Golf Vacations

I’ve made the trip to the Florida Keys once in my life. I looked everywhere, but saw no possible way to build a golf course on that skinny little sandbar.

O’contraire, young man.

There’s the Key West Golf Club and now I’m trying to find a way to get back down there to play.

At the entrance to the island of Key West, Key West Golf Club’s 18 holes encompass over 200 acres of beautiful Florida Keys foliage and wildlife.

Golf legend Rees Jones masterfully designed the Key West Golf Course, an 18 hole, 6,500 yard course to be a challenge to players of all abilities. Come meet all the exciting challenges of the Key West Golf Course, including the infamous “Mangrove Hole” (143 yards, par 3 that is played completely over a field of thickly intertwined tropical mangroves).

Located in the heart of Key West, Florida the Key West Golf Club is the only Caribbean golf course in the United States. Key West offers enjoyment and activities to all ages including award wining restaurants, nightlife, diving, fishing and many other activities.

Next time you’re heading to The Keys, take your clubs. I will.

It’s time for the HSBC World Match Play Championship in Wentworth, England.

I’ve always enjoyed this event and would love to go over and watch it, but them freakin’ snakes on them planes are gonna keep me from ever doing that !

Since Jim Furyk just won the Canadian Open, I’m gonna install him as my pick to click. He’s also my pick to lead the American team, along with - get this - Tiger Woods, to victory in Ireland.

Tune in and enjoy this weeks event and get ready for the Ryder Cup next week !

Just got back from a smooth and lucky 67 on my home course. 6 birdies and 12 pars. I consider par there to be 70 from the tees I played, but I’m still tickled to shoot under 70.

I’m close to my first golf vacation of the year and I’ve been checking out a lot of sites, so I thought I’d share a few with you.

First off, one of my favorite places to visit, the sand hills of North Carolina and all places golfy can be found at Sand Hills Golf.

For central Florida, try Golf Orlando.

Thinking of the Reno - Lake Tahoe area, maybe Sparks, Carson Valley or Graeagle ?

Then try Golf The High Sierra.

What about Mesquite, Nevada ? Head over there, by clicking here.

That should keep you busy for a few hours..or days, so I’ll quit for now and give you a few more tomorrow.

Do you ever get the urge to head north and play some summer golf in Canada ? Me too.

I only wish I had the time and the extra dollars to do just that. When I get those or if you do now, here’s a site that can assist you in finding just the right Canadian Golf Vacation.

Ever thought of watching the TELUS (Canadian) Skins Game in person ? Me too. Here’s where you can get it done.

What about playing golf on Stanley Thompson’s masterpiece, Banff Springs ? Me too. Follow this yellow brick road and you can do that too.

There’s info on many ways to enjoy the beauty of Canada and mess it up by golfing, so click thru and enjoy.

Tell ‘em a country boy from south of the border sent you !

Damp & Wet. That’s how I was welcomed into The Netherlands. After my 10-hour flight from L.A. and another 2-hour drive from Amsterdam to Eindhoven, I finally got to bed Monday night. Although the Netherlands is as flat as a tray, the late evening drive in the rain was more tiresome than the flight.

Eindhoven’s lush greenery combined with Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s on and off showers made it feel like I was in Oregon. The beauty of Holland is that it is a culture of cycling. Regardless of the rain, there were hundreds of people using bicycles to get to work, to shop at the local farmers’ market ( with the cute little basket on the front of the bike ), and simply to stroll along miles of bike path in Genneper Parks, the deep green forests around Eindhoven.

The feeling I have from my trip to Switzerland two weeks ago and with this stay in Eindhoven this week is that Europeans do take time to live first, work second. Quality of life has a much greater importance here than the work-work-work pressure we have in the States. This gives them an overall sense of self that we sometimes lose in our constant drive to succeed in the U.S.

I took the time after my practice sessions to jog along the path in Genneper Park. I also drove past Philips’ big research center – I was told that this is where 1,400 of their researchers work around the clock to bring us many of the HDTV and wireless technologies we use today. The big attraction here, aside from the Netherlands’ biggest Friday night disco dance at the 100,000 SF ice arena, is Philips Stadium. This heated and covered 35,000-seat soccer stadium is built the old-fashioned way with fan seating near the playing field. The feeling you get from sitting there is the same as when you have floor seats at a basketball game or sit behind the glass panels in a hockey game – you feel the power of the action !

My rain gear came in handy during my Wednesday and Thursday rounds. I even had to wear my head cap to cover my ears as the wind was making it feel a lot colder than it was. I was striking the ball well, though I was not getting the distance I wanted. I can’t wait to get my new clubs from Cleveland Golf next week when I go back to see them at their headquarters in Huntington Beach. That should really help me increase my long and mid-irons distances.

There are 7 golf courses here, most quite flat, a little tight and narrow, and fairly large green surfaces. The Eindhovensche Golf Club where we’re playing the KLM this week is a private club that opens tee times to the public after 3 pm. It’s not a long course, but certainly nicely designed between small hills that do not allow you to see one hole from the next. While your G.I.R. percentage will look good here, you will frequently get long lag putts. I’ve found that the greens in Europe are quite slow, but with the rain here, they became horrendously slow. I felt I had to stroke the ball “ as if ” it was a long lag putt while the distance was much shorter.

One final thing about the Golf Club, their rules were posted on one of the hallways in the Clubhouse. This one cracked me up : “ Gentlemen are obliged to wear calf-length socks ”.

So apparently, no short socks allowed here…must be the sexiness of the ankles they’re trying to hide 

Friday, Round 1 of this 3-day tournament. Follow my scores on my homepage, Megan Golf.

Cheers,

Megan Heckeroth

Megan’s brought us a great read from Switzerland while she lives the life of a real travelling golfer and spends 3 weeks or so in Europe. This post is straight from Losone and gives us some insight into places I’d never be able to take you. For that, we owe Megan a debt of gratitude and let’s get right into the post.

So two days before my trip to Europe, I get a stomach virus that did not let up no matter what medicine I took. Finally Thursday rolls around, I get on my 11-hour Air France flight to Paris, to connect to my 2-hour Zurich flight, then my 2-hour Lugano flight, then my 1-hour train ride to Losone, then my 20 minute cab ride to the hotel.

Needless to say that whatever rest I got on the Paris flight got burnt up by these connections. The good thing about it is that my new tunes selection on my iPod helped me pass time and my stomach virus went away by the time I checked in and hit the sack at 11pm on Friday - who says the life of a Tour Pro is glamorous…

After a night of deep sleep in these Euro-style miniature-size beds at the Albergo Losone, the official Players Hotel of the Deutsche Ladies Swiss Open, the local Avis manager brought me my car for the duration of the Tournament. I had requested a Ford Mustang for that little home feeling, but they didn’t have any. He tells me he brought me a Renault Megane… Wow ! It’s got my name on it ! And the key chain also has my name on it. Kewl ! Thank god I learned to drive a manual stick shift when I was a kid because that’s all they have here.

I decided to take a drive around to get a feeling of this quaint little city of Losone in this “Italian” part of Switzerland. I had printed the Mapquest directions from the hotel to the golf course when I was in L.A. but they were completely backwards - the hotel concierge was much better than the computerized Mapquest directions.

What a beautiful little European town with a town square, small shops and cafes. Despite the thunderstorms and rain, people were still out going about their business - unlike L.A. were rain stops everything. I stopped to check out a few fashion stores - wooooweeee hot prices !!! Compounded with the lousy dollar to Euro exchange rate. I get a better rate through my Amex, but still things are expensive in Switzerland. I also noticed that in athletic stores PUMA is much bigger than Nike over here. Now I understand why they wanted to get affiliated with me, since I play the U.S. and European Tours. If you decide to visit this region, brush up on your Italian or bring an English-to-Italian dictionary.

My jet lag was starting to get to me, so I headed back to the hotel, went for a nice 2-mile hike in Switzerland’s biggest Palm Park behind the hotel called Mte Vierte, got a light salad for dinner and in a few minutes I am going to leave the hotel’s business center to head to my room. I am exhausted.

Tomorrow, surveying the golf course.

No sticks.

Just a pen, a yardage book, a greens schematic, and my local caddie.

Ciao (Bye in Italian),

Megan Heckeroth

For a complete bio, stats, schedule or to find out who Megan is and why she’s sending us updates from all over Europe, visit her Official Site and her blog, Club Megan.

Are you looking to take a golf vacation to Orlando Florida ?

If you are, you’re gonna want to go to Golf Orlando’s website and check out the deals they have waiting for you.

Everything you need, accommodations, rental car, golf course info, etc…..it’s all there.

Go ahead, click thru and send me a postcard from ORL !

Here’s another great bit of news for golfers in the state of Kentucky.

Over around Louisa, is Yatesville Lake State Park and a fine golf course, called Eagle Ridge Golf Course.

” Located at Yatesville Lake State Park in Eastern Kentucky, this course is built on mountainous terrain and features dramatic views. Some holes play downhill with 100 to 200 foot changes in elevation. The par 5, No. 4 hole plays from an elevated tee and is flanked by a creek along the fairway. Hole No. 13, a par 4, plays from a 200-foot elevation to the green surrounded by a rock outcropping and a creek. ”

For those of you who aren’t very familiar with them, the parks that make up the State Park system for Kentucky are among the finest in the nation and always have been.

Here’s the best parts of a press release from the State of Kentucky :

” Golf Digest magazine has named Eagle Ridge Golf Course at Yatesville Lake State Park in Louisa, Ky., as one of the nation’s “Best New Affordable Public Golf Courses” in 2005.

The 6,630-yard, par 71-course, which is carved out of the Eastern Kentucky mountains, ranked third on the magazine’s annual list. A nationwide panel of more than 800 golfers selected the winners based on shot values, design variety, resistance to scoring, memorability and aesthetics.

“ It’s terrific to receive this kind of recognition and we’re hopeful golfers from all over the state — as well as surrounding states — will want to see why this course is so highly regarded,” said Deputy Parks Director John Kington. “ We offer a package called ‘ Tee’s and Zzz’s ’ that makes it easy for anyone who wants to play Eagle Ridge to couple it with an overnight stay at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park. ”

Eagle Ridge is the fourth golf course operated by the Kentucky State Parks to receive accolades from Golf Digest.

Hidden Cove at Grayson Lake State Park and Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park course were both ranked among the nation’s best new affordable public courses in 2004, at fourth and six respectively. Wasioto Winds at Pine Mountain State Resort Park was ranked fourth in the same category in 2002.

“ To receive this recognition from such a well known and respected golf publication really validates our courses,” said Dan Strohmeier, the park system’s PGA director of golf. “ With this recent announcement, four of the six courses on our ‘Signature Series’ can now boast of having received Golf Digest awards.”

I’ll be doing a post about all the other golf courses in the State Park system over the next week or two.

I’ve played most of them and always enjoy an overnite stay in one of the Resorts that have cabins or cottages.

The parks have great lodges and the rooms are clean and well done, but a family of 5 does better with more room.

Just in time holiday golfing, gifting and relaxation comes news of a luxury golf package, a fabulous spa and a winemaker/golf packager.

This has to be the best combination of elements to come together in the name of golf since Jones and Augusta.

I can hardly find a way to tie together all the elements, but if you’ve got the time and inclination, they have a fabulous package waiting for you on a golf course that hosted the 2005 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Heard a golf course say this lately :

” Playing just over 7,100 yards from the championship tees, this classic layout offers strategic choices and challenges that excite golfers swinging graphite and titanium just as it did when they were carrying hickory and persimmon. “

And for those of you who don’t know who Kris Moe is :

” One unique aspect of the Kris Moe Golf Schools is Kris Moe himself. He is qualified for this “Luxury Golf Experience” by the fact that he is at once a seasoned golfer, a winemaker, and a cook. Moe goes beyond the usual PGA certification status of other golf pros. He brings to his teaching the added value of actual PGA tour experience garnered on the U.S. PGA Tour and European PGA Tour. His professional career highlights include a 25th place finish in the 1985 British Open, a 3rd place finish in the Australian PGA, and winner of the 2003 Northern California PGA Stroke and Match-Play championships, and the Hawaii State Open. He has played three times in the ATT Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. Some notable students who have enhanced their game with Kris Moe include actor Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Smothers, numerous corporate CEOs and current Japanese PGA Tour star Shingo Katayama. “

Now, we all can’t afford this getaway, but we would if we could, so the next best thing is to click thru to all the links I gave you and enjoy reading about what you’d do IF you had that much $$$ to spend on a golf getaway.

Thanks to the wonders of email I just found out about the fairly new service offered at Marriot Golf.

It appears that golfers can select a participating golf resort and book their tee times and hotel rooms instantly, thru the wonders of the web.

From The Wire :

” The new service marks the first time a collection of leading golf resort properties, based throughout the world, have come together to offer a one-stop booking solution that includes both tee times and lodging. Marriott Golf, the golf management organization of Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR), is offering this service in collaboration with GolfHero, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based global technology leader in the golf travel industry, and EZLinks, operator of the world’s largest network for golf reservations. “

I went to their site and it’s visually appealing and if the process that they have you go thru is as easy to navigate as their site is, then they will have a winner.

Go by and check it out and offer up some comments and feedback for all of us.

If you happen to book a vacation to someplace warm, send ol’ Mike a little sunshine.