by Margaret Swaine | May 1, 2005
By Margaret Swaine
Last column I talked about golf pros with links to wineries. But the reverse hold true too. Some winery owners have such a love of golf they’ll pony up big money to support the game by backing tournaments, backing their winery onto a golf course or even turning some of their acreage into links. In 1999, at VinExpo which is an enormous biannual wine show held in Bordeaux that attracts all the players in wine, I experienced how the French do it. When they hold a golf tournament in wine country, they take the 19th hole pleasures with them throughout the prior 18. There were wine stations at tee boxes dotted throughout the Pessac Golf Course. I joined winery owners in vying for wine prizes all given out at the awards reception which naturally featured tables full of wines for tasting.
At this year’s VinExpo 2005, champagne producer Duval-Leroy has ditched its traditional stand at the hectic trade show and replaced it with a day of golf for customers who sign up under their bubblies.birdies site. President Carol Duval-Leroy is a keen golfer who makes sure her champagne is at tournaments in Europe – she sponsors for example the Golf Makser Cup with 50 competitions throughout the summer. Duval-Leroy is the largest family owned champagne winery with five million bottles produced a year. Ranked among the world’s top ten Champagne Houses, the wine can be found all over Europe in the best restaurants and stores, but only just entered the American market three years ago. Duval-Leroy’s delightful bubblies are now in 43 states and beginning to appear in Quebec, Ontario, BC and out east.
Carol Duval-Leroy became head of the company upon her husband’s sudden death from cancer in 1991 at the age of 39. Along with the winery, she inherited 170 hectares of vines (the property is the ninth largest vineyard owner in Champagne). This gives her Champagne House a great advantage in maintaining quality and controlling costs. Carol, who once dreamed of being a chef, has applied her knowledge of food to work together with Chef de Caves Hervé Jestin to expand the line of wines to 12 different blends that can match with a whole range of dishes. I wholeheartedly recommend all the ones I’ve tasted. The Brut non-vintage ($44.95), a blend of mainly chardonnay with 25 per cent pinot noir grapes is lemony crisp with a lively intensity and hints of brioche and minerals. Many airlines stock this label – it can carry the palate from aperitifs into a first course of white meats. The Design Paris Brut ($58.) features a beautiful silk screened bottle depicting the gaiety of Paris by American painter LeRoy Neiman. This fizzy, an alluring blend of sixty per cent pinot noir with the rest chardonnay, has good length with a fresh minerals and honeysuckle character. Any romantic moment will be the right one to pop the cork. Lady Rosé ($36.95) made from 100 per cent pinot noir, is a pretty salmon pink with a touch of residual sugar. Its rounded fruity style matches with cakes, cookies and other desserts though I would just as easily pair it with salmon. Champagne Blanc de Chardonnay 1998 is a pure chardonnay bubbly with a fresh lemony elegance perfect with seafood. Her top of the line vintage dated champagne, 1995 Femme de Champagne ($99.) is made from grapes all coming from prestigious grand cru vineyards It’s the athlete of the family with serious structure and intensity that can handle veal and fowl.
Closer to home, Archibald Winery and Cider House in Bowmanville Ontario (www.archibaldswinery.com), has turned some of their apple orchards into fairways to make a sweet nine hole par three public course. Fred Archibald explained to me that they need to leave some of their fields fallow every year so he reckoned might as well make them playable. The course welcomes families with an emphasis on juniors, ladies and beginners. Those of drinking age can sample and purchase from a wide and delicious range of fruit wines such as Oak Aged Ida Red ($9.95), Apple Cranberry ($12.95) and Spiced Winter Apple ($16.95) a dessert wine. A complimentary glass of wine is offered to all participants in their Ladies and Couples golf nights. Those who can’t make the trip to Bowmanville can still enjoy Archibald’s wines – they ship countrywide.
Further to the topic, Penfolds Winery is the official wine sponsor of the Royal Canadian Golf Association Canadian Championship events for a three year term. You’ll find Penfolds wines on site during the BMO Canadian Women’s Open at Glen Arbour Golf course in Halifax from July 11 – 17 and at the Bell Canadian Open at Shaughnessey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver from September 5 – 11. If you email your name, address and phone number to Canada@southcorp-usa.com you will be entered for a chance to win a VIP event package to the Bell Open. Penfolds, an Australian wine company founded in 1844, is perhaps the most famous in Oz. Their premier reputation was firmly established in the 1950’s when Grange and Bin wines were created by then winemaker Max Schubert. Penfolds Grange is still the icon, recognized as one of the world’s finest reds. The current 1999 ($299.) demands at least five years or more of age (these babies can easily handle 40 years in the cellar) to mellow its tightness but is as classy as ever with cedary oak, smoky fruit and earthiness. Yattarna is Penfolds new ultra premium white though I can’t say I want to spend the ninety bucks for the chardonnay 2001. More accessible in price is the Thomas Hyland range of shiraz, cabernet and chardonnay. Penfolds St. Henry style is pure shiraz that doesn’t rely on new oak hence the warmth of berries comes through rich, full and plush. The Bin series is also reliably good, offering the style and complexity of Penfolds flagship wines at affordable prices. Bin 128 Shiraz 2001 ($29.95) for example is ripe and generously fruity. Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon ($29.95) is for those like the more structured cassis taste of a cab. Their entry level labels are Rawson’s Retreat followed by the Koonunga Hill range – priced at $10 to $15 they’re consistent best value winners. Supporting wine that supports golf has never been so easy.
Swaine top picks:
Champagne Duval-Leroy Brut $44.95 Agent Vinexx 1-877-659-9463 www.vinexx.com
Penfold’s St. Henry Shiraz 2000 $49.95 Agent Southcorp 416-504-3830 www.southcorp.com
by Margaret Swaine | Apr 1, 2005
By Margaret Swaine
It’s no surprise to me that golf, a game awash in affluence, would link the greats on the PGA Tour with the finesse in the bottle. I’m certain I’m not alone in harbouring both a strong love for wine and for golf. I may however be the only one to switch club membership (from ClubLink’s King Riding to King Valley) because of the wine list. Okay I exaggerate a bit. The latter’s course is pretty spectacular but all the more reason to enjoy the après game view with a fine tipple.
That said, as a wine columnist and critic for over twenty years, I did question whether wins on tour translated to award winning wines. Was it just a marketing ploy or would a champion’s name guarantee greatness in the bottle and not just on the label? When Greg Norman first launched the product of a joint venture between Great White Shark Enterprises and Beringer Blass Wine Estates in the late nineties, I was dubious. I felt his 1996 cabernet merlot blend from Coonawarra in Australia hit a tad on the rough side. Colleagues were less critical including those at the Wine Spectator which rated it 91 points out of 100. His reds and his chardonnay continued to appear at golf tournaments and golf clubs where I played and as vintages went by I became a convert. Recently when I purchased a bottle of Limestone Coast Shiraz Cabernet 2002, I found the rich mélange of plump plum, crisp blackberry and vanilla spiced oak tastes to be delicious. When my husband heard it cost me a mere $19.95, he exclaimed “Buy three cases of it now!” Featured in Ontario as an LCBO Vintages wine of the month for March, this time it truly deserved its accolades. And unlike the sometimes disappointing finishes of its namesake, the wine lingered on with great fruit delivery. Also recommended are the Greg Norman Shiraz 2002 and Greg Norman Cabernet Merlot 2002 both $23.95.
Greg Norman Estates initially focused on quality wine at the “right” price moving up market with a Shiraz Reserve at twice the bucks after establishing their reputation. Ernie Els took the opposite approach. His Ernie Els Stellenbosch 2000 soared onto the North American playing field with a hefty price of over $60 US and instant acclaim. The Wine Spectator rated it 93, the highest score ever given by the magazine to a South African wine. “Ernie Els wine is hugely expensive,” says his Ontario agent David Thompson “and it goes up ten per cent a year no matter what.” The upcoming vintage 2002 is expected to sell at over $100 a bottle in Canada when it hits our shores. With an allocation of a mere 150 bottles for the entire country, it’s more a question of which club will get lucky rather than who will buy. Last year’s 180 bottles mainly went to Magna Golf course in Aurora, Ontario with Toronto restaurant Boba bagging a few.
According to agent Thompson, Els got the advice of going high from Norman who let on that’s exactly how he would do it if he had it to do over again. Now Els has his rainmaker wine on solid ground, he’s moving into the quality for price arena. Slated to come to Canada this year are Engelbrecht Els red blend at around $50 and a line called Guardian Peak in the $12 to $15 range. Engelbrecht Els is the new venture between Els and Jean Engelbrecht son of Jannie who owns Rust-en-Vrede, the original winery where Els’ first wine was made. Engelbrecht junior had a falling out with his father, severing ties with Rust-en-Vrede but taking the winemaker of Ernie Els wine as well as the rights to the flagship wine of his longtime friend Els. Expect the Ernie Els Stellenbosch red to remain a fine classic Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec, cabernet franc with a touch petit verdot built in a full robust style to age well. The Engelbrecht Els also a blend of red grapes will first make its appearance this summer when Jean comes to Canada to host a series of dinners at golf clubs. The more basic Guardian Peak features single varietal wines such as the shiraz expected to be on the market in the Fall and SMG, a syrah, mourvèdre, grenache blend.
Frequently only three to four sessions are required. go right here viagra sale buy It is very potent and high amounts of fiber this reduce high levels of cholesterol and stopping levitra price the obstruction of blood vessels. However, you can slow down cialis vs viagra http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/video-jumping-red-panda/ the aging process and stay healthy. On the off chance that you are more seasoned than 65 or have liver issues, your spe buy generic cialist may begin you on lower measurements of this item. * If you have prostate issues or hypertension, for which you take solutions called alpha-blockers, your specialist may begin you on a lower measurement of buy generic cialis * If you are taking sure different drugs your specute-n-tiny.comt may endorse a lower. Mike Weir Estate Wines are an exciting new development in golfer wines for Canada especially. Creekside Estate Winery, an excellent producer in the Niagara region of Ontario, approached Weir for this joint venture. Fifty-one acres of premium vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake, nearby esteemed Chateau des Charmes winery, have been designated for Weir wines. There’s a 7,000 square foot basic facility on the site now with the goal to open for retail shopping by 2006. Weir’s brother Jim is on the board of directors of the new winery and Mike himself approved of the labels and taste of the first two wine offerings. The 2001 Chardonnay ($15.95) is a steal. It’s complex, more burgundian in style than New World fruity, with the toasty flavours to be expected from a four year old white aged in oak. The 2002 Cabernet Merlot ($17.95) is a blend of mainly cabernet sauvignon with cabernet franc and merlot created in a bordeaux style. It’s medium bodied, fairly taut with a pleasant intertwine of oaky fruit, silky tannins, good balance with a crisp finish. “We expect trial will be very high so we went for affordable prices with a huge over-delivery,” said Barry Katzman, Creekside president and director of Mike Weir Estate Winery. Not only is the wine generous but so is the man behind them. Net proceeds go to assist children’s charities through the Mike Weir Foundation. Expect to see Weir wines served at the likes of Redtail, Magna, Copper Creek, Legends, The Hunt Club and of course Taboo. I say any club who doesn’t stock them is a putz.
Swaine top picks:
Greg Norman Shiraz Cabernet 2002, $19.95 Agent Maxxium Canada 1-866-263-0171 www.maxxium.com
Mike Weir Estate Wines sadly closed.
by Margaret Swaine | Mar 1, 2004
By Margaret Swaine
“I’m in the sun a lot and I’d go for a facial. Every little bit helps,” said Tim Collins, Director of Golf at The Breakers in Palm Beach. At the swank Flagler Steakhouse overlooking the resort’s Ocean Course from above the pro shop, we were immersed in an animated discussion about the twinning of golf and spa. Collins was being challenged by public relations manager Margee Adelsperger, about the male acceptance of treatments other than massages. He won the point. While women are the major spa goers and men play more golf, the numbers are changing. Male spa visits are trending up just as the number of women golfers is increasing.
I was on the hunt for some of the best spa/golf combos in South Florida with a little beach thrown in for cool dipping. Spas and links are not a new concept here. The Bonaventure and The Doral have offered this combo for years. But a phenomenon that’s really good news for us gals is afoot. While in the past the marriage of golf and spa was rather rare in resorts, now it’s a must. If a property doesn’t have a spa, they are not in the game. And in Florida where there are 1,500 golf courses, if a resort doesn’t own their own fairways, they darn well better have good playing privileges elsewhere for their guests. What more could a woman golfer need?
“Spa and golf have become the key in order to compete with other Florida properties but also other destinations,” explained Joel Rosen, leisure industry expert and chairman of Horwath Horizon Consultants in Toronto. “After a round of golf it’s not uncommon for men to get their massage or go for treatments. I think we’ll see more and more of that,” he added. Rosen is a self-described “customer who would go for golf and spa.” The more men that want spas and women that desire golf, the better the facilities for all of us.
No expense is spared as old courses in Florida get redesigned under the skilled eye of top golf architects. And the spas? They’ve moved from a back room off the hair salon into their own state of the art buildings with 20,000 to 30,000 square feet of space now common. Sauna, steam room, exercise centre, pool, multi-treatment rooms, lounge areas with complimentary beverages, robes and slippers are all part of every modern spa.
The top of the pyramid has got to be The Breakers in elegant delivery of these amenities but also in price. Rosen said only one to two per cent of North Americans can stretch their budget to this height. However if you can stand the heat, the summer is low season when the rates drop by about half. Last year they ran a “the longer you stay, the less you pay” promotion that included golf for the cost of the cart only. A version of the deal is in the plans for this July/August but with some fee attached to the golf. Too many took to the links last summer for Collins in his role of golf director and protector of the fairways, to want to give it away so freely.
Stretched over 140 acres on the island of Palm Beach, The Breakers is a legendary luxury resort. Listed on the American National Register of Historic Places, its history spans over 100 years. Florida’s first 9 holes of golf were built here designed by Alexander J. Findlay in 1897. The resort is not resting on its laurels at all. In 2002 it completed a ten-year $145 million revitalization and expansion. Today the total’s reached $220 million in magnificent updates complete with a Brian Silva redesigned golf course and many entirely new additions.
I kick started my time there with a lesson at their Todd Anderson Golf Academy. My PGA instructor Eric Johnson used the VI video coaching system to record my swing before, during and after my lesson. My terribly long backswing had to be shortened and sure enough we had the video to mark the progress and then view the results. I also saw my outfit was more coordinated than me at times. Private instruction, small three person clinics and weekend retreats can be booked with Todd Anderson himself, ranked among the best teachers in America.
The beach beckoned however, then a tour of the property. There’s half a mile of private beach, four swimming pools and ten tennis courts. Kids have their own entertainment multiplex divided into rooms with fun in mind: an arcade, movie theatre, craft area and child friendly computer game centre. The restaurants were more my focus, particularly the wine cellar. Displayed behind 19th century European leaded glass doors were over 7,000 bottles, the crown jewels of the 22,000-bottle collection. More than 1250 selections chosen by chief sommelier Virginia Philip are on their Wine Spectator Grand Award winning wine list for L’Escalier their fancy French restaurant.
It was the wine at Flagler’s that night that fueled the conversation and later decision to check out Echo, the resort’s off-property Asian restaurant in the heart of Palm Beach. The sushi bar was hopping and the tables packed with locals who obviously appreciated the bold Asian flavours created by Chef Lee and manager David Thall as well as the quality wines on offer at their Dragon Fly bar. The next morning I was glad I had a spa facial booked so I could recoup before golf.
The Spa at the Breakers, recently named one of the top five hotel/resort spas in North America is 20,000 square feet of pampering elegance. I used one of the private change rooms to slip into the robe and slippers they gave me. Then I sunk into a comfortable chair in the lounge to sip complimentary herb tea before my treatment. If I wished I could have enjoyed the sauna or steam room. As it was, my facial left my face glowing and detoxified. Christine’s expert hands worked beauty magic using Guerlain Institut de Beauté of Paris facial massage techniques and Guerlain’s Issima skincare products.
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Golf followed at the Ocean Course, the state’s oldest, a grand dame with a major face lift. It had classic vintage course appeal with random bunkering and fairways that weave between sandy hazards. Silva’s redesign addressed tee elevation, surface slopes and other elements to heighten playing interest while reviving vintage details that didn’t survive the rigors of climate and time. It’s fairly short for us ladies with a yardage of 5,254 and only one par five. Precision counts with challenges to keep the ball straight and out of water and traps. Breakers West Course is more contemporary, better for those who hit hard and high. Exotic birds are everywhere including a green parrot found only on the island.
Next in line was The Turnberry, formerly known as the Aventura Country Club and now taken over by Fairmont. Headquartered in Toronto, I know Fairmont and have found it can be depended upon to deliver luxury in resort destinations. (They operate 43 properties in six countries and their parent company FHR manages 83.) Think Banff Springs, Lake Louise, The Plaza in New York, Le Chateau Frontenac and other classics. Six of Fairmont’s resorts were among Conde Nast Traveler’s list of top100 golf resorts around the world. Turnberry Isle Resort and Club located in Aventura, an exclusive enclave in North Miami, is their newest and they are keenly promoting it. They also are very much behind their spa concept called Willow Stream. The spa at Turnberry has been converted to feature signature Willow Stream treatments this spring of 2004. The “All the Best Package” is a sampler of golf, dining and spa offered as a special at Turnberry.
The 25,000 square foot spa and fitness centre is beautiful and offers an LPG massage machine designed to roll and stretch a golfer into greater flexibility. That’s providing you can handle the heavy suck and grab action. Golf instructor David Ledbetter is purportedly a big fan of it. The machine looks like a cross between an octopus and a vacuum cleaner. Before its tentacles are placed on you, first you must slip into a tight catsuit to protect your skin and hair. Then as you lay on a table, the sucking and stretching begins. This latest greatest doodad is quite something believe me. I saw the same machine in the fanciest spa ever in the Intercontinental in Hong Kong.
The resort has two Robert Trent Jones, Sr. designed golf courses and five golf pros. I took a golf lesson with Robyn Roberson, one of about five female teaching pros in South Florida. Her style was soothing and reinforcing of the psyche. “I always look at the little things,” she explained as she gently “tuned up” my swing to eliminate two common flaws. She moved my weight back to my heels and kept me looking at the ball until impact.
When playing either of the courses, wind is a major factor. You can be blown in the water that is in play on 13 of 18 holes on the south course. The dramatic 18th hole is the signature on these links with its big carry to an island green. The north course has challenging long holes on the first 9 and target golf on the back. Even low handicappers find it tough. Roberson, who was a top ranked Atlanta state amateur before she turned pro, said her own best is 68 on the north and 71 on the south. The resort also has a club membership that gives it a friendly, welcoming appeal. While it’s not on the beach, its Atlantic side private Ocean Club is just a quick shuttle bus away.
The Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood Florida about eight miles south of Fort Lauderdale airport is yet another face of the coin. High tech modern and gleaming on the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean with the Intracoastal Waterway on its other side, it’s brassy and corporate. Adjacent to the over 1000-room hotel is a huge 209,000 square foot convention centre. The lobby atrium with its soaring high glass ceilings and water sculptures is as dramatic as the multilevel pools and waterfalls outside. Best however are two things: Westin’s famous “heavenly beds” which allow the dreamiest sleep imaginable and the view from the ocean front rooms through the floor to ceiling glass balcony doors. The bathrooms offer sliding panels into the bedroom so the ocean can even be sighted as you brush your teeth.
The 30,000 square foot spa is a shuttle away as is the golf club. A Putt and Pamper package that offers one golf round and one spa treatment per room per night is available. As can be expected of a luxury spa there’s a spa pool, sauna, steam room, change rooms with lockers and many private treatment rooms. Service is at a high level and I found my massage table to be state of the art – heated, padded and easily adjustable. Wendy’s hands took all the kinks out of my body in time for my game.
The 18 hole Joe Lee re-designed course which opened in 2000 is rated five star on service and has several magnificent holes. (The original course was built in 1957.) The 2nd hole is the signature, a par four to a difficult island green. Play moved along at a good pace. However one of the guys in my foursome was going through a divorce and his cell rang constantly. Because people fork out big time to play here during high season, perhaps golf etiquette is enforced more loosely.
I came home after a long weekend away with a glow on my face, a better swing and memories of sometimes challenging but always enchanting golf with exotic birds and gleaming water ever present. Spa-golf was such a dynamo combo I never got around to the ocean dip. A perfect excuse to have to return.
by Margaret Swaine | Jun 1, 2003
By Margaret Swaine
Unbeknownst to her, Peggy Kirk Bell, one of America’s best-known and admired golf celebrities has been my golf guide for years. I’ve been using “Women’s Golf” an instructional video that features her and several other LPGA “teacher of the year” award winners for years to brush up on my golf after every long Canadian winter. It was filmed at her own Pine Needles resort but when I mention it, she chuckles and tells me it was done by a Canadian firm and she hasn’t seen it in ages. (Eyelevel: www.eyelevelproducts.com, 1-800-387-7638). No matter, meeting this woman in the flesh is a joy. She’s one of the originals who turned pro in 1950 when the LPGA was started.
Once the course is over you have to appear for an online test and once you clear it you’ll be awarded cialis without prescriptions canada your license. This is a result of the active ingredient that was approved free levitra sample by the FDA in March 1998. Premature ejaculation is the male from the excitement period quickly into the climax period, almost no time to experience the feelings of sexual pleasure has been purchase generic levitra ejaculation, and even a faint sense of genital numbness. Without the proper amount of high quality digestive pancreatic enzymes person suffer from a deficiency of male sexual desire occurs due to tiredness, anxiety or stress. unica-web.com generic cialis It’s mid morning and she’s just left the range where she was teaching participants in a Ladies Golfari. Golfari is Kirk Bell’s registered name for her “safari of golf” packages designed for those who want to improve their game in a fun atmosphere. She has 25 teaching pros on staff to give on-tee and on-course instruction. “We get the good ones,” says the 81 year old golf legend, reputed to be the best woman’s teacher in the country. Participants stay in the spacious rooms of Pine Needles on the club grounds. Good thing as stretching classes start at seven in the morning. The golfaris are separated into ladies only, adult, youth and beginner packages. However Kirk Bell tells me “women are easier to teach because they will listen”. While she talks I notice her golf glove is all marked up. There’s a dot marked in the middle of the hand, a lifeline sketched on the thumb joint, painted fingertips, people eyes drawn at a strategic point. “It’s the fundamentals of the grip,” she says. “We want the correct grip”. And then she proceeds to show me what she means, swinging around the club she has brought into the lobby. It seems a natural extension of her but as it swishes around me I look nervously at the table lamps and furniture, involuntarily ducking. She takes my hands and then puts them on the club. “We build the swing from a short swing.” “Stay in the tilt.” “Don’t break the swing.” The tips come fast and emphatic. I learn enough in a short time that an hour later playing on Mid Pines I achieve some birdies and pars to shoot 101, a score I haven’t seen in the two years since a shoulder injury. I also learn her school teaches about 1,500 women a year. Boy would I love to junk the video and stay to learn from the living person.
by Margaret Swaine | May 1, 2003
By Margaret Swaine
“Our nickname is tees, trees and PhD’s,” says Martin Armes, Director of Communications for Raleigh’s visitors bureau. This moniker pretty much describes the whole of North Carolina’s heartland area, where I’m spending a week, to a tee. We’re driving along tree lined roads to meet with Peggy Kirk Bell who’s America’s first lady of golf, a charter member of the LPGA and multi-championship title holder at her lodge and golf club Pine Needles. Then Armes rattles off the names of universities in the area: Duke, NCC Durham, UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina State. And the learned scientists of the Research Triangle add to the area’s brainpower. Why should a tourist care about this or that the region was named one of the ten best places to work in the US? Well it gives the place a stately air and a reason to have good restaurants, choice public golf courses and plenty of fine accommodation.
North Carolina has over 400 public golf courses that attract more annual golf visitors than all but two of the 50 states. Two pre-eminent golf course architects Donald Ross whose work graces some 40 courses in the state and Tom Fazio with about 13 have called the state home. In Moore County’s Sandhills region where I’m headed there are more than 40 quality courses, including the traditional Mid Pines and a lot of newer offerings by current hot designers. Known as North Carolina’s home of American golf, it regularly hosts big-time golf events at the likes of Pinehurst where the U.S. Open returns to No. 2 in 2005 and Pine Needles which will see a return of the U.S. Women’s Open in 2007.
The area located between Charlotte and Raleigh in south-central North Carolina, has one of the most legendary and picturesque stretches of highway in the country especially for golfers. Midland Road has been named the “Fifth Avenue of Golf” for its multitude of name golf architects. It ends not far from the second tee of the renowned Pinehurst No. 2, ranked in the top ten courses in the world with its awesomely challenging turtle back greens. Pinehurst is also a beautiful resort that pays homage to southern tradition in its five distinctive lodgings including the historic Carolina, the Four-Diamond Holly and the spacious Villas. When I sat on one of the many rocking chairs of the large wrap around porch of the Hotel Carolina, I felt transported back over 100 years to its beginnings. The new luxury 55,000 square foot spa building is a $12 million modern trapping but oh so gorgeous and welcome as a way to relax. I could have happily lingered for weeks if there wasn’t so much more to explore.
Founded in 1792, Raleigh, which is known as the City of Oaks, has often been called a park with a city in it. You’ll see a copper statue of an acorn in Moore Square Park, one of many grassy, wooded areas. Close by is another landmark, Big Ed’s City Market where the town’s movers and shakers gorge on down home cooking. I met Raleigh’s mayor, Charles Meeker, the morning I feasted on four kinds of pork (including an excellent made on premises spicy sausage), accompanied by grits, fried potato smothered with onion and cheese and fresh scrambled farm eggs. Big Ed’s highly recognizable for his bib overalls, checkered shirt and corny wit. Angus Barn is another Raleigh destination tradition. A huge sprawling place that seats about 500 it lives up to its name, complete with hay and wood beam motifs, but the Angus beef steaks and legendary 1,350 selection wine list keep it packed every night.
In Durham County I play the challenging but beautiful pine tree lined Duke University course designed by Robert Trent Jones, updated by his son Ree’s Jones and about to undergo another fine tuning. Overlooking the course, also on the campus of Duke University, is the Washington Duke Inn, with its gracious large lobby, Bull Durham Bar and fancy Fairview restaurant – far classier than anything I ever knew as a student. This year it’s undergoing a $25 million upgrade to make it a five-diamond facility. The golf course (open to the public all days of the week, includes nine available teaching pros) is adding a short game area. The other happy Durham surprise was Papas Grill set in a non-descript suburban shopping mall. Inside the place was quite spiffy with white linen tablecloths and a handsome bar area. The Papanikas family cooks and serves fresh and flavourful Hellenic and Mediterranean rim cuisine. It’s home style with panache and top ingredients: delicious leaf lettuce and artichoke salad, wild mushrooms with asparagus and melt in your mouth fish.
Winston-Salem nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains is known as the City of the Arts and offers a diversity of museums, art galleries and cultural entertainment. It’s also the birthplace of Krispy Kreme donuts. The local tradition is to stop at an outlet with the Hot Now sign lit up in red and watch the donuts float on boiling oil to the sugar waterfall. Once glazed, they’re fished off the line for immediate eating. I had to do it, but once was enough. I much more enjoyed visiting Old Salem, founded in 1766 to house Moravian craftsmen, the German speaking protestants who immigrated from Europe about 250 years ago. This colonial site has around 100 restored and reconstructed buildings including the Winkler Bakery, circa 1800, famous for Moravian wafer thin cookies, breads and sugarcake still served hot from the wood-fired oven. St. Philips Moravian Church, built in 1861, is the oldest standing African American church in the state. The Toy Museum houses a fascinating collection of toys, dollhouses and miniatures dating from as early as the third century. For shopping, leave this historic district and head to Hanes Mall, an enormous complex of over 200 stores including all the American favourites. The most charming spot to stay in town is the Brookstown Inn, set in an old textile mill and part of the Historic Hotels of America.
I always love to visit wineries wherever I go and North Carolina has a fair share of them. Just 15 minutes west of Winston-Salem is the Yadkin River Valley, home to about nine of the state’s 26 wineries. The area grew wine pre-prohibition, then switched to tobacco and is now returning to the vine. Westbend Vineyards in the early seventies was one of the first in the state to plant French vinifera grape varieties. RayLen Vineyards on the other hand is more recent with a spanking new winery and tasting room. Their winemaker Steve Shepard has decades of experience however and his knowledge of the region shows in the good quality of the wines. Most wineries offers tours and tastings most days – call ahead to make certain of the hours.
Also just west of the city is Tanglewood Park. Part of the land claimed by Sir Walter Raleigh for Queen Elizabeth in 1584, much later it became the property of the Reynolds family of tobacco fame. They willed in it the early fifties to Forsyth County to share as a public park. And what a park. There’s horseback riding, a lovely Manor House that operates as a B & B, hiking trails, clay tennis courts and an exceptionally pretty championship course that Robert Trent Jones has called one of his finest. The greens are well protected by 102 sandtraps.
My last day I spent golfing The Champions Course at Bryan Park in Greensboro, listed in Golf Digest’s Best in State rankings. Much of the course hugs the shores of Lake Townsend. There was plenty of water in play to spook me but the vistas of glittering blue were so stunning I still enjoyed myself despite losing too many balls to the lure of the lake. In contrast an urban forest of parking lots, roads and buildings surrounds the O’Henry Hotel, named for the short story writer who lived in Greensboro. Inside it’s a world of difference with luxurious rooms and lobby areas. Its upscale and boisterous Green Valley Grill has an intelligent, lengthy wine list to match with the tasty rotisserie fare.
So thanks to all those professors, doctors and research scientist who clearly know how to live well, I say. I understand the heartlands area is also home to many diet and fitness centres so there’s even a solution to over indulgence beyond another game of golf.
If you go:
Visitors Bureaus and general tourism info:
State of North Carolina: www.visitnc.com phone: 800-787-0670
Raleigh: www.raleighcvb.org phone: 800-849-8499
Winston-Salem: www.winstonsalem.comphone: 866-728-4200
All these generico levitra on line products need to be taken with or without food. The result is hundreds of thousands now popping viagra sans prescription unica-web.com pills and rubbing on all manner of strange lotions over their bodies, while drinking bottled water and hoarding tinned food. Just make sure generic levitra that the pills are taken with water that are swallowed and become effective within an hour. The toxins of acute cialis 20mg no prescription Infective Diseases such as diphtheria, shingles, typhoid fever, malaria, scarlet fever, septicemia. Greensboro:www.greensboronc.orgphone: 800-344-2282
Durham: www.durham-nc.com phone: 800-446-8604
Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen: www.homeofgolf.com phone: 800-346-5362
Burlington Alamance County: www.burlington-area-nc.org phone: 800-637-3804
Chapel Hill Orange County:www.chocvb.org phone: 888-968-2060
Wineries: www.ncwine.org phone: 919-733-7136
Hotels/resorts
Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club: www.washingtondukeinn.com phone: 800-443-3853
Pinehurst: www.pinehurst.com phone: 800-its-golf
Pine Needles and Mid Pines: www.pineneedles-midpines.com phone: 800-747-7272
O’Henry Hotel: www.o.henryhotel.com phone: 336-854-2000
Brookstown inn: www.historichotels.org phone: 800-845-4262
Restaurants
Papas Grill (Durham): www.papasgrill.citysearch.com 919-383-8502
Big Ed’s: www.visitraleigh.com phone: 919-836-9909
Angus Barn: www.angusbarn.com phone: 919-787-3505
Green Valley Grill: www.o.henryhotel.com phone: 336-854-2015
Golf Courses
Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club (Donald Ross in 1921): www.pineneedles-midpines.com 800-323-2114
Duke University Golf Club (Robert Trent Jones in 1957 and Rees Jones in 1993) www.golf.duke.edu/ 919-681-2288
Tanglewood Park Championship Course (Robert Trent Jones in 1958) www.tanglewoodpark.org 336-778-6320
Bryan Park Champions Course (Rees Jones in 1990) www.bryanpark.com 336-375-2200
by Margaret Swaine | Feb 1, 1999
by Margaret Swaine
The DR, located on the eastern part of Hispaniola Island shared with Haiti, is the oldest European settlement in America. While tourists have known it as a cheap spot to vacation in the sun, lately it has achieved a more lofty reputation. With nine championship golf courses, several more under construction and others in planning, the Dominican Republic is set on establishing itself as a premier golfing vacation destination, as well as host for major tournaments in the Caribbean.
The government and the Dominican Republic Golf Association are working together to promote and expand a golfing tradition that began at Casa de Campo in 1972 and at the Amateur Golf Championship held there in 1974. Last year the country was host for the 42nd annual Caribbean Golf Championship.
World renown golf course designers have created challenging and naturally beautiful course layouts. Pete Dye was the designer of the famous 6,900-yard “Teeth of the Dog” course which Golf Magazine rated among the finest courses on the globe. Dye says he actually laid out only 11 holes of Dientes del Perro (its Spanish name) because God created the other seven on the Caribbean Sea. Dye was also the consultant for The Links, a championship course within the resort community of Casa de Campo.
Vacationers at Allegro Resorts’ Caribbean Village Playa Grande in Rio San Juan can step up to the tee on an 18 hole championship/PGA-tour quality golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones. Golf here is part of the all inclusive vacation package, sold by Signature Vacations in Canada. Built alongside seaside cliffs, bays and beaches of the country’s Atlantic Coast on the east, 13 holes overlook the water. Three of these can be reached by driving over the sea to the fairway. Many say it’s evocative of Pebble Beach, at least visually.
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Robert Trent Jones also created the championship course of Playa Dorada, which is surrounded by a complex of 13 hotels near Puerto Plata in the north. Golfers play alongside resorts’ pools, beaches and buildings. Even a misdirected nine iron will put the ball among the cabins of the Jack Tar Village on some of the holes.
Gary Player designed the Gran Diablo Links, under construction about 30 minutes east of Santo Domingo in the Juan Dolio area on the south coast. An on site golf academy is planned for the future. Other championship courses include golf de Bavaro on the eastern tip of the country near Punta Cana and Los Marlins, Cayacoa and Santo Domingo in the south. The Punta Cana Group, headed by Frank Rainieri is building 36-holes of championship golf designed by the firm of Robert Trent Jones in the Punta Cana-Bavaro area. Dominican born clothing designer Oscar de la Renta and singer Julio Iglesias, close friends of Rainieri, are partners in the project which includes their own private mansions and a small hotel.
The combo of year round summer weather and varied terrain, bring droves of golfers to the palm lined links by the ocean, so vacationers should be told to book tee times in advance. At most courses, caddies are mandatory, and often very helpful (cost $14 Cnd plus tip), but carts are optional.
