Today's Travel Tip |
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November 20, 2008 |
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By David Baum | Topic: More Golf Vacation Tips
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Have you ever wondered how to determine what is truly the best golf ball to buy for your next golf vacation or regular rounds at your home course?
I don't know about you, but I have always found golf ball reviews and golf ball ratings to be utterly confusing when trying to select the best golf ball for my game. Not only are there a dozen or so manufacturers, but each one has many different varieties. Titleist alone offers at least six different models. More... |
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More Golf Vacation Insider Travel TipsYou can read a tip, browse an entire topic, or go directly to reader comments on a tip.
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Discount Golf Vacations Now Possible with Hilton Honors Rewards |
| Nov 18 | Topic:
Discount Golf Vacations |
| | Hilton's HHonors program makes discount golf
vacations possible at top properties
like La Quinta Resort. |
Well, that didn't take long. About a month after we told you that it's possible to take discount golf vacations using Marriott Rewards points, Hilton Hotels & Resorts announced that members of its rewards program, HHonors, would be able redeem points for golf, too.
You may recall that, based on our calculations, points in Marriott's program seem to go farther when used for vacation rewards other than golf; such as for hotel stays. So, is Hilton's program any better for taking discount golf vacations? Let's take a look.
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See Amazing Images of Two "Must Play" New Zealand Golf Courses |
| Nov 13 | Topic:
More Golf Vacation Tips |
| Richard Brimmer | | See Cape Kidnappers (above) and
Kauri Cliffs on TV November 16th and 17th. |
The Tiger-less PGA Tour may have packed up its tent for the 2008 season, but there is a new televised golf tournament coming up that you don't want to miss.
It's called the Kiwi Challenge (thekiwichallenge.com), and it pits four of the world's best under-30 golfers — Ryder Cuppers Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan, Masters standout Brandt Snedeker, and Adam Scott — against each other in a two-day, stroke-play tournament across two of the best New Zealand golf courses: Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers.
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Discount Golf Vacations: Pinehurst Golf Resort Brings Back "The 252" Package |
| Nov 11 | Topic:
Discount Golf Vacations |
| Photo by Flickr's DeltaMike | | "The 252" makes discount golf vacations
possible on Pinehurst's No. 2. |
In a recent tip, we gave some specific examples of how the weak economy is making it easier to access top golf resorts and how discount golf vacations are becoming more plentiful. We also said we'd notify you of the best golf vacation packages we came across. Well, consider yourself notified.
Pinehurst Golf Resort had decided to bring back "the 252," a one-night, bed-and-breakfast package that includes a round on the famous No. 2 course, starting at $252 per golfer, based on double occupancy at the Manor or Holly inns. Add in 10 percent tax and the 9.75 percent service charge, and the per person total comes to about $300.
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How to Get First Class Flights for the Price of Coach |
| Nov 6 | Topic:
More Golf Vacation Tips |
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How would you like to save up to 65 percent on first class flights to Hawaii (and other destinations)? As I learned in last month's issue of the First Class Flyer newsletter, it is shockingly easy. All you need to do is book your trip through your airline's vacation division (most major carries have them).
Sound too good to be true? It's not. I called NWA WorldVacations (the vacation division of Northwest Airlines) to check on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu. While Northwest's website was quoting first class flights at $2,348, they were available through the vacation division for $831 round-trip (65 percent less, and even less than the economy fare depending on the day).
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PGA National Resort: Do Renovations Warrant a Florida Golf Vacation? |
| Nov 4 | Topic:
Florida Golf Vacation |
| | The Champion Course at PGA National Resort
& Spa is the one to play. |
Fresh off a $65 million makeover, the five-course PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., has garnered a lot of favorable press in the mainstream media lately, but is it truly deserving of this praise and should you consider it for your next Florida golf vacation?
Golf Odyssey recently conducted one of its trademark, anonymous inspections at PGA National Resort & Spa to get the real story. Here's what we found out.
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Ross Layout Gets Our Vote between the Balsams' Two New Hampshire Golf Courses |
| Oct 30 | Topic:
More Golf Vacation Tips |
| Photo by WRI | | If you elect to visit the Balsams Resort
and its New Hampshire golf courses,
play the Panorama layout. |
When the clock chimes midnight signaling the arrival of the presidential election next Tuesday, Dixville Notch, New Hampshire residents, most of whom are employees of the venerable Balsams Resort, will gather at the historic grande dame to cast their ballots and become the first counted precinct in the entire United States of America.
We are interested in the Balsams Resort not as much for this American civic lesson as for its New Hampshire golf courses and rich history as a special New England golf retreat. There's been a resort hotel at this remote spot in the Great North Woods (Canada is just 13 miles away as the crow flies) since the 1860s, and golf has been played here since 1897.
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How to Play Cypress Point Golf Club During a Pebble Beach Golf Vacation |
| Oct 28 | Topic:
Ask Golf Vacation Insider |
| Photo by Scott Schnaars | | A view from the clubhouse to Cypress
Point Golf Club's famous 16th hole. |
Q: We are two Aussie golfers traveling to the Monterey Peninsula for a few days. Do you have any thoughts on how we can play Cypress Point Golf Club?
A: We know a lot of the secrets to getting on some of the best private golf courses in the world, but playing Cypress Point Golf Club is an extremely tough nut to crack. The club has a small membership (200-250) and even if you know a member, there is a relatively little amount of unaccompanied guest play allowed.
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Weak Economy Making Top Golf Resorts Accessible, Discount Golf Vacations Plentiful |
| Oct 23 | Topic:
Discount Golf Vacations |
| | Discount golf vacations and tee time
availability at top venues like Pinehurst
Golf Resort (above) are on the rise. |
It's hard to find many silver linings in the economy these days, but if you are a glass-half-full kind of person, now might be one of the best times to take a golf vacation, especially if you've had your eye on a top golf venue that's usually booked solid. Here is my experience from two weekends ago.
Following the old motto, "when the going gets tough, the tough go play golf," I spent the Columbus Day weekend in Pinehurst, North Carolina. I wasn't planning on visiting the venerable Pinehurst Golf Resort, mind you, but my friends were interested in playing Pinehurst No. 2, so we thought we'd give it a shot.
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