Destination Golf Travel (Autumn 2022) * | Page 33

DESTINATIONGOLF . TRAVEL
Past winners such as Tiger Woods , Phil Mickelson , Henrik Stenson and Ricky Fowler understand and appreciate that they must have a well-rounded game to triumph over the Stadium course to become the Players Champion . www . tpc . com / sawgrass /
OREGON - BANDON DUNES GOLF RESORT Along the wild Oregon coastline amongst massive dunes , indigenous vegetation and hearty pines is the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort - one of the best golf destinations in America . Golf was born on rugged , windswept land just like this , and it ’ s the kind of place where you half expect to see the golfing forefathers in their plus-fours with a handful of hickory clubs . This is golf with a nod to the traditions of the timehonoured game , a collection of links-style courses by the sea with all the quintessential ingredients - stunning ocean views , towering grass dunes , rippling fairways , fast undulating greens , natural bunkers and ever-present winds . The natural feeling takes you to the British Isles , but the manicured course conditions and amenities are straight out of America .
The story began in 1999 with the opening of the first course , Bandon Dunes . The course is perched on a bluff high above the Pacific Ocean and designed by Scotsman David McLay Kidd who said : “ It thrills me now to watch the public playing the game as it was originally meant to be played , on the finest links land I ’ ve seen outside the British Isles .” Sixteen years later , Bandon Dunes Golf Resort has developed into the “ No . 1 Golf Resort in North America ” according to Golf Digest with all four public 18-hole courses ranked in the top 15 within the U . S . The additions of Pacific Dunes , Bandon Trails
and Old Macdonald , as well as the unique 13-hole Par-3 course , Bandon Preserve , provides the perfect destination for keen golfers . www . bandondunesgolf . com
HAWAII – MAUNA KEA “ Mr . Rockefeller , if you allow me to build a golf course here , this ’ ll be the most beautiful hole in the world .” This was said in 1962 by renowned course designer Robert Trent Jones Sr ., at the 3rd hole site to developer Laurance S . Rockefeller as they toured the raw , barren lava landscape that is now Mauna Kea Resort . The course opened in 1964 to begin the legend of Hawaii as a golfer ’ s paradise . Mauna Kea Golf Course has been ranked among Golf Digest ’ s Top 100 since 1969 due in part to the 265-yard drive signature third hole , where surging inlet waves thunder against the rocky shoreline .
In 2007-2008 , without changing the essential character of his father ’ s design , Rees Jones Inc . re-planted the championship Course with highly efficient ultra-dwarf Tifeagle Bermuda grass on the greens and Tifway 419 hybrid Bermuda grass on the tees , fairways and roughs . State-of-the-art irrigation systems , liners in the bunkers , and advance drainage improvements keep the course in top shape and save on environmental resources . As for play , the number of bunkers increased to 99 , overall yardages have expanded by about 200 yards from the tips , and multiple tees challenge all levels of players . Mauna Kea Golf Course ushers in a new age of golf with innovative new Golf boards , a fun way to carve through a round of golf in record time and surf the earth . www . maunakeabeachhotel . com
Pinehurst No . 2 – 9th hole
Hole 16 - Bandon Dunes
Hole 3- Mauna Kea Golf Course
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