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Golf By Continent
by Belli Roudles
http://www.figagolf.com
If you are planning a golf tour there is no better place to
start than the place where the game was born. Scotland is
believed to be the first nation to play golf in the 1400s.
(Some crazy people may try to convince you that it was the
Dutch who invented it, or others may tell you of paganica -
a game played by the Ancient Romans.)
Founded in 1754 the Royal and Ancient Golf Club still has a
role in the rule making of the game. It is situated in a
Scottish University town which lies between Dundee and
Edinburgh. Here you will find many fantastic courses but
make sure you take some wet weather gear with you.
Staying in Europe, a few hours by airplane from Scotland
takes you to the sunny climes of Valencia where the El
Saler golf course awaits. It glistens by the Mediterranean
Sea, but it is a tough course with a lot of bunkers.
Another site for your golfing pilgrimage is found in the
north of Europe. In Northern Ireland you will find the
Royal County Down - a course with great views on two sides,
the sea on one and on the other the Mourne mountains.
However, to get a round at the two courses here, Annesley
or Championship you will need to plan in advance.
A much longer trip but well worth it is to journey to the
tip of Africa and visit the courses on offer in
Johannesburg where Ernie Els cultivated his talents and
Gary Player learned the ropes.
It is also a handy way to take in another continent,
Africa, on the way to our third, Asia. Golf in Japan has
grown more quickly than just about anyplace else. There are
plenty of great courses to be played in a fascinating and
beautiful country. The course at Hirono in Kobe is usually
highlighted. It was designed way back in 1932 by Charles
Alison, and is set amongst pines and breathtaking gorges.
Given that we are already in the continent, it is well
worth visiting New Zealand where, on the North Island, we
find the Paraparaumu Beach links. Tiger came here for the
NZ open in 2002 and the course impressed many in the
international television audience. Book before you arrive!
Heading towards the USA it is a good idea to stop off at
some of the fine examples on offer on the Caribbean islands
or alternatively you could try some of the courses in
Mexico. Cabo del Sol in Los Cabos would probably get the
thumbs up from Jack Nicklaus (since he designed it!). It
is a windy course being situated on the coast but you will
have fine tuned your skills in New Zealand for this so give
it a go. Here you can choose between two courses on offer
a desert course or one by the ocean.
One more airplane takes us to the United States of America
where we are once again overwhelmed with choice... How
about Palm Springs, Clementon, Augusta???
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