5 Golf Resorts With Sizzle in 2012

New La Cana course at Punta Cana Resort

Got the golf travel doldrums?

Do you have those “been there, done that” blues?

Are you looking for an exciting place to play?

Number 15 hole at Machrihanish Dunes

Want something with a little sizzle?

Here are five suggestions by The Golf Travel Guru.

Clubhouse at Albatross Golf Resort

These five golf resorts have been grabbing lots of headlines lately:

(Listed alphabetically)

Albatross Golf Resort (Prague, Czech Republic)—This three-year old course was recently voted No. 1 in the Czech Republic by Golf Digest USA. About a 20-minute drive from downtown Prague, it’s a superb layout maintained to American-style standards set on slightly hilly terrain. If you’re in Prague for business or leisure, play the Albatross, it’ll definitely enhance your stay. Other amenities include a professional training center, David Carter Albatross Golf Academy, a sleek modern clubhouse brimming with amenities and an exceptional restaurant.

Bandon Dunes Resort (Coastal Oregon)—This nirvana of coastal courses is quickly becoming one of America’s must visit golf destinations along with Pinehurst and Pebble Beach.  Not content with four phenomenal layouts set on rugged and wild cliffs high above a stretch of the Pacific Ocean, developer Mike Keiser is debuting Bandon Preserve, a unique 13-hole, par 3 course, next month (May 1^st). Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Bandon Preserve offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean from every hole.

Machrihanish Dunes (Western Scotland)—One of Scotland’s great modern courses, Machrihanish Dunes, a David McLay Kidd design, is a must play for any Scotland visit. The course, set on the Atlantic Ocean, is an environmental wonder as only seven of its 259 acres were altered to create the layout. Enhancing the experience is the Village at Machrihanish Dunes, a seaside golf resort with hotel and cottage accommodations.

Mission Hills-Hainan Island (China)—Selected as “Golf Resort of the Year 2012-Rest of the World Category” by the International Association of Golf Tourism Operators (IAGTO), this sprawling resort has 10 golf courses, all designed by Brian Curley. Among the best are Lava Fields and Blackstone. Hainan Island, often described as China’s Hawaii, has lush foliage and a volcanic region where the resort is situated.

Punta Cana Resort and Club (Dominican Republic)—The latest addition to its superb golf course menu (45 holes) is La Cana, a P.B. Dye design with magnificent oceanfront panoramas. There are fourteen ocean-view holes with four playing right on the water’s edge. Two years ago, Punta Cana grabbed the spotlight with the opening of Corales, a Tom Fazio design the Golf Travel Guru refers to as “The Caribbean Answer to Pebble Beach.” Six oceanfront holes, rocky cliffs, coral reefs and picturesque canyons dominate the experience.

5 Spectacular Seaside Golf Courses You Can Play

Chances are, you may not have the ways or the means to play the two most celebrated seaside courses in the world, the Old Course in St. Andrews and Pebble Beach Golf Links on the Monterey Peninsula in California. To play the Old Course you first need to win a lottery ballot and Pebble Beach pretty much requires you to secure a home equity loan to pay the hefty greens fees, which are now over $495 (plus a $35 cart fee).

Don't despair, though, I've played some phenomenal seaside layouts that are beautiful, challenging, accessible to the public and a pure joy to play. While none of them have what I deem inexpensive greens fees, all are well worth the rate you pay and you'll receive indelible memories. Click links under pictures and enjoy!

Corales Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, South Carolina

Royal Porthcawl, Wales

Kingsbarns, St. Andrews, Scotland

Teeth of the Dog, Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic

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New Corales Course a Must Play

I just returned from a four-day jaunt to the Dominican Republic. It was my second visit to the “D.R.” and I came away more impressed than ever. My primary reason for the visit was to see and play the new Corales Golf Club Course at the PUNTACANA Resort & Club.

The course has been getting a lot of pre-opening buzz and I went down to see what all the fuss is about. Believe me, this one deserves the buzz. Think Pebble Beach oceanside style holes with Caribbean colors. Set between rocky cliffs, coral reefs and the expansive Caribbean Sea on the eastern shoreline of the country, Corales promises to take its place as one of the world’s great, exciting seaside golf experiences.

Designer Tom Fazio was on hand for the ribbon cutting and he summed up his latest masterpiece this way: “Corales encompasses a dramatic blend of captivating vistas, ocean cliff-side holes, rolling inland terrain and salt-water lakefront green sites, as well as with a memorable mix of variety and strategy. With a variety of short and long holes, holes playing into the breeze as well as downwind and a tremendous mixture of visual elements, playing Corales will be an experience to remember, and is sure to set the new standard of quality golf in the Dominican Republic.”

Here are some brief observations from my round:

• Six of the 18 eighteen holes are oceanfront, including the final three, which have been dubbed “The Devil’s Elbow”
  
• The fairways are gargantuan wide. Because of the prevailing winds, Fazio gives even the most struggling mid-handicappers more than ample landing areas.
  
• The entire course (tees, greens and fairways) has the same grass—a plush carpet of Paspalum Supreme.
  
• Currently there are no homes on the course. Plans call for a low-density focus with only 124 home sites.
  
• The director of golf is highly-respected Jay Overton, who you may know from his many years at Innisbrook Resort near Tampa.
  
• Construction on the course started in 2006.
  
• My two favorite holes are 17 and 18. When you stand on the green of the par 3 17^th you’ll feel a refreshing spray of Caribbean ocean against your back as the waves crash a few feet away. On 18, you hit across turquoise/blue waters from one craggy cliff to another. You can play safe leaving yourself a long second shot or bite off a big chunk resulting in a short wedge to the green.
  
• The landscaping by world-renowned Spanish landscape designer Jesus Ibanez is phenomenal.
  

My advice: If you can play only one course in the Caribbean, make it the Corales.