Golf in Spain's Costa del Sol

Make this stop! It's April 19th, the ground is brown and by tomorrow morning will be white again... snow is in tonight's forecast... good grief!

I'm going to be hosting a winter golf trip to southern Spain next March. The weather at the home of Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Jose-Maria Olazabal is in the upper 60's that time of year - perfect golfing weather!

The details are still in the planning stage, but here is a "provisional" overview. If you want to be on the notification list when details are finalized, email me... (copy & paste) dick@golf-vacation.com

Cheers,

Dick

Minnesota Golf ???

It's April in Minnesota and snow still adorns the landscape. Damn! Last year I had 4 rounds in the bag by April Fools Day. Finally, it's melting fast but there is promise of more to come.

Brown ground is only about 1 week away, but green ground is at least 3 weeks off...

I'm heeding my own advice and heading for Arizona next week. Take a look at my remarks in the last post regarding a great deal at Gold Canyon. I'm headed there!!!!!!!!

(c'mon along!)

Cheers,

Dick

Minnesota Golf? Not Yet, Pal.

Do any of you snowbirds recall what green grass smells like?

This has been a helluva winter for sure! It's a tormenting time of year - feels like spring for a few days, then -oops- another snowfall. And it's back out to the driveway with the snow shovel. Even for those of us that had a chance to go south for some mid-February golf, that trip seems to be many months ago! Despite having daylight until 7:00 now, we are still about 4 weeks from playing at home. And the turf sucks for the first two weeks that the courses are open!

How about a spring trip to Arizona? In April, the prices go down and the weather is fabulous. You have sat through my rantings about how great a bargain the Gold Canyon Golf Resort is. (See my earlier post.) And, it is! But the bargain gets even better in April. Already a "deal" at about $650 for 3 nights/four rounds, you can get the same package for around $580 in April and May. Check out the details.


Cheers,

Dick

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The Devil's Triangle at Mahogany Run

St. Thomas USVI boasts just one golf course. But, with a track like Mahogany Run, you don't need more. Those of you who know me are aware that my golf prowess, on a scale of 10, is somewhere around 2. And that's being kind!!!!

So imagine me entering the Devil's Triangle, a three hole "gotcha"! If you're unfamiliar, anyone getting through holes 15, 16 and 17 without losing a ball receives a certificate in the clubhouse. Well, I took the pressure off myself right away when I pulled my drive on 15 into the beautiful Caribbean Sea! That was totally expected but what ensued was definitely not envisioned... I completed the 3-hole maze without losing another ball - in fact, without even taking a penalty the rest of the way. Maybe that's because the pressure was off!

I'm generally not a fan of Caribbean golf, but Mahogany Run is a greatly improved course over that of 5 or 6 years ago. Overpriced for sure, but that's just the way it is everywhere in the sub-tropics.

I'm happy to give you free advice if you're headed south for a spring golf escape!

Cheers,

Dick

Golf in Hawaii (part 2)

As we dive into 2011 (on a Minnesota day where the current temp is -3) I need to stay on the Hawaii topic one more time...

Sitting here watching the season's first PGA Tour event from Kapalua, Maui reminds me, once again, that grass is green and the ocean is a glorious blue!

In the past, I have wondered why they play on the North Coast of Maui - where the weather elements are oftentimes a bit harsh - rather than the relatively calm, dry Wailea area on the Southwest coast.

It finally hit me... the pro's play the harsher areas exactly because they ARE harder. It again points out that the game you and I play is not at all the same game as the tour players play.

Stay warm - and contact me if you just need to get out of the cold and snow for a few days!

Cheers,

Dick

Golf in Hawaii: Well Worth the Long Flight!

The phone calls and emails to my golf vacation company have been hot and heavy since the 19" snow storm we just dealt with in Minneapolis! (Like these wonderful people didn't know winter was coming!!!!)

What sounds better... Shoveling snow in Minnesota? Or, raking bunkers in Hawaii?

90% of our business is "power golf trips by guy groups" - and, in 15 years of doing this, we've never booked a stag group to Hawaii. BUT, of the 10% that is made up of couples and couples groups, almost half is "Destination Hawaii". A good share of these clients are from "Mixed Marriages" - an avid golfer with a non-golfing spouse. Believe me guys... she won't mind your 5 hour absence when she is enjoying the pool and a Spa Treatment!

(The picture here and the one on my previous post are both from the Wailea Golf Club on Maui.)

As I said in the last post, I have to be the crappiest golfer in the world to play as many world class courses as I have. And Wailea ranks as my absolute favorite golf experience. Check our Hawaii page and ask me for my insights and advice - whether or not you ever book a trip with us.

Cheers,

Dick

Winter Golf in Arizona, California and Nevada

Well, now that our November Special at The Doral is over it's time to think about your winter golf getaway.

Prices for this winter are very reasonable given the soft economy, so if you're going this year now is the time to contact your travel agency... or hopefully, my golf travel agency.

Some of the "best buys" this year are in and around Las Vegas (including Mesquite, NV) and the San Diego area. And, although Phoenix area golf is still a bit pricy, we do have some "sleepers" - great tracks that are a little lesser known thus better bargains.

And for the umteenth year, our Gold Canyon, Arizona package is a fabulous bargain... especially if you want to sneak away right after the Holidays.

My blog readers get Free Advice! I, with my 24 handicap, have screwed up rounds of golf on dozens of these great courses. Whether you ever book a trip with my agency, I'm okay with sharing my knowledge of what courses and resorts are overpriced and what ones are true bargains. Just send your questions to dick@golf-vacation.com. (just copy & paste)

Cheers,

Dick

Winter Golf?

Well gang, another Minnesota Golf season is complete. For me to report that I had only 6 rounds in triple digits this year is misleading because I only managed to play 11 rounds this year. This damned economy has kept me in the shop way too much since we have cut our staff by 40%. This is getting irritating!!!!!

My magnificent rounds in the mid-ninties (pretty good, eh?) have deteriorated to high-ninties - on the "good" days!

Oh well. I still love the game and am looking forward to a golf trip to Fort Myers in December, St. Thomas in January and Las Vegas and Mesquite in March. (Two of the three are "business" trips in association with my golf travel company.) Wanna Come along?

Cheers,

Dick

'tis the Season for the Leaf Rule!

Several years ago, comic actor Leslie Nielson did a golf video focused on two principals:

1. If you suck at golf, you're in good company since over 95 percent of recreational golfers shoot in the high 90's or triple digits.
2. You need to make the Rules of Golf work FOR you. In other words, Cheat!

An example of the latter takes the Leaf Rule one step further... anytime you have a "lost" ball, declare it a "stolen" ball and take no penalty. Here's how it works... Eventually, your lost ball will be found by someone who will make no attempt to find it's rightful owner... making it a STOLEN ball. Thus, No Penalty!

Well, it's still hot in sunny Minnesota but the leaves are soon to fall so get the balls from your shag bag - the ones you won't care to waste time looking for!

And, start thinking about winter golf escapes! My golf travel company - Gateway Golf Vacations - has a great November Special at the famed Doral in Miami. Also, we are already getting orders for winter golf at the Gold Canyon Golf Resort near Phoenix... many from returning clients we've sent there numerous times before. It's a terrific value! Here are the details.

Happy Ball Hunting!

Dick

Golf in Minnesota... Hot & Sticky?

Well, so much for cool Minnesota Golf! Played Troy Burne (a great Tom Lehman track for those of you "foreigners") yesterday. It was so hot and sticky that I gave up taking my glove off to putt. Getting it off and on was harder than opening that annoying hermetically sealed plastic packaging! The ironic thing is that last time I played this course it was so damned cold that you wouldn't want to take the glove off. You know... when you wish you had a glove for the other hand as well!

Well, it won't last much longer! Before you know it, you'll be losing balls in the leaves and getting into a funk as you can see winter coming. Our Golf Vacation Company has a great cure for November Blahs... effectively, we provide free golf at The Doral. Click the link above for details.

Cheers,

Dick

Economizing on Your Golf Vacations

Well, it's a sign of the times! We are all trying to cut our expenses while retaining as much "quality of life" as possible.

For us golfers, quality of life comes down to, "How can I cut costs while preserving my #1 right - my golf getaway with the guys (or gals)"? My golf travel agency has two small groups who have gone to a very nice golf resort with two 41/2 Star courses on site for their past 3 outings. The 3 night/4 round package with all the 'extras' ran around $950. This past winter, we talked them into a similar resort just 20 miles down the road. The accommodations are not quite as "fancy" but still rated 4 Star... and it also has two 41/2 Star courses on site. Price: $620!

Another group of 8 (4 couples) went to Banff Springs in the Canadian Rockies last July and wanted to repeat. Because the Canadian dollar is now stronger than the yankee dollar, the value wasn't nearly as good. We have a spectacular deal in Vail this summer... so that's what they will do. Equal quality; savings of about $300 per person!

There are some nice "finds" out there... Happy hunting!

Cheers,

Dick

(I mentioned Vail... our parent company, Gateway Express Travel, specializes in Vail ski Vacations and has done Vail Resorts promotions with the Minnesota Wild.)

Florida without my Clubs. Ouch!

So, I'm such a proponent of golf travel, eh?

Domestic pressure caused me to spend 6 days in Naples, Florida without my golf clubs last week. Talk about painful! To make matters worse, we were at my non-golfing in-laws' place which is on a very, very upscale course at Bonita Bay. Sitting by the pool watching golfers go from the 11th green to the 12th tee was akin to a cat sitting by the patio door watching birds at the feeder!

Whining rapidly became my pastime for those days!

If you are looking for something "really cool" this summer, my golf travel company is seeing increased interest in the Canadian Rockies. Banff and Lake Louise have some terrific tracks. Email me at dick@golf-vacation.com if you want some links to this!

Cheers,

Dick

Super Golf Bargains in Spring!

For Northern States Golfers, this is a tormenting time of year.... snow's gone, spring SEEMS to be here (feels like spring one day; feels like winter the next!) we can hear the clubs screaming at us from the basement!

But, here in Minnesota, the courses won't open for a few more weeks - and when they do, the conditions are ugly... brown grass with winter residue clearly present; barren trees; goose poop everywhere; raw, windy days when 60 degrees feels more like 40. Sounds enticing, doesn't it?

After Easter, pricing for many of our golf vacations is greatly reduced. For example, our Gold Canyon package, a spectacular bargain at the regular winter price of $598.50 (3 nights first class casita, 4 rounds of 4-Star and 41/2-Star golf and many extras), goes down to an incredible $472 from April 5 until May 5.

Florida prices also go way down... Stay & Play Doral for nearly half the winter rate. Same thing at PGA National Resort, World Golf Village and others. See more on Spring Discounts!

Time for a Spring Tune-Up?

Cheers,

Dick

Golf Bargains & Rip-Offs.

Well, maybe "rip-offs" is a little harsh but the more I Travel With Clubs the more convinced I am that WHERE you go makes a huge difference.

I just returned from San Juan where I played at Dorado Beach. The West Course is the better of the two but I found it to be just "nice"... and at $190, I'm looking for better than "just nice". Those of you who follow this blog know that I'm not too fond of Caribbean golf. (On second thought, this was a rip-off! The course is carved up because they are redesigning it as they build a new clubhouse - but there was no mention of this when I booked. Nor, was there a price reduction because of it.)

You can play World Class courses at Cabo San Lucas for about the same fee; you can play fabulous tracks in Hawaii for LESS!

As you'll see from my comments on another blog site, I didn't choose to go to Puerto Rico. At my golf vacation company, we focus on Florida, the Southwest, Cabo and Hawaii. We actively discourage the Caribbean as a golf destination (with the exception of Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic).

Cheers,

Dick

The Mountain Courses of the Phoenix area are Pricy...

... but there are some gems that are bargains! In an earlier post, I talked about "Tricks of the Trade" - knowing where the bargains are. I know of many good values in pricy places like Las Vegas, Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas just to name a few. And, there are some good ones in The Valley of the Sun! Most notably, the two courses at the Gold Canyon Golf Resort - Dinosaur Mountain and The Sidewinder - are fabulous. At about $100 less than Grayhawk, Dinosaur Mountain was named Arizona's #1 public access course for 2 or 3 years in a row. How good is Gold Canyon? My company,Gateway Golf Vacations has several groups that have gone back for their 4th and 5th visits. I would say that that's the best testimonial one can cite.

Our prime winter price for 3 nights, 4 rounds and some extras is a true bargain... and the price gets even better after Easter. If a winter or spring golf trip is in your plans, PLEASE check this out! (And bring your Camera!)

To repeat a comment from the last post, whether you ever book your golf trip with my golf travel agency, I'm happy to share my knowledge and give you my 2-cents worth. Send your questions to dick@golf-vacation.com.

Cheers,

Dick