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25 May 2006
Classic Golf
Courses
Open an atlas, close
your eyes and point. These days, chances are good your
finger's on a golf course or three. Or 30. Or
300.
And all with plenty going
for them, from the most beautiful surroundings to clever
course design as well as general ambience.
"Some of the best courses
in the world built in the last decade are in such remote
places that Americans not only don't know about them, they
don't even associate them with golf," says globe-trotting
designer Robert Trent Jones Jr. Like Finland. Mexico. Japan.
Thailand. Bali. And there's more. Much more.
China's Mission Hills,
just outside Hong Kong , is set to become the largest golf
resort in the world. It's five star hotel and nine of it's
10 planned courses are already open; designers include Jack
Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo. The Holy Grail of golf
is most likely to be found in Scotland, which has 550
courses, equating to one full course for every 23,000 people
- higher than anywhere else in the world. Golf tourism
accounts for about 2% of overall tourism spending in
Scotland.
There are however a
handful of courses in the world that every golfer, from the
top professional to the keenest amateur, dreams of playing.
We're confident these five courses will be up to
scratch.
St Andrews - The Home
Of Golf
St. Andrews Links has
borne witness to six centuries of golfing history. The town
of St. Andrews is renowned the world over as a golfing
mecca.
The five full courses (all
owned by the City of St. Andrews) suit golfers of all
abilities; the best known of them are the Old Course, on
which the British open was first played in 1873, the New
Course, the Jubilee Course and the Eden Course.
The Old Course originally
consisted of 22 holes, 11 out and 11 back in, with golfers
playing to the same hole out and in. In 1764 it was decided
that the first four holes (and therefore the last four) were
too short and they were combined, thus reducing the course
to 18 holes and setting the standard for today's golf
courses.
Royal Melbourne -
Rolling Out The Green Carpet
For plush, luxurious
greens, the famous Melbourne Sandbelt is the ultimate. Built
on natural sandy terrain, the cluster of courses is about 45
minutes by car from Melbourne. The sandy soil is ideal for
the growth and development of pure couch fairways that, in
many cases, are like layers of carpet. The mere thought of
taking a divot from such immaculate fairways is enough to
cause golfers to misdirect shots to avoid ruining the
perfect appearance of the fairways.
The most recognised of
Melbourne golf courses is the world famous super equipped
Royal Melbourne Golf Club. It comes complete with perfectly
shaped, cavernous bunkers, lightening fast greens and a
variety of different length holes that bring into play just
about every club in a golfer's bag. Comprising the East and
West courses, Royal Melbourne has hosted numerous
prestigious golf tournaments including the 1998 Presidents
Cup.
Valderrama Golf Club -
Soak Up The Sun On The Spanish Golf Coast
Year round golf is a fact
of life at Spain's most famous golf course. In 1976 the old
course in Sotogrande, Spain, was attracting enough golfers
to make teeing off tedious, and a small group of residents
decided the ideal solution would be to create their own golf
course.
Architect Robert Trent
Jones Sr. worked for five years to make Valderrama a
championship course. The giant oak tree in the middle of the
fairway has been there about 150 years, and the golf course
has had to adapt to it, not the other way round.
Valderrama has been host
to some of golf's finest tournaments, including the Ryder
Cup. For nine years it was home to the PGA European Tour's
grand finale, the Volvo Masters.
Pebble Beach - A
spectacular Challenge For Players Of All
Levels
California's renowned
Pebble Beach features as one of the top golf courses in the
world n absolutely every list that counts. Gofers from all
over the planet flock here to walk in the footsteps of some
of the greatest golfers on earth. It's long been a
playground of the rich and famous - Bing Crosby, Bob Hope,
Rita Hayworth, Clark Gable and Elizabeth Taylor have all
teed off at Pebble Beach.
The course, which opened
in 1919 as a resort facility, is stunningly beautiful. A
delightful challenge for players of all levels, it hugs the
rugged coastline, providing wide open vistas and cliffside
fairways. Today it hosts a variety of world class
tournaments including the US Open and the annual AT&T
Pebble Beach Pro Am.
Augusta National -
Swinging With The Masters
"Perfect!" said golfing
legend Bobby Jones, on laying his eyes on what is today
Augusta National Golf Course.
The home of the Masters
since 1939, it began as an indigo plantation. The course has
seen the greatest players the game has known: Bryon Nelson,
Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Seve
Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Greg Norman among
them.
Augusta National is very
playable. There's not really any rough, so your drives can
be wide off their mark and you won't incur much of a
penalty. And if you can manage to play smart golf, and take
what the course gives you, you can get around in good
shape.
Lucky
Guy
Master's founder and
golfing legend Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam in 1930 - but
three times that year he also looked death in the eye and
won.
First, he was almost
killed hurrying off the course during a thunderstorm, a
bolt of lightening sent big chunks of rock flying, one of
which came so close to him that it tore his
shirt.
Then, walking along an
Atlanta street one day, he narrowly escaped death when a
runaway car jumped the curb. A bystander yelled a warning
and Jones jumped out the way.
Finally, he was on a train
heading for a tournament when a plane dropped a flare
signalling the train to stop. The pilot of the plane, flying
ahead of the train, had spotted a burning bridge over which
the train was about to cross.
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