Travel & Leisure Golf

CARIBBEAN GOLF IS HOT

There’s never been a better time than right now to plan a tropical golf vacation, with new courses, long-time favorites, and lots of other diversions to draw winter visitors south.

This is especially true of golf in the Caribbean, The Bahamas, and Bermuda. These islands and surrounding sea offer an unsurpassed opportunity to sample a wide variety of cultures, people, and experiences, as well as play some of the world’s top tropical courses.

“Golf is one of the most popular activities for vacationers and there are some challenging courses on several islands," says Richard Kahn, spokesperson for the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). “One of the highlights of most golf is the layout of the courses, often mixing wonderful vistas of green hills and the turquoise sea.” The CTO's extensive Caribbean Vacation Planner (available by calling (800) 356-9999, ext. 799) provides a great overview of most destinations.

Tropical weather, stunning scenery, cultural and historical variety, colorful people and places, excellent resorts, and many golf courses all combine to make the island special to golfers. It's not a question of going for the golf. It's just a question of when and where.

Anytime is the right time to head to the islands. You can escape the winter’s weather or take advantage of price breaks in the summer. Just go (and golf).

GREAT ISLAND GOLF

Here’s an overview of where to find some of the best island golf, resorts, and tropical flavor:

Aruba

Down in the Netherlands Antilles and part of the Dutch "ABC" islands (with Bonaire and Curacao), Aruba is a popular tropical getaway, thanks to its seven-mile beachfront stretch offering large resorts and casinos along the north shore. Windsurfing, scuba diving, and other watersports are very popular on this island, as is golf.

Aruba’s championship layout, Tierra del Sol, was designed by the well-know Robert Trent Jones II Group and is situated on the stunning northwest coast. The course combines the native beauty of Aruba’s indigenous flora, cacti, and rock formations with the lush greens of the world’s top courses. It is the island’s first master-planned golf community and is managed by Hyatt Aruba NV, a subsidiary of Hyatt Corporation.

The Aruba Grand Beach Resort & Casino (www.arubagrand.com) is a great base for Aruba golf and everything else the island has to offer. Located on famed Palm Beach and featuring pristine white sandy beaches and crystal blue water views, guests experience luxurious accommodations, limitless activities, gracious Caribbean hospitality, and scheduling of tee times right at check-in.

The Bahamas

It’s better than ever in The Bahamas, thanks to new resorts like Grand Bahama’s Our Lucaya and great golf on many of the islands. From bustling New Providence, Paradise Island, and Grand Bahama Island, to the charming Out Islands, The Bahamas are a good bet on the golf course, in the many casinos, and elsewhere.

The newest resort in The Bahamas, Our Lucaya (www.ourlucaya.com), introduced its new name and an edgy new attitude to revive the true rhythm and spirit of the Caribbean for its December opening. Formerly named The Lucayan Resort at Grand Bahama Island, it is the largest and most expensive Caribbean property to be developed in years.

Our Lucaya features some of the Caribbean’s finest golf--Our Lucaya Lucayan Course, a legendary Dick Wilson design, and the heralded Our Lucaya Reef Course, the newest challenge from Robert Trent Jones, Jr.

As the first Bahamian course to open since 1969, the Reef Course boasts 6,920 yards of links-style grounds with water coming into play on 13 of 18 holes. It played host to the SENIOR PGA TOUR’S new Our Lucaya Senior Slam tournament between champions Tom Kite, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin and Doug Tewell this past December, as well as for the next two years. Described by the architect himself as a bit like a Scottish course, but a lot warmer, the course dares golfers to navigate 13 of 18 holes bordered by water, tricky bunkers, and sawgrass swept by sea breezes.

Lucayan Country Club Course has always been ranked one of the top courses in the Caribbean and further afield. It demands accuracy and shot-making ability in a classic par 72 design. Opened in 1962, it was a classic collaboration of Dick Wilson and 1941 Masters and U.S. Open champion Craig Wood. In conjunction with the Caribbean Golf Association, both courses also hosted the first Corona Caribbean Open Championships in December.

In addition, the exclusive Butch Harmon School of Golf, one of only two in the world, teaches Tiger Woods ‘wannabes’ the techniques Harmon currently coaches to the most prolific golfer today.

The vibrant, new island playground, sprawling along a seven-and-a-half acre ribbon of sun-drenched white sand beaches, features 1,350 rooms, two acclaimed 18-hole golf courses, sensual spa, 14 cuisine collections and watering holes, imaginative children’s center, casino, and eclectic marketplace.

Our Lucaya lies just 55 miles east of Miami, a mere 35 minutes via air from Florida and less than two-and-a-half hours from New York. The resort spearheads the resurgence of Grand Bahama Island, one of the largest in the archipelago of 700 Bahamian Islands..

The new 30,000-square-foot casino, debuting late-spring in 2001, will offer 30 tables--including Baccarat, Caribbean Stud Poker, Blackjack and Roulette--as well as more than 400 slots and sports gaming. A sure bet to strain the purse strings, Our Lucaya’s Village Market Promenade is riddled with stores from the rare to the ridiculous.

The 1,350 guest rooms at Our Lucaya accommodate everyone’s needs, with spectacular views of the sweeping white Atlantic beach, tropical Caribbean gardens, yacht-filled Port Lucaya Marina, and Bell Channel waterway.

Barbados

Thanks to some of the best courses in the islands, as well as an incredible array of resorts, Barbados (www.barbados.org) has long been a great island golf getaway. As home to the Caribbean’s newest convention center and cruise port terminal, Barbados also boasts one of the highest rates of repeat visitors in the region (including lots of duffers).

Barbados is a land of remarkable contrasts, from its craggy northern coastline and vast meadows of golden sugar cane down to its serene turquoise Caribbean coastline--all on an island only 21 miles long and 14 miles wide.

The easternmost island of the Caribbean’s Lesser Antilles, Barbados boats a unique range of great golf, natural and historic attractions, stunning plantation great housees that reflect the island’s early settlers, vast caves, contrasting coastlines, great beaches and resorts, and much more. Despite more than 30 years of independence from Great Britain, Barbados still enjoys a delightful British atmosphere on and off the links.

There are many great golf courses on Barbados, with many offering spectacular ocean views, tropical settings, lush greens and fairways, tournaments, and a packages with local hotels and resorts. This year brings even more great golf to this duffer’s paradise.

Golfers should be sure to play the Barbados Golf Club, a new course that was built last year by Ron Kirby as the island’s first public layout. It’s been approved by the PGA European Tour to host a Seniors event in 2002. Sandy Lane Golf Club, which currently features a nine-hole executive course, will welcome two new Tom Fazio layouts in 2001. Almond Beach Club Resort Golf Course features a fun family nine-hole par three course, while Rockley Golf Club offers a simple nine-hole, 18-tee layout. Finally, Royal Westmoreland Golf & Country Club was designed by Robert Trent Jones II and features contrasting front and back nines. It’s part of a $400 million residential and tourism resort development (it’s private, but guests of certain resorts can play).

Bermuda

Golf and Bermuda go together like palm trees and islands. Bermuda probably offers more golf courses per square mile than anywhere else in the world. The island offers eight courses, with seven of championship caliber. Characterized by stunning scenery, including dramatic ocean vistas, Bermuda’s golf is renowned for both its beauty and challenge.

For visiting golfers, Elbow Beach (www.elbowbeach.com) has been the grande dame of Bermuda since 1908. After a $42 million renovation, the oceanfront resort features a brilliant assemblage of 244 rooms spread amongst a main building, cottage colony, and individual cottages, as well as a host of upscale amenities. A Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Elbow Beach offers a broad array of accommodations--whether you want the atmosphere of a full-service hotel or the intimate luxury of a garden cottage. Of course, many golf courses are nearby.

Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands (www.caymanislands.ky) are becoming known as a great place to find golf greens to go with the rainbow colors of the underwater world. This British outpost is a scuba diving mecca, with some of the world’s finest reef diving situated just offshore the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman.

Grand Cayman features many resorts, famed Seven Mile Beach, varied dining, super shopping, and several popular tropical golf courses. Quieter Cayman Brac and Little Cayman offer complete getaways in a relaxed tropical setting (golfers fly over to Grand Cayman for the day).

The largest of the three islands, Grand Cayman, is the center of trade, government, and a majority of the tourism. Grand Cayman also draws many visitors because of Seven Mile Beach, one of the world's most famous stretches of tropical sand. There’s also the town of Hell (the craggy landscape gave the area its name), some of the best shopping in the islands, and a variety of watersports to go with the famed diving.

On one side of the white coral sands of Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman visitors find beachfront hotels, resorts, and condominiums, beautifully adorned with pools, flowering gardens, elegant gazebos, outdoor cafes, and renowned restaurants. On the other side of the shoreline, there’s the crystal-clear Caribbean as far as the eye can see. It's an ideal Caribbean beach and base for duffers.

Located just five miles from George Town and just off Seven Mile Beach, The Links at Safehaven is reminiscent of the old Scottish coastal course. The full-service facility also includes the Links Clubhouse, a restaurant, open-air bar, pro shop, locker rooms, putting, chipping, and bunker practice areas, and a driving range.

Situated just behind the Hyatt Regency Grand Cayman in the heart of Seven Mile Beach, The Britannia is the only Jack Nicklaus-designed course in the Caribbean, with grassy mounds, rolling dunes, lakes, and oversized bunkers. It plays to par 58 as an executive course, as well as par 70 for a championship layout, with instruction, clinics, a pro shop, and even a Jack Nicklaus golf lounge all part of the experience.

St. Lucia

The second largest of the Windward Islands, the oasis of St. Lucia offers everything to the visitor: lush beauty, lots of wide sandy beaches, mountainous regions, banana plantations, quaint villages, and smiling people.

The island’s only 18-hole golf course, St. Lucia Golf & Country Club (www.stluciagolf.com) is a must-play. Set in the scenic rolling hills of Cap Estates on the northern tip of the island, the layout offers panoramic views of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Add , full irrigation, an extensive pro shop, a driving range, a golf academy, and a full-service restaurant, and you have everything you could want in a tropical golf destination (including many nearby resorts).

THE BEST OF THE REST

Antigua & Barbuda--The largest of the British Leewards, busy Antigua has beautiful beaches and resorts, as well as two golf courses (Jolly Harbour Golf Course, designed by Karl Litton, and Cedar Valley Golf Club). Quiet Barbuda is just 26 miles north and is great for a daytrip or a seriously secluded vacation.

British Virgin Islands--The BVI offer a wide variety of islands and great sailing. Golfers can take a ferry over to St. Thomas for a game there or hop a helicopter from several BVI resorts for golf on St. Croix.

Curacao--The third of the Dutch ABCs combines the great diving of Bonaire with the tourism amenities of Aruba. Now, the island features it’s first golf course: Blue Bay Golf Resort, which was designed by Rocky Roquemore and takes advantage of Curacao’s seaside terrain.

Dominican Republic--Covering approximately the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola (Haiti shares the island), the Dominican Republic is the second largest country in the Caribbean. With nine championship courses and several more under construction, the Dominican Republic also looms large when it comes to great golf.

Gary Player, Pete Dye, and many other major designers have made their mark here. Even popular singer Julio Iglesias and designer Oscar de la Renta have gotten into the golf act, as partners in a major resort complex and 36-hole golf course under construction at Punta Cana on the eastern end of the country.

Puerto Rico--Created by some of the world’s most renowned designers, the golf courses of Puerto Rico are a dream come true for golfers looking for a challenging experience in an idyllic tropical setting. Home to 12 golf courses, including eight championship layouts, Puerto Rico has rightfully gained a reputation as the ‘Scotland of the Caribbean. With the exception of the Wyndham El Conquistador Resort & Country Club (which is open to resort guests), all courses are open to the public.

Grenada--Known as the "spice island," Grenada is the most southern point in the British Windwards. Grenada is lush, with beautiful beaches, mountains, Grand Etang National Park, quaint accommodations, and fun nine-hole layout. The capital, St. George's, is among the prettiest ports in the Caribbean.

Guadeloupe--Part of the French West Indies, Guadeloupe features French finesse coupled with Caribbean charm. The island’s golf course, Golf de St.-Francois, was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and welcomes a cosmopolitan mix of clientele from the island, Europe, and the U.S.

Jamaica--This is the place for some golf great vacations, mon! Jamaica features famous resort areas like Montego Bay, Negril, and Ocho Rios, as well as the island's mountainous landscape, unique culture, reggae music, and fun food make for a jammin' place to visit. A wide range of more than a dozen golf courses adds to the allure.

For instance, Half Moon Golf, Tennis & Beach Club in Montego Bay has been a Caribbean classic since 1954. The magnificent 400-acre estate encompasses gleaming white cottage and villas nestled on a mile of white sand beach, with an incredible variety of amenities. Sculpted from the foothills from western Jamaica’s famed coastline, the championship golf course was designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1961.

With its recent renovation, the Robert Von Hagge golf course is the toast of the Caribbean at the Wyndham Rose Hall Golf & Beach Resort. With tee box views of the island’s Blue Mountains and a green enveloped by the sea, this course and resort are Caribbean classics.

Martinique--The largest and most sophisticated island of the French West Indies, Martinique has a definite French flavor. The Empress Josephine Golf Club’s layout was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and is in the main Martinique resort area of Trois-Ilets.

Mexican Caribbean--Thanks to Caribbean resort destinations like Cancun and the island of Cozumel, Mexico is a popular Caribbean hotspot. Big beach resorts along Cancun's famed beach, diving on Cozumel, and inland Mayan ruins make the Mexican Caribbean bueno for visitors. There’s even golf near Cancun and along the Riviera Maya at Golf Club Playacar.

St. Kitts/Nevis--St. Kitts and Nevis are divided by a two-mile strait in the British Leewards. St. Kitts is less-touristed than Antigua and offers many interesting Caribbean experiences, while nearby Nevis is even less-touristed, with steep terrain and beautiful scenery. Both islands have golf, including the Four Seasons on Nevis and 27 holes on St. Kitts.

St. Martin/Sint Maarten--Part of the Dutch Windwards in the Leewards and French West Indies, this half-French and half-Dutch island gives you more bang for your buck (and gilder or franc). The Dutch side has major tourist facilities and casinos (and golf), while the French side features posh resorts and excellent restaurants.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines--These lesser-known charmers are great for exploration, including a new Roy Case-designed course on the island of Canouan: The Carenage Bay Beach & Golf Club.

Trinidad and Tobago--This two-island nation offers much Caribbean culture in a small area. Trinidad is famous for its carnival and the beat of its calypso music. Tobago is a tiny island that is well-known to many tourists for its beaches and resorts. Both islands have golf courses, with more on the way at the Tobago Plantations Golf & Country Club.

Turks & Caicos--This island chain boasts more than 230 miles of white powdery beaches, with world-renowned scuba diving and a wide variety of resorts. There are eight principal islands to explore, including golf on Providenciales (Provo).

U.S. Virgin Islands--This American paradise packs all of the best of the Caribbean into three islands. Bustling St. Thomas offers excellent shopping, many beautiful beaches, and several new upscale resorts. Nearby St. John is much quieter, with a stunning National Park covering more than half of the island. St. Croix is 40 miles to the south and is the largest and most diverse of the three. The ease of travel to and within the U.S. Virgin Islands (same language and currency) make them a huge draw to golfers, including several stunning layouts on both St. Thomas and St. Croix.

SIDEBAR POSSIBILITY #1

CALLING OR SURFING YOUR WAY

TO GREAT ISLAND GOLF

The Caribbean Tourism Organization's extensive Caribbean Vacation Planner includes all islands covered in this feature, except for Bermuda. It is available by calling (800) 356-9999, ext. 799). The CTO’s website (www.caribtourism.com) is also a great place to learn more about Caribbean golf.

--Antigua & Barbuda-(888) 268-4227; www.antigua-barbuda.org

--Aruba-(800) TO ARUBA; www.aruba.com

--The Bahamas-(800) BAHAMAS; www.bahamas.com

--Barbados-(888) BARBADOS; www.barbados.org

--Bermuda--(800) BERMUDA; www.bermudatourism.com

--British Virgin Islands Tourist Board-(800) 835-8530; bviwelcome.com

--Cayman Islands-(800) 346-3313; www.caymanislands.ky

--Curacao-(800) 3 CURACAO; www.curacao-tourism.com

--Dominican Republic-(888) 374-6361; www.dominicana.com.do

--Grenada-(800) 927-9554; www.grenada.org

--Guadeloupe-(410) 286-8310; email: office.tourisme.guadeloupe@wanadoo.fr

--Jamaica-(800) 233-4582; www.jamaicatravel.com

--Martinique-(800) 391-4909; www.martinique.org

--Mexican Caribbean-(800) 44 MEXICO; www.tourbymexico.com

--Puerto Rico-(800) 223-6530; www.prtourism.com

--St. Kitts/Nevis-(800) 582-6208; www.stkitts-nevis.com

--St. Lucia Tourist Board-(888) 4STLUCIA; www.stlucia.org

--St. Martin-(877) 956-1234; www.st-martin.org

--St. Maarten-(800) 786-2278; www.st-maarten.com

--St. Vincent and the Grenadines-(800) 729-1726; www.svgtourism.com

--Trinidad and Tobago-(888) 595-4TNT; www.tidco.com

--Turks & Caicos-(800) 241-0824; www.turksandcaicostourism.com

--U.S. Virgin Islands-(800) 372-USVI; www.usvi.org/tourism

SIDEBAR POSSIBILITY #2

ISLAND CRUISES

Rather than visiting just one or two spots in the islands, many golfers opt for a cruise that stops at many different ports. A cruise is a great way to see many destinations in a short time, with a wide array of islands, cultures, and activities (including golf) awaiting cruisers at each port of call.

"The islands in this part of the world are so diverse and everyone is finding that a cruise offers the opportunity to experience many cultures in a fairly short period of time,” says James G. Godsman, president of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). “By sampling a combination of islands on a cruise, visitors can get an idea of where they might want to return for a longer stay."

Cruises depart out of popular ports like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Port Everglades, Tampa, New Orleans, Houston, San Juan, and many east coast cities (bound for Bermuda), as well as smaller ports throughout the continental U.S. and the Caribbean. Once at sea, on-board activities (and many meals) keep golfers (and, possibly, non-golfing spouses) happy until they wake up in a new port virtually every day. One of the beauties about cruising the islands is that passengers can see many islands in a brief period of time and then return to favorite spots by air for a longer stay.

A wide variety of cruise lines and ships call the islands home. Some of the most popular choices include: Carnival Cruise Lines; Celebrity Cruises; Commodore Cruise Line; Costa Cruise Line; Crystal Cruises; Cunard; Disney Cruise Line; Holland America Line; Norwegian Cruise Line; Premier Cruises; Princess Cruises; Radisson Seven Seas Cruises; Regal Cruises; Royal Caribbean; Seabourn; Silversea Cruises; Star Clippers; Windjammer Cruises; and Windstar Cruises. If you're into Caribbean cruises with much less company, sailing charters with renowned companies like The Moorings are an ideal choice.