http://anitadraycott.com Great Golf and Travel Writing Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:03:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Only at Casa de Campo can you play 63 fairways by the legendary Pete Dye Put two Dominicans together and you’ve got a party. Add some meringue music and rum and you’ve got a fiesta. No wonder the Dominican Republic (nicknamed the DR) is one of the most popular Caribbean destinations for Canadians. With an average annual temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, it’s always summertime in the DR. And, if chasing a dimpled white ball is ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/golf/546/swinging-in-the-dominican-republic Chef du Jour at Four Seasons While the TAP Golf Road Warriors are no doubt slicing and hooking their way through Scottsdale's fantastic desert  courses, I'm going to take this blogging opportunity to highlight another way to slice and dice at the  Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North.   Their Chef du Jour culinary adventure offers the opportunity to cook in the resort’s Talavera kitchen alongside executive chef Mel Mecinas and his team. Don your new monogrammed ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/blog/541/slicing-and-dicing-in-scottsdale My TAP Golf Road Warrior pals (broadcaster and golf historian Peter Kessler and writers Jeff Wallach, Tom Bedell, and Terry Moore) are heading off  to Scottsdale so I thought I'd wish them well and post this blog about the fun I had last year at the Phoenix Open. And although I know you'll do your research guys, keep in mind that Fairmont's tequila bar  at La Hacienda offers nightly artisan tastings and features over 200 varieties of ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/blog/536/scottsdales-greatest-party-on-grass Bloody good golf and no worries mate in Melbourne The rivalry between Australia’s two largest cities is alive and well and generally provokes great gnashing of teeth in Melbourne and mused indifference in Sydney. The former’s setting on the Yarra River, though lovely, can’t compete with Sydney’s iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge. However, when it comes to golf, Melbourne is the undisputed champ in the Land of Oz.     According to Terence Sieg and the editors of ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/travel/514/aussie-rules I have travelled to what some Kiwis describe as the end of the Earth, and guess what? It’s rather more lavish than one would have expected from such an extreme location. There’s an outstanding golf course perched precariously over the edge of a jagged cliff, a spa tucked into a ferned glade and a lodge and cottages that live up to lofty Relais & Chateaux standards. Yes, it’s a long way to go, but some places ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/golf/380/kauricliffskiwinirvana Think Monaco’s Côte d’Azur and what comes to mind? La vie en rose. Bronzed topless babes flaunting it on the beaches. High rollers in flashy Ferraris racing down the vertiginous corniches to Monte Carlo’s roulette wheels. Glamour and glitz. Whenever I think of Monaco I am reminded of a musing by the nineteenth century French poet and bon vivant, Charles Baudelaire: “Decadence must be considered the high point of civilization.” Even though your fling in Monaco ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/travel/498/monaco-save-amp-splurge I’m sure there are plenty of courses in places you’d least expect to find them, but in order to qualify for my new “Golf there? You’ve got to be kidding!” list, both the courses and the destinations have to be sufficiently enticing for both avid swingers and those who would rather shop, eat, sightsee or relax. The latest in my quirky new hit list is the Sperone Golf Club at the extreme south tip of Corsica. ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/golf/484/golf-in-corsica-youve-got-to-be-kidding “You ain’t headed for a fishing shack,” quipped actor-director Kevin Costner, a regular visitor to King Pacific Lodge on Princess Royal Island, British Columbia. No indeed. Recipient of the 2011 Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Award as number one Resort in Canada for the fourth consecutive year, King Pacific Lodge, a Rosewood Resort,  is the ultimate floating elusive all-inclusive. Each spring the three-story building, built on a former U.S. navy barge, is towed 160 kilometres south ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/travel/476/king-pacific-lodge-canadas-top-resort Truman Capote once quipped that, “Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one go.” The moment I first laid eyes on her I was smitten by La Serenissima. Who would not be seduced by this fantastic mirage rising like a Venus from the lagoon? Nothing succeeds like excess could be her motto—from the golden mosaics of the Doge’s Palace to the marvelous Tintoretto-painted ceilings on the Sculoa di San Rocco. Venice is like ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/travel/465/ode-to-venice Rediscovering an Old Tom Morris Classic in Scotland's Outer Hebrides   We golf fanatics love to add trophey courses to our brag and bucket lists. And while the Old Course, Pebble Beach and Banff Springs are obvious contenders, I’ve started a new list—obscure courses that most people have not even heard of.  And that is why I recently braved a narrow one-tract road about the width of a pencil with pull-over passing places and covered with suicidal ... ]]> http://anitadraycott.com/golf/golf/446/askernish-scotland