Latest Great Golf Articles

This country offers much more than delicious food and incredible landscapes. Vietnam is an Exciting golf destination, promising a first-rate experience as it evolves from its war-stricken past. Mike Bridge is excited to get a new stamp in his passport… I have been very fortunate over the years to travel to most major countries, so it was exciting to be travelling to Vietnam, a new destination for me and to grab another stamp in my passport. Flying into Ho Chi Min City (HCMC), formerly known as Saigon, and you soon begin to realise how the pace of travel here has moved on, and now domestic flights are the way to get around the country. For a country of only 125,622 square miles, it is amazing to think Vietnam has 46 airports! The country mainly relies on its agriculture including rice, coffee, rubber, tea, pepper, soybeans, cashews, sugar cane, peanuts, bananas; poultry; fish, seafood for its main exports. However, the government here unlike their Chinese neighbours, have r...

Perhaps not on the top of your list of golfing countries, the Philippines is still for many an exciting destination. So my friends and I decided to escape the craziness of Thailand’s Songran Festival for a new adventure... This was my first trip to the Philippines, which meant a new stamp in the passport (yay!). We flew to Manila to check out the city plus the golf in the capital, before heading up to Clark and Angeles City, around two hour’s drive north of the capital.      From December to May, the climate is generally dry, but it can get dense and humid during the summer months from March to May, when average temperatures reach as high as 35°c. Avoid the months of July to November as they can be drenching wet due to the serial typhoons. We went after Easter in mid April and the weather was fine. IN GREAT SHAPE.  Golf in this region is in pretty good shape, with many of the top names including the likes of Palmer, Faldo, Langer, Dye, Nicklaus and Robert T...

Think Colorado, think great skiing and stunning views. Great golf doesn’t always come to mind in mountainous terrain and yet Judd Spicer finds there is much to love about golfing in the Rockies… OUR GOLF CLUBS CLINKING in the deep recesses of the Mercedes Sprinter Van, the vessel climbs westward from the Mile High city of Denver, Colorado.     Gently weaving away from the airport, along the I-70, passing the towns of Golden, Idaho Springs and Gypsum, the shuttle ascends another 2,500-feet over the course of two hours until the bounty of Vail debuts beyond the windshield like something from an IMAX vista.     Traditionally known as one of the world’s premier ski destinations, and rightly so, my gal and I would soon learn that Vail’s unique marriage of opulence and activity never ceases.     Come the late spring/early summer melt of powder and moguls, the destination’s five-month golf scene befits a canvass painted as an outdoor haven.   ...

They say "Winter is Coming", well, now it's arrived! The latest edition of Great Golf Magazine is out and you can read it online directly from the link on this page.  Your high Quality Complimentary Golf Travel & Lifestyle Publication. Read it now Great Golf favourite pictures Top 5 golf holidays Sri Lanka & Maldives – Finding your Shangri-La Top 20 Asian Resorts La Bagnaia - Italy’s best kept secret Colorado – Enter the Vail Baden-Baden – golf with healing powers Italy - The Italian trip Philippines – Pacific adventure Luxury - Honouring time - BRM Watches Food - Mountain maestro Wine - East coast wines Property - Algarve - Escape the winter blues https://greatgolfmagazine.co.uk/articles/winter-2018/

If you feel fed up every winter, perhaps now’s the time to consider a property investment abroad. Somewhere warm, sunny, not too far away and with great golf, somewhere like the Algarve… Winter is the season when we become all too aware of the shortened days and colder temperatures. But there is a cure which simply involves a trip to the airport with a bag containing shorts, t-shirts and some sun-cream. Just make sure that you book a flight heading south at this time of year, a trip in the opposite direction would give you no escape from these darkening days. My escape plan one dull November day was to head to Portugal. I arrive at Faro Airport to be greeted by wall-to-wall sunshine and a comfortable 23 degrees. With the memory of shivering in the UK fast disappearing, I pick up my hire car, open the windows and head of for Pestana Golf Resort in the Algarve. My trip to Pestana Golf Resort is to report on two new real estate developments, but if I can squeeze in a round of golf...

Missing planes is much worse than missing putts, as our luckless correspondent Clive Agan finds out when flying the Italy to visit La Bagnaia Golf & Spa Resort. By Clive Agan Never before has a badly sliced tee-shot off the first felt so good as it did recently at La Bagnaia Golf and Spa Resort in Siena, Italy. The thrill I felt probably had a lot less to do with the quality of the shot than the fact that I was finally out in the fresh Italian air rather than languishing in a soulless airport terminal. Yes, the stunning Tuscan scenery did much to lift my weary mood. My challenging journey meant that I arrived a day late, but missing the fairway was far less disappointing than missing the previous day’s practice with European Tour Pro, Chris Wood. As it was, I had 11 minutes from stepping out of the smart Mercedes (that collected me 80 minutes earlier from Florence airport) before teeing off. Clearly, two desultory swings were insufficient preparation for such a prestige ev...