Destination Golf Global Guide (Winter 2018) * | Page 39
An idyllic golf setting.
Golf’s Seven Wonders
What catches about 90 percent of the golfers
who play Emerald Reef off guard is the fact
that they’re playing on this wondrous landscape
because they’re on vacation. This usually means
they’re more relaxed. This could also mean that
Great Exuma’s main drawing card is what can be
a golfer’s undoing. On any given day at Emerald
Reef Golf Club, the question becomes, “Will the
Caribbean Sea be your friend or foe?
The water surrounding Emerald Reef Golf Club
is “Pirates of the Caribbean” turquoise. There’s
no kidding on this claim. The south end of the
island is the location for the beach scenes from
Johnny Depp’s movie. Now insert the creative
mind of Greg Norman on this romantic island
setting, and you have a golf course that might
be the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Emerald Reef Golf Head Professional Rich
Gibson described his course this way, “If you go
to Paris, can you imagine not seeing the Eiffel
Tower? For golfers vacationing on Great Exuma,
to stay here and not experience Emerald Reef
is something you’ll forever regret. That’s how
beautiful our course is.”
Lessons from the Best
After 27 years as the Golf Professional at Cable
Beach Golf Course in Nassau, Gibson arrived
at Emerald Reef in 2013 and quickly tamed
Greg Norman’s Caribbean crown jewel. In fact,
Gibson owns the course record with nines of 36
and 30, for a scorching 66 over 18 holes.
For golfers looking to improve their game while
on Great Exuma, Gibson has a unique pedigree
for fine tuning your game. “I was taught by Ken
Venturi and Bob Toski,” Gibson said. The long
and lean Gibson confided that for one whole
week under Toski, he hit nothing but wedges.
The first goal was to land each golf ball within
a five foot radius of the others. The second
goal was to get up and down within 100 yards.
Gibson regularly accomplishes this goal. Imagine
Gibson teaching you what Venturi and Toski
taught him.
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