Royal Liverpool Golf Club have now completed the upgrading of their Championship Links – to read more, please click here.
Improved Links at Hoylake
Tag: golf
Now That’s Rough!
Next time you are deep in the rough and you think things can’t get much worse, spare a thought for this poor fellow golfer in Auckland – click here for article.
By Alastair Niven. Alastair has been with PerryGolf for over 9 years and is one of our agents
My Round on the 2010 Course at Celtic Manor
I recently had the pleasure of playing the 2010 course at Celtic Manor, which is due to host the Ryder Cup later this year. What a great day it turned out to be – helped by the fact the sun was splitting the sky!
The course has been specifically designed for the tournament with many classic match play holes which begin straight from the start with a tough 465 yard par 4. The greens were slick and the fairways lush – which for April was a real treat. Many of the holes include strategically placed water hazards; no more so than the tough 14th where there is water on left and right. At only 413 yards off the back tees it doesn’t sound tough, but the landing area is so narrow that anything off line is heading for trouble.
Then follows the 15th which is very much like the famous 10th at the Belfry. It’s officially a 377 yard par 4, but, as the crow flies from tee to green, it’s a good deal shorter than that, so many of the pro’s will be pulling out the driver and going for the green. The safe play is up the left with an iron, but in the fourball…expect fireworks! I didn’t play off the back tees, so it was a bit shorter and I felt brave so had a go at the green and very nearly made it. A chip and a putt later and I’d made a birdie three. I’ll be watching with great interest come the end of September to see how many of the USA and European team members can better that!
The finishing hole will make for a grandstand finish for any matches lasting the distance. It’s a long par 5, not too dissimilar to the fantastic 17th at Valderrama with a massive water hazard directly in front of the green. The brave pros will go for it in two. The more conservative one’s will lay up and play a wedge to the green. I chose the latter and my wedge shot found the green – only for it to spin back into the water. A personally disappointing finish to a thoroughly enjoyable round; but it gave me a taste of what was in store for what will be a fantastic tournament. I know I can’t wait for it…I’m sure you can’t either.
For more information on how you can attend the Ryder Cup with PerryGolf, please click here.
By Keith Baird. Keith has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.
Fancourt Hotel, South Africa
Fancourt is South Africa’s premier golf resort located in George in the heart of South Africa’s Garden Route. If you are scheduling a trip to South Africa then look no further than this ideal resort; home to 3 golf courses – Outeniqua and Montagu (both parkland courses) and the new addition in 2000, The Links, a spectacular links course…all of the courses are designed by Gary Player. Fancourt Hotel also has an award wining spa, luxury accommodation and 3 excellent restaurants on site.
By Denise McKee. Denise has been with PerryGolf for over 10 years and is a member of our admin team.
For the Scottish Golf lover
One of the wonderful side benefits of having a career in golf travel are the many related activities which are of similar enjoyment, generally all of these activities relate to golf! Golf related publishing is one of them and the aptly named “18 greatest Scottish Golf Holes” http://18greatestgolf.com/ is the latest addition to review. This book has just been released and is available for sale exclusively through a small collection of some of the premier private clubs in the USA and Scotland. The book itself charts 18 great holes of Scottish golf; from the Old Course at St. Andrews (17th Hole) to far less well known Hopeman Golf Club (12th Hole) in the Highlands, on the non links side it includes Loch Lomond (7th Hole) to the Kings Course at Gleneagles (13th Hole).
One of the most remarkable aspects of the book is the quality and variety of the photography. At every turn the author has striven to capture the essence of the Scottish golf experience with marvelous vistas and “personality” shots which capture the ambiance of the country and those who play golf. Craig Morrison and Andrew Ross who authored this book have a vision to create a series of similar books from other golfing destinations. If they maintain this same quality and creativeness, they shall surely do extremely well. If you are a collector of great golf books then I would respectfully suggest it needs to be added to your portfolio.
If a picture speaks 1,000 words it is difficult to properly capture the depth of this book, my best explanation is that if you enjoy Scotland and Scottish golf, then this book is a must have for your collection as it will doubtless bring back fond memories of golf in the “Home of Golf”.
If you are interested, please drop me an email (gordon.dalgleish@perrygolf.com) and I will gladly help direct you to an outlet for the the book.
About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him on Google+
