Category Archives: Top Golf Destinations

Sand Hollow Golf Resort

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Show business has a lot to say about gracing a magazine cover, especially if the magazine has a prominent reputation. It is synonymous to being important and being interesting enough to risk their publication’s sales on the marketability of one person. Same holds true with golf publication. Only the best in the sport – course or player – get that cover story glam. And the Sand Hollow Golf Resort is one of those golf vacation destinations, having been the face of GolfWeek’s March 2011 issue. That, along with being named the #1 Public Golf Course in Utah for the second year in a row.

Sand Hollow Golf Resort is a 27-hole golf facility that sits in the middle of Color Country’s Pine Valley Mountains. The two courses – Championship and the Links – blends perfectly with the surrounding red rock canyons of Utah providing a most picturesque backdrop. The 18-hole Championship course, designed by John Fought, features ridgeline fairways, difficult sand traps and dramatic elevation changes. The Links Course, on the other hand, takes golfers on a time warp: it is like playing the sport in the British Isles from when it had begun, but tweaked with desert features of sand dunes and rock outcroppings. Both are different from each other, but together they make a perfect golf vacation haven for families and golfers regardless of skill levels.

The noteworthy quality of the courses of the Sand Hollow Golf Resort is perfectly complimented by its world-class facilities, particularly the clubhouse, the putting greens, and pro shop. The front page quality of this golf course makes golf trips here one for the books – they’re too beautiful to leave to memory they should be written!

Valderra at the Ledges

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Every golfer longs for a memorable golf vacation. It should be hassle free, fun, and nothing like he’s ever had. Needless to say, the golf course plays a role so major in the golfer’s search for that one of a kind vacation that a single flaw might ruin everything else. Good to know, there still are a few great golf courses that fits the role to a tee – just like the Valderra Course at the Ledges in Southern Utah. Regardless of whether the golfer plays as a pro, an amateur, or simply the recreational type, this golf course’s features will definitely play the part of the perfect course.

Located 900 feet above the St George, Utah Valley, this Matt Dye creation is more than some pretty face of a golf vacation destination. True, though, that it is a looker. With the red rick terrains of the desert surrounding the course and the unmatched view of the Snow Canyon State Park cliffs, it is quite hard to describe this as anything other than beautiful. But it is so much more than that. Its naturally rugged terrain makes it an even more rugged, tough course to play. Stretching 7,200 yards from the longest tees, the Valderra Course at the Ledges gives every golfer something to think about at every hole.

The most sought-after feature, however, of this course is its state-of-the-art facility. They have GPS-equipped golf carts, top caliber practice facilities, and their pride and joy: the Jack Nicklaus Academy of Golf at Valderra. The academy is packed with both high end equipment and the best pros to have for instructors. Truly, the Valderra Course at the Ledges not only plays the role of the dream golf trip destination, but actually lives it.

The Chase at Coyote Springs

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To be the first in a magnanimous project is to carry the burden of representing the rest of the plan. Spectators will look at it as a ‘sneak peek’ of sorts where all their expectations will be founded on. When the Chase Course at Coyote Springs – a planned gigantic golf community – was built, it bore the pressure of showing the world just how beautiful it is, and how even more wonderful it will all be when it is done. It is a standing promise of the most epic golf vacations 365 days a year.

Not surprising though, the Chase Course at Coyote Springs is a Jack Nicklaus creation. It is the first of the planned 16 Nicklaus courses in the community located 45 minutes from the Las Vegas strip. Surrounded by nothing but the bare desert, the mountains, and the vast sky, the course stands out like an oasis with its lush greens and eleven lakes. Rounds of golf at The Chase are a walk in the park – not that it’s easy, considering it’s a Nicklaus – but the layout requires the golfers to take some time to think of his next move all too carefully lest he ends up with a bad scorecard. The 18-hole, par 72 golf vacation destination stretches to 7,471 yards from the Championship tees, all the more making the game truly epic.

This early, where it stands in the middle of nowhere and nothing, the Chase at Coyote Springs is already gaining quite the accolade. It bagged the Best New Course of 2008 title from all three golf publication bigwigs Golf Magazine, Golf Digest and Travel+Leisure Golf. Representing Coyote Springs well, golf trips are already lined up for the other 15 courses even before they are built.

Falcon Ridge Golf Club

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Mesquite, Nevada is blessed to have one of the most naturally stunning desert landscapes in the United States. The golden sand and the canyons look like they’re glittering under the sun. The stunning views and the rugged landscape are two characteristics of this desert terrain that golf course developers love about Mesquite, making it a highly favored location for golf courses. They pair it with a powerful course layout, an even better conditioning team, and the results are some of the best desert golf vacation destinations in the world. One perfect example of this is the Falcon Ridge Golf Club.

The 18-hole medium length golf course stretches to 6,550 yards of golf, with three sets of tees for golfers of various handicaps. The course features a good serving of rugged, rocky terrain characteristic of Mesquite. Its 18 spectacular holes of the Falcon Ridge Golf Club are spread across greens with interesting, fairly challenging elevation changes. The mesa views from the course complete the package for the ultimate desert golf vacation.

Mesquite, being its good old beautiful self, is home to a lot of other stunning golf courses. But Falcon Ridge Golf Club could so easily compete head to head with them, even the more expensive ones. It is a golf vacation destination that is made of the right amount of comfort, spunk and beauty that perfectly matches Mesquite’s natural splendor. A golf trip to Nevada will never be complete without a sidetrip to Mesquite, and Falcon Ridge should be on top of the list.

The Links at Crowbush Cove

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A golf vacation at Prince Edward Island couldn’t get any better than visiting The Links at Crowbush Cove. The pot bunkers, water holes, undulating fairways, and challenging greens provide the guests with a great golf experience. Designer Thomas McBroom stretched his creativity to make the course unique while preserving its natural surroundings. This astonishing course is a combination of nature and imagination.

Debuted in 1993, The Links at Crowbush Cove is the toughest among the other Prince Edward Island golf courses. It plays over 6,900 yards and comes with lots of long water carries. The 11th hole demands a long shot over a pond between the fairway and green. The 15th hole has a traditional links look that heads straight for the sea. Providing the signature view at Crowbush, the 16th hole continues along the beach and looks back from the green towards the dunes. The most controversial 17th hole is just a pitching wedge over no-man’s land to an elevated green that is guarded by deep pot bunkers. Furthermore, the course’s location makes it subject to most of the island’s higher wind. So scoring in this place on a windy day is even more challenging. Taking a golf trip to this course is a good way of improving any golfer’s skills.

The Links at Crowbush Cove integrates eight dunes holes, nine water holes, and greens built to USGA specs. This is just some of the factors why this course has earned a five-star rating from Golf Digest. Aside from that, because of its tough holes and beautiful surrounding, it was also recognized as Canada’s Best New Course in 1994 by Golf Digest. A golf triphere will be the centerpiece of every guest’s visit to Prince Edward Island.

Green Gables Golf Club

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From its name alone, and even from the looks of it, Green Gables Golf Club is literally one golf course straight out of a storybook. This picturesque golf vacation destination is at the same place where Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic tale, Anne of Green Gables was set. But unlike the rolling farmlands in the story, this Green Gables is of rolling oceanside fairways, championship holes, and memorable games of golf everytime. It is a product not of a literary geniuses, but of two legends from separate generations.

Green Gables Golf Club was originally designed by The Stanley Thompson in the late 1930s. He molded the 18-hole par-72 course that stretched over 6,400 yards from the natural terrain. A little more than seven decades later, another legendary golf course architect, Thomas McBroom, did his handiwork in the golf course. To pay homage to the legend that first built it, and to bring out the natural splendor of this side of Prince Edward Island, McBroom only did so much to improve and work on wat Thompson originally made. McBroom stretched the course to 7000 yards and reinstated the old bunkers and expanded the ocean views. But golf trips here are not made of dallying around. Just because it’s beautiful does not necessarily mean golfers can read a novel in between holes.

The golf course’s deep bunkers, deceiving layout of the greens, the strategic positioning of the water holes and the breeze coming in from the ocean all play a role in making rounds at the Green Gables Golf Club as challenging as they are beautiful. And like the story in the book, there is not a dull moment here. Everything is beautiful, everything is fun, and each golf vacation here deserves a storybook of its own.

Brudenell River Golf Club

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Aging may be an inevitable part of life and there’s no way to counter it – unless there exists a real-life Benjamin Button. The only thing to be done with it is to accept it, and for the rare few and blessed ones, they age rather gracefully. This is how the Brudenell River Golf Club is. The 4-decade old golf vacation destination has long since been on the top list of the most beautiful golf courses in the scenic Prince Edward Island in Canada.

The island is a place known for having some of the best courses in Canada and in North America and Brudenell River Golf Club is just one of them. The garden and river course has all the makings of a classic paradise of sorts. It has broad fairways, perfectly manicured greens and many picturesque gardens, lakes and ponds. The river comes into play on several holes, making the game both fun, challenging, and of course, scenic. Proof to its excellence is its being host to Canada’s first ever women’s “skins” game (Lorie Kane Island Challenge 2008) and a number of other Canadian Tour events. This further proves that this course is not only perfect for golf vacations but for golf championships as well.

The 18-hole, par-72 course which stretches to over 6000 yards has a 4-star rating from Golf Digest’s Places to Play and is in SCORE Golf Magazine’s Top 6 Canadian Resorts. Since 1969 when it first opened to this very day, the Brudenell River Golf Club has not failed to make precious every golf trip spent here. And it continues to be one of the best, age regardless. The last 40 years has seen its prime, and another 40 would surely not faze it.

Le Diable Golf, Mont Tremblant

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Even the meanest of all devils in golf would find it hard not to soften up and fall head over heels in love with Le Diable Golf Course in Mont Tremblant in Canada. With the breathtaking views of the ancient Laurentian Mountains, the pristine natural splendor and one of the best golf layouts ever made, it’s not surprising how this has become one of the highly favored golf courses (and a celebrated, well awarded one at that). But if a love affair made in heaven is what golfers are looking to find here, they must keep in mind this golf vacation destination is not called The Devil for nothing.

Everything may look heavenly in this Arizona-style golf course – and it is, undoubtedly – but the games here require bracing the many obstacles natural and not. Its creators have done a lot of good in making this one exciting challenge; the perfect irony to its breathtaking beauty. The Le Diable Golf Course is an 18-hole par-71 course created by the genius duo of Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry. One of the most notable features of this golf trip favorite are the red bunkers that outline the greens, making it both picturesque and challenging.

And as with anything that is easy to fall in love with, the Le Diable Golf Course has found its way to the hearts of the meticulous and quite picky golf publications. It has been awarded the Best Golf Destination Outside Ontario in 2008 by the Toronto Sun, and the 28th Best Golf in Canada by Globe Golf, Globe and Mail in 2005. It’s also on of Golf Style’s Top 10 Golf Courses in Canada (2005). For something named after the devil himself, there’s too much heaven on golf vacations here.

Kananaskis Country Golf Club – Mt Kidd Course

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And so the old pop song goes, “too much of something is bad enough…” This line definitely finds untruth on the Mt Kidd Course of the Kananaskis Country Golf Club in Banff, Alberta, Canada. That, or “too much” is this golf vacation destination‘s definition of “just right”. Either way, nothing comes short or lacking in this paradise in the Canadian Rockies. There’s too much for a golfer to take in, so many things to do, and so much fun to take home they might as well not do anything fun for weeks for it could suffice.

Opened in 1983, this Robert Trent Jones Sr. design sits on a mountain surrounded by majestic granite formations, one from which it was named. Together with its sister course, Mt Lorette, the Kidd Course of the Kananaskis Country Golf Club boasts of breathtaking views and even better playing layout. The valley type course features few elevation changes and crushed granite bunkers. The whole course winds throughout the scenic Kananaskis River and several glacial creeks that both serve as picturesque backdrops and epic natural water hazards. This golf vacation favorite shares the 18th hole with its sister course, and stretches to over 7,000 yards of golf.

For a country like Canada that has been blessed by nature with countless fascinating wonders turned into some of North America’s best golf courses, the Mt Kidd Course of the Kananaskis Country Golf Club does not fall low on the list. And there’s nothing surprising about it, considering how generous it is in challenge, fun, and scenery. With a course this outstanding, there’s not a thing called “too much golf trip” this way either.

Stewart Creek Golf Club

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To some, golfing is just a pastime. But when they experience the excellence of Stewart Creek Golf Club, they will definitely eat their words for the place is very comparable to their dream paradise. Once they’ve set foot in this club, it will make them want to spend another week in the place. It is located in Alberta, Canada and it opened in 2000. It is less than ten minutes from downtown Canmore, so there’s no need to get up too early for the morning tee time. Designed by Gary Browning, the place is very playable that it attracts different types of golfers. Because of its friendly environment, many visitors include the course on their list of ideal golf vacation spots.

Stewart Creek Golf Club plays every inch of 7,195 yards. Every hole is unique, taking full advantage of the place’s terrain at the base of the Three Sisters, Canada’s major mountain feature in Canmore. Selecting the right tee box for the handicap is the key to finish each hole – the fourth, fifth, and sixth holes are long, uphill, and will definitely test the players’ game. The back nine is where the enjoyment begins. “Hole No. 9 is what it is – hit an eight iron out to the landing area, and then a six iron in,” said Jacob Sonn, an Alberta golf expert. He added, “Definitely the weakest hole on the course, but don’t let it take away from the overall experience on your Canadian golf vacation to Canmore, Alberta.”

Designer Browning wanted the course to be more than just a challenge; he wanted it to be an experience by carefully planning each hole to perfectly fit in with the landscape. Stewart Creek Golf Club is a successful masterpiece by Gary Browning that it was called “The Best New Course in Western Canada” in 2002 by Golf Digest, giving it a four and a half star in 2002, 2003, and 2004. A golf trip to this place offers the visitors not only tough and challenging rounds, but also a great and wonderful experience.