We have had 1000's of requests about golf in the state of Florida over the past few years and have decided to begin to give you this kind of travel information.  We will do our best to provide you with vacation travel stories which, whether your traveling with your family, your wife or significant other, will focus on golf as well as other points of interest, accommodations, restaurants, etc. in the areas featured in each story.  Our concept is that if you want to visit the area covered as a golf buddy group...only out to play golf, you can still enjoy and learn from the story, but simply eliminate the sightseeing parts.

We start our initial feature story with the area on Florida's northeast coast, better known as Florida's First Coast. 

This is an area that runs along the Atlantic Ocean for approximately 100 miles, from the Georgia border, south to Palm Coast, and is uniquely an area of "firsts". 

We decided to start here because it is the "first coast" within the state of Florida that one would encounter while traveling south along the Atlantic seaboard.  At its northernmost point, the city of Fernandino Beach on Amelia Island became Florida's "first" resort in the mid-19th century.  And it is an area steeped in history, home to the city of St. Augustine, the "first" permanent European settlement in America in 1565, making it America's oldest city - 42 years before the English colonized Jamestown, and 55 years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.

It is a diverse area that includes the metropolitan city of Jacksonville (the most populated city in Florida with more than three quarters of a million residents), the quiet shores of Amelia Island and Ponte Vedra Beach, and of course, historic St. Augustine.

Here you will find accommodations of every sort, great restaurants, unique shopping, beautiful, pristine white sand beaches, among the prettiest in all of Florida.  It also offers fabulous deep-sea and freshwater fishing, as well as sailing, kayaking, terrific tennis facilities, and above all else, at least as far as the golfer is concerned, spectacular golf.  Offering an array of amazing courses, more than 30 wonderful tracts, including some of the most prestigious and scenic golf courses in the world, designed by some of America's finest architects.

It is home to the World Golf Village and the World Golf Hall of Fame located just off Rte. 95, in St. Augustine.  It is also home to the PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, and also home to one of the most famous golf holes on the PGA tour, #17 at TPC Sawgrass which is one of the world's most photographed holes.

This is the story of a husband and wife golfing trip with a some sightseeing and relaxing (beaches and pools) on the side.  We rarely golf together and we decided to try 4 courses in 4 days together and see if we would still be speaking to each other at the end of the trip. We began by flying out of NY's JFK to Jacksonville, rented a car, and drove to the World Golf Village, about 30 miles south of the airport.

The World Golf Village is a a 6,300-acre golf mecca and premier vacation destination resort and residential community in St. Augustine that is home to the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Village offers a range of features and amenities that appeal specifically to golfers and those with an appreciation for the game's time-honored traditions.  It also features two 18-hole championship golf courses with special ties to the World Golf Hall of Fame, the Slammer & Squire, and the King & Bear.  It also offers a state-of-the-art learning center the PGA TOUR Golf Academy, featuring all-weather hitting bays that sit in the shadow of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Top-rated instructors incorporate three teaching and video analysis systems into the lessons that range from private instruction, two- to five-day golf schools, as well as outing and clinics for groups of all sizes.

The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village offer distinctive residential communities ranging in price from the $140s to more than $1-million. Community amenities include first-rate schools, shopping, community parks and world-class entertainment.

The World Golf Village offers a wide variety of well-appointed accommodation options to make your stay at this Florida golf resort relaxing and enjoyable.
• The Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, the Official Resort of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
• Condominium suites at Laterra Resort
• Vacation villas at Grande Villas.
• The Residences and the Comfort Suites at World Golf Village.
Regardless of your length of stay or number of vacationing guests, World Golf Village's accommodations will meet your every need.

The Renaissance Resort hotel at World Golf Village. Photo: courtesy of World Golf Village

We chose The Renaissance Resort.  Our spacious and bright, balconied room overlooked the resort and we couldn't have been happier with the accommodations.  After settling in, we decided to visit the Hall of Fame, located just a few steps away from the hotel.

The World Golf Hall of Fame (the main attraction of the World Golf Village) commemorates golf's foremost champions.  It traces the history and development of the sport from its earliest beginnings in Scotland to the global popularity that golf enjoys today. Serving as an inspiration to its international set of golfers and fans, the World Golf Hall of Fame celebrates the achievements of over one hundred legends enshrined in the hall of Fame through stories, memorabilia, photographs, video and interactive exhibits.

Plan to spend at least 2 or 3 hours, if not more time here, there is so much to see and do.  Incidently, your ticket is good for 2 days.

Here is a list of the Permanent Exhibits at the Hall.
• The History of the Hall - From its roots in Pinehurst, understand what members have to achieve in order to be inducted. You'll learn what it takes to get ready for each year's Induction Ceremony and some of the memorabilia from past years' festivities.
• The Royal and Ancient Game - Learn about more than five centuries of golf lore, from its formative years in Scotland to its global expansion, by exploring the early stick-and-ball forerunners that preceded the modern-day game. Then stroll across a life-size replica of the famous Swilcan Burn Bridge, modeled after the original at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, before indulging yourself in the history of The Open Championship and The R&A itself.
• Championship Moments Theater - This stirring, 10-minute video transports you back in time to give you a greenside seat at some of the most compelling shots and iconic moments ever played out on a golf course. Witness the likes of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Nancy Lopez and Kathy Whitworth at the height of their golfing prowess.
• Recent Inductee Exhibits - These exhibits feature an array of memorabilia that represent significant moments in the most recent inductees' lives.
• Trophy Tower - One of the World Golf Hall of Fame's most recognizable features is its tower, which holds a collection of the game's most storied treasures. Golf's major championship trophies, as well as THE PLAYERS Championship, Ryder Cup and World Golf Championship trophies, are on display.
• Wall of Fame - The center of the museum is Shell Hall, where members of the World Golf Hall of Fame are honored on an 88-foot-long "Wall of Fame." Each member is featured with a bronze relief plaque in his or her likeness and a brief summary of each member's respective career gives a perspective on the greatest contributors the game has ever seen.
• Shell's Wonderful World of Golf - Learn the history of this famous and long-running television series and its impact on the game while watching historic footage of legends like Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead. Then get your time under the lights as you putt on a major championship-speed green while an announcer calls the action and a gallery 'oohs and ahhs' your every stroke.
• Golf Around the World - Want to play the Old Course at St. Andrews? Firestone Country Club? The Plantation Course at Kapalua? You can challenge all of the above and many other renowned courses in the golf simulator. Bring your swing, using real clubs and balls courtesy of Wilson Staff, and find out how well you would fare as you navigate your way around some of the world's elite courses.

• Member Locker Room - Features authentic, life-size lockers, one for each World Golf Hall of Fame member. These ever changing exhibits showcase items contributed by the members, their estates and other donors, telling little-known stories from the members' careers and their personal lives. Items include golf bags, clubs, trophies, badges and some very unique personal items including baseball bats, a football, torn money, a Barbie doll, a red sequined evening dress, a cow bell and much more.

• Putting Course (outdoors on the Walk of Champions) - This 18-hole, natural-grass putting course is one of the Hall of Fame's two outdoor exhibits that let you put your skill to the test at the home of golf's greatest players. Speed, line and a steady hand all come into play as you wind your way around the course attempting to better par. (One round is included in your Hall of Fame admission)
• Challenge Hole (outdoors on the Walk of Champions) - Put your game to the test by stepping to the tee at the Hall of Fame's Challenge Hole. The Challenge Hole is an island green reminiscent of the famed 17th hole at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass. Can you pull off the short, yet testing, 132-yard shot over water and find the green? If you can land two on the green, you win a special limited edition Induction Ceremony print! (One shot is included in your Hall of Fame admission)

There is also a self-guided enhanced audio tour, "Voices from the Hall", that allows you to have first-person accounts of the Hall of Fame Members, which takes you through the history of the game, historical moments, personal stories and details behind specific pieces of memorabilia.  Voices of golf legends such as Tony Jacklin, Tom Kite, Nancy Lopez, Carol Mann, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Annika Sorenstam, Louise Suggs and many more guide you through more than 175 stops throughout the museum.

After you finish your visit take a stroll through the half-mile Walk of Champions and see the commemorative bricks featuring the signatures of past and present golf legends.

Every serious golfer should make it a point to visit this incredible museum...we enjoyed it immensely.

That evening we had a wonderful meal in the 500 South Restaurant, in our hotel, and prepared to get a good nights sleep in preparation for our early morning tee time on The Slammer and Squire.

"Double Trouble", the strategic 522 yard par 5, 4th hole in the early morning mist.  Photo: Golf Guides USA

The Slammer and Squire is named after golf legends "Slammin" Sam Snead and Gene "The Squire" Sarazen, this course was designed by Bobby Weed who consulted with the two legends to create this par 72 masterpiece. It opened in 1998.

It is an 18-hole gem, which twists and turns through wetlands, ponds, lakes and pines. This is an exceptionally beautiful, well-groomed course that showcases the pristine, unspoiled wooded areas, wetlands and natural beauty of the region with an emphasis on being golfer friendly, fair, forgiving...yet challenging, with expansive fairways and exquisitely manicured, contoured greens and bunkers throughout.

The front nine meanders through an old pine forest with many deep white sand bunkers. The back nine finishes with plenty of water hazards along with some impressive views of the World Golf Hall of Fame that towers over the 18th green. 

The picturesque 18th green with the Hall of Fame behind it.  Photo: courtesy of World Golf Village

This course is truly a tribute to the game of golf. With its five sets of tee boxes, the 6,939 yard course can be played from a variety of lengths creating a challenging round for the advanced golfer but also an eminately playable course for the novice.

This is golf at it's best...it was pure fun.  A visually stunning facility, immaculately kept, which you can play everyday and thoroughly enjoy it each and every time, and it doesn't matter if you're a scratch golfer or a 28 handicapper.

Neither my wife or I scored very well (about average for both of us) but it couldn't have been a nicer morning on the links.  When we were done we had an enjoyable lunch at the clubhouse and then walked back to the hotel. 

After lunch we decided to go shopping at the PGA Tour Stop golf store (billed as one of the largest golf stores in the world (at 30,000 square feet)...it is fantastic), also a just short walk from the hotel.  Here we found some incredible prices on everything from golf balls to apparel.  My wife and I both found quite a few items that we couldn't resist and happily put a "dent" in our credit card.

Since we both were in a lazy mood and just looking to relax, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel's pool.  It was 95 degrees and the pool was just the right tonic especially after making way too many swings out on the golf course in the morning.

That evening we decided not to venture too far, the concierge suggested a number of fine restaurants in downtown St. Augustine, 14 miles away, but since we were headed there for the next two nights right after golf the next morning, we simply decided to stay put and have dinner once again in the 500 South Restaurant, in our hotel, and can happily report that we were not disappointed.

"Kings March", the beautiful 426 yard, par 4 opening hole on the King and Bear.  Photo: courtesy of World Golf Village

The next morning we headed over to play The King and Bear course which is about 3 miles from the hotel.  The hotel provides bus service to and from the course but we decided to drive ourselves over.  When we arrived, we got some coffee in the clubhouse, hit a few range balls, and teed off about 7:45am.  Less than 4 hours later we were back in the clubhouse after another terrific round of golf.


This facility is the first and only time that Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus have paired to create a golf course.  Working together, these two golfing Hall of Fame legends have collaborated on a wonderful, visually appealing facility that can prove to be quite enjoyable.  The course opened in 2000.

"Hidden Lake", the picturesque green on the 412 yard, par 4, 12th hole on the King and Bear.  Photo: courtesy of World Golf Village

It features characteristics of both designers, a links-style front nine with open meadows (wide, generous fairways) and sweeping doglegs, while the back nine is tree-lined with majestic live oaks and tall pines as well as numerous water features.  The back nine is a bit more challenging, requiring more of your shot-making skills. 

Palmer and Nicklaus also incorporated the indigenous coquina rock into waste bunkers, cart paths and as bulkheads for the many lakes on the course, which come into play on 16 of the 18 holes. Measuring 7,279 yards from the back tees and 5,119 from the forward tees, this course can provide a nice challenge for the skilled golfer while providing player-friendly conditions for the novice.

The short par 4, 15th hole, "Stone Reflection".  One of Arnie's favorites.  Photo: Golf Guides USA

Arnold Palmer has selected hole #15 as one of his "Dream 18" in an issue of Sports Illustrated. This picturesque 360 yard, dogleg right, par 4 (see photo) has water running along the entire right side of the fairway and the penninsula green that is noted for the majestic stone wall that surrounds it.  Driver is best left in the bag as accuracy, not length, is required off the tee.

The course hosted the 2001 and 2002 Legends of Golf, a champions TOUR event; a Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match between Palmer and Nicklaus in May 2000; the second stage of the 2003 PGA TOUR Qualifying School; and the 2004 Champions TOUR Qualifying School Finals.

Like the Slammer and Squire, it too is meticulously kept, very picturesque and eminently playable. We thoroughly enjoyed our round and recommend it to any golfer who finds himself or herself in this area.  We felt that the King and Bear was the more challenging of the two layouts, however, we preferred the Slammer and Squire because of its playability and it just struck us both as being a bit more pictuesque.  Two terrific golf courses, you won't go wrong playing either one...our recommendation is to play them both and let us know which one you preferred.

After another terrific lunch at the King and Bear clubhouse, we headed back to the hotel, packed our bags, checked out and headed into St. Augustine, the nations oldest city, for a day and a half of sightseeing...my wife and I had never been there before. We checked into the Casa Monica hotel, ideally situated in the center of the historic downtown area. The hotel also has a rich history of its own having been built in 1888 and restored in 1999 and is the only AAA Four Diamond award hotel in the city.

Downtown St. Augustine's historic waterfront area.  Photo courtesy of the Chamber of Commerce

That afternoon we took an enjoyable Old Town sightseeing Trolley Tour of the historic area which gave us a terrific overview of the place. The historic district is full of narrow, brick streets, best explored by foot, that lead to historic churches, living history museums, art galleries, antique stores, touristy shops, charming restaurants and pubs. Horse-drawn carriages clip-clop through the area, and ghost tours promise to show you the area's secrets. The most famous landmarks in the city include Castillo de San Marcos, Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth, Flagler College, The Lightner Museum and other historic sites such as the Oldest House Museum and the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse.

There is much to see in the city and depending on how deeply you want to immerse yourself in its history, you could easily spend 3 or 4 days taking in most of the sights and absorbing as much of the history as you like.  We enjoyed the historic areas and sights but are not real history buffs.  One and a half days was all we needed here...we're glad we came, glad we saw it, and were now looking forward to a few days of real R & R, along with some serious golf, up at Amelia Island.


The drive from St. Augustine to Amelia Island is about 70 miles and took us approximately 1 1/2 hours. We checked into the Omni Amelia Island Plantation, an old-world luxury resort with an AAA Four Diamond designation.  A world-class facility, that stands on 1350 pristine acres overlooking the blue waters of the Atlantic to the east and the beautiful marshlands and Intracoastal Waterway to the west. It is without a doubt one of Florida's premier golf resorts.

Amelia Island is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands that run along the eastern U.S. seaboard.  If offers 13 miles of pristine, picturesque Atlantic coastline.  This seaside retreat is perfect for nature lovers and those who thrive on sun, sand and outdoor sports and offers an abundance of things to do.   Visitors will also encounter a wealth of fine dining, and a variety of interesting shops and museums to browse, as they stroll the cobblestone streets in the heart of the quaint, historic seaport town of Fernandina Beach located on the northern part if this beautiful island.

Centre Street in the heart of historic downtown Fernandina Beach. Photo courtesy of the Chamber of Commerce

Fernindina Beach is a quaint historic seaport town on the northern part of Amelia Island  . . . the birthplace of the modern shrimping industry with a 50-block downtown district that's on the National Registry of Historic Places. It's a mix of residential and commercial late-Victorian architecture, reflecting the city's great prosperity in the late 1880's. When the north-south railroad line bypassed the island in the early 1900s, tourism shifted south and shipping declined. Thus, old buildings were repaired rather than replaced, and the architectural heritage was preserved. Centre Street is at the heart of downtown.  It's a charming eight-block corridor with pedestrian-friendly streets, an eclectic mix of cafes and fine restaurants, antique shops and chic galleries, that can be traversed in a few hours.  Centre Street itself leads down to the intracoastal waterway and the Fernandina Harbor Marina, where shrimp boats unload catches and charter boats depart for sightseeing and fishing.

Our large, balconied room overlooking the Ocean Links course 6th hole, and the azure blue Atlantic Ocean couldn't have been any finer.  We quickly unpacked, put on our bathing suits and headed out for an afternoon of some real R & R at the hotel's fabulous seaside pool and spectacular ocean beach. I will say that my wife and I are well traveled and we both agreed that this resort was one of the most beautiful and relaxing places that we have ever been to and plan to revisit it again many times in the future.

The scenic and challenging Par 4, 4th hole on the Ocean Links course.  Photo: Golf Guides USA

The next morning we were ready to take on the renowned Ocean Links Golf Course.  This recently enhanced layout, designed by Pete Dye and Bobby Weed, is sure to take its place as one of America's great seaside courses.

The picturesque Par 3, 6th hole on the Ocean Links course set just below our hotel room balcony.  Photo: Golf Guides USA

It takes full advantage of the challenging sea breezes and six miles of natural, rolling sand dunes and marsh wetlands.  It offers exhilarating views and intriguing play as the course winds along a coastal Atlantic dune ridge, with holes #4, #5, #6, #15 and #16 providing golfers with five incredibly spectacular oceanfront golf holes. 
It also has 10 holes that feature lagoons and marsh wetlands in addition to concluding with a par three whose green is strategically placed in the waters of Red Maple Lake.

It can be said that this is as much a nature tour as it is a round of golf. The course yardage of 6,300 yards from the tips, is somewhat deceiving since the small, undulating greens and narrow fairways make the course play much longer.  Errant shots are severely penalized, usually resulting in a lost ball.  At par 70, it provides a real challenge to golfers of all levels of skill.

The Par 3, 15th green is in the right foreground and the fairway of the very challenging Signature Par 4, 16th hole is in the top center .  Photo: courtesy of Omni Amelia Island.

We both lost our fair share of golf balls and still managed to finish with reasonable scores and when we were done we had a wonderful lunch at the clubhouse before heading back to our room to shower and get ready to head into Fernandina Beach, about 8 miles from the resort, for an afternoon of some sightseeing and an evening dinner.

We enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the downtown area's many fine shops and restaurants and for dinner, we chose Espana Restaurant, located on 4th Street just off Centre Street, which featured cuisine from Portugal and Spain.  We had a delicious, enjoyable meal and some terrific sangria.

Early the next morning we headed over to the Oak Marsh Golf Course. We picked up some coffee in the clubhouse, hit a few balls on the range, and teed it up at 7:30 am. Oak Marsh is one of Pete Dye’s truly classic designs. The course was built in 1972 shortly after he finished his work on the spectacular Harbor Town Golf Links at Hilton Head Island.  Dye's design elements have always reflected nature preservation and Oak Marsh is no exception. 

The beautiful Par 3, 7th hole on the Oak Marsh course.  Photo: Golf Guides USA

It is truly an outstanding layout noted for its tight fairways, small challenging green complexes, and fairways that meander along serpentine salt marsh creeks and through the moss draped heritage oaks for which Amelia Island is famous.  It is challenging and yet a fair test of your golf game. Water comes into play on 14 holes, and an accurate short game is required to hit the numerous bulk headed greens. The signature par-four eighth is typical Dye, challenging players to cross two tidal creeks before reaching the raised narrow green.  My wife struggled here but I did well, paring the hole.

Again, it was as much a nature walk, as it was a wonderful game of golf.  The morning was bright and sunny, my wife and I didn't lose too many golf balls and we both actually played pretty well.  It all added up to one fantastic round of golf.  One that we look forward to again at some future date.

After golf we headed back to our room, changed into our bathing suits and spent the rest of the day relaxing at the hotel's pool complex and expansive ocean beach.  We had a wonderful lunch at the cafe by the pool and chilled-out for the rest of the afternoon enjoying delicious frozen pina coladas. on the beach. 

Water and marsh everywhere on the beautiful Par 3, 16th hole.  Photo: Golf Guides USA

At dinner that evening we tried to determine which of these two courses we preferred...we couldn't decide which one was the better of the two.  They were both so unique, beautiful and picturesque that we decided that they both should be ranked #1.  You can rest assured that the next time we're at the Resort we'll be playing both courses once again.

That afternoon we relaxed at the hotel's pool and beach, enjoyed a quiet and wonderful dinner in the hotel's main dining room and finished the evening with an delightful after-dinner drink at the hotel bar.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and drove to the Jacksonville airport, approximately 30 miles from the resort, dropped off the rental car and boarded a Jet Blue filght back to New York.


The trip was truly a great experience.  We relaxed, we saw some new places, and we had 4 rounds of incredible, memorable golf.  Best of all, we're still speaking to one another and are actually planning another golf trip together sometime in the near future.  

We'll let you know how that one turns our when we return.

Upon the request of many readers over the years, Golf Guides USA is expanding our horizons with trips around the world to find some of the best golf and report back.  This is Ireland.

Ballybunion Old, a sight to behold.

Follow Brett on twitter, @BrettCyrgalis

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By BRETT CYRGALIS
Managing Editor

Here’s the question you inevitably get when telling people you’ve returned from Ireland:

“How was the weather?”

Before we even left, I caught a sideways glance from a friend who is a veteran of trips to the Emerald Isle:

“Be sure to pack your sunscreen,” he said, laughing.

The golf courses are often the main event on trips like these, and this one was no different.  We would make the trek from the western shores down south and over to the east, seeing Lahinch, Ballybunion, Waterville and Old Head, before a purely tourist visit to Dublin.  All the courses were spectacular in their own different way, as were the attendant cities.  And the memories are inexorably linked to the weather under which each was seen.

But I am a golfer who embraces the history, and revels in the natural way the game began.  If a rain comes, you play through it.  If there is no wind, then it’s just a little less interesting and far less enjoyable.

A side street in the town of Lahinch.

So when my wife and I landed at Shannon Airport for our two-person sojourn in late-July of 2016, we collected our bags, walked through the sliding doors and — you know what? — we were hit with the sweetest air we’ve ever tasted.  Compared to the triple-digit slog we left back in New York, the mid-60s with a slight fog was refreshing.  As we went to pick up the rental car, a very slight rain began to fall.  We were fine with it.

When the guy handed me the keys, pointed me in a general direction and said the car was a gray “Skoa” — a brand I had never heard of — well, that’s when we started to get nervous laughter.  As I got in the strange right-side driver’s door, I found the ignition and realized it was also a hybrid, often sounding like the motor was off while the car was actually running.  I became imminently thankful that I booked it far enough in advance to make sure it was at least an automatic transmission.  Later, I would also be imminently thankful that I paid for the GPS device that I mounted on the dashboard.  Without that navigating woman with a lilting British accent, we might still be lost in the countryside making friends with sheep.

A look down at the links of Ballybunion Old.

Instead, as we started the one-hour drive up north to Lahinch, the clouds parted for just a moment and a ray of sunshine quickly popped through.  It was clearly going to be a trip that had a little bit of everything.

We took a 11 p.m. flight out of JFK, so after six hours in the air and the time difference, we landed in Shannon on the west coast of Ireland around 10 a.m.  Despite our best efforts, there was very little sleep had on the airplane, so we were a bit groggy pulling into the quant village of Lahinch.   There is a long and deep beach at the center of the town, with a surfing school and shop nearby.  Many of the hostels are filled with Irish surfers — if you can believe it.

	The beach in the town of Lahinch, where surfing is a pastime.

We snaked our way through the ancient streets to a beautiful hotel called the Moy House.  Out on a small peninsula, the building is about 150 years old and looks out into a sprawling backyard with a wide-open view of the ocean.  Off to one side is a stream, and there were two horses down there in the rain, necking each other between bites of grass.  When we walked inside, it smelled like bread cooking, and cozy was an understatement.

There was no golf on this first day, so we headed up to one of Ireland’s main attractions.  The Cliffs of Moher are more breathtaking than pictures can describe.  The sheer height and steep drop down into the rocky waters below leaves you agape.  Then the views of these cliffs for miles on either side makes for a scenery beyond compare.  It paints the cliffs of Big Sur in California as miniature.

The beautiful Cliff of Moher, just north of Lahinch.

The rains kept coming in waves, but it was never torrential.  An umbrella or some good rain jackets suffice when it started up; no need to stay down under the safety of the visitors center, which did have more than its fair share of interesting exhibits.  But the rains hardly lasted for more than 10 minutes before the clouds lifted and the beautiful views were once again presented in full color.  A walk up many steps to the foot of O’Brien’s Tower was well worth it, as was the trek down to the South Platform.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any puffins — those cool black birds with the orange beaks — habitants of Goat Island, sitting down in a small inlet below the cliffs.

	The first, glorious pint of Guiness.

We went back to Lahinch and had a great dinner at a restaurant overlooking some late-evening surfers in four-foot waves.  Another persistent question about Ireland is about the food, and we found it to be more than satisfactory.  We enjoyed fresh seafood everywhere we went, and the assortment of local lamb and beef made for some honestly terrific meals.  If the weather and food irk some travelers, we immediately found both to be endearing.

And the best — the golf — was yet to come.

The Lahinch Golf Club is walking distance from the town’s center, and The Old Course is consistently ranked in the Top 50 courses in the world.  (There is also another course owned by the club, the Castle Course, across the street.)  It is an unassuming place, with terrifically nice people, which make the preamble to that first tee shot a relaxing affair.  But once you get out there, you understand what all the hype is about.

I played in a rain that ranged from slight to heavy.  It was likely the heaviest downfall we saw the whole time we were there.  The winds gusted up to 30 miles per hour, which made the rain sting against my cheeks.  With the heaviness in my arms from a lack of sleep, it was hard to swing the club with any efficiency.  The greens were true, but were still being nursed back to health after a national amateur tournament the week before had cut them rather low.

And none of that made the experience of playing the course any less exhilarating.

The narrow 4th fairway at Lahinch. The green is over the mound with the white dot.

At 6,950 yards from the back tees, Lahinch is often considered one of the hardest courses in Ireland.  It was founded in 1892, then Old Tom Morris came from St. Andrews in Scotland to redesign it in 1894, and George Gibson from Westward Ho! did a “modernization” in 1907.  But the real bones of the course was laid out in 1927 by none other than Alister MacKenzie, famed designer of Augusta National, Cypress Point and many other great courses around the world.  In 2003, a restoration of MacKenzie’s layout was completed, and the results are spectacular.

Yet the front nine and the back nine still have two distinctly different characters.  The front is defined by two consecutive holes originally designed by Old Tom.  The fourth is a 475-yard par-5 that has a tee box with the ocean lapping at your back, and it looks out to the narrowest fairway imaginable, framed by fescue-laden hills.  And it ends with a blind shot over a large mound, maybe 20 feet high, almost identical to “The Alps” hole at Prestwick, in Scotland — another Old Tom design — with a white rock at the top used as an aiming point.  Over the mound is some fairway before the green, making for a welcome reception into a rather flat putting surface.

The approach shot to the 6th at Lahnich, one of the best holes anywhere -- period.

It is followed by the fifth, a wild par-3 that is completely blind, similiar in nature to “The Himalayas” hole at Prestwick, only a lot shorter at 154 yards.  It plays to a newly redesigned — and somewhat out-of-character — hourglass green that is so narrow it can make for some very difficult (if not physically impossible) putts.

The rest of the front weaves in and out of the mounds, with constant ocean views.  The sixth might be one of the best holes in the world, a 424-yard par-4 that doglegs left, over a deep ravine with a bunker at its base, to a green that is backdropped by the water.  The seventh is equally as nice, with a green perched out over the beach to the left.

The wonderful approach to the 7th hole at Lahinch.

The back nine then pulls away from the ocean and down into somewhat flatter land.  It is defined by a string of difficult and long par-4s, with the par-5 12th as the highlight, hugging an expansive beach for a tidal river all down the left side.  The final hole is a 534-yard par-5 that plays over the tee box of the fifth for one last touch of quirkiness.  The final green is framed by a background of the stout clubhouse and a handful of flagpoles, and it’s almost a troubling sight.  It means the round is coming to a close, and you’ll have to wait to come back.

Where to stay when playing Ballybunion is a matter of circumstance.  If you’re golfing, eating and flopping, somewhere near the town should work.  If you want some surrounding culture, then head down to the bustling city of Killarney, about 45 minutes south.

One of the many festive streets in Killarney.

The drive from Lahinch to Killarney was . . . interesting, as most of the drives were.  It’s not so much the steering wheel being on the right side, or driving on the left side of the road.  It’s that the roads are unbelievably narrow, and winding.  Often, there is about two inches of clearance between sideview mirrors as you pass another car — forget a truck — and the sides of most country roads are straight-lined bushes, cut from how often you’ll clip them to avoid a head-on collision.  There are countless white-knuckle moments if you decide to drive, so get all the insurance the rental car company offers.

In that context, the drive from Lahinch to Killarney was almost enjoyable.  We drove the car onto a ferry at Killimer and it dropped us of at Tarbert, about a half-hour ride across an inlet that took us from County Clare to County Kerry.  It cut the trip in mileage, but was likely the same in time if you stayed on land and drove around.

Kerry is known for it’s wonderfully lush landscape, and the craggy peninsulas that line the western shore.  It’s biggest city is Killarney, which sits at the eastern side of the famous “Ring of Kerry,” which is about a five-hour circular drive around some of the most scenic parts of all of Ireland.   The double-decker tour buses run in and out of Killarney, and there is no embarrassment to shoulder the camera and spend the day seeing the sights.

We stayed at one of the most historic hotels in the city, The Malton, located a block from the train station right in the center of town.  The elegance of the property dates back to 1854, when it was known as The Railway Hotel, and then eventually the Great Southern Hotel Killarney.  The staff is led by general manager and fifth-generation hotelier Brian Scally, who could not have been nicer in his greeting and accommodations.  To fully experience the luxury of The Malton, stay in the suite where Jackie Onassis Kennedy and young John stayed on vacation soon after JFK was assigned in 1963.

The city itself is bustling with life.  There are pubs aplenty, along with many shopping options.  Make sure to stop in a wool store and pick up a sweater.

Not that I needed one when I left for Ballybunion the next morning.

There are days like this Ireland, when the sun shines in abundance and the clouds seem to part in just the right places.  I was graced with one of those days when I stepped to the first tee at Ballybunion’s Old Course.  Right there on the cover of the course guide is a quote from Tom Watson, the five-time Open Champion: “Ballybunion is a course on which many golf architects should live and play before they build a golf course.”

The opening tee shot at Ballybunion, with the ancient cemetery right.

Of course, Watson was at the helm during a major renovation of the links in 1995, but that was as much a labor of love than anything else.  The strategy inherent in the routing, through the dunes and along the beach, makes for that perfect mix of challenge and beauty.

It starts with a downhill tee shot, and out of bounds on the right — which is an ancient cemetery.   The second is a long par-4 that plays up a steep hill framed by two small mountains.  The fourth and fifth are both par-5s that play over the previous hole's green, but then the sixth is a relatively short par-4 that doglegs left when you make your way to the water.  From there, the course really picks up pace.

The tee on No. 11 (left) and the approach (right).

The seventh is a 421-yard par-4 that plays with the beach running down the right side, and then after a quick detour inland — which includes the terrific ninth hole, a par-4 that Sergio Garcia once made a 10 on — you step to the elevated tee of 11th.  This is the hole that Watson called “the best par-4 in the world,” and he could very well be right.  Playing 467 yards from the new back tee, the ocean is all to your right and there is considerable carry over some tall grass to reach the fairway, framed beautifully by dunes on both sides.  But the fairway slopes away, at 273 off the tee, 194 yards from the green, there is a drop-off, a patch of rough that leads to a lower fairway.  It’s from that plateau that you hopefully hit your second, just a exhilarating shot to a green behind some some staggered mounds that make distance control difficult.

Up the shute to Ballybunion's 16th green.

There is hardly any drop in quality as you hit over Kittys River on the par-5 13th, or up the “camels back” on the short par-3 14th, or down the hill on the long par-3 15th.  But the boomerang dogleg-left par-5 16th is a sight to behold, a tee shot where you can cut off as much as you want going left, but the fairway gets unbelievable narrow as it winds up a steep hill to the green.  The shot up the hill is a beauty, as well, with nothing behind the pin besides the sky.  Walking off that green is already a special moment, but standing on the 17th tee is the best view on course.  From a highly elevated tee, you’re looking down on another dogleg-left fairway, but one that breaks off for a view of the ocean and the coastline that is breathtaking.

The breaktaking view off the tee at the dogleg left par-4 17th hole at Ballybunion.

The course ends on a bit of a whimper with the 18th being less than driver off the tee and a second shot over a pseudo “Sahara” bunker to a blind green.  But there is little that can take away from what came before it — a no-brainer for one of the best golf courses in the world.

The tricky par-3 12th at Waterville.

The next day was a long one, and maybe not the most enjoyable for the non-golfer in our group (my wife).  We left Killarney early and drove deep into the Ring of Kerry to Waterville Golf Club, a place that was resurrected in 1973 by a wealthy Irish-American named John A. Mulcahy.  Along with Irish architect Eddie Hackett and 1948 Masters champion Claude Harmon, they built a new course on some very old land and immediately began garnering praise.

We got there and it was raining, with winds howling.  It wasn’t the best day to just be a spectating walker, although my wife was not the only one in the group to be doing so.  The opening holes are almost humble in their nature, relatively flat with a small river running alongside that empties out into an estuary behind the second green.  The third is a dogleg-right par-4 that plays along the estuary, although the fog and rain forced the view to be seen through squinted eyes.

The great tee shot at the par-4 16th at Waterville.

From the back tees, Waterville is wholly modern, reaching 7,378 yards — and playing every inch of it on this day.  The heart of the golf course lies inland, and it can be a punishing sequence of long par-4s and long par-3s.  Predictably, the best is a short par-5, No. 11, measuring 506 yards and playing to a narrow fairway that breaks off at 289 yards, and then plays up through a very small chute to a green that is awkwardly angled on a diagonal.  It’s as easy to make a double-bogey here as it is to make an eagle.

The great par-3 17th at Waterville.

The back nine picks up steam with a stout par-5 at No. 13, but what makes it such a memorable place is the closing three holes. No. 16 is a sweeping 386-yard par-4 with a semi-blind, uphill tee shot.  When you crest the hill, the estuary opens out into the ocean all along the right, and the views are spectacular and you try to navigate a difficult second into a small green surrounded by humps and dells.  The 17th is a 194-yard par-3 that plays over some broken land, with the sea as the background and a brutally deep grass bunker guarding the front-left portion of the elevated green.  The final hole is 594-yard par-5 that plays all along the beach.  There are bunkers staggered left and right, making it a tough drive, tough layup, and tough shot into the well-guarded green.  But that’s exactly the way you want to finish this stern test — earning every bit of glory (or self-loathing) you might receive.

The tee shot at Waterville's closing hole, a long par-5.

When we left Waterville, we took off for what would be the most enjoyable stay of our trip, the gorgeous seaside town of Kinsale.  For the sake of time, the best route would be back up north to Killarney, and then all the way east to Kinsale, which is on the southern coast of County Cork.  Instead, we decided to mostly hug the coastline, getting a small taste of the Ring of Kerry.  It took just under four hours before we finally pulled into Kinsale, but when we did, it was well worth it.

The beautiful fishing and sailing village of Kinsale.

The sister town of Newport, Rhode Island, is just what you would expect from an ancient sailing and fishing village.  There is a harbor filled with beautiful sail boats, and stucco houses that are painted in bright, pastel colors.  This is the type of place that the Irish come to on vacation, and it’s easy to see why.

We stayed the first night at the perfect location, a place called Actons Hotel, looking out over the harbor.  It was modern and sleek, and it was clear why there were three weddings going on there that weekend.  We spent the second night at The Old Bank Townhouse, directly in the center of the bustling town, and it was cozy and warm and put us right in the middle of the action.

But Kinsale is best experienced outdoors, and we were lucky enough to have two spectacular days of weather while there.  We took a one-hour boat tour of the harbor, which brought us around the remnants of two 17th-century forts, the stonework still a wonder to see as we passed by.  We spent many hours walking up and down the narrow and winding cobblestone streets, poking into stores and pubs.  I had arguably the best fish-and-chips I’ve ever had at a small storefront restaurant on the water, and it was followed later by some delicious lamb chops at a bistro up the street.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any nicer, I drove the 20 minutes to Old Head Golf Links, and my heart races just thinking about it.

The fourth hole at Old Head, with a nice backdrop.

Old Head is not the best golf course in the world, but it is unquestionably the most spectacular place that I have ever played golf.  That is a necessary distinction when taking into account the following verbiage for a place that is beyond beautiful.

Just south of Kinsale, the land comes into a small narrow, and then out into a bulbous peninsula that is all the property of Old Head.  The course is relatively new, built in 1997 over 220 acres that used to be a farm, jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean.  It is bordered on all sides by huge cliffs, some as high as 300 feet, and underneath are caves, some that run straight through.  At the southern-most point is a lighthouse, in view on about half the holes.  The property rolls in some gentle hills, and as could be expected, using all of the cliff-side borders to give a feeling like you’re often about to fall off.

The tee shot at No. 12, up to the monolith (small object right).	The approach at No. 12. No bunkers needed.

Although the place itself is a marvel of modernity, the land is ancient.  The story goes that when they were excavating, getting ready to build the course, they found some monoliths.  Now scattered around the course are these dark stones, about seven feet high, that have a hole carved into the middle about one foot in diameter.  There is one next to the first tee, when the starter makes you and your playing partners shake hands through the hole — what used to solidify a trade deal, and now solidifies your groups commitment to enjoying the day of golf.

The tee shot and the green at No. 16 at Old Head.

Which is almost impossible not do to.  The front nine might be a little less dramatic, but there is no shortage of beauty.  The first is a rather simple par-4, but the second already juts out into the ocean, a dogleg left par-4 that would be one of the best-looking holes anywhere — and is immediately eclipsed by the third, one of the four par-3’s on the course that is carved into the cliffside.

“Wait,” our caddie said, “the course has hardly begun.”

Things get historically interesting on the par-5 10th, which doglegs right around a big mound, and then the green is fronted by an ancient burial ground, surrounded by a short stone fence.  It used to be a hazard, and you can still take an unplayable, but you can also chose to go in and hack out your cursed Titleist, if you choose to be so daring.

As we were walking back to the 12th tee, the caddie started whistling.  “Here we go,” he said.  I was unsure what he meant until we crested the hill, walked to the tee, and looked up.  It’s hard to think of another place in the world of golf as utterly dramatic as this — nothing but cliffs falling down into water in front of you as the land rises to the fairway, a dogleg-left cape-hole drive with nothing to aim at but a walking path and one of the stone monoliths sitting in the right side of the fairway.  One is tempted to say, “Bite off as much as you can chew,” but it’s hard to put such a cliche on a such a magnificent piece of Earth.  Once up in the fairway, everything comes to a tight narrow as you go back downhill to approach the green, mounds on the right and cliff on the left leaving little room for error as the skinny putting surface retreats.  At this exposed juncture, the wind howls, and the nerves make it hard to hold the club with any proficiency.  Enjoy the views on one of the most spectacular holes anywhere.

The approach to No. 17 at Old Head.

Some recent rerouting and redesign made the 13th another par-3 carved into the side of the cliff.  It’s a very difficult thing to say, but with all four of these par-3’s being about the same length and same personality, it almost feels repetitive.  Any one of them would be the best hole on 99-percent of the golf courses in the world.  And the temptation to build a hole like this has to be overwhelming. But here, a little more variety could have helped the experience, as the shot becomes a little less exhilarating every time you hit it.

The 15th is a really good short par-4, with a semi-blind tee shot down a hill, and after another cliff-carved par-3 at 16, the 17th is a whirling dervish of a par-5, 623 yards from the back that is a double-dogleg with the water all along the right and a green set well below among the rocks.  The walk back to the 18th tee is the one last great moment here, as the boxes are cut just underneath the lighthouse.  The final hole is a dogleg left cut back over the cliff and up a hill to the modern clubhouse, a terrific way to end what is surely one of the most unique golf experiences anywhere in the world.  It’s hard to think that there is anywhere more spectacular to spend a day playing golf than out at Old Head.

The walk back to 18 tee at Old Head.	What the drive on No. 18 at Old Head looks like from the back tee.

A look from the clubhouse down the 18th hole at Old Head.

After leaving Kinsale, the golf club stayed packed as we journeyed up to Dublin.  We decided to leave the rental car in Cork, where we would hop on a train for a three-hour ride into the country’s bustling capital.

Blarney Castle, with the namesake stone atop the tower.

But before dropping the car, we made an obligatory tourist stop at Blarney Castle, where, yes, we stretched backward and kissed the famous Blarney Stone, thus giving me the gift of eloquence to write this piece.  But really, the grounds of the castle are beautiful, and there is a lot more there than just the stone.  There is a section that was believed to be the home of Druids, with some stone ancient stone circles used for who knows what.  There are ponds and waterfalls, and some eery stories about the “witch’s stone,” the “witch’s kitchen,” and the “wishing steps.”

The train ride from Cork to Dublin was pleasant, very similar to taking an Amtrak, and when we got into Dublin Station, it was easy to grab a cab to our hotel.  Pulling into the Shelbourne, we knew we were in for the best lodging experience of the trip.  A true five-star experience, this Marriott property is one of a kind.  Just off Saint Stephen Green, there is not a better location in the city’s center than here.  There is shopping all around, and culture at every turn.  By the recommendation of our cab driver, we found a terrific, non-tourist pub down the street, O’Donahues, that had live music set up in the corner at almost all times.  With the Guiness factory taking up almost the entire northwest section of town, it is necessary to plop down and enjoy a pint that is as fresh as possible and is as good as beer gets.

Library at Trinity College, which hosts the Book of Kells.

There is so much to do and see in Dublin, and we took advantage of the hop-on, hop-off tour bus.  It got us up into Phoenix Park, larger than New York’s Central Park, with a full-scale zoo and where the Irish President and the American Ambassador both have residences.  We did the tour at the Guiness factory, which was fascinating even for the non-beer lover.  We got back near the hotel and went to Trinity College to view the Book of Kells, which was as magnificent as the 40-minute line would have you predict.  From the recommendation of the terrifically helpful staff at the Shelbourne, we ate some delicious meals and said our peace to the trip ending with some masterfully crafted drinks at The Horseshoe Bar, the elegant lounge just off the lobby.

The fact is that this might have been a trip predicated on golf, but Ireland offers so much more.  To experience the country in any sense, you have to leave the links and engage the people, embrace their warmth and openness.  Then you can leave knowing that the golf will always be there, and will always be spectacular.  But that cross section of comfort and discovery is what makes Ireland unique, and makes it so special.

Ballybunion.

Upon the request of many readers over the years, Golf Guides USA visited Scotland in order to experience the homeland of golf and report back our findings.  What follows is a single narrative of that virgin trip, told as it happened to a traveling group consisting of both golfers and non-golfers.  The focus, of course, is on all the great golf we played – yet it was a very personal experience, and far from comprehensive.  Certain places, including golf courses, are highlighted in bold, if you wish to skip ahead.  Further inquires about golf in Scotland can be forwarded to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 
All photos by Golf Guides USA, unless noted otherwise.

Follow Brett on twitter, @BrettCyrgalis

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By BRETT CYRGALIS
Managing Editor

The lords of life, the lords of life,–

I saw them pass

In their own guise,

Like and unlike,

Portly and grim . . .

It’s all a little chaotic when we land.  The man meeting us at the airport is not the man who is expected.  The big, soft-covered bags carrying our golf clubs are slow to come out on the baggage carousel, and when they do, they seem heavier and more cumbersome than when we packed them into the van on our way to Newark International.

Walking outside, the Edinburgh air seems thick and dense, and the low cloud cover and fog are not helping to clear the gunk from the corners of our eyes.  A cup of coffee would do wonders, but it wasn’t too long ago that a $7 bottle of Dewars – actually, two – were purchased to try to induce sleep.

Now it’s adrenaline carrying these aching legs and cracking knees.  Rarely in my 26 years has so little sleep translated into my overtired body moving with such purpose.  So we drag ourselves and wheel our luggage to the van in the parking garage, following our part-time leader, Ed, with the first great Scottish burr to hit our ears.  He is taking us to our soon-to-be-leader and his boss, Roy, who waits 45 minutes up the east coast of Scotland in St. Andrews.

A side street in St. Andrews, the North Sea in the distance.

We’re in the van and we’re moving, and as Ed points out where his house is located in the town of Darsie, all I can do is stare out the window at the rolling fields and think of The Eden, Hell Bunker, the Valley of Sin . . .

And we keep moving, all four of us.  My father and I have talked about this journey for over two years; our pilgrimage to golf’s Holy Land.  Although it took some time for me to convince him that where we’re headed is truly Mecca, it finally got through and the thin smile on his face from the front seat of the van is tantalizing.  The others are two women along for the ride, both who delight in seeing and experiencing the world outside of their comfortable New York circles.  Even if this is a country that always expects cold and rain, both my mother and my girlfriend have packed admirably and are ready to laugh.

After countless traffic circles and field after field growing with bright yellow grape seed (which Ed tells us the Scottish government pays farmers to plant), we finally see the spire of the Holy Trinity Church in the distance, with the low-lying medieval town sitting below it in the mist.

Before I can think, we’re upon it, and I’ve already glimpsed the Swilcan Bridge behind a row of buildings.  Just when I’m about to jump out of my seat to ask Ed to stop the van, he does.  And he couldn’t have picked a better place to do so.

Looking at the entrance to the Macdonald Rusacks hotel, it seems like some understated lettering was placed on the façade of a 200-year-old gray stone building, and the beautiful stained glass windows that adorn the foyer give you only a slight indication of how elegant the inside might be.

The gorgeous Macdonald Rusacks hotel on Links Road in St. Andrews.

But before we can get in, we are accosted by Roy Anderson, the man who owns and operates McLaren Travel and will be our driver and guide for this trip.  He has agreed to drive us all over Scotland for the next week, taking us from one coast of the country to other and back again.  He is slight man, standing about 5-foot-9 and skinny as a stick.  He’s well put-together, with moderately gelled dark hair, pinstriped pants and a sleek gray pullover, while carrying an air about as if he knows something you don’t.  Most of the time, it’s because that’s just the case, and he often tells the said thing while looking away and clandestinely dragging an occasional a menthol cigarette, as if not to make too much of his exclusive and extensive knowledge.

Those assets of Roy's are uniquely Scottish, and make him the ideal tour guide while doing this - or any - golf trip to the British Isles.  What we learned over the next week was the Roy is unparalleled in terms of the information he has about both golf courses and his native country.  He delivers everything with a dry comedic touch and a charm that made our trip exponentially more enjoyable.  He's a caring man, with a warmth that warranted a hug when we parted ways.  When Golf Guides plans its next trip, probably to Ireland, there is only one person we will consider calling.

But now he’s got something important to tell us.  “Ray,” he says to my father in his toned-down accent, “Aye’ve git a bitter tee tome fa ‘ya today.”

My Dad shoots me a quizzical look.  We were supposed to tee off on the New Course at St. Andrews around 3 p.m., which was the time allotted to us when we hopefully applied for it nine months prior.

How we got the time in the first place is quite easy, but it’s also because we had a bit of luck.  There is about a two-week window open every September when any golfer with an official handicap of 18 or better can apply, through the St. Andrews Links Trust website, for a tee time on the Old Course.  You give them a block of days when you would like to play, and they send you either a date with a tee time or a letter saying better luck next year.  (The latter of which we received the previous year.)

If you do get assigned a date on the Old Course, you are also required to play on one of the other six courses that are part of the St. Andrews compund.  Turns out it's almost necessary to understand the place, as the ancient links are so much more than just the Old Course.  For this trip, I chose the New Course as our other track, which is an Old Tom Morris design and opened in 1896.

But now it’s about 10 a.m. on a cool but bright morning in late April.  My Dad and I, along with our counterparts, were planning to check in, shower, have something to eat and breathe for a minute.  Then we would head out for our first Scottish golfing experience, and the girls would head out to engage the royal town of St. Andrews.

Roy has a different idea.  He had a foursome from Atlanta get their flight delayed, so we can tee off at 11:30.

Ok, so no shower.  We couldn’t check into the hotel yet anyway, our two rooms not being ready.  So we said yes to the new tee time, shimmied into a small storage room, shuffled through our luggage for some suitable golfing clothes, got our clubs and cleats out of the travel bags and headed for the Links Trust clubhouse, about a driver and 5-iron away from the backdoor of the Rusacks.

After changing in a small locker room in the bottom floor of the hotel, we walked out into the open air to get the first real sight of the hallowed grounds.  I pressed against the white picket fence that lines the right side of the 18^th fairway of the Old Course, which joins with the first fairway to make for a huge field of beautifully, short-cut grass, about 200 yards wide.  In the distance was the West Sands, a public beach where the penultimate scene of Chariots of Fire was filmed; to my right was the imposing structure of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club’s clubhouse, with its Rolex clock just ticking away; and to my left snaked the Swilcan Burn, traipsing over it the famed Swilcan Bridge, smaller than expected and made of pale stones that ached with history.

I’d like to say that the smile on my face was that of some sort of instinctive recognition, as if in my DNA somewhere I knew this was a place where I belonged.  But I have no idea if I was smiling, or frowning, or laughing like a lunatic.  I was focused on running the film in my brain in order to document this scene, crystal clear in my mind’s eye, as if never to be too far from recall.

The view down on the Old Course's opening and closing holes from the fourth floor of the Rusacks Hotel, with the small Links Trust's Clubhouse and adjacent parking lot in the distance.

There is a difference between a golf vacation and a vacation with golf.  The former is focused, the latter is leisurely.  To find something in between, well then you've found something special.

And that was the goal as my wife and I traveled to one of Florida’s top golfing destinations, PGA National Resort & Spa, in Palm Beach Gardens.  Convenient to the New York area, PGA National is just 15 miles (20 minutes) north of the West Palm Beach International airport, easy enough when working with limited time.

Opening in 1981, the resort is situated on over 800 acres, featuring a top-notch hotel with 339 rooms, all recently renovated.  It features large comfortable rooms, a fabulously expansive zero-entry pool complex, a spacious health and racquet club, a spectacular 40,000-square-foot European spa, 19 tennis courts and a handful of croquet lawns.  It is a vast complex dedicated to relaxation and well-being, including an assortment of fine and casual-dining opportunities on the premises.

For golfers, it offers five 18-hole golf courses -- four on the property and one a few miles away.  Spread out over three wonderful driving ranges and a plethora of short-game areas are the teaching academies for acclaimed instructors Dave Pelz and David Ledbetter, if getting better is something you might be interesting in, here's the place.

The courses are essentially private, kept for the approximately 1,500 golf members and their guests, along with those staying at the resort.  We were told that the private play accounts for close to 100,000 rounds a year.

We had flown Jet Blue down to West Palm, rented a car and were at the resort just over three hours after leaving New York.  It was a beautiful, sunny, 80-degree day, and thinking about waiting in New York traffic just to get to a cold October golf course seemed like insanity.

We were checked into a lovely room overlooking the pool complex and lake, and took in the view with delight. Since it was still early afternoon, we  walked around the grounds to acquaint ourselves with the facility, and we decided to spend the rest of the day chilling out at the spectacular pool with some frozen daiquiris.  Feet up, sunshine, a nice cocktail in hand -- what could be better?  That evening we had a wonderful dinner at the Ironwood Restaurant in the hotel and a nightcap at iBar in the hotel’s lobby, smiling the whole way.

Over the next three days we were scheduled to play the Champion course, the Fazio course and the Squire course.  The Palmer course was closed for maintainance, and the Estates course, located off the resort property, couldn't fit into our timeframe.

All of the courses on the property start from the Golf Clubhouse and Pro Shop, which was just a short walk from our room.

The Champion Course is the crown jewel, rich in golf history and carrying that "must-play” title for the avid golfer.  It was the battleground for the 1983 Ryder Cup, one of the closest contests in Ryder Cup history, with the U.S. team just edging out the Europeans, 14 1/2 to 13 1/2.   The course also hosted the 1987 PGA Championship; nearly two decades of the Senior PGA Championships, from 1982-2000; and since 2007, it has been the host site for the PGA’s Honda Classic each spring, one of professional golf’s most popular events.

The wide open 1st hole on The Champion - photo Golf Guides USA

The course was originally designed by Tom and George Fazio back in 1981.  It was completely redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 1990, and modified again by Nicklaus in 2002, when the famous or infamous “Bear Trap” was born.  That would be the grusome three-hole sequence from 15-17, one that has become a watery grave for many great players throughout the years.  Played as a 7,140-yard par-70 in tournaments, The Champion has ranked as the most-difficult non-major course on the PGA Tour three of the past five years. It ranked second overall in 2010 and 2011.

With everything I had heard and read about this course, I was a bit intimidated as I approached the first tee.  I expected an incredibily difficult, unforgiving and challenging tract, and as an 18-handicap, I also expected to loose at least a dozen golf balls with water coming into play on 16 holes.

Turned out that wasn't the case.  The course is not overly penal for the recreational golfer if he or she plays the right tees.  I played from the blue tees (middle) and my wife played from the ladies' forward red tees that allowed us to enjoy a wonderful round of golf on what was a beautiful golf course.  Yes, it was challenging, but not so difficult that we couldn’t play comfortably and enjoy it. 

The 2nd green on The Champion - photo courtesy of PGA Nat'l

The course offers a number of generous fairways with spacious landing areas, and large, undulating, well-bunkered greens.  It actually starts off quite easy, with the opening four holes offering an opportunity to score, and then getting more difficult as you finish the front nine.  The watery par-5 sixth plays as a par-4 for the pros, and was the toughest hole on PGA Tour in 2014, with a stroke average of 4.442.  I took a sloppy 7 and my wife parred the hole, so there!

The back nine also starts off fairly easy, but gets significantly more difficult beginning on the 14th.  Then, the “Bear Trap."  I had lost four balls before getting to the 15th tee, and was ready to lose more. Yet I got to the 18th tee with the same ball, having traversed the 153-yard par-3 15th, the 391-yard par-4 16th, and the 155-yard par-3 17th with two bogies and a par. Amazingly, my wife, a 25-handicapper, hadn't lost a ball all day getting to the Trap, where she succumbed to its difficuilty and donated four balls in three holes.  We finally got to the impressive,  double-dogleg 18th, a truly beautiful, twisting and challenging par-5.   Without a doubt, this is one of the toughest five-hole finishing stretches that you're likely to play anywhere.

That's me at the "Bear Trap"

The Champion course isn’t as scenic or as dramatic as other tournament tracts I’ve played, but it was still beautiful and was in excellent condition.  It does not disappoint in terms of providing a memorable golfing experience , with its effective contouring and cleverly placed forced carries.  No question, you must think your way around most of the holes.  The course is difficult, but not tortuous.  With some easier holes thrown in the mix with some brutal holes, it is enjoyable and a complete test of one's game.

The 15th & the start of the "Bear Trap" - photo Golf Guides USA

If there was a drawback, it was the cart-path only rule.  Apparently, that is the constant here, so if it's feasible to walk and take a caddie, that would be highly recommended.  

After our round, we stopped in at Bar 91, located next to the Pro Shop, for a thoroughly enjoyable lunch.  (I wish I had shot 91!)  It was then back to our room, a quick change into our bathing suits, and another afternoon relaxing at the pool.



This resort, situated on PGA Boulevard, is just minutes away from more than 50 notable restaurants.  We decided that night to eat at the esteemed Capital Grille, convienently a few miles away, and had a delicious steak dinner.

The next morning we played The Fazio course.  It was the original 18-hole course on the property built in 1980, and was previously called "The Haig," as George and Tom Fazio designed in tribute to five-time PGA Championship winner Walter Hagen.  It was supposed to go in conjuction with "The Squire," in honor of Gene Sarazen, yet the Fazio family, three generations of them, have done such a complete renovation of “The Haig” -- and have apparently garnered enough name recognition themselves -- that the name has changed.  Tom Fazio II is in the midst of newest renovation efforts to "modernize the noted shot-maker’s layout." 

The dogleg 15th on The Fazio - photo courtesy of PGA Nat'l

We were told that the renovation improved the classic golf architecture with modern advances, including: significantly larger greens, reconfigured tee boxes and bunkers and the addition of player-friendly tees allowing the course to be played at 5,100 yards in accordance with the popular “Tee it Forward” initiative sponsored by the PGA and USGA.

The Fazio begins with an intriguing dogleg-left par-5 that can be a bit nerve-wracking for the day’s opening tee shot. Leave the drive too far right and you’re either out-of-bounds or facing a tight second shot. Favor the left side and water enters play on the drive and the next shot. Water also runs down the right side after the hole turns the corner. You must be precise on the first two shots or you will be sacrificing early strokes.

The 17th green on The Fazio - photo courtesy of PGA Nat'l

The front nine offers many doglegs, most featuring deep fairway bunkers at the corners and around the greens.  Once you make the turn, the holes are more straightforward and tree-lined. While water is on 15 of the 18 holes, it winds around the perimeter of the course and for the most part can be avoided, except for the very wayward shot.


Fazio II believes his renovation “achieves that ideal balance where single-digit golfers will be fully challenged while higher handicapers will have a layout ideal for a day of enjoyable resort golf."  That’s exactly what my wife and I found.  We both had a enjoyable round on what is a very nice, well-conditioned resort course.

The clock tower at the beach end of Worth Ave.

After our round, we headed to the world-famous Worth Avenue in Palm Beach (about 15 miles away) for lunch, some browsing, and a little bit of shopping.  Worth Avenue is one of Americas finest -- if not the finest -- upscale shopping street.  It stretches four blocks, form Lake Worth to the Atlantic Ocean.  It’s a beautiful place. Its’ natural décor, architecture and landscaping are superb.


Being an outside mall, the trees, plants and flowers are impeccably manicured. Even having been here numerous times, its easy to be taken back by the many fabulous shops and restaurants that line the street and are tucked into its many alcoves and courtyards.  It is the epitome of service and quality, and a destination that doesn't disappoint.

The so many unique shops lining Worth Ave.

That evening we met some friends up at Jonathan’s Landing, a beautiful residential and golfing comunity in Jupiter, just a few miles north of the PGA resort. We had a wonderful dinner at the Jonathan’s Landing clubhouse, and our friends said they often head down to PGA National to use the spa -- what they considered "far and away, the best in the area."

The next morning it was off to The Squire – the shortest of the five courses at PGA National, named after the immortal Gene Sarazen, the first golfer ever to win the professional career Grand Slam.

The dogleg 13th on The Squire - photo courtesy of PGA Nat'l

George and Tom Fazio designed this course, as well, opening in 1981 with the goal to be the ultimate test of accuracy and precision, and in turn has been dubbed, “the thinking man’s course.”  With water on 17 holes, and many doglegs, it looked and played very much like the Fazio course the day before.  And just like the Fazio course, it was a in excellent shape and made for a thoroughly enjoyable round of golf for both me and my wife.

After the round we decided to have lunch at The Wave restaurant, at the pool complex, where we spent the rest of the day so easily relaxing.

The heated mineral pools at the Spa & Salon

The next morning, before leaving for the airport, we took a tour of the Spa facility.  I must say that it was quite something, especially the heated mineral pools from the Dead Sea in Israel & the French Pyrenees Mountains.  After taking this tour we understood full well why our friends in Jupiter use it as often as they do.  We’re sorry that we didn’t take advantage of it this time, and we plan on doing so when we come back.




Bottom line, we had a very enjoyable and relaxing time. We got to play The Champion, a course we were longing to see -- and one we actually both played pretty well.  The other two resort courses only added to our golfing experience, which is not all that there is at PGA National. 

The location of the resort is terrific, there is so much to see and do in the neighboring areas.  The ammenities are wonderful, the staff was all excellent -- and there happened to be some really good golf.  What more can you ask for?