Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Where to Find the Best Golf Trips

 If your clubs go with you everywhere, why not couple your vacation time with a chance to tee off on some of the best golf courses in the world? Golfing vacations and golf trips have grown in popularity until they’re among the most popular types of combination vacation packages available through travel agents. If you’ve never considered taking a golf tour before, take a look at vacation packages on offer in one or more of these areas in the U.S. and the British Isles.

Myrtle Beach Golf Trips

Myrtle Beach boasts more golf courses in a small area than almost any other region in the country. Located on the southeastern coast of the U.S., Myrtle Beach golf courses include public greens, private golf courses and luxury resorts with attached golf courses. Depending on your tastes, you could book a week at a resort and spend every day on their championship course, choose a hotel as home base and travel to any one of a dozen courses within easy driving range, or travel up and down the coast, spending each night in a different hotel and each day on a different course. The choice is yours, and the golfing is superb.

Arizona Golf Vacations

Arizona has two main golfing areas—one in the Phoenix metro region and one around Tucson. The weather is indescribable.  Arizona boasts more sunny, golfing days than almost any other state in the union, and the scenery is unforgettable. You’ll find a range of luxury resorts in and around Phoenix, many of them catering to other interests along with golfing and quite a few of them offering family golfing packages so that the kids and spouse can join in the fun on their level. Tucson offers a less reverent take on the sport of kings. It abounds with quirky courses and unusual fairways that will give your jaded golfing tastes a bit of a jolt. Tucson is also the best place for a family golf vacation if the golfers in your family are on the younger side as it boasts some of the youngest golf champions in the world, and most courses are very welcoming to younger golfers.

Ireland Golf Vacations

Ireland is second only to Scotland in the number of venerable, traditional golf courses. A golf trip to Ireland gives you the opportunity to play on some of the oldest and most famous golf courses in the world. You can settle into one region of the Emerald Isle and play it in depth, or travel throughout Eire to play on a wide range of links from the classic to the ultra modern.

When you’re planning your vacation this year, do a bit of research on golf vacations and book a delightful week or two on the golf course as part of your getaway time.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Top Greens to Play on Your Golf Vacations to Ireland

While Scotland may hold the claim to fame of being the birthplace of golf, Ireland runs a close second. For most golfers, a trip to Ireland is akin to a holy pilgrimage. You could spend months traveling through the Emerald Isle and hitting some of the most famous links in history. If you’re booking golf trips to Ireland this summer, make sure that you manage to book tee times for at least one of these Ireland golf greens.

Kilkenny Golf Club

Founded in 1896, the Kilkenny Golf Club is a mature parkland course set in the middle of Ireland. It’s a challenging course with narrow, tree-lined fairways that require a delicate touch and a high degree of accuracy. Other nearby greens include Mount Juliet (11 miles), Carlow (24 miles), Mount Wolseley (34 miles), Tramore (38 miles) and Wexford (48 miles).

Donfagahy Golf Club

Donfagahy isn’t the most difficult green on the Emerald Isle, but it may be one of the most beautiful. Located on the northern coast, the 105-year-old course was laid out by 5 time British Open winner Harry Vardon. The scenery is breathtaking and the course offers enough challenge for all but the most expert golfers.

Portsalon Golf Club

In County Donegal, not far from Donfagahy, you’ll find one of Ireland’s best kept golfing secret—a true find that should be included on any Ireland golf vacation. Originally designed in 1891 and redesigned in 2001, the challenging 7,120 yard course offers some of the most stunning scenery of any golf course in the land of Eire. The gorgeous vistas include three views of Ballymastocker Bay, with many of the holes played through the dunes alongside the Atlantic Ocean.

Old Head Golf Links

At the other end of the Isle, and the other end of time, Old Head may be one of the most challenging links in the world. Set on a diamond-shaped peninsula that juts out into the ocean, you’ll be playing most of the course into the brisk Atlantic wind. Established in 1997, the Old Head Links at Kinsale present stunning vistas along ocean cliffs that make the trip worthwhile.

Mullingar Golf Club

No Ireland golf trip would be complete without playing the 18 holes at the Mullingar Golf Club. Designed in 1894 by Scottish golf legend James Braid, the mature parkland course is generally acknowledged to be one of Ireland’s best parkland courses.