Ask golfers about the state of play in 2007 and they’ll tell you cost of play is becoming a growing concern. Finding an affordable golf holiday is a tougher than a cross-hill putt for par.
The Gulf Shores of Alabama are looking to fill that niche with a collection of fine courses tucked along the snow-white beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. Runnng from Pensacola, Florida to Mobile Bay, the area provides affordable play, a low-key lifestyle and a range of courses that suit every level of play. Temperatures are more temperate than Florida, but perfect for spring or fall play when Calgary courses are not open.
With prices that are a fraction of Florida, Arizona and California in the high season, the Gulf Shores area-- boyhood home to Jimmy Buffett-- has overcome the effect of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 to provide a family alternative for Canadian golfers. There are 15,000 new condo and rental units for visitors.
The jewel of the Gulf Shores golf track is Kiva Dunes, a windswept links resort just a few hundred feet from the beach that is rated the No. 1 course in the stat. Designed by Jerry Pate, Kiva Dunes runs 7092 yards from the tips through natural wildlife areas and cypress groves.
The No. 12 is a monster par-four that plays 452 yads with a long water hazard running the length of the hole. Depending on the wind off the Gulf, the hole can either be unapproachable in two or a real birdie opportunity. The sixth is another beauty, playing 428 yards bordered on one side by cypress and by marsh on the other. The heavily bunkered 18th ends in the shadow of the resort, a 458-yard test of nerve to end the par-72.
The rates at Kiva Dunes range from $75 US in low season to $98 in high season, but packages can reduce the price.
The nearby twin courses of Cotton Creek at Craft Farms were created from a former sod nursery. Designed by Arnold Palmer, the Cypress Bend and Cotton Creek layouts offer contrasting, inland styles. Cypress Bend is the more challenging 7072-yard par 72 that is rated 73.3 with a 133 slope from the championship tees. (But the red tees are a comfortable 5100 yards.) The par-four sixth is a 396-yard test that requires a skillful second shot over water to peninsula green. The 14th is an arrow-straight 435-yard par four that is bordered by a water hazard down the right side.
Cotton Creek plays long but wide open over its 6848 yards and can accomodate all levels of players. Rates range from $68 (low) to $82 (high) with discouts for twilight rates.
Among the other courses meriting the trip to the Gulf Shores are Lost Key, a tight 6841 yard Arnold Palmer design just across the state line in Perdido Key, Florida, Perdido Bay, the 7072-yard layout that hosted the PGA Tour’s Pensacola Open for 10 years, and Peninsula, a 27-hole complex alongside the Bon Secour State Wildlife Preserve, that was designed by Earl Stone.
The Gulf Shores area can be accessed from either Penscaola or Mobile airports. For more information on golf packages and accommodation, you can contact www.gulfshoresgolf.com.
Just a final word for those who get a little testy when anyone brings up the spectre of hurricane season. Locals politely but firmly point out that while Ivan was two years ago, Myrtle Beach, S.C., had three hurricanes last year alone. The Atlantic coast of Florida experienced five category storms in the 2006 hurricane season. The Carribean-- don’t even ask.
“You don’t measure people around these parts by the things that go wrong,” smiles native Kerry Teague of the Alabama Bureau of Tourism. “We’re a little bit stubborn that way.”
January 11, 2008
Circling Raven: Coeur D'Alene, Idaho
For better or worse, golf is a public spectacle, players passing each other as they make their way around a course. Getting away for 18 holes rarely means getting away from it all.
But at stunning Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley, Idaho, golfers can experience a unique reverie, playing largely out of sight of other players as they wend their way through the back nine. Even when the layout brings other signs of humanity, the 620 acres of rolling hills and wetlands just west of Coeur D’Alene still offer a special idyll and an excellent test of golf far from the frantic pace of outside life.
Playing 7189 yards from the tips, Circling Raven (named for a legendary native chief) has been honoured by Golf Digest, Golf Magazine and other prestigious golf publications for its combination of challenging golf and a natural setting in the northern Idaho hills. The Gene Bates design, rated 74.5 from the golds and a worthy 70.9 from the blues, has shot up the lists of must-play public courses in the United States.
Bates believes that a memorable course is known for its great par threes and great tees. By that qualification, Circling Raven is a roaring success with a clutch of lengthy, creative par threes to challenge visitors. Among the highlights is No. 13, a daunting downhill carry across wetlands that can play as long as 275 yards from the gold tees to the back flag positions, and No. 7, which plays 212 yards across a gully to a green set in an amphitheatre of trees.
When it comes to tee boxes, Circling Raven is also a memorable day in the country. The 406-yard par four No. 4 demands a challenging approach to a split fairway that can change by several clubs depending on the breeze. And on No. 11, it takes a precise, thumped drive to reach the fairway on the 446-yard par four.
Almost as compelling as the course are the changing colours of the surrounding grasses that go from emerald green in springtime to fiery reds in the summer and then to golden in the fall. And be prepared for the occasional moose or deer that make their home in the copses and bush that blanket the property.
Circling Raven is open from April 1 each spring till late October, and at $75 US in the spring or summer represents great value for the Canadian golfer heading south. (For more info check www.circlingraven.com) Affiliated with the nearby Coeur D’Alene Casino, Circling Raven also offers stay & play packages that top out at $255 at peak summer season.
Owned and operated by the Coeur D’Alene tribe, the golf course and casino have fast become staples of the northern Idaho tourist trail and an economic motor in the state.
As natural and subdued as Circling Raven may be with its native grasses and rolling hillsides, the Coeur D’Alene Resort Golf Course on the shores of Lake Coeur D’Alene is a high-end experience topped by the famous floating green on the 14th hole. Whether it’s the mahogany inlay of the golf carts, the vintage boat that takes you to the 14th green or the whiteclad caddies, the Resort course is perfectly designed for the well-heeled golf crowd.
Opened in 1991 and well known throughout the continent for its floating green that plays 190 yards from the tips, Coeur D’Alene is a course that can be enjoyed by both the skilled player and the occasional golfer who is out for a fun day. Immaculately manicured and groomed, the club attracts everyone from movie stars to businessmen on private trips and couples seeking a getaway at the 300-room resort just down the shore.
The elegant resort rising high above the lake has accommodation/ golf packages available to play the resort golf course (guests are transported by boat to the club) that start at $270 a night, but it can be also used as a base for golfers playing Circling Raven 20 minutes west of the city.
Coeur D’Alene can be reached by air via the Spokane, Washington, airport or by car (approximately six hours from Calgary).
dowbboy@shaw.ca
Tamarack Resort: Osprey Meadows
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf were at centre stage for so long it’s a little surpassing to find them planting their flag in the beautiful lakes and hills of southern Idaho, two and a half hours north of Boise. The Tamarack Resort-- lying beside tranquil Lake Cascade and at the foot of the Payette River Mountains-- is as far from centre court as you can get.
And a good thing, too, for those looking for a world-class golf or ski resort that is not teeming with crowds. In that assignment, the Graf/ Agassi enterprise with Fairmont resorts, creating a four-seasons destination directly accessible from most major North American airports, is a grand slam.
A far cry from the congestion of Whistler or Vail, Tamarack is on track to develop a prestige year-round resort with both hotel and condominium accommodation by 2010. Whether it’s alpine or cross-country skiing, hiking, white water rafting or golf, there is enough to provide a well-rounded vacation for those at every level of expectations.
At the heart of the current resort and finely appointed chalet is the Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed Osprey Meadows golf course. Managed by former Calgarian Tom Altmann, director of golf, Osprey Meadows is a challenging 7319-yard ramble through 400 acres of wetlands and forests outside the tiny town of Tamarack, Idaho.
The former grazing ground for the cattle industry has been transformed into a shotmaking gallery bordered by native grasslands and with a stunning variety of wild birds and animals. For resort players there are comfortable tee boxes starting from 5003 yards total distance; for the low handicapper the course features a number of challenging carries and pinpoint approaches to greens that belie the age of the three-year-old layout.
There are five par threes, five par fives and, at over a kilometre above sea level, enough extra distance to satisfy everyone. And when the wind blows on No. 2, there is enough distance for anyone. A beastly 495 yards from the tips into the prevailing wind that ends in a narrow, two-tiered green, the third-hardest hole at Osprey requires an accurate tee shot and an even more daring second shot to a narrowing fairway in front of the green.
It takes a precise hybrid or low iron to land the longest par three on the course at No. 17. A daunting 246 yards to a bunkered green it is truly a hole to take your par and be thankful. It also shows off Osprey’s greens which belie their young age.
The closing hole is a bold 90-degree righthand turn that leads up a gentle slope to finish beneath the timberland lodge resort. Playing 547 yards, the par-five offers the chance for an eagle putt with a strong second shot over a wetland and between the Douglas fir trees.
Green fees range from $75 in off-peak times to $119 in peak times. Packages that include lodging in the comfortable lodge and green fees are available by contacting the resort at www.tamarackidaho.com. Osprey Meadows can be reached via the Boise International airport and a scenic two-and-a-half hour drive north along the Payette River. (photos courtesy Wayne Freedman)
Osprey Meadows at Tamarack Resort
www.tamarackidaho.com
5003 yards/63.6/111
5916 yards/68.2/129
6737 yards/72.2/136
7319 yards/74.9/143
dowbboy@shaw.ca
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