5 Reasons to Visit Argentina

Brian Mull

With a population of roughly 44 million, Argentina is the second-largest Spanish-speaking nation in South America. The beautiful nation on the continent’s southern portion delivers a variety of features and attractions certain to please an array of travelers.

Along those lines, PerryGolf’s Best of Argentina Escorted 2018 is sold out later this month, however don’t fret because space remains on the 11-night, 6-round Escorted Tour in Feb. 2019.

From breathtaking waterfalls to incredible dining to entertaining and educational slices of culture – not to mention world class golf, PerryGolf’s Escorted Tours are the ideal way for the discerning traveler to enjoy this expansive and diverse nation. Whether you enjoy the fast-paced action in the city or peaceful natural beauty in the countryside, Argentina has plenty to offer.

If you enjoy combining your love of the game with a passion for travel, you’ll find a lot to like about this escorted experience for a party of 20-24.  Arrangements are in place for every aspect of this fully managed program including various meals, guided sightseeing, carts/caddies and local transportation.  It is an excellent opportunity for couples and individuals to join a group of like-minded future friends!

Here are five reasons everyone should save space for a trip to Argentina.

The Weather

Argentina is located in the Southern Hemisphere, so summer spans from December to February, encompassing the months when PerryGolf will take you there.

The average high temperature in Buenos Aires during these months is roughly 85 degrees and the average low is 69. Visitors can expect approximately nine hours of sunshine per day as they peruse boutique shops in the high-energy cosmopolitan city of nearly three million or wind down the scenic Camino de los 7 Lagos (The Road of the Seven Lakes). Shorts and shirt sleeves will generally suffice on the golf course and you’ll return home tanned, refreshed and eager to return.

The Golf

Buenos Aires Golf Club is a treat. Avoiding the water hazards is top priority at this Robert von Hagge designed which opened in 1994 and held the World Cup of Golf in 2000. Americans Tiger Woods and David Duval teamed to win that event by three shots over the host country.

Olivos Golf Club is considered one of the finest courses in South America, and the best in Argentina. It routinely serves as host for the nation’s most significant championships, including the 2016 Argentina Open.

Llao Llao Golf Club is surrounded by deep-blue lakes, snow-covered mountains and natural forests. The layout crosses the Nahuel Huapi Lake a number of times and its dramatic 18th hole is one of two holes in Argentina which are rated among the best 500 in the world. This is  a challenging and scenic experience that will not soon be forgotten.

 

The Beauty

Iguazu Falls, which is offered as a Pre-Tour Extension and includes a full day tour of the Falls, means great waters in the Guarani language. There are 275 individual drops on this natural wonder, feeding from the Iguazu River, which serves as the border between Brazil and Argentina.

Isla Victoria has varied foliage, including the arctic beech, and some easy hiking trails, and if you spend time wandering, you can find some solitary beaches on which to sit and contemplate the lake. There are cave paintings on the island that mark a distant paste when the island was inhabited by Indians. In the Mapuche language for “Nahuel Huapi”, nahuel means “jaguar” and huapi means “island”.

Fly Fishing on the banks of a Patagonian River is an activity that can be enjoyed by folks of any skill level, providing a enjoyable afternoon in nature – and perhaps dinner for the evening.

The Wine & Food

Eat a hefty steak cut from a pasture-raised and grass-fed cow. A steak dinner at any of the parrillas (beef restaurants) in San Telmo, a trendy barrio with cobblestone streets just six blocks from Plaza de Mayo, promises the most authentic churrasco experience imaginable. 

Enjoy a lovely glass or two of Malbec, the red wine for which Argentina is best known. Dine at the dozens of wonderful restaurants located in the heart of bustling Buenos Aires. This much is certain: guests rarely want for a delicious dining experience on their visits to Argentina. 

Great dining options in Buenos Aires

The Culture

On one enchanting evening in Argentina, enjoy a Tango Show at Gala Tango, which includes a private 30 minute lesson before the dinner. This dance is synonymous with Argentina. Its sensuality has traveled the world in the voices of famous singers. From its origin in the marginal neighborhood of La Boca at the beginning of the twentieth century, Tango has come a long way and today is danced in the finest dance halls in Buenos Aires and the world. 

Buenos Aires is a charming city with a strong influence from many of the main European cities. Beautiful walks, avenues, parks, monumental buildings, cafes, museums and churches gathered in 26 districts, each with its own distinct personality, gives it a truly cosmopolitan air. The northern quarter resembles the most elegant areas of Paris; May Avenue and it’s innumerable cafes houses revives the flavor of Madrid’s Gran Via; the shady Belgrano streets recall the distinguished Londoners suburb; Naples seems to be present in the noisy and colored La Boca quarter.

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3 Iconic Golf Courses in the British Isles

Gordon Dalgleish

Royal Portrush Golf Club by Aiden Bradley
 

Surgeon General Warning, the following post is solely for the purpose of bar discussion after all other topics are exhausted.

Course rankings will forever be wonderful fodder for endless conversations about the relative merits of any given golf experience. Read more “3 Iconic Golf Courses in the British Isles”

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Memorable Moments From a Great 2017 Season in Professional Golf

Brian Mull
After sinking a 50-foot eagle putt on No. 15 at Royal Birkdale during the 2017 Open Championship, Jordan Spieth pointed to the hole and told caddie Michael Greller to “Go Get It.” Roughly an hour later, Spieth had completed a dramatic late charge and captured the Claret Jug.

The book is closed on another year of international professional golf. Once again, the world’s best golfers thrilled, inspired and amazed those of us who play the game for recreation and pleasure. Under immense pressure, they remained poised and produced incredible shots that dazzled galleries and television viewers, probably sending more than a few of us racing to the nearest driving range to try and replicate the feats we had just witnessed.

As 2017 winds to a close, it’s appropriate to reflect on some of our favorite golf shots and moments from the past 12 months. What makes our list unique is this: With assistance from PerryGolf and its experienced staff, you can walk many of these same fairways and greens next year on one of many Cruises, Escorted Tours or Custom Tours. Relish the opportunity to test your swing on holes which are forever etched in the history books due to phenomenal performances by the current crop of golf stars. Their talent transcends the game and makes them international ambassadors for the many virtues inherent to his wonderful game we love.

Happy Holidays.

 

Jordan Spieth at Royal Birkdale

It wasn’t just that Spieth, 24, became the youngest American professional to win the Open Championship. Or that he played the final five holes in 5-under-par on Sunday after falling out of the lead for the first time all week. Or, after quite a lengthy delay and debate, he made an unbelievable bogey from the driving range on the 13th hole. It was all of those things and more – the near ace on 14, the 50-footer for Eagle on 15, the way Matt Kuchar answered Spieth’s birdies until the end – which made the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale an epic for the ages. Spieth claimed his third leg of the Grand Slam and 11th PGA Tour victory, making him the youngest player in history to accomplish such, showing indefatigable spirit and determination in his pursuit of the Claret Jug.

(Take a PerryGolf Custom Tour and play Royal Birkdale and Northwest England’s other legendary links in the Open rota, such as Royal Liverpool and Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s).  

You can also be there to witness history in 2018, on PerryGolf’s Open Championship cruise, which includes playing historic links across Ireland and Scotland, and attending the final round of the Open at Carnoustie.

 

 

Sergio Garcia’s magical year

Best Player to Never Win a Major is an ambiguous description for a veteran professional golfer. On one side, it means a golfer has enjoyed a terrific career, winning regular events on major professional tours and routinely contending for golf’s four major trophies. On the flip side, a person considered ‘BPTNWAM’ can be perceived as afflicted with the inability to close the deal on Sunday afternoons. If you recall, a little more than a decade ago the American lefty Phil Mickelson wore this moniker like a scarlet letter. Five majors later, he’s considered one of the game’s all-time greats. Others, such as seven-time European Tour Order of Merit leader Colin Montgomerie, were never so fortunate and ended their career with a hole in their otherwise impeccable playing record.

Sergio Garcia started challenging for major championships in 1999 at the tender age of 19. And in many years since, he’d been thick in the hunt on Sunday but fallen short, typically slipping down the leaderboard when his putter went awry.

When he arrived at Augusta National in the first week of April 2017, Garcia had 12 top-5 finishes in majors and nearly 30 professional wins worldwide. When he departed on Sunday evening he had donned a Green Jacket, shed other labels and set a magical year in motion.

(Let PerryGolf take you to the final round of the 2019 Masters).

How’s this for a year? Not only did Garcia nip his pal and Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose in sudden death to win the Masters on what would’ve been his hero Seve Ballesteros’ 60th birthday, he also got married, announced the impending birth of a child in March and won twice more around the world, including the Valderrama Masters in his native Spain in a European Tour tournament hosted by his own Foundation.

(Cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona with PerryGolf and tackle Valderrama, one of the best courses in Continental Europe).

 

Harman makes his mark in Wilmington

With the PGA Championship taking place at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, roughly four hours west the Southeastern North Carolina coast received a rare treat, serving as one-time host for the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship.

The tournament was played at Eagle Point Golf Club, a Tom Fazio layout in Wilmington, just down the road from PerryGolf headquarters. The course received glowing reviews from the pros throughout the week and delivered one of the more exciting finishes of the 2016-17 season.

Brian Harman, the diminutive lefthander from Georgia, thrilled a capacity crowd surrounding the 18th green by draining an improbable 28-foot birdie putt late Sunday afternoon to steal a one-shot victory over World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and streaking Pat Perez as rising star Jon Rahm watched from the fairway.

Harman’s second PGA Tour victory was worth $1.35 million and vaulted him to his best season as a professional. He finished runner-up to Brooks Koepka later in the summer at the U.S. Open and ended the season with seven top-10s, ranking 25th in the FedEx Cup standings.

 

Records shattered at St. Andrews

Tyrrell Hatton became the first player to successfully defend his title in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, a marquee event on the European Tour, contested over the Old Course at St. Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie – which are three of the more popular courses offered on PerryGolf Custom and Escorted Tours.

https://www.perrygolf.com/escorted-tour/scotland-homeofgolf-escorted-2018.php

Hatton blistered the storied links with a 24-under par total for 72 holes in a week during which records were made to be broken. For most of us mere mortals, the only way to shoot 61 at the Old Course is to end our round after 13 holes. Not for Ross Fisher, who toured all 18 in his 11-under round to set the new course record. Tommy Fleetwood also joined in the record-shattering fun, taking advantage of benign conditions to fire a brilliant course record 63 at the ultra-difficult Carnoustie.

 

Fleetwood claims the Race to Dubai

Speaking of Tommy Fleetwood, he captured the prestigious European Tour Race to Dubai, riding a pair of victories and top-five finishes at the WGC-Mexico event and U.S. Open to the lucrative prize.

Fleetwood claimed trophies at the French Open, played at Le Golf de National and the Abu Dhabi Championship en route to his best season as a professional.

The 26-year-old Englishman vaulted inside the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking and served notice that he’s likely to be a mainstay on major championship leaderboards and European Ryder Cup teams in the near future.

https://youtu.be/LsCSIQ-ua50

 

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5 Sights to See in Melbourne, Australia

Brian Mull
The Melbourne Star is one of many attractions and sights to enjoy in this wonderful Australian city.

Last weekend, the 24-year-old pro Cameron Smith defeated Jordan Zunic in a two-hole sudden death playoff to claim the Australian PGA Championship. It was the most significant individual win yet for the young Queenslander, who teamed with Jonas Blixt in April to win the Zurich Classic on the PGA Tour.

The Australian PGA was played on the Gold Coast of Queensland, which is about 1,000 miles north of Melbourne, a featured destination for PerryGolf escorted tours.

https://www.perrygolf.com/destinations/australia-golf-vacations.php

Of course, any PerryGolf trip to Melbourne includes amazing golf at world renowned courses such as Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath and Metropolitan in the Sandbelt region. Chasing pars and birdies on these magnificent layouts is certain to capture your imagination, create indelible memories and is likely to make you crave a return visit.

In addition to golf at the highest level, the cruises and tours provide ample time for savoring the scenes, sounds and flavor of a wonderful city such as Melbourne, with its comfortable summer weather and friendly people.

Here are five sights to see on any trip to the Melbourne area. Each of these can easily be enjoyed in half a day or stretched into a full day if you’re having so much fun you can’t leave!

Queen Victoria Market

Also known as the Queen Vic Markets or the Queen Vic, and locally as ‘”Vic Market,” this is a major landmark in Melbourne, Australia, and at around seven hectares (17 acres) is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere. The Market is significant to Melbourne’s culture and heritage and has been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The Queen Victoria Market is the only surviving 19th century market in the Melbourne central business district.

Officially opened on March 20, 1878, the market has a long, rich history and remains a vibrant and functional part of the city today, offering hundreds of stalls where local farmers and merchants sell fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood and an array of art, crafts, clothing and jewelry, among other items.

Browse or shop, spend a few hours or make it a day as you absorb an iconic location in Melbourne’s culture.

 

Royal Botanic Gardens

These internationally renowned botanical gardens are located near the centre of Melbourne on the south bank of the Yarra River. Sprawling 94 acres (38 hectares) these well-manicured and landscaped gardens feature a mixture of native and exotic vegetation, numbering more than 10,000 species.

The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are adjacent to a larger group of parklands directly south-east of the city, between St. Kilda Road and the Yarra River known as the Domain Parklands, which includes Kings Domain, Alexandra Gardens and Queen Victoria Gardens.

The gardens play a significant role in helping to preserve threatened and endangered plants while studying their habitats.

 

Eureka Skydeck 88

Located inside the 297-meter (975 foot) Eureka Tower in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, the Skydeck is accurately described as “an experience above all else.” The Skydeck is located 12 meters from the top and passengers arrive there in 38 scintillating seconds aboard the Southern Hemisphere’s fastest elevator.

Daring guests can accelerate the experience by stepping out onto “The Edge” – a glass cube that extends from the 88th floor of the Tower and suspends guests more than 900 feet above Melbourne.

Eureka Tower opened in 2006 after a four-year construction process. Any visitors wishing to see Melbourne from a different point of view would be remiss to forego this heightened enlightened vantage point.

 

Melbourne Star

Previously known as the Southern Star, this giant Ferris Wheel is located in the Waterfront City precinct in the Docklands area of Melbourne. The only giant observation wheel in the Southern Hemisphere is 120 meters (394 feet) tall and has seven spokes to reflect the seven-pointed star on the Australian flag.

A ride on the Melbourne Star consists of one complete rotation, which takes 30 minutes and delivers unobstructed views stretching nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers). Sit back and enjoy the breathtaking scenery encompassing the entire Docklands precinct, Melbourne’s central business district, Port Phillip Bay and as far as Mount Macedon, Arthur’s Seat and the Dandenong Ranges.

Melbourne Zoo

Officially called the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, the Melbourne Zoo features 320 animal species from Australia and around the world. Located 2.5 miles north of the city centre, the zoo is easily accessible via a short taxi ride or public transportation (Stop 24 or Stop 25).

You may spot something cuter than this baby Asian Elephant during your trip to Melbourne, but we seriously doubt it!

From the Giant Tortoise to the Baw Baw Frog and the Philippines Crocodile, there’s an animal for everyone at this well-routed zoo. Be sure to enter Lion Gorge, where you’ll come face-to-face with a magnificent African Wild Dog Pack and learn plenty about this agile, active hunter. Walk the elevated boardwalk above the orangutans and watch them swing, climb and feed as they would in the wild.

The Wild Zoo is the largest exhibit at the Melbourne Zoo and showcases the natural beauty of Victoria’s coast and ocean. Be prepared to swoon over a seal or fall for a penguin.

 

 

 

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How the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush came to be

Brian Mull
Royal Portrush, ranked No. 14 in the Golf.com World Top 100, welcomes the best golfers in the world for the 2019 Open Championship.

The Open Championship was last held in Northern Ireland in 1951 and the champion earned 300£ (or roughly $11,000 today). Max Faulkner surely cherished clutching the Claret Jug as he stood on the 18th green at Royal Portrush and the winner’s check was a welcome sight as well. However, when compared to the $1.8 million Jordan Spieth collected for winning last summer at Royal Birkdale, the paltry pay Faulkner received reflects the immense growth professional golf has enjoyed during the last 66 years.

As the purses and galleries increased, having sufficient room to erect the necessary infrastructure on and around the course became a requisite ingredient for any club wishing to play host to the Open Championship. Few doubted the quality of the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush – it’s routinely ranked in the top 20 in the World – and whether the golf holes provided a stern enough test to deserve a spot in the Open rota. But the tight quarters around the course seemed too cramped to welcome 200,000 spectators during tournament week and ensure they enjoyed a pleasant experience.

Bordered by Bushmills / Dunluce Road on one side and the North Atlantic Ocean on the other, it appeared Royal Portrush in County Antrim, Northern Ireland must remain content to live forever as a one-time Open Championship host and savor the fading memories from Faulkner’s magical week.

That was the situation until 2014 when leaders from the Royal & Ancient Golf Club along with noted golf course architects Tom Mackenzie and Martin Ebert formed a plan to renovate Dunluce Links, create the necessary room for the Open’s Spectator Village and make the golf course a demanding test for the modern professional without compromising legendary Harry S. Colt’s design from the 1930s. The legendary golf writer Bernard Darwin described Dunluce Links as such in 1951:

Mr. H.S. Colt, who

designed it in its present

form, has thereby built

himself a monument more

enduring than brass.

Upon receiving unanimous approval for the renovations from the Royal Portrush membership in 2015, the R&A awarded the club the 2019 Open Championship. On-course construction began that fall and was completed in the summer of 2017. Each step of the journey, Mackenzie and Ebert surely saw Colt’s vision and heard Darwin’s words, as they steered their crew to execute a renovation fit to carry the course through the Open and decades beyond.

With the R&A intending to use the former 17th and 18th holes on Dunluce Links as the Spectator Village, it was Mackenzie and Ebert’s task to create two new additions on the existing property. They added the 7th, a 572-yard par-5, and the 8th, a 435-yard par-4, which fit the terrain and routing as if they’ve been in place for decades. No. 16, the brutish 235-yard par-3 known as Calamity Corner, is one of the only bunkerless holes at Royal Portrush – not as if sand is needed to protect par. Open contenders will aim to avoid Bobby Locke’s Hollow which lines the left side, poised to collect a wild hook or pull.

In all, Dunluce Links has the fewest bunkers (70) of any course in the Open rota. By comparison, there are 150 at Muirfield and 210 at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s.

Now, the refreshed and enhanced Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush, measuring more than 7,300 yards, sits along the shore waiting to test the world’s best in the summer of 2019. Once again, Mackenzie and Ebert have doctored a course in the Open rota and prepared it to face the extraordinary talent of the modern professional golfer.

Golf observers, club members and historians hope for a mystical week in July 2019 to extend a golden era for Irish golf as Dublin native Padraig Harrington, local favorite Graeme McDowell, longtime Royal Portrush member Darren Clarke and world No. 10 Rory McIlroy – who grew up in Holywood roughly 60 miles away – have claimed major titles in the last decade.

PerryGolf can take you to Royal Portrush. Join the Hogan Bracket on the 2018 Open Championship Cruise and you can test your game on the renovated links, pausing certainly to snap a photo on No. 13, a beautiful par-3, known as ‘Feather Bed.’

You can also attend the final round of the 148th Open Championship in 2019 and play other great links in the rota along the way, such as Royal Liverpool and Royal Birkdale, by joining PerryGolf on a 12-day cruise from Edinburgh to London aboard the luxurious Azamara Journey.

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