The excellence of a golf course in layout and scenery is not the handiwork of one alone. It is the result of man’s collaboration with nature – how a golf course architect works his way towards achieving something good out of what nature already has. Such was the case of Tom Doak and the Riverfront Golf Club in Suffolk, Virginia. He was given a piece of land too beautiful to even touch lest it may ruin its natural splendor; but the genius of the designer prevailed, and the result is an award-winning golf vacation destination of world-class quality.

 The Riverfront Golf Club, as its name implies, sits at the mouth of the Nansemond River and at the mouth of the James River. It winds through riverfront acreage, tidal marshes, old gigantic oaks and vast rolling hills – a surprising attribute considering it is surrounded with mostly flatland. The old style course is an 18-hole, par 71 beauty that stretches to 6,735 yards from the longest tees. It makes optimum use of the surrounding waters as hazards, and the natural contours of the land to give the course an attitude. It makes for golf vacations that are not only beautiful, but challenging and interesting as well.

Because of its top caliber features, the Riverfront Golf Club has been awarded with accolades left and right. Only rightly so, it is the perfect reward for all the hardwork put into it. It holds 4 ½ stars from Golf Digest and ranks among the 40 Best Daily Fee Course by Golf and Travel Magazine. The golf trip haven was carved out of nature as if it were made by nature itself, and that makes it even more outstanding.

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.

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 28^th 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.

A champion knows a good golf course by heart; a legend lives it. When Jack Nicklaus creates a golf course, the years of passionate love affair with the sport and the excellence that he gives in all of those years as a champion. A golf course bearing his name surely bears his attitudes towards golf. Just like his signature nine at the Puerto Los Cabos Resort at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja in the California Peninsula. If golfers think having a Nicklaus design in a resort couldn’t get any better, the golf vacation destination just took it a notch higher: THE OTHER NINE IN THE 18-HOLE FACILITY WAS MADE BY THE GREG NORMAN, no less.

The two signature nines of Puerto Los Cabos– the front being Norman’s and the back being Nicklaus’ – are the cream of the resort’s crop. Apart from them being the brainchild of the two legendary golfers, they are also part of a huge resort/residential facility fronting the ocean. It is a picturesque paradise made for golf vacations on a daily basis. Though both nines are created by equally legendary players/course designers, there is nothing similar about the two courses except that they both promote a kind of game worthy of championships.

On top of all that, the courses are serviced by a 40,000 square foot clubhouse, not to mention the sweeping vistas of the Mexican shoreline. The designers of Puerto Los Cabos have created their respective nines with the purpose of maintaining – if not bringing out – the place’s natural splendor. And it shows the kind of champions they are: they bring out the best in this place, as well as each golfer who embarks on a golf trip hereabouts.