November 2010 – Our 19th Year The insider’S GuidE to The Best In golF travEl in THiS iSSUE Splendid Royal St. George’s Royal St. George’s A review of the 2011 Open Championship Why this English gem and Host Site and its Neighbors nearby links merit a visit .. 1 Secrets from the World of Golf Travel .................... 2 PGA Village A great place to work on your game ...................... 9 Caribbean Roundup What’s new in the islands ......................... 13 new Subscriber Benefit Kalos Golf’s boutique cruises ......................... 15 ray G S u NG For travel-related questions and A trip-planning advice: England’s Royal St. George’s Golf Club will host its 14th Open Championship in July [email protected] mericans do not, in anything like large But they are present and accounted for, 800.550.2286 x85 Anumbers, go to England to play golf. particularly if you are willing to roam a bit. Obviously, they do visit England, but it is And you will find them rewarding. For assistance with individual and for London, Oxford, Cambridge, or the gift subscriptions: Lake District, or perhaps the West Country, Perhaps the most rewarding links in all of [email protected] Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, or the Yorkshire England is Royal St. George’s. Truly one of 800.550.2286 x1 Dales. Heaven knows there is plenty to see, the world’s greatest eighteens, this jewel of rather more than one could examine in a Kent, the county southeast of London, is set We typically respond to all lifetime. England offers a staggering wealth to host its 14th Open Championship in July. inquiries within 48 hours. of historical, cultural, and scenic resources, Most travelers who go to Kent take in such to say nothing of golf courses, where there landmarks as Canterbury, Leeds Castle, and are more than 1,900. And when it comes Sissinghurst Gardens. This year, golfers can Golf Odyssey does not accept to genuinely outstanding courses, links test their game on a links that has crowned advertising. Honesty, candor, as well as inland layouts, there are more both great and obscure champions. While in Kent, you may also enjoy playing three and independence are the than 90. They may not always be offered in convenient clusters such as Lancashire’s additional authentic links—Prince’s, Royal cornerstones of our editorial Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Royal Birkdale, Cinque Ports, and Littlestone—and one approach. Royal Liverpool, Formby, and Hillside. inland eighteen, Chart Hill. continued on page 4 Expert advice and candid reviews since 1992 Secrets from the World of GOlF travEl Leading Golf from The Resort at PEliCAN Hill Leading Hotels of the World n recent months we’ve noticed that the ILeading Hotels of the World, a luxury hotel group that currently counts about 430 hotels as members, has raised its golf profile. Approximately 175 of the LHW properties have golf nearby. More importantly for traveling golfers, the hotel group recently created Leading Golf, a program designed to connect the golfers to outstanding courses and select hotel properties in the US and abroad. Leading Golf offers packages, special golf itineraries, and customized golf tours through LHW’s travel partner, PerryGolf. The calling card website for the program is lhwgolf.com. At press time, 39 hotels were The Resort at Pelican Hill in Southern California is a leading Golf partner property participating in Leading Golf’s Stay and Play and Stay and Play Longer packages. booking a Leading Golf package at the Sniqueaway—A Private To be vetted to participate, each hotel Setai gain access to the otherwise private Luxury Travel Sale Website must own and operate a championship Lagorce Country Club. Worth Joining golf course either on-site or within 10 We do have a couple of caveats about e wanted to call your attention to miles of the property. This enables the Leading Golf. The website is cumbersome. a new website that offers limited hotel to guarantee that guests booking a W Once you click on the hotel of your choice, private sales at top-flight hotels and resorts. package will always be able to access the you’ll find yourself on the LHW booking Sniqueaway, which is an exclusive spin-off course. The Stay and Play package provides engine for that property. You must then of TripAdvisor, offers substantial discounts one free round of golf and has a two-night go to “Leading Offers” and scroll through on accommodations to its members. minimum. The Stay and Play Longer an entire list of packages. A few package Membership is free but by invitation only. package offers two complimentary rounds details are provided (including notes Each week, rooms at three different hotels of golf for a three-night stay. Nineteen of on additional fees), but these are also or resorts go on sale. Each hotel is a four- the 39 hotels currently participate in a confusing. When we tested Tortuga Bay, we or five-star property. The sales last up to a special promotion with American Express. found that the free round for the Stay and week, but close once allocated rooms are Guests who book the American Express Play package was on La Cana, rather than sold. We’ve been impressed not only by the Leading Golf Getaway for a minimum of Corales. (TheStay and Play Longer package eye-popping nightly room rates, but also three nights receive two free rounds of golf includes one free round at Corales and the by the number of properties that have golf as well as a $150 resort credit. other at La Cana.) We also had trouble on-site or right nearby. So far, we’ve seen Leading Golf’s lineup of hotels and actually finding available dates for the The Greenbrier, Nemacolin Woodlands in courses is intriguing. Notable participants packages even when we searched for off- Pennsylvania, The Equinox in Vermont, in all three package programs include season dates. We finally gave up searching Stowe Mountain Lodge in Vermont, The Fancourt (site of the 2003 Presidents for Tortuga Bay’s American Express Tides Inn in Virginia’s Northern Neck, and Cup) in South Africa, Adare Manor in Leading Golf Getaway package. Finally, we Wild Dunes in Charleston. Keep in mind Ireland, and Tortuga Bay in Punta Cana. should also caution that Leading Golf may that the sales are for accommodations only. Among the properties that offer the Stay not have the best package rates. It’s entirely If you’d like to join Sniqueaway, we’ll be and Play packages (but not the American possible that the hotel’s own website could happy to invite you. When you get to the Express deal) are the Royal Hotel in Evian offer more attractive deals. website, click on “A Friend Invited Me” France, Scotland’s Gleneagles and the Old Lhwgolf.com and enter the email david@golfodyssey. Course hotels (Duke’s Course), One&Only com. Palmilla in Los Cabos, and The Resort at Pelican Hill. In Miami Beach, guests Sniqueaway.com 2 Expert advice and candid reviews since 1992 Secrets from the World of GOlF travEl 3-D Swing Analysis Moves September 2010 – Our 19th Year THe inSider’S Guide TO THe BeST in GOlF Travel in THiS iSSUE Enchanting New Mexico Santa Fe, new Mexico Spellbinding Golf on the Santa Fe Trail from the Resort Academy to Fascinations abound in the land of enchantment ....... 1 The Old Course and Muirfield On-line booking tips for 2011 ......................... 2 Lost Farm The world’s next great the Medical Lab course is about to open .... 3 Albuquerque’s Resorts The similarities between Sandia and Tamaya end at good golf ..................... 10 Litchfield County, CT a charming new england B getaway and an exclusive Clu F l private invitation ........... 13 O a G S k Me or several years now, a few select C For travel-related questions and Bla trip-planning advice: Baxter Spann’s Black Mesa Golf Course provides nonstop desert thrills and challenges [email protected] f you enjoy the desert tracks of Arizona different (although both take about five 800.550.2286 x85 Iand Nevada but have never played in hours to get around when play doesn’t get New Mexico, maybe it’s time. The Land bogged down). Black Mesa winds through For assistance with individual and of Enchantment delivers an unbeatable arid canyons and around stark sandstone gift subscriptions: resorts have offered 3-D swing combination of world-class layouts, bargain bluffs. Paa-Ko Ridge’s tree-lined fairways [email protected] green fees, jaw-dropping scenery, beguiling ramble up and down along the high desert 800.550.2286 x1 attractions, seductive accommodations, slopes of the Sandia Mountains. Other and some of the finest inland weather in the notable courses around Santa Fe include the We typically respond to all US. We recently played a passel of courses city’s muni, Marty Sanchez Links de Santa F inquiries within 48 hours. along the Santa Fe Trail and renewed our Fe and Robert Trent Jones, Jr.’s Pueblo de love affair with New Mexico. The array Cochiti, as well as Towa and the Club at Las of eighteens and plethora of on- and off- Campanas. The latter is home to two private Golf Odyssey does not accept course diversions kept us busy for more Jack Nicklaus tracks. Members of private analysis under such names as the advertising. Honesty, candor, than a week. clubs can likely gain access by having their and independence are the home pro contact Las Campanas directly. Two courses, Black Mesa and Paa-Ko We also made the 90-minute drive to cornerstones of our editorial Ridge, stand out above the rest.