Great golf gateways: take to the greens at fine resort destinations from the shores of Hawaii to the mountains of North Carolina - Product/Service Evaluation

Travel America, Nov-Dec, 2003 by Jim Kerr

FOR MOST GOLFERS, HOME courses, like old clothes, offer a certain comfort. On the road, however, it's another matter. A bit of challenge and adventure is expected on new and unfamiliar ground, be it mountainous or flat, wetlands or desert, barren or lush. Something exotic, famous, or strikingly scenic may be in order on this, a once-a-year--or even once-in-a-lifetime--opportunity. The cost of playing--within sanity-is not a major concern. After all, this is a vacation.

Go to any corner of America today and you will find a golf course. Close to seven million Americans a year golf while traveling on vacation, and just about every destination is entered in the competition. To help select some particularly good vacation spots that offer fabulous golf, here are some venues around the country:

HAWAII. You can hardly go wrong here, no matter which isle yon choose to visit. Several world-class courses have sprouted in recent years like pineapple and sugar plantations did decades ago. In fact, some are built on former plantations as well as on volcanic rock and mountain hillsides. On the Big Island of Hawaii, nothing could be finer than a morning on the Mauna Kea Resort course along the Kohala Coast, which set the standard when Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed it 40 years ago. Hapuna, an adjacent course, came three decades later, a mountain stronghold of tight fairways, clever uphill doglegs and hilltop greens. Both are associated with two beachfront Prince hotels.

Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii's other out islands also offer some of the world's finest golf. And while it is known more for Pearl Harbor and Honolulu than golf, the island of Oahu has several notable courses at reasonable rates (by Hawaii standards). The Ko Olina Resort and its golf club is 40 minutes from Waikiki on west Oahu, far from the madding crowds. The exceptional water features and lack of parallel fairways give it a private ambience, and the adjacent Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa is an oasis of tranquility. But for sheer fun, magnificent scenery, and the most challenging round you'll probably ever play, try the Ko'olau Golf Club on Oahu's windward side. The lush rain forest and views of the ocean are unforgettable, although you will want to forget the number of balls you lose.

For complete information on golf throughout the Hawaiian Islands, call (800) GO-HAWAII or visit www.gohawaii.com.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA.

Nowhere in the country will you find more conspicuous affluence than Orange County, California, with its luxury hotels, broad, palm-studded boulevards, fashion malls, and designer golf courses. But wait. Just because every other automobile on the road is a $60,000 model, you don't have to be a trust baby to afford a brief golf vacation here. An association of six courses, known as "Orange County: California's Golf Coast," has put together packages involving several resorts and six courses, all within 40 minutes of each other.

The most breathtaking layout is the Ocean South Course at Pelican Hill in Irvine, a spectacular Tom Fazio design along the Pacific Ocean. It's Southern California's answer to fabled Pebble Beach up north, only more accessible and a lot cheaper. The stunning scenery, suberb conditions, and challenging holes rival any coarse you've ever played.

Two other courses at opposite ends of the cost meter are Monarch Beach, an ocean resort course in Dana Point ($150 weekdays), and Coyote Hills in Fullerton ($46 twilight rate after 2 p.m.). An interesting component of the latter, a picturesque and well-kept track in the affluent suburban hills, is the presence of a few dozen oil derricks, spread around like so many dinosaurs dipping into the earth. The land is owned by an oil company, which wisely leases it for the golf course. If the derricks come into play, you probably shouldn't be here.

The other courses in the association are Strawberry Farms and Oak Creek, both in Irvine, and Tustin Ranch in Tustin. For complete information on all the Orange County consortium courses, associated resorts, and packages, call (800) 5551982 or visit www.occgolf@cox.net.

INLAND GEORGIA More than 40 years ago, Cason Callaway gave his wife Virginia 5,000 magnolia seedlings for her birthday. They both loved nature, and their legacy, a 14,000-acre retreat known as Callaway Gardens in western Georgia, an hour southwest of Atlanta, goes far beyond those magnificent, now fully-grown magnolias. Woodlands full of hardwoods, gardens bursting with azaleas, and lakes brimming with fish offer plenty of outdoor enjoyment in a place where all ages can find relaxation and a better understanding of the living world. Not to mention some fabulous golf.

The kids, totally immersed in discovering the flora, fauna, and each other, will probably never notice (or care) that also nestled among these trees and around these lakes are two superb 18-hole championship courses. They are low key compared with the resort's other attractions, including a Discovery Center, Butterfly Center, lake beach, and the world's largest azalea collection, but the links are a highlight for any golfer, whether or not he or she stops to smell the flowers. The Lake View course, with its many water hazards, is a tad shorter and easier than the Mountain View layout, with its tree-lined fairways and heavily bunkered, elevated greens. Just ask the pros who haved played on this course over the past decade in the PGA Buick Classic.