|
It's not accidental that Bermuda has long been a major player in the international golfing holiday field. One of the factors is its accessibility. It's not in the Caribbean, as many people suppose, but some distance north. It is 600 miles east of the North Carolina coast, 80 minutes by air from New York city and about seven hours from Gatwick. It's been called the Crossroads of the Atlantic.
Shaped like a fish hook, it is only three miles wide and 20 miles long and it sits on an atoll washed by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. Hence the idyllic climate.
Bermudians say they have only two seasons, summer and spring. The mean temperatures are about 60F from November to April and up to the high 80s in July, August and September.
So while gentle breezes make summer golf a heavenly prospect, winter brings one of the world's biggest golf festivals, a series of events for both sexes and all ages that takes place from November to March. Prices are lower then, too.
The island's love affair with the game began back in the 1950s with the foundation of the Bermuda Goodwill Tournament, a major pro-am played over four courses. This started in a small way with about a dozen teams of four: it now attracts upwards of 200 or so teams, mainly from the US but from as far afield as Argentina and Europe. The bottom line spin-off from this alone features a long row of noughts.
So over the years golf's fiscal value to the island has been inestimable, hence the new courses and the heavy emphasis on the game in the marketing programmes.
The climate and quality of the courses aside, the head-spinning scenery helps to sell it. Some of the golf views impoverish adjectives. What's more, golf in Bermuda needn't be expensive if you go about it sensibly.
Of the eight courses, three are part of hotel complexes, three are government-owned pay-and-play and two are private, although they accept visitors by arrangement. One of the latter is the Mid Ocean Club, still numbered among the world's great courses, of which more anon.
The hotel courses, Marriotts Castle Harbour, Belmont Manor and The Southampton Princess, are those which feature most strongly in the brochures of golf tour operators. The latter two have associate hotels which share the golfing facilities; all hotels will arrange access to other courses, including the exclusive Mid Ocean Club.
The courses vary markedly in style and character but they have a common attribute: impeccable conditioning. The strain of grass known as Bermuda is prevalent but as this hibernates in the winter over-seeding with rye is common, to give the courses colour.
My brief stay at the Southampton Princess Hotel was memorable by any criteria: the golf course brought double the delight.
It's a par-3 course, but this is no pitch and putt layout. It's 18 holes of real golf laid over wooded, undulating terrain with the ocean as a constant backdrop. It's one of the loveliest I've seen and some of the holes would grace more renowned courses.
THE card reads 2,684 yards, par-54, and the holes range from 110 to 211 yards, with water in abundance. This is the place to polish your irons and in the process you'll have more fun than is normally possible with your clothes on.
There's a bonus: you'll whiz around in very short order. Play after an early breakfast and you'll have the rest of the day for other activities, to explore the island or to play elsewhere. A blissful alternative: play a round at sunset, just before dinner. It's an incomparable experience.
Three other courses, plus a state of the art golf academy, are nearby, so this is an ideal locality for golfers. The Belmont Hotel course and Riddell's Bay Country Club are but minutes away and either will repay a visit. They're both of modest length but tricky as a cart full of monkeys and they offer good sport and considerable challenge. Don't forget your camera.
Port Royal is the third nearby course and it's right out of the top drawer. What's more, it has one of the world's most scenic golf holes. The other 17 are not to be sniffed at, mind, but the short 16th will stop you in your cart tracks.
It's 176 yards from the back of the elevated tee and the shot must carry a fissure which falls about 100 feet down to the beach. From the tee, the green below appears to be reclining on a turquoise mirror.
In fact it is on a tiny promontory, with jungle behind and left. The green is long and quite narrow in the front where bunkers guard the entrance, although it widens at the rear, the target area. There's a strategic, semi-circular bunker beyond that, designed to prevent the over-hit shot tumbling down the scrubby cliff-side.
The green has some subtle rolls and breaks which, as I discovered, can nullify a good tee shot. I three putted but my excuse was total distraction. The hole has a beauty without peer in golf.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Port Royal is that it is a municipal course. Actually it's government-owned and operated, but it amounts to the same thing. It's pay-and-play and at US$60 it's good value, even better after 4pm when sunset rates apply.
Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and measuring 6,561 yards, par-71, Port Royal is a regular venue for the Bermuda Amateur Championship and when the winner breaks par it's not by much.
This is a course that's tough but fair, as challenging as it is beautiful. It won't over-awe the lesser player who stops to think and it will reward the scratch man who successfully accepts its challenges.
And that scenery.... To paraphrase Mark Twain: "You take Pebble Beach if you wish. I'll stay right here." It's one quarter the price, too. Don't miss it.
Page [1], [2], [3] - [next page]
|
