Golf Vacation Where are you taking your next golf vacation? We all like to play different courses and face different challenges whenever we play so we are going to give you some ideas of where you might think of going for your next golf vacation of golf holiday. In this article we have selected three of the best golf courses from a number of different countries including the UK, USA, Spain, Scotland, Ireland and South Africa. However these are not the only places to play golf. You might look at a more exotic location like Thailand or even a less orthodox golfing country like Poland or Hungary. Below are some of the more interesting places where you may plan to go. Golf in Scotland Now i am going to start off with Scotland as a place to play golf as it is historically where we all get our golf roots from. I am also going to be quite controversial and say that if you are a visitor to Scotland then the place to play is not St Andrews but a course just a few miles down the road called "Kingsbarns" Kingsbarns? yes this is the most magical golf course I have ever played and i am sure will ever play. If you play one golf course in your lifetime then from my point of view this one is it. Kingsbarns I have played Carnoustie, Muirfield, The Old Course and Royal St Georges and this is as good and for the hanicap golfer better. Inspired variety of holes, hugely memorable, the sea in sight all the time. The sort of course you play once and just cant wait to get back to play again. In short: believe the hype. The thing I love about Kingsbarns is that a lot of the tee shots are shots you can see with a few blind shots sprinlkled in. The killer here is the greens. They are extremely quick and very undulating. If you cannot putt on fast greens you will have real problems on these greens but it is a fantastic challenge. Turnberry (Ailsa Course) When i played this course myself I remember vividly the first tee and thinking what was so difficult. I scored a par on the 1st and thought I was set. I must have been in cloud cuckoo land. This golf course makes the amateur use every club in the bag which makes it such an enjoyable experience. I Played the Ailsa in October 2004. And as strange as it may seem one of the best moments I had was from the caddy master. He took my clubs in to clean them which is not unusual but without me asking he also cleaned my golf shoes as well, absolute top class service. As I mentioned, the first hole was not too difficult but in the middle of the round holes 6 to 12 are amazing as the course hugs the coastline between the sand dunes and then past the lighthouse is just fabulous. When you get to the 18th you are Nicklaus or Watson. There is no getting away with it and you have to go for the birdie just as those two greats did back in 1977. The open is back at Turnberry in the next few years. what a treat for all golfers. The Dukes Course The Dukes is one of the courses linked to the Old Course Hotel and is one of the prettiest parkland layouts you could play. It is located on a high point above St Andrews old town with some fabulous views across to the sea. The course was designed by 5 times open champion Peter Thompson so a great thinkers golf gourse in a wonderful layout. The course is set amongst rolling parkland in almost 330 acres of grounds and it will present you with a fantastic test of your golfing skills. Because it is situated quite high up you are more often than not faced with the wind to contend with which i believe actually adds to the enjoyment as it makes you think about hitting different types of shots.
My favourite holes on this course were the 13th and 18th. The 13th is set at a high point on the course and you are teeing off down to a lower fairway. As you stand on the tee it just makes you want to rip the driver and carry the narrow part of the fairway at 220yards. It is a great risk reward hole as if you make the carry you can run reasonably close to the green. If you miss on the right then i am afraid it's big trouble. The 18th is an absolute cracker and the tee shot is to a narrow landing area. Once position is achieved from the tee then you have a really difficult uphill iron shot which has to hit a two tiered green. The clubhouse is perched on a hill overlooking this green so there are always many pairs of eyes casting their glancers as you finish your round. A must play course. Golf In Hungary I have been fortunate enough to live in Hungary for three years and although you would not think that a country like Hungary could have decent golf courses you will be severely mistaken. Pannonia Golf and Country Club This course is situated about 25km outside of Budapest (The Capital City) and offers golfers a fantastic links style course which is always in fantastic condition. The greens especially are usually very quick. The course is very open and therefore offers some leniency but you must beware of the water hazards that frequent most holes on the course. My favourite holes on this course are the 4th, 15th and 17th The 4th is a long par four well over 400 yards with a tee shot from an elevated tee. Anything right off the tee will be gobbled up by two big bunkers or will find itself in the heavy rough. If you negotiate a carry over the bunkers on the right your tee shot will carry a good distance. Your next shot will be to a severely raised green with a huge pot bunker running the width of the green and about 15 feet from the sand to the top edge of the green. The 15th is a great par 4 which is not very long but has a dogleg left which means you cannot see the green. You can go for the green over a group of bushes, however the green is surrounded by bunkers and will more often than not catch even the best drive. The safe route is a straight tee shot with a long iron or fairway wood around 200 yards which will leave you with a shot into the green of about 130 yards with a short iron.
What makes this hole so tricky is club selection. It really can be anything from a wedge to a 3 iron depending on the wind.
A wonderful parkland layout which really tests your shot shaping skills with lots of subtle doglegs winding their way through the forest. My favourite holes on this course are too many to mention but two in particular stick in my mind and will in yours i believe. The 4th hole and the 6th hole are both testing and really good fun to play. The 4th has a fairway which has a horseshoe shape. Take a look at the coursemap and you will see what i mean. And in the middle of the horseshoe is a lake. When you tee off on this hole your shot is blind and you need to carry a hill about 150 yards in front of you to reach the fairway. Anything left will probably end up in the lake but a straight shot will leave you in the middle of the fairway. Now is decision time. Do you take the bold route across the lake which would probaly mean a shot of at least 170 yards or do you chiken out and play around the horseshoe to reach the green in 3 and get your par 5. The 6th Hole on the course, another Par 5 requires a solid hit off the tee followed by a good mid iron to leave yourself about a hundred yard pitch to a small geen guarded by water and bunkers. This is a real thinkers golf hole.
The golf course itself is always in good condition and has lots of very undulating fairways. The front nine are very open with the back nine providing fantastic character as they wind through the forests. I hope you have enjoyed reading about these courses and i sincerely hope you get to have the chance to play them one day. If you are planning a holiday away then please make sure that you get some good insurance cover sorted out before you leave. I have written another article for you covering golf insurance which shows you some examples of people who were not quite as fortunate when something happended on the golf course. You also need to take into account the possibility of loss or theft of your clubs and other equipment I hope you enjoy the site and please feel free to recommend the site to your fellow golf friends and come back soon because we will be adding new articles and information on a weekly basis.
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