, visit www.troongolf.com (select the “e-store” link). Here are some the notable golf clubs where cardholders get the Troon Card discounts.

• Troon North Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ
• The Phoenician, Phoenix, AZ
• Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, CA
• Indian Wells Resort, Indian Wells, CA
• Westin Mission Hills, Rancho Mirage, CA
• The Golf Club at Equinox, Manchester Village, VT
• Classic Club, Palm Desert, CA
• One&Only Ocean Club, Paradise Island, Bahamas
• The Grove, London, England
• Makai Club, Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii

Troon Golf is the world’s largest golf management company, overseeing properties in 31 states and 26 countries.

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. And, she mainains a blog on Sustainable Travel.

Actor Kurt Russell hits from the 11th tee during the first round of the Bob Hope Classic PGA golf tournament at Silver Rock Resort in La Quinta, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The stars are out for the 51st Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, CA. Celebrity players in the 2010 event, playing this week through Sunday, include such luminaries as Chris O’Donnell, Kurt Russell, William Devane, Oliver Hudson of “Rules of Engagement,” Kevin Nealon of “Weeds”, Bo Jackson and musicians Kenny G and Alice Cooper.

The PGA TOUR competition is being played on four courses in the Palm Springs area city of La Quinta: the Palmer Course at PGA West, the Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West, SilverRock Resort and La Quinta Country Club.

Although Shane Bertsch is leading the pack by 2, on-and-off rain and wind should complicate the final rounds.

Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra is the first-ever "Classic Ambassador". Also new this year is Hope Square just inside the tournament entrance at the Palmer Private Course, featuring daily live entertainment, a massive video wall broadcasting tournament play, a food court (includilng Bar B Q prepared by 10-time National Bar B Q Cook Off Champion Big Bob Gibson's Bar B Q from Alabama) and two bars, plus a preview of vintage autos that will participate in the Desert Classic Concours d’Elegance tnext month at La Quinta Resort & Spa.

During the past 50 years, the Bob Hope Classic has donated more than $47 million to nonprofits throughout the Palm Springs-Coachella Valley.

TV schedule for the Bob Hope Classic

Read more about golf in the Palm Springs-Coachella Valley area.

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.

Cape Kidnappers Golf Course in New Zealand

Young guns battled gale winds at the Cape Kidnappers Kiwi Challenge this last November. Four of golf's most charismatic, young PGA TOUR contenders––Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas, Hunter Mahan and Sean O'Hair––scrambled to stay on the greens in the 50-mile-an-hour winds off the ocean on one of the world's greatest golf courses, Cape Kidnappers on New Zealand's North Island. The opening round of the two-day event was suspended due to high winds, which repeatedly moved the balls around, even after they landed on the fairways (on the practice range, hitting into the wind, "spiderman" Villegas watched his 5-wood shots actually fly back over his head). Anthony Kim only needed a bogey on the first playoff hole to defeat Sean O'Hair and collect $1 million.

Tom Doak-designed Cape Kidnappers lies on a series of rugged bluffs above the sea. Doak said, "If it were any bigger or any more dramatic, it would probably be cordoned off as a national park. It's an overwhelming experience to stand up on the cliffs, 140 meters above sea level, and look out across the waves far below in Hawke's Bay. Not true links terrain, with the wrinkles of sand dunes, instead the land tilts toward the sea as a series of ridges jutting out toward the edge of the cliffs. Yet, the play is seaside golf at its finest. The surface is firm and fast, the conditions can be windy, and the player who can control his trajectory will be master of the course. You'll hit shots over the tops of the tea trees, and play along the edges of deep ravines. If you stray on your approaches, you'll actually hope to get caught up in bunkers hanging off the green's edge, some of them deeper than you've ever seen before.  Three times, you'll have to make the perilous leap from the end of one ridge to the end of the next. And at the 6th and 15th holes it's possible to pull your approach off the very end of the earth, though it will take nearly ten seconds of hang time for your ball to reach the ocean below.

A luxury-level Relais & Chateau property, 20 cottages at The Farm at Cape Kidnappers are adjacent to the golf course on a 5,000-acre sheep and cattle ranch. The Farm ranked among Travel + Leisure's "World's Top 100 Hotels".

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.

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 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.

The long-awaited second Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course––Bahia Golf Course––has opened at the Four Seasons Punta Mita near Puerto Vallarta. On a lush peninsula jutting out into Bahia de Banderas, among lakes and numerous water features, the 7,035-yard beauty has skinnier fairways, more bunkers and trickier greens than its celebrated sister course at the resort, the Pacifico Golf Course.

Pacifico is famous for the world’s only natural island green, known to golf fans from around the world as "The Tail of the Whale". Eight of the holes border the Pacific or Bahia de Banderas, with whales often visible offshore from December to April.

A whopping $1,234 resort credit, based on a 5-night stay, is good through January, 2010.

Read more about golf at Punta Mita and in Puerto Vallarta.

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.

Ring of Kerry golf cottages in Ireland

Avid golf travelers are finding out about Eagle Eye Rentals, a global company that specializes in golf course-oriented condos, homes, apartments and villas, worldwide--from the luxurious 3 bed/3/bath Kamali Villas at Princeville Makai Golf Course on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, to charming Ring of Kerry golf cottages in Ireland, sleek seaside condos at golf resorts in the Caribbean, and more than a hundred properties of all price ranges on the "Costa del Golf" in Spain.


Besides perusing the details and photos provided on the web site, Eagle Eye Rentals gives you access to the property owners, so you can deal directly with them. Also, you can search by country, region, # of bedrooms and even by course designer. So far, the site leans toward European countries, while new properties are being added all the time.

Get your golf buddies together and plan a 2010 golf getaway!

Golf vacation home rental at Royal St. Kitts

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.

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.