If you really love the game of golf then you really need to book one of the great golf vacations in La Quinta California. The Palm Springs area hosts more than 120 quality golf courses and many are considered world class. When people who love the game of golf retire they move to La Quinta area. Famous celebrities have used the area for entertainment and relaxation for more than 80 years. President Gerald Ford retired and lived there just because it was the best place to play golf in America. Many of the stars of the cinema have homes in the La Quinta/ Palm Springs area because of the easy access to great golf courses located in a beautiful setting.

No matter what your skill level there is a golf course to suit your game. There are very challenging courses like Norman and Stadium courses that are built for golfer who are part mountain goat. The 150 slope course will challenge any player. Ranked by Golf Magazine as one of the top golf courses in the world these courses were laid out by Pete Dye. Each year the courses host several top PGA tournaments including the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and PGA Grand Slam.

Depending on the season you can book a great discount golf vacation at several theses world class golf destinations. The best way to travel to La Quinta is by air directly to the Palm Springs airport. Almost all the major airlines provide service to Palm Springs. Upon arrival you should rent a car so as to have the freedom to totally enjoy area and all its beauty. Many avid golfers will play a different course on each day of their golf vacation. After 5 or 7 days of golf on these challenging courses you will need a second vacation to recover from the first. Golf vacations in La Quinta California provide a lifetime of memories.

By: Jim Kesel
James Kesel, MS, is the publisher of Discount Golf Vacations website at http://www.good-golf-swing.com Providing great information on the great game of golf and great golf destinations including golf vacations in La Quinta California

The Cayman Islands are definitely one of the best destinations when it comes to golf vacations. This trio of tiny islands in the Caribbean is home to some of the world's greatest reefs and walls. Because of its underwater treasures, the Cayman Islands have earned its reputation of being one of the scuba diving hotspots in the worlds. Its temperate and weather the whole year round is mainly attributed to its location in the Caribbean which has protected the islands from storms. And because of its climate, it has been a prime destination for a variety of outdoor activities. Golf is also one of the attractions in the Caribbean. Grand Cayman Golf is increasingly popular because it offers a spectacular atmosphere.

The Grand Cayman is the largest of the trio. The other two islands are the Little Cayman and the Cayman Brac. The Grand Cayman hosts a number of luxury hotels and condominiums fronting the white sands of Seven Mile Beach. There are many destinations here for outdoor lovers, especially for the scuba divers. For golf enthusiasts, there is the Britannia Golf Club in the luxurious Hyatt Britannia; the 18-hole Links at Safe Haven; the Sunrise Family Golf Centre; and a nine-hole course at the Ritz Carlton.

The people of the Hyatt Regency hired Jack Nicklaus to design the Britannia Golf Club. As a trademark of a Jack Nicklaus design, the course gives any golfer a challenging but rewarding golf experience. The course features, rolling dunes, grassy mounds lakes and oversized bunkers that would definitely challenge any golfer's abilities. One special feature of this course is that it is actually a two in one golf course. It can be played as a Championship course or as an Executive course. The Executive course is usually offered during Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but special arrangements can be made for tournaments and special events. Regulation play is played daily.

Guests of the Hyatt Regency pay $90 for a nine-hole play and $140 for 18-hole play. Public fees are $100 and $150 but memberships may be availed for $1000 a year. Those who own Britannia Villas overlooking the courses may play for free.

Another Grand Cayman golf course is the Links at Safehaven. It is a 6605 yard par 71 world class course. The course was designed by Roy Case in 1994 and is situated along North Sound Coast five miles from George Town off Seven Mile Beach. The green was built to the rigid specifications of the USGA standards with a total course rating of 75.1. The landscaping utilized native vegetation with lush gardens of indigenous trees, plants and some flowering shrubs. Landing space of and average of 5,000 square feet is great for golfers.

There is also a private Grand Cayman golf course, the Blue Tip. The course is exclusively available to the Ritz Carlton guests. It was designed by Greg Norman. The Blue Tip is a Superb nine hole course but officials are talking of adding another nine holes to make the Blue Tip a complete golf destination. It is easy to see why so many people are traveling to the Grand Caymans for a golf vacation. The weather is great all year around and there are several top quality golf courses to test your playing abilities.

By: Jim Kesel
James Kesel, MS, is the publisher of Discount Golf Vacations website at http://www.good-golf-swing.com Providing great information on the great game of golf and great golf destinations including Grand Cayman Golf.

Submitted by:
Barry Arcant
Legal Resources - Legal Services

What you will notice when you arrive at Territory Golf Club and make your way to the clubhouse is a rolling prairie landscape. What you will also notice is wetlands and streams running through the property. What you won't notice is an abundance of trees. This is what you see about the property from the parking lot. Because looks can be deceiving, what you will later discover is the tale of two golf courses. All of the hole on the front nine, as well as, holes 10 and 18 are situated on rolling prairie with a compliment of native grasses in the rough and other places that you are not supposed to hit your golf ball. Holes 11 through 17 are cut out of an oak forest that also features wetlands and streams along with some significant elevation changes.

Territory Golf Club plays to a par of 72 and measures 6,921 yards from the back tee markers. The course rating, from the back tees, is 72.9 and has a slope index of 125. There are four sets of tee markers, which means there is an appropriate yardage for golfers of all skills.

The management team consisting of Brock Swanson, head golf professional, Dan Stang, golf course superintendent and Dan Dols, general manager make sure that the players experience is outstanding. The course condition and the pace of play make Territory Golf Club a golf course that you will want to place on your list of places to play in central Minnesota. My playing partner and I played our round on a weekend morning and completed our play in just less than four hours. There were groups in front of and behind us and the pace of play flowed nicely.

The greens at Territory Golf Club are quite large, averaging nearly 7,000 square feet each and have significant undulation. These two factors make club selection as you approach the green critical. Just being on the green in regulation does not guarantee that you will have two putts for a par. My playing partner for the round described the greens a looking like "big potato chips" referring the random shapes as well as the wavy appearance as you walk onto the putting surface.

Another challenge at Territory Golf Club is the sand traps. The traps can generally be described as large, deep and having steep faces on them. Getting out of the traps successfully should be your first concern, getting close to the pin should be of secondary importance.

The back nine plays longer than the front nine with number 10 and number 18 being the two longest holes on the golf course. The par-3 holes are longer-range holes with the shortest playing at 170 yards and the longest playing at 245 yards.

If you are looking for a challenging golf course to play in central Minnesota I would certainly check out Territory Golf Club in St. Cloud. You can call for a tee a time at 320-258-4653 or visit their website at territorygc.com for more details.

By: Dana Buttenhoff
Dana Buttenhoff is an avid golfer and a native Minnesotan. After 20 years of golf and traveling around the USA, Dana would like to share the golf gems rural Minnesota has to offer: http://www.minnesotaruralgolf.com.

For a real links-style golf experience we discovered the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links, located in St. Cloud, about 25 minutes southeast of the Orlando airport or the Disney area. The Royal St. Cloud Links greet you with a rolling layout of links-style fairways, punctuated by classic links bunkers that feature names such as Hell, Spectacles, Devil's Pocket and Hoofprint. True to its link heritage, every club in the bag will be utilized as the terrain is naturally varied.

Unlike other Orlando golf courses, the Royal St. Cloud is free of any residential developments and offers a pure golf experience. The design features four sets of tees and from the blue tee offers a championship length of 7,111 yards and a 74.6 rating, all on flawless fairways and silky-smooth Tifeagle greens.

Its motto, as printed above the entrance to the club house is "Original Golf Played Here", and indeed the Royal St. Cloud features original style golf at its unpretentious best. I had a chance to talk to Bill Filson, the Director of Golf and since 2002 co-owner of this facility.

Bill has an extensive teaching background. He has personally studied under some of the top-ranked teaching professionals and brings 12 years of teaching experience that featured beginners to PGA tour professionals. Bill has consistently been a top-ranked PGA Professional. The Royal St. Cloud's teaching staff is complemented by Dave Rummels who brings 17 years of valuable PGA Tour experience with him and can share advice from the "Tour" with the students. Associate Professional, Doug Holloway, has 16 years coaching experience.

At the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links the commitment to teaching the game of golf commitment includes state-of-the art video equipment and even a teaching tent for inclement weather. Lessons, programs, and clinics are offered for every skill level and requirement. Bill explained that they run very reasonably priced children's clinics at $7.00 per clinic and the club has 120 members in their junior program. Ladies can also learn the sport without embarrassment in a relaxed, comfortable environment. And with every family membership at the club kids play for free.

Bill prides himself on offering one of the greatest values in golf in the Orlando area. For the 2005-2006 season rates vary from $46 to $48 from November 1 to January 10, and $64 from January 11 to April 30, 2006. Discounted tee time rates are available after 11 am or 12 pm respectively, 7 days/week. Bill went on to say that the fees at the Royal St. Cloud are always reasonable, and that he aims not to oversell his course, but to exceed the visitors' expectations.

In addition, he offers a very unique proposition: a 100% money-back guarantee with no conditions if you didn't enjoy your playing experience at the Royal St. Clouds. He said in the almost three years since he has run this course only 2 people ever asked for a refund; a phenomenal achievement, considering that several tens of thousands of rounds are played here every year.

One of the very unique features of this course is the handcrafted stonework which is evident in four bridges found throughout the course that have been hand-built by one individual brick by brick. Bill said that some of the bridges are even a little bit crooked, just to give them more character. The most famous stone bridge can be found on the 5th hole and many of the British visitors to this golf course come here specifically for this unique feature.

Bill explained that his golf course serves a value-based market that is composed of local residents, snowbirds escaping the cold northern winters, and British golfers, a very loyal crowd who refer this facility to many of their friends back home.

The Royal St. Cloud Golf Links have been rated as one of the Top 5 Most Underrated Golf Courses in the Orlando area and they have hosted the 2004 and 2005 British Junior Amateur. With its wide-open fairways the course looks deceptively simple, however, I experienced very quickly the unique challenges offered by the Royal St. Cloud. Traditional links golf is played on the ground, unfortunately I still managed to find water several times, despite the generously open fairways.

The other feature I really enjoyed were a number of the ponds on the back nine of the course that were playing host to a variety of local wildlife and water birds. I particularly enjoyed watching a very rare specimen of wood stork stalking the edges of a pond for food, and a crane standing upright with stretched out wings. The course had a very relaxed, casual and friendly feel to it and we enjoyed a tasty hot dog after our game on the beautiful patio outside the clubhouse as a way to cap off a very enjoyable golf experience on a gorgeous day.

Driving Directions from the Disney Area: Royal St. Cloud Golf Links is an easy 25 miles from the Disney area. (25-35 minute approximate drive time) * Take Osceola Parkway to the Florida Turnpike * Take Exit 244 to Hwy 192, turn left. * Go 4.6 miles to Vermont Ave, turn right. * Take Vermont 2.1 miles to Creek Woods Road, take a left. * Go only .7 miles to Michigan Ave, take a right directly into the Golf Club.

Statistics Par 72 Yards Rating Slope Blue 7111 74.6 128 Gold 6680 72.2 125 Green 6083 69.2 115 Citrus 5531 66.6 111

For more information please visit Royal St. Cloud Golf website or call them at (407) 891-7010.

By: Susanne Pacher
This entire article including photos is located at travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/orlando_royal_stcloud_golf.
Susanne Pacher is the publisher of http://www.travelandtransitions.com, a web portal for unconventional travel & cross-cultural connections. Check out our brand new FREE ebooks about travel.

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