Port St. Lucie, Florida – Happy New Year to all golf enthusiasts living in New England!
The weather might be good for football but certainly not for golf. And, let’s not forget February is a special month because we regularly see yet another New Patriots team play in the Super Bowl!
Are you becoming a prisoner of New England’s wicked winter weather?
Our athletic tendencies, therefore, have had to relocate to the indoor options of bowling, curling, pool, squash, tennis, swimming, and video games, to name a few. Our non-participatory athletic fervor, of course, is always ardently focused on the Pats and the Super Bowl, the Celtics, the Bruins, and our favorite NCAA teams.
Of course, at this time of year, our golf games are hibernating, but life is good and spring is on the horizon. After the New England Patriots win their sixth Super Bowl on February 3, it’s the perfect time to think about a road trip to a warm climate with golf clubs in tow.
However, let me suggest three venues—all operated under the auspices of world-renowned Troon Golf, the leader in golf-course management—where the winter weather is more like a New England summer.
World Golf Hall of Fame, St. Augustine, Florida
The World Golf Village in St. Augustine has launched its Winter and Spring Stay & Play Packages. Remember what Gary Player has had to say about this iconic destination, “For the love of golf, you’ve got to go.”
These vacation packages are designed for golf enthusiasts seeking a warm, sunny retreat to the Northeast Florida region. That design, all based on double occupancy rooms, should fit just about every avid golfer in the six-state environs of New England! Each package includes green fees, cart fees, and range balls on both the award-winning King & Bear and Slammer & Squire golf courses. Each package also offers accommodations and breakfast at the luxurious Marriott’s Renaissance Resort. Premium Callaway rental clubs are available if you don’t want to lug your own bag or Ship Sticks it. Also, excellent caddie services are available for additional fees. In addition, admission to both the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum and the IMAX Theater are included.
The “Train Like A Legend Package” is for the golfers who want to fine-tune their games. This package provides three nights lodging, two days of training with three hours of instruction per day at The PGA TOUR Golf Academy, and one round of golf at each course. Rates start at $508 per person per night. The “Play-All-Day Package” is perfect for buddy groups and offers up to 36 holes each day on The Slammer & Squire and The King & Bear. Rates start at $440 per person per night.
The “Hall of Fame Experience” package is the ultimate golf vacation package. It includes four-nights’ accommodations, one round each on The King & Bear and The Slammer & Squire, one single club fitting for the club of your choice at The PGA TOUR Golf Academy. Rates start at $305 per person per night. “Florida’s First Coast golf package” offers guests three-nights’ accommodations, a round at each course, and a 90-minute tune-up at The PGA TOUR Golf Academy. Rates start at $345 per person per night.
Turtle Bay Resort, Oahu, Hawaii
Next stop is Hawaii, a premier golf destination and a must for winter victims everywhere. Troon Golf is pleased to announce its new partnership with Turtle Bay Resort on the island of Oahu. Turtle Bay Resort is located on Oahu’s famed North Shore, approximately 50 minutes from Honolulu and features 36 holes of golf – the Arnold Palmer Course and the George Fazio Course.
Open since 1992, the Arnold Palmer Course was designed by golf legend Arnold Palmer and course architect Ed Seay and is consistently rated as one of the top golf courses in Hawaii. The par-72, 7,218-yard course has two distinct nine-hole experiences. The front nine challenges golfers with a Scottish Links-style layout, while the back nine has a more tropical setting as it meanders through a tropical jungle and a forest of ironwoods. Water comes into play on 14 holes, with the 17th – the Palmer Course’s signature hole – offering panoramic Pacific Ocean views from the green.
Turtle Bay’s George Fazio Course opened in 1972, and it provides providing breathtaking ocean views on both the front and back nines. Over the years, the Fazio Course has tested the game’s best, including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sam Snead, and Chi Chi Rodriguez in the first Champions Tour Skins Game. The Fazio Course also hosted the LPGA Tour’s Hawaiian Open from 1987 through 1989.
Mike Ryan, chief operating officer, Troon, said. “The golf courses and the resort property are absolutely stunning. We are excited to extend our popular Troon programs, which will contribute positively to the overall value and experience for local golfers, resort guests, and those traveling to Oahu.”
Troon-affiliated properties in the Aloha State also include Kapalua, King Kamehameha, and Kahili on Maui, Mauna Lani on the Big Island; and Princeville Makai Golf Club on Kauai.
Cascata, Las Vegas, Nevada
In Golfweek’s newly published “Ultimate Guide” of “Best Courses” for 2019, Cascata debuted at No. 51 in the publication’s ranking of “Best 100 Resort Courses.” The new ranking marks the first time Cascata has appeared on the magazine’s prestigious “Best Resort Courses” list. Designed by Rees Jones and once reserved only for the highest of rollers in Las Vegas, Cascata is now a unique experience that is open to resort play, regardless of resort affiliation and residency status.
Since opening, Cascata, Italian for “waterfall,” has received numerous accolades, including being named No. 60 on Golf Digest’s 2017 list of “America’s Top 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses”; No. 60 on GOLF Magazine’s 2016 ranking of “Top 100 Courses You Can Play in the U.S.”; and it’s annually ranked as the No. 2 “Best Golf Course You Can Play in Nevada” by both Golfweek and GOLF Magazine.
Along with its 37,000 square-foot clubhouse, Cascata boasts a spectacular landscape, where the par-72 course features stunning vistas at every turn, including the 3,600-foot peak at Red Mountain and impeccably manicured fairways, lakes, and meandering streams. “We routed the holes through the canyons and between the ‘dunes,’ so each one is different, and there are many places on the course where you can’t see any other holes,” said architect Jones of Cascata. “It’s the 8th wonder of the golfing world as far as I’m concerned.”
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