2013 Golf Chic (pdf version) - Ladies European Tour

BAHAMAS - The Abaco ClubWhen you first glimpse the The Abaco Club’s golf course, nestledin a Garden of Eden setting called Winding Bay on Great AbacoIsland (the biggest of a chain of Bahamian islands known as theAbacos), it provides an unforgettable sight with lush emeraldgreen fairways skirting pristine beaches and the deep-bluebackdrop of ocean. Billed as the world’s first “tropical links” golfcourse, without the sun-drenched weather and swaying palms youcould easily be excused for thinking you’re on a seaside course inIreland or Scotland.This spectacular layout is the centrepiece of a $250 million (U.S)resort built by British tycoon Peter de Savary (and now a Ritz-Carlton managed club), who hired two of the world’s best golfcourse architects, Donald Steel and Tom Mackenzie to bring a sliceof Scotland to the tropics. They have incorporated classic linksingredients - swales, humps and hollows, small pot bunkers andundulating greens into the design. Add in the unpredictable natureof coastal winds and you have a demanding test.The gin-clear waters of Winding Bay are in view on the first14 holes, while the final four traverse a coral cliff above theAtlantic. On the 18th tee block, you are greeted by the sound ofwaves crashing against the rocky cliffs and a rolling carpet oflush landscape that stretches from tee to green. For the golfconnoisseur it does not get much better than this.After your round, recount every moment over a frosty beverage ortwo on the veranda of the club’s main restaurant, which overlooksthe bay and golf course, relax in the world-class spa nearby orretreat to one of the 75 tastefully furnished Bahamian cottages.BARBADOS - Sandy LaneThe exclusive Sandy Lane resort is home to two championship golfcourses (and a 9-holer), and the place where Tiger Woods famouslyreserved all 112 rooms when he tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at areported cost of almost $3 million U.S.Like everything at Sandy Lane, the golf courses have been landscapedto a high standard. The Country Club is a parkland course, featuringseveral man-made lakes and some challenging approach shots togreens well protected by water and sand. Holes 6 and 7 are particularlysweet, and it has nothing to do with the fact that plumes of smoke canbe seen rising from a nearby distillery busily converting cane juice intorum, the islanders’ tipple of choice.Sandy Lane’s other course ‘the Green Monkey’ has so far remainedhidden from the golfing public. It’s like the Mona Lisa of golf -enigmatic, untouchable and only available for Sandy Lane guests toplay. Some people will pay any price to play, and stories abound ofpeople tossing their room keys to their caddie after a round.“The vision of the owners,” says course architect Tom Fazio, “was tocreate a place as dramatic as any there is in the world.” Created andsculpted from what was once a working limestone quarry, Fazio slowlybuilds drama through the first eight parkland-style holes, and thenstartles golfers with a rapid descent into an abandoned quarry, where27-metre high coral walls dwarf the fairways.From the remarkable 578-metre 9th where you drive from a high tee toa fairway 150 feet below, bordered by the quarry wall, to the flags thatfeature a green monkey with an extended curled tail that flutters in thebreeze - everything at the Green Monkey is about grandeur and detail.The signature hole, the 206-metre par 3 16th, has become one of theworld’s most photographed golf holes. Players hit down into the oldquarry to a green edged by a massive bunker featuring a grass islandcarved in the shape of a Bajan green monkey, a species introduced tothe island from West Africa more than 350 years ago and the inspirationfor the course name.NEVIS - Four SeasonsNevis - this speck of an island south-east of PuertoRico, was thrust into the forefront of world travelin 1991 when Four Seasons Nevis opened as theCaribbean’s first AAA Five Diamond Resort. Over theyears it has compiled a list of awards and accoladesas lengthy as the dining room wine list.Adding to the appeal of the property is the 18-holechampionship golf course designed by Robert TrentJones Jnr. The 6,080-metre layout is a roller-coasterride along the flanks of a cloud-capped volcano,with dramatic views at every turn. The course windsgently up the slope of Nevis Peak to the signaturehole, the par-5 15th that is set some 150-metresabove sea level with magnificent views of nearby StKitts and neighbouring islands. The hole measuresa whopping 603-metres from the back tees andrequires a 218-plus carry over a dramatic gorge toreach the shallow fairway.The 18th, a straightforward par-4 played towardsthe ocean may well be the best hole on the course.If you time it just right (teeing off around 2.00pm),you can finish holing out on the green with abeautiful sunset cresting the crystal blue water ofthe Caribbean Sea. This is tropical island golf at it’svery best.WHERE TO STAY & PLAYJAMAICARitz Carlton(White Witch)www.ritzcarlton.comwww.whitewitchgolf.comDOMINICAN REPUBLICCasa De Campo(Teeth Of The Dog, Dye Fore & The Links)www.casadecampo.com.doBAHAMASThe Abaco Club & Tropical Links(A Ritz-Carlton Managed Club)www.ritzcarlton.comBARBADOSSandy Lane (The Green Monkey & Country Club)www.sandylane.comNEVISFour Seasons Resort(Robert Trent Jones Jr.championship course)www.fourseasons.com/nevis/144145