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18 September 2024
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8 October 2024Comfortable Lies and Long Stretches
Stress-free golf? It’s possible if there’s a top-quality spa waiting for you at the 19th
T he world’s best golf courses offer a glorious playing experience; lush, rolling fairways, glass-quick sculpted greens and a scenic backdrop. Does it get any better? It does if you can enjoy a relaxing luxury spa after your round.
Laguna Golf Club, The Banyan Tree Phuket
My diminutive lady caddie was adamant. ‘A 6-iron, Mr Andy, no question.’ And as my ball sailed to the middle of the green, I received a bow and a giggle before she hurried off to the flag laden with bag, bottled water, camera, wet towels and a selection of fresh fruit.
Laguna is like that, a haven of golf that treats you superbly. Set around the lush tropical landscape of the Banyan Tree Resort in Phuket, amid coconut groves and lagoons and fringed by mountains on one side and the Andaman Sea on the other, Laguna’s 6,654-yard course uses water as its main threat – it comes into play on 13 of its 18 holes.
It’s not a championship course, but the setting, the service and the lack of crowds make it one of my personal favourites.
The Banyan Tree spa is a welcome haven of tranquillity and lies at the heart of this magnificent resort. The spa specialises in eastern therapies and wellbeing and has its own restaurant promoting food for the mind and spirit.
There is no room here for impatience, just let the therapists take you to a place of rest and relaxation and you’ll never worry about playing badly again.
Penha Longa, Estoril
While the Algarve remains Portugal’s premier golfing destination, those in the know may well avoid it and head for Estoril, just a short distance from Lisbon. This was where the Portuguese royal family once came to holiday and it remains a hidden golfing jewel. There are some outstanding courses here, but the best of them all is Penha Longha.
Part of the five star Penha Longa Ritz-Carlton Resort and designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, this beautifully manicured course is ranked in the top 30 in Europe. Running in-between the Sintra hills on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other are its rolling fairways and some deviously sloping greens in true Trent Jones style. The 6th is the signature hole, with lots of water down the left and the remains of a Roman aqueduct near the green.
Tucked away on the resort amid beautifully landscaped gardens and a 3m-high waterfall, is the Six Senses Spa. This is a true body temple; 1,500sq m of space for treatments and relaxation with a platform directly over the pool for yoga and two gazebos for meditation and treatments.
The Old Course is a masterpiece of design, little changed from when it was first carved out over 600 years ago, with a large number of dramatic, shared greens
Pebble Beach, northern California
Possibly one of the most famous par-5 holes in golf, the 18th at Pebble Beach, winds its way alongside the Pacific Ocean. The Pebble Beach luxury resort complex lies within the famous 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey peninsula.
There are four championship courses to choose from; Spyglass Hill, the Links at Spanish Bay, Del Monte and of course Pebble Beach itself, the jewel in the crown. It’s a landscape not unlike the links you’ll find in Scotland,( there’s even a kilted piper who plays each evening for a little Highland authenticity. What a prospect lies in store when you play Pebble Beach.
After a gentle opening first four holes, the next seven are all along the ocean, including the 7th, a scary 106-yard par-3 facing straight down into the Pacific from an elevated tee. Then of course, there’s that glorious 18th to finish with.
Believe it or not, Pebble Beach is still a public course, so you simply book a tee time to play, but be warned, you’ll need to book well in advance of your visit.
Lying in the heart of the nearby Del Monte Forest adjacent to Pebble’s first fairway, you’ll find the Spa at Pebble Beach; a place that exclusively uses the plants, herbs and minerals native to California’s Monterey Peninsula. This is a facility that provides a plethora of treatments, from water therapy to hot stone massage and even post-golf therapy.
St Andrews Old Course, Fife, Scotland
This is the Home of Golf and nowhere else on earth is quite like it. I remember the first time I played it, I had chills just thinking of the great players in whose footsteps I was walking; Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, the list is a long one.
The course is a masterpiece of design, little changed from when it was first carved out over 600 years ago. The double greens (all but four of them are doubles) share with holes coming from the opposite direction and contain some frightening slopes. There are hundreds of bunkers, some obvious, like the terrifying Road Hole Bunker in front of the 17th green, and others tiny pot bunkers hidden in the most unlikely places; fairways with a multitude of humps and hollows, and many blind drives that will have you aiming towards the sea. It will be the greatest course you will ever play.
The Old Course Hotel lies along the 17th fairway and contains the award-winning Kohler Waters Spa. This embraces the theory that, as our bodies are in essence water based, they will respond more positively to water treatments. With hydrotherapy whirlpools, plunge pools and deluge showers to experience, you’ll have every opportunity to put that theory to the test.
The Grove’s owners intended to build a luxury hotel that provided bothoutstanding dining opportunities and one of the best golf courses in Europe
The Majlis at Emirates Golf Club, Dubai
Dubbed, ‘the miracle in the desert’ when it first opened in 1987, The Majlis, close to the centre of Dubai, was the Middle East’s first ever grassland golf course, created out of the desert terrain and, despite some challenging competition particularly in recent years, still reigns supreme.
I had my first ever hole in one at the par-3 11th, and it will always have a special place in my heart, but the rest of the course is just as memorable. Lush fairways, rolling, undulating greens, seven challenging fresh water lakes and plenty of desert sand are all on offer. The whole course is an extraordinary challenge from start to finish, with practically every shot to the green needing to fly over grass-covered dunes or water.
The club now has two additional courses, The Faldo, an 18-hole course designed by the man himself and a 9-hole, par-3 course that hosts a mini tournament for the professionals on the eve of the annual Dubai Desert Classic.
Inside the Bedouin-inspired clubhouse, is the SensAsia Urban Spa. This specialises in treatments from Japan, Bali and Thailand. Everything is tuned to the visitor’s wellbeing, from the Feng Shui-designed interiors to the pampering from the therapy team.
The Grove, Hertfordshire, UK
The privately owned Grove started out in 2004. Its owners intended to build a luxury hotel that provided outstanding dining opportunities and one of the best golf courses in Europe. They have achieved just that and, better still, the place has managed to maintain its high standards ever since.
The 7,152-yard championship golf course has been a labour of love, using imported grasses for parts of the greens and fairways, while Kyle Phillips has designed a layout that would not be out of place in Spain or Portugal.
The course is open all year round and will always be in excellent condition whichever time of the year you play. The Grove’s spa is called Sequoia, after the giant trees in California, but there’s nothing giant here, just low lighting, soft music, a delightful Zen garden, infinity pool and an army of therapists.
Words: Staff
