It's a great thing, when you can arrive at a resort, and never have to leave the property. What do I mean by this, well here goes - 2 championship courses, Arnold Palmer Golf Academy World Headquarters, Spa, Fitness center, two fantastic restaurants, sports bar, lounge, poolside cafe and superpool bar. The greatest thing about all this, is that it's all within walking distance of your accommodations. Speaking of accommodations - Deluxe guest room, One bedroom suite, Two bedroom suite and Three bedroom suites are available. All rooms have new Tropical Bahama furniture - very nice look.
One well know sports writer refers to this unique property as "One of Florida's quintessential golf resorts". I spent the weekend here recently and can tell you first hand how much I enjoyed it. I could play 18 holes of golf, have a great dinner and end the night either listening to the poolside band or with a quality cigar on my balcony overlooking the resort.
Let me talk about the 2 courses for a moment. The Saddlebrook Course - This course has your typical Florida look - natural beauty! The par 70 course winds its way through towering cypress, draped with Spanish moss and beautiful blue water. It is currently going through a 2 million dollar renovation - completed in Mid-November.
The Palmer Course - This course has generous driving areas with firm green contoured fairways to resemble a rolling New England course - level ground is rare. The beautiful look of each hole along with the different variety that each hole brings, makes this par 71 a great test. These are both stay and play courses.
In a nutshell - if you have a group of golfers that want to check into a resort, have two quality golf courses to play, eat at great restaurants, drink cocktails by the pool and do all this with never having to get in your car until the day you depart - THEN SADDLEBROOK RESORT IS FOR YOU!
For more information about Saddlebrook resort or to book you next golf outing, call 888.333.6103 or go to http://www.golfzoo.com/-dest-FLTA-vendor-SADSAD-_param-1-.htm?utm_source=Blog&utm_medium=Blog?utm_content=Saddlebrook.
The Auld Course in San Diego has undergone an ownership change and from all reports golfers will see an immediate positive change in the facility. The new ownership is strongly committed to upgrading the course and facility conditions, including adding GPS to all carts, renovated bunkering and improved turf conditions on both fairways and green. Located in Chula Vista, in close proximity to downtown San Diego, you definitely have the feel of being on a links layout. If you can't get to Ireland or Scotland, hit Salt Creek instead for a golf and visual experience not often available.
Located at the foothills of Mt. Miguel, the links are bordered by acres of natural wetlands and protected habitat reserves. With five sets of tees, generous width fairways and ample run-up space, Salt Creek is both playable and very enjoyable for players of all abilities. The practice facilities are among the best in all of San Diego County.
We're certain you'll find Salt Creek a golfing, visual and aesthetic experience. See you on the links!
I know it's only Summer and most people aren't thinking about their winter golf trip. I'm originally from the Northeast and I know the weather can start changing as early as November.
I've lived in Florida for over 8 years now and absolutely love it. I'm in Orlando and have played golf all over the state. Of the areas I handle, I would rank them in this order from top golf destination to bottom: Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, W. Palm, Stuart/Port St. Lucie, Fort Lauderdale, Miami.
The ranking is based on quality of golf, travel time to courses, variety of course types and price. If you want a good mix of golf and nightlife then Tampa is your place. Only issue with Tampa is the travel to the different courses and some of the quality. South Florida is the night life capitol - but some of the golf can be suspect, or too expensive for what you get. Orlando and Jacksonville pose some of the best golf in the state, along with an expansive number of courses to choose from. If you need many places to eat and drink - Orlando is best.
The weather in Florida for November and December is some of the best in the country. The courses are in great shape, the normal winter golf crowd hasn't arrived yet (Jan. - Mar.), and the prices are attractive. If you'd like to talk more about a Florida golf trip at the end of this year, please call 888.333.6103 to discuss - or go to our website and put together a trip quote (www.golfzoo.com) and see what you get.
My father came into town last weekend for Father's Day, and we decided to get "outta town" for a guys only golf weekend.
Gold Canyon Golf Resort (about 35 minutes east of Scottsdale) was the perfect choice - I chose it for the golf, though I had never actually stayed at the Resort before.
Gold Canyon has 36 holes right on site, (the first tee of Dinosaur Mountain was literally about 40 yards away from the front door of our casita) and although I play alot of golf in Scottsdale and have played em all, it is still my absolute favorite since I first played it almost 6 years ago. What I was pleasantly surprised at was how good the Sidewinder course was! (I must admit that I had never played it before last weekend.) An extremely enjoyable layout, and a really good warmup for Dinosaur. It makes more a really nice 36 hole day - Sidewinder in the morning, then Dino in the afternoon. (We have a really good special price for that as well.)
I was extremely impressed with the accommodations. Our unit, a "Spa Casita" is basically a hotel room, but a LARGE hotel room. 2 double beds + a sitting area to watch the NBA playoffs made it very comfortable for 2 guys to hang out, and sip a little Makers Mark. The clencher here was the private patio with the PRIVATE JACUZZI right outside your back door. It's the perfect setup.
Also, the restaurant (Kokopelli's) was excellent for both breakfast and dinner. We had all you can eat catfish Friday night, and prime rib was the special on Saturday. The prices were great - much less than what you would expect at a resort - great food, great prices, and exceptional service. The breakfast buffet with an omelette station was a great value as well.
If you're coming to Scottsdale, but want a resort that's a little more out of the way and secluded, give Gold Canyon Golf Resort a try.
You won't be disappointed.
The Thistle Golf Club located in Calabash, NC is a must play on your next golf vacation to Myrtle Beach. There are 3 beautiful nines designed by architect Tim Cate and the owner has spared no expense in adding gorgeous landscaping throughout the facility.
From the moment you drive through the gates you know the club is managed to give you a top-notch golf experience. The staff is wonderful and their attention to detail is impressive to say the least. A common complaint from many golfers at some golf courses is that they feel as though they are being rushed around and can’t enjoy their round of golf. Well at the Thistle they send out groups every 12 minutes to give you a full hole open in-front and behind you. Most courses send groups out every 8 minutes, which makes for a crowed golf course. You will be glad you have some extra time to look around as every hole is lined with beautiful wildflowers and perfectly manicured flower beds.
If you are looking for a memorable round on one of the top courses in the area, give one of the Golf Vacation Specialists at Golf Zoo a call. We can give you more information on the Thistle Golf Club as well as hundreds of other golf courses.
Planning your golf vacation just got easier with Golf Zoo's All-New Interactive Area Maps! If you haven't already seen them, have a look at this post for an example, what you can do with the maps and images.
In this example, I will use the destination 'Arizona' as the example. There are two (2) ways you can get to each destination's interactive area map:
The First, is simply from our main destination map page that lists all of our destinations. In the image below - the interactive map graphic/button is highlighted.
The Second option is avialable when you land on the Overview page of a destination - click on the Interactive Area Map button near the top of the section - as noted in the image below.
Once on the Map page - you have options on how you can view the map (see the below graphics). I suggest you select the "Satellite" or "Hybrid" views for a real bird's eye view of some of the golf courses and lodging properties. You can also get directions from from one point to another (the directions will open up on a new page). With name, address, pictures and address information available on every "bubble" it makes it easy to find out where you want to stay relative to the golf courses you want to play - or what golf courses you may want play given the proximity to your lodging property. Simply select a property on the right side listing of options and the map will point out where it is on the map.
Just want to see what's around a particular property? Thats fine too- you can also just click the points on the map to get the same information. All of the green number points on the map are Golf Courses and all of the blue lettered points on the map are Lodging properties.
Clicking on the picture or name of the property in the 'bubble' will take you to that page in our site for more pictures and description as well. You can zoom in, click and drag the map to view anything on the map that you wish (see the below two examples). Have fun!
So Sad, but So True! Wild Wing Plantation in Myrtle Beach, SC which is the home of 4 golf courses: Avocet, Falcon, Woodstork and Hummingbird, is under new ownership and some drastic changes are coming on 6/5/06. The Hummingbird will close for good and the Woodstork and Falcon will have 9 holes open for each course and will be combined under the new name: Wild Wing Couse #2. Fortunately the Avocet will remain open - all 18 holes for play.
With so much supply and not as much demand, alot of golf courses have succumb to closure - being replaced by single family homes, condos and shopping malls. It is a sad day when they close a beautiful golf facility to put up a Walmart!!!
Selected by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top Ten New golf courses in the world, We-Ko-Pa presents a unique alternative to the already upscale Scottsdale golf market. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have teamed together for the new course at Wekopa called Saguaro.
This design team, known for such highly touted courses as Bandon Trails, Sand Hills and Friar's Head in Baiting Hollow, NY are very excited about the new prospects at Wekopa. "This piece of land has some very interesting natural movement to it" said Crenshaw of the new Wekopa course. "I think this golf course will be pretty unique for the desert. People will be induced to play different shots and find solutions to new challenges when playing this course".
The new Saguaro course, located just north of the practice facilities, is scheduled to be open for play in December 2006.
We are thrilled to have Escena Golf Club in Palm Springs in Golf Zoo's stable. Escena is a Nicklaus Design cut out of raw desert in North Palm Springs and is certain to be a huge success. The grooming of the course is impeccable, the clubhouse and driving range will be coming soon.
Located near the Palm Springs airport, this is an upscale addition to golf on the western end of the valley which I'm certain will be well received. Next time you're booking a golf vacation with us, be sure to include Escena Golf Club, you won't be disappointed. The views of the surrounding mountains are awesome and the desert landscaping is simply beautiful. Enjoy !
I just returned from PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Florida - what a wonderful experience! This PGA run facility has everything any golfer would want. There are 3 -18 hole courses designed by Tom Fazio (North and South courses) and Pete Dye (Dye course). The North and South courses are being renovated May - October of this year; after that, they should be even better than they are now. I played the Dye course, this is a unique links style golf course with a lot of variety.
For those players that like to practice and learn about their game, there's a 35 acre practice facility. This has it all - 15,000 sq. ft. putting green, 5 greenside bunkers with different sand from courses around the world, two 25-station chipping area, over 100 individual practice tees and an outdoor ampitheater reserved for student instruction.
If you really want to get into the mechanics of your golf swing - set up and appointment at the PGA Kinematics Lab. This part of the learning center provides essential movement assessments for greater game improvement.
The lodging will be anything from a hotel (Hilton Garden Inn - Sam Snead's Tavern) to Villa's (Kolter Resort and Sheratons Vacation Villa's). Closest airport is in West Palm - about 45 mins. south of resort.
In my opinion - if you want to enjoy great golf, great practice and overall game improvent - then PGA Village is the place for you and your group. If you have any other questions or have interest in booking your next golf trip, please call 888.333.6103 or go to www.GolfZoo.com.
