Jeff Wallach
10 unlikely spots where the links are lighting up
Possibly your notion of the perfect golf destination includes rolling seaside links, lands abloom with gorse and heather and a bagpiper playing on a distant hill. Sure, golf started in Scotland, but it’s currently played in approximately 200 countries on six continents. In some of the hottest new destinations, there may not even be a specific word for “golf” in the local language.
Picture tee shots arcing high in the shadow of The Great Wall, or celebrating your round at a nineteenth hole caressed by trade winds and serving fruity rum drinks (rather than single malt). From Cancun to China to Canada, many of the world’s best up-and-coming golf destinations are places not normally associated with the Royal and Ancient game. And by the way—Scotland qualifies all over again, with four of the golf world's most anticipated new course openings scheduled for 2008...
10 unlikely spots where the links are lighting up
Possibly your notion of the perfect golf destination includes rolling seaside links, lands abloom with gorse and heather and a bagpiper playing on a distant hill. Sure, golf started in Scotland, but it’s currently played in approximately 200 countries on six continents. In some of the hottest new destinations, there may not even be a specific word for “golf” in the local language.
Picture tee shots arcing high in the shadow of The Great Wall, or celebrating your round at a nineteenth hole caressed by trade winds and serving fruity rum drinks (rather than single malt). From Cancun to China to Canada, many of the world’s best up-and-coming golf destinations are places not normally associated with the Royal and Ancient game. And by the way—Scotland qualifies all over again, with four of the golf world's most anticipated new course openings scheduled for 2008...
Jeff Wallach
10 unlikely spots where the links are lighting up
Possibly your notion of the perfect golf destination includes rolling seaside links, lan... more
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1
Portugal
Dana Garmany, chairman and CEO of Troon Golf, which manages more than 200 golf courses in 32 countries, cites Portugal as a worldwide hotspot. "The southern Algarve region is within two hours of northern Europe and has a number of top-notch projects on the planning boards. It has the best weather in Europe in the winter and offers a combination of traditional golf properties and a big wave of new expansion." Jack Nicklaus' Monte Rei, outside the charming medieval town of Tavira, sets a new high standard for the area.
2
China
Mission Hills, in Shenzhen, China is nothing less than a mega-resort. "No golf facility embodies 'boom' more than Mission Hills," says GOLF Magazine's Joe Passov. "It's currently in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest golf resort in the world. And it's added two more courses since then, for a total of 12." Two of the courses are lit up for night play and one of three clubhouses sprawls for 600,000 sq ft.
3
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic's new Cap Cana Resort joins the ranks of Caso De Campo Resort and Country Club, home to the Golf Digest Five-Star Teeth of the Dog, designed by Pete Dye. His son, P.B. Dye, designed Punta Cana, one of the longest and toughest courses in the Caribbean.
4
Riviera Maya, Mexico
Until recently, golf was almost an afterthought for developers along Mexico's eastern shore. While several decent courses have lurked around Cancun for decades, a new era of quality resort golf began in 2006 with the opening of Greg Norman's El Cameleon at the Mayakoba Resort. Several hotels operated by the likes of Rosewood and Fairmont provide deluxe retreat from the fairways.
5
Sweden
The Bro Hof Slott Golf Club, outside Stockholm, plays along the shores of Lake Malaren. This Robert Trent Jones design was recently named the country's best course by Golf Digest magazine. The clubhouse, located in a renovated castle, provides an idea of how grandly the Swedes view golf.
6
Scotland, Part II
While Donald Trump waits to find out whether he'll be allowed to build a gigantic golf resort on Scotland's east coast, the Scots have recently accelerated their own development since the last boom a century ago. Around St. Andrews alone, Kingsbarns, the Duke's Course, two layouts by Bruce Devlin and Sam Torrance at the Fairmont hotel, and the soon-to-open Castle Course provide enough new fairways to fill any weeklong golf adventure.
7
Pacific Northwest, U.S.
In the past eight years, the Pacific Northwest has become one of the dream golf destinations worldwide thanks to Bandon Dunes Resort. Three walking-only courses route over, through and around massive dunes on bluffs 100 feet above the Pacific Ocean. Lodging options are elegant without being over the top, and no real estate mars the perfect expanse of natural linkslands.
8
New Zealand
According to Gordon Dalgleish, New Zealand's recent golf courses have taken the country's golf reputation "from Chevy to Cadillac. For the avid golfer it really shows up on the radar." You could barely open a golf magazine in the past two years without reading about Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers, two of the best. And, as Joe Passov says, the "soaring mountains and the lack of people" have helped fuel the world's kiwi obsession.
9
Dubai
"Dubai is Europe's Scottsdale or Palm Springs," says Dana Garmany, of Troon Golf. "It's got a stable, neutral, pro-Western government; terrific warm, dry weather; and a non-oil economy that's targeted upscale tourism with a lot of golf, fine hotels and beaches, great restaurants, clubs and everything else you'd see in a great western city." The most exciting golf in Dubai will include four courses on Dubai World, an island just offshore, and The Earth, Wind and Fire Courses at Jumeriah Golf Estates. And everyone's waiting to see what Tiger Woods does with his first course design there.
10
British Columbia
Joe Passov also raves about British Columbia. "People have just discovered the Okanagan Valley, where they're developing the fourth nine at Predator Ridge. Fred Couples is opening a dramatic $1 billion property called The Rise, and Tobiano, in Kamloops, ranks as one of the top new Canadian courses." He says the area is notable for its high desert climate, the finest wine tasting north of Napa, and 80-mile-long Lake Okanagan.
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