Tag Archives: golf vacation

Lookout Mountain Golf Club at Tapatio

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

In looking for a golf vacation destination, the course and the facilities are the core factors that golfers consider. Lookout Mountain Golf Club at Tapatio is one golf club which gives its visitors great convenience with its above average facilities and adequate course. Considered as the shining jewel of the Pointe Hilton Resort in Phoenix, the course has been recognized as one of the top 25 golf courses in Arizona, and one of the top 50 public courses in America. It is also been rated 4 stars by Golf Digest. These are just some of the things that make Lookout Mountain interesting.

According to visitors’ feed backs, Lookout Mountain Golf Club at Tapatiohas quality facilities and a paradise-like environment. The resort alone makes the place almost perfect. The mountain scenery feeds the viewers’ eyes, not to mention the fascinating swimming pools, tennis court, fine dining, and other first class accommodations. A restaurant that serves delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals is also available. Moreover, the golf course is just a stone’s throw away from the guest rooms. So the guests don’t have to waste time in going to the course. They can enjoy endless rounds of golf right on! The field’s dramatic elevation make it a really big challenge to the players. Visiting this golf club is like having an all-in-one golf vacation.

 No wonder why Lookout Mountain Golf Club at Tapatio has received so many honors, recognitions, and awards. It satisfies a guest’s need of fun and enjoyment in golfing. To put it rather simply, it’s a highly recommended golf trip destination for golfers who wish not only to play a typical golf game but also for those who thirst for a heavenly vacation.

Las Sendas Golf Club

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Courses • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

Golfers always thirst for challenging courses. Aside from that, they seek golf trips which would feed relaxation to their spirits. These qualities can be experienced at Las Sendas Golf Club. Also known as the “green and brown course” because of its desert and grass fields, the place also serves guests with convenient rooms, dining, and other necessities that are surely satisfying.

 Giving golfers eighteen superb holes of challenge and fun, Las Sendas Golf Club greatly attracts many golfers, both amateurs and highly experienced players to develop and improve their golfing skills. As expected from a Robert Trent Jones design, fairways move spontaneously on the constructed swales and contours, and main lay of the land. Las Sendas requires critical thinking and strategy to play it well. Mere ball-hitting would never be enough. Therefore, players must have their best angles through correct positioning. The greens are very subtle. It requires precision to avoid the balls to slip past the hole. So much for the great challenge it gives, Las Sendas also brought the entire club to a higher level by giving its visitors the first class experience they deserve. Brand new carts with the latest braking technology, full cart paths to lessen the wear and tear on the desert, and on-course facilities such as halfway house and new bathrooms were also added to take the supreme golf experience to the optimum. Only Las Sendas defines the golf vacation that professional golfers dream of.

 Las Sendas Golf Club has been rated as one of the top 100 golf courses in the nation, top 10 in Arizona, and ranked 12th as the most challenging. What makes it unique from other courses is because its true desert course quality. Accuracy and consistency are the keys will make every round fulfilling. Las Sendas, indeed, has all the qualities and characteristics for an ideal golf trip.

Longbow Golf Club

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

It is one thing to be called an excellent golf course. It is another thing to be called the “Essence of Arizona Golf”. Skeptics – especially the purists – may have more than raised an eyebrow when The Longbow Golf Club in Arizona was given the title, but the golf vacation destination quickly turned doubters to believers once it was put to a test. The Ken Kavanaugh design has captured the best of desert golf in its purest form – both in playability and in scenery.

Ken Kavanaugh reworked on his original 1997 design, and in 2003, the Longbow Golf Club came out better than it has ever been. The acreage was expanded to reach as much as 7,003 yards from the back tees, playing at par 71. It features the designer’s signature of bold bunkering, dramatic hazards and tricky mounds. Critics say this one stays closest to the essence of the sport itself. Golf trips are even made more scenic by the sweeping views of the surrounding McDowell Mountains, Red Mountain, Usery Mountain, and Superstitions. The best of desert golf is featured in its natural desert environment – unadulterated, as there are no houses nor roads to obstruct the golden desert vista.

Prior the renovation, the Longbow Golf Club was good. But the overhaul must have done it well, in 2009, it was named in the top 100 Resort Courses in the Country by Golfweek, and one of the Top 20 Best Public Access Courses in Arizona in 2010 by the same publication. It has had doubters, but the course has long since rightfully earned its reputation of being a golf vacation favorite that even golf purists praise.

ASU Karsten Golf Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Courses • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The Karsten Golf Course at the Arizona State University was built to mold champions. The world class golf course designer Pete Dye was commissioned specifically to create a golf course that could provide enough challenge to hone the skills of ASU’s athletes. Pete Dye delivered exactly that. And since its opening in 1984, the Arizona State has sent countless of championship contenders and bagged home several trophies from the collegiate golf tournaments. It is not surprising why countless golfers choose to spend their golf trips here. Everyone becomes a champion, or at least feel like one.

Pete Dye and his firm had to totally overhaul an empty piece of land at the ASU grounds, 156 acres in size, to create this championship golf course. The 18-hole par-72 ASU Karsten Course bears its designer’s signature of railroad ties, huge mounds, hidden greens, and dramatic bunkering. The course could play to as long as 7,026 yards from the longest tees. Pete Dye’s wife, Alice, contributed a lot in the designing of the course to ensure that the course is playable and friendly with the lady golfers. The result is a golf vacation destination that will pose challenge to every single champion in the making, regardless of handicap.

Because of the taxing job of making champions out of their athletes, the ASU Karsten Course also goes through rigorous maintenance measures. No wonder it is one of the best maintained courses in the entire state of Arizona, and perhaps in the entire United States. Its superb conditioning and excellent playability earned it 4 ½ stars from Golf Digest’s Best Places to Play rating. The ASU Karsten is a champion in itself, and only it can deliver a golf vacation fit for a champion.

Raven Golf Club at Verrado

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

 The Raven Golf Club at Verrado is perhaps one of those golf courses that can lure one into thinking that it is an easy, relaxing course. True, the views of the White Tank Mountains is breathtaking and a delight to the senses, but this shouldn’t fool anybody. This championship golf course 25 miles outside of downtown Phoenix goes beyond the pretty little course it appears to be. It has some of the most dramatic elevation changes and the most unforgiving bunkers among all the other golf vacation destinations in Arizona.

Half of the Raven Golf Club at Verrado plays on mostly level terrain while the other half gives a heart wrenching twist to an otherwise ordinary golf trip as it sits on the slopes of the White Tank Mountains giving the course highly dramatic elevation changes. The fairways are wide and friendly, but the bunkers are a make or break and requires the golfer to carefully plan a shot when a bunker is nearby. Some of the greens are easy, but the others are not, thus the entire play at the Raven necessitates versatile plays – perfect for players of all handicaps to find their own level of challenge.

To complete the golf vacation, the Raven Golf Club at Verrado offers services fit for royalty. They have some of the most excellent golf resort amenities and staff including the gastronomic indulgence offered at their western-inspired Cocina Grille. This is where the atmosphere is easiest at the course, when the guests can relax and breathe after an exciting, heart pounding round of golf. And that, perhaps is the best way to cap off a day at the Raven Golf Club.

The Boulders – North Course

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Courses • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The beautiful Sonoran desert has been made even more beautiful by the many tourist destinations built here. Countless golf resorts dot the area all making use of the stunning golden sands of the desert and its many splendor of mountains and natural vegetation. One of the more famous golf vacation destinations in the area that stands out among the others is The Boulders located at the foothills of the Black Mountain. The Boulders is home to two of the most scenic golf courses in all of Arizona, the North Course and the South Course. The Boulders North Course combines a challenging layout that follows nature’s dictates to bring out a top-caliber golf course like no other.

The Boulders – North Course, like its sibling course, is designed by  Jay Moorish. It is an 18-hole, par 71 course that is considered to have one of the most demanding layouts in the Southwest. The course is accommodating to golfers of all handicaps, and they shall each be afforded a different sort of fun-challenge. The North Course is surrounded by huge desert boulders and the most beautiful view of the Sonoran desert, both serving for aesthetic as well as playability purposes. The course and the entire resort were designed to bring out the best in desert golf without doing too much intervention on the natural desert terrain. Golf trips here would bring the visitor in union with nature while playing their favorite sport.

The Boulders Golf Resort completes the golf vacation experience. World class golfing at the Boulders North Course, a relaxing session or two at the famous Golden Door Spa, and an even more pristine communion with nature, viewing the golden sunsets at the Sonoran desert – there is nothing more a nature-loving golfer would want.

Golf in Jamaica

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The Caribbean Sea is home to some of the world’s most beautiful island paradises. These islands are blessed with beautiful cerulean waters crashing fine powder beaches, and a rich ancestry, history and culture that make them truly unique. One of the Caribbean’s precious gems is Jamaica.

Jamaica literally means “Land of Wood and Water”. It has a long history of colonization and slavery from the Spanish and English invaders. The invasions and the trafficking and importing of slaves from Africa and Asia, have helped mold Jamaica into the culturally diverse island nation that it is today. It is now the seat of reggae music, and the home of famous athletes, world-class natural tourist destinations and some of the world’s best and most beautiful golf courses.

Montego Bay on the northern coast is the second largest city in Jamaica, next to Kingston, the capital. The sight and sounds of Montego Bay are a perfect breed of nature, culture, and history. Here tourists will find centuries-old homes, new amenities, and world-class golf courses. The best golf courses here are designed by equally renowned artists and the designs are hailed by the golfing community for its breathtaking Caribbean scenery and challenging but fun golf offerings. Three of the most notable golf courses on Montego Bay are: Cinnamon Hill Golf Club, Half Moon Golf Club, and the tale-filled White Witch Golf Course.

The Cinnamon Hill Golf Club The Cinnamon Hill Golf Club is cradled between the lush Jamaican Mountains on one side and the crystal blue Caribbean waters on the other. It sits on 400 sprawling acres at the Rose Hall Resort and Country Club. This 18-hole championship course was designed by Robert Von Hagge for the resort player, with the equally relaxing and challenging plays of the wind and traps giving that perfectly satisfying play. The caddies at Cinnamon Hill Golf Club are ranked as one of “The Best in the World” by Golfer Magazine.

Half Moon Golf Club An original Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design, the Half Moon Golf Club was recently renovated under Roger Rulewich’s watchful eye. How good it was in its original design has just gotten better with the new improvements on the course. It still has the same elements of challenge and fun in every hole for both the beginner and the advanced golfer, that has made it famous for the last 25 years, only better. It is named the Best Caribbean Golf Resort by Caribbean World Magazine, and is a member of the Jack Nicklaus “Great Golf Resorts of the World”.

White Witch Golf Course  The White Witch could perhaps be one of the most interesting courses on Montego Bay. It is named after the famous tale derived from the life and death of a rather infamous Jamaican character, Annie Palmer or “The White Witch”. Stories has it that Annie Palmer has murdered so many of her husbands and brutalized her slaves until she was murdered.

The site of the White Witch Golf Course is the site of Annie Palmer’s sugar plantation, thus the course’s creators, Robert von Hagge and Rick Baril, thought of naming the course after her. The 18-hole par-71 course features a view of the Caribbean from 16-18 holes and an even more challenging play of the wind and its mountainous terrain on 6,859 yards.

The Caribbean waters are so blessed with an undeniable and unequalled natural beauty, made more beautiful by the beauty of its people. No wonder the even more beautiful golf courses belong here as if it were made along with everything else.

Arizona Grand Golf Course

Posted on by • Posted in Golf Tips • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

Arizona is home to many fine golf courses, some of which rank among the best in the country. The desert terrain, scenic mountains, and the glaring Arizona sun provide some of the best setting for premiere golf vacation destinations. On the top list’s top list, the Arizona Grand Golf Course holds ground. For two decades now, the golf course has been known to provide challenging games and excellent resort services.

The Arizona Grand Golf Course is situated in the luxurious Arizona Grand Resort, right in the protected natural desert preserve of South Mountain Park. Designed by Forrest Richardson, the course features links style set on desert landscape. The result is a challenging course layout of many twists and turns, and an escalating challenge that is only revealed one hole after another. Golfers of all handicaps can enjoy the 6,331 yards of golf and its rolling fairways and dramatic elevation changes. This 18-hole par-71 golf vacation favorite offers the most scenic views of the mountains surrounding it and of the Sonoran desert.

Coupled with excellent service and world-class amenities, these superb playing conditions of the golf course make the Arizona Grand Golf Course a favorite among its counterparts. Players and golf publications alike all praise the golf trip haven in unison, as is proven by the following awards: “Greens of Distinction” & “Golden Links Award” from Corporate Incentive Travel Magazine; Gold Tee Award from Meetings & Conventions; “Top 35 Courses in Arizona”, “Best Golf Hole”, & “Best Service in Golf” from The Arizona Republic; and named among the nations Top 50 “Great Service” facilities by Golf Digest. It also holds 4 diamonds from AAA, and 4-stars from Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play”, and an “Excellent” rating from the Zagat Survey. Justifying its rank won’t be so hard to do. A single visit to the course is all it needs and no trace of doubt shall remain: this is definitely among the best.

Rancho Mañana Golf Club

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Destinations • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The question of whether a golf course is beautiful or not is not answerable merely by the scenery of the course. Neither is it based on its playability alone. It must be a little of both, and the factor of being able to deliver an unforgettable game of golf, making every golf trip worth taking. Rancho Mañana Golf Club has all that – and more. And for the big names in golf course reviews to recognize that, there’s no way for it not to be true.

The Rancho Mañana Golf Club has been voted on Golf Digest as having one of the most scenic layouts, and listed by the same as one of the top 50 courses IN THE COUNTRY for women. Ranking Arizona ranked it in the top 10 courses in the state. These merits alone are enough to answer the question on whether or not the golf vacation destination is beautiful or not. It has got the most beautiful desert vistas in the state and one of the most challenging, dramatic elevation changes. Golfers could enjoy the heart of Sonoran desert, whilst being treated to captivating views of the Camelback Mountain, Mummy Mountain, Squawk Peak, Black Mountain, and South Mountain, as well as that of the Tonto National Forest. The elevation changes are very prominent, rising on each hole on the front nine. The back nine treats golfers into a very tricky water hole and the most awe-inspiring views.

The course was designed by Bill Johnston, maintaining the natural beauty of the land, following its natural contours and placing the balls perfectly to capture the best sights. It’s a perfect combination of scenery, challenging desert layout, and always a memorable golf vacation for anyone. The Rancho Mañana Golf Club has, no doubt, all the necessary requirements to call it a BEAUTIFUL COURSE.

Sanctuary Golf Club at Westworld

Posted on by • Posted in Top Golf Courses • Tagged , , • Leave a comment

The Sanctuary Golf Club at Westworld is indeed a sanctuary. It is – for desert wildlife and flora, as was certified by the Audubon International when it awarded the club its Audubon Signature Status – the first one in Arizona, and the 17th in the world. But to golfers who want everything easy breezy, and get a good scorecard without so much as raising an arm, the extra challenging desert layout of this golf course is just not for them. There is just nothing pretentious about desert golf in this golf vacation destination. It’s difficult, it’s hot, it’s real. IT’S FUN.

Its course architect, Randy Heckenkemper, worked on the Bureau of Reclamations’ Storm Water Retention area to come up with the Sanctuary Golf Club. The 6,624-yard, 18-hole, par 71 Sanctuary Golf Club is built on the western slopes of the McDowell Mountains adjacent to the Westworld equestrian center. Heckenkemper followed the natural topography of the land, thus creating a purely desert landscape of large saguaro cacti and desert washes. The most prominent feature about this golf vacation spot is not the scenery though, it’s the multiple forced carries off the tee. There’s just no other way to get past the thick desert vegetation.

Nothing is so ordinary about golf trips at the Sanctuary Golf Club. The layout is too challenging to be that. But not to worry, the golf club’s staff will compliment the difficulty with their superb and friendly service. For the real toughie of a golfer, who finds spells fun with C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E, then this is indeed, a sanctuary.