The Gulf's Best Golf Courses 2/2

Discover international travel for the over 50's and take a trip to the Gulf's best Golf courses 2/2.

George: Number six, Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails. John: Just up the coast from Pebble Beach in Bandon Oregon is an amazing called Bandon Dunes which was settled 150 years ago by Lord Bandon from Ireland. He brought with him among other things the gorse plant and planted it along the ocean there and a sandy coast, the dunes, make it a real special place to play golf in and it was the last undeveloped places where just 10 years ago a developer found this stretch of land and brought in a Scottish architect to build a course called Bandon Dunes right there along the coast. I’m telling you when you’re there, you feel like you’re in Scotland or Ireland because of the gorse, because of the meeting of the dunes land and the sea. It’s just such a special place and they’ve designed it with that in mind. George: Number seven, the American Club and Whistling Straits. John: I’m a big fan of the American Club in Collar Wisconsin which is where Herb Collar has built this fantastic resort and built four Pete Dye courses. Pete Dye is known as the architect who designs modern tricked up fancy courses like the TPC saw grass in Florida but in the American Club, he has really proved his versatility and has created an amazing course there called Whistling Straits. George: Number eight, Pinehurst Two. John: Down in this part of the country, North Carolina, the sand hills resort built 100 years ago there and Donald Russ, he of Dornoch fame came over to the United States and built his masterpiece at Pinehurst for James Tufts who with Frederick Law Olmstead created the unique village of Pinehurst there and this course is known for its incredibly contoured green complexes which are often compared to saucers or bowls turned upside down because your approach shots to them are often bouncing off or rolling over. It’s very difficult to hold these greens but I think it’s an imminently fair course because the fairways are very broad and flat so you never have a side hill lye that you’re hitting into this unusual shaped green. You generally have a pretty good stance to take for that shot. And the whole village is just so historic and so beautiful and so well maintained and there’s some lovely places to stay there and it really also takes you back in time to another era which is one of the things I love about it. George: Number nine, MIdocean. John: As long as we’re heading east now, I would recommend going out to the island of Bermuda where there is a great old course there called Midocean which was designed by Charles Blaire McDonald. And it too is another old course that is right by the ocean on many of its holes. It works its way inland but comes back to the ocean so there’s lots of drama as you play. The holes are ingeniously and beautifully designed and it has one of the most famous holes in the world, a cape hole that plays over an inlet that comes in off the ocean where Babe Ruth once famously dumped 11 balls in the ocean trying to get across the water and the island of Bermuda is such a special place and the history and culture there, golf just fits in so well with that especially in Midocean which is a private club but does allow play on certain days of the week which you can set up through the concierge at your hotel. George: The term golf apparently comes from several sources. The Dutch used the term culf meaning a club used to hit balls back ing 14th century. The Scots used the words gulf or goff which were derived from the Dutch culf. Still, most golf historians say the Scots refined and set the rules for the sport and they developed the most important part of golf. They put holes in the ground and made getting a ball into a hole part of the game. And number 10, Kauri Cliffs. John: I haven’t been there but it’s right up there as a destination I really feel I have to get to. It’s Kauri Cliffs in New Zealand which has really come on strong as a golf destination. It has become a must play destination for any world traveler who loves to play golf. The cliffs there are elevated way up off the ocean and it’s just a staggeringly beautiful place. George: Today, getting the ball into the hole has become one of the most popular leisure pastimes especially for mature or retired persons. Heritage tours, an educational adventure and a good round of golf at a celebrated course. Thanks for being with us this week on the Seasoned Traveler. Now, before I go some words of wisdom, in olden times when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today, it’s called golf. I’m George Bauer in Atlanta. Travel well and travel safe.