Kingdom 61

Cover

CALIFORNIA, CARIBBEAN, NEW ZEALAND, IRELAND & BEYOND

- A n Island Sanctuary like no other

cd: ROBB AARON GORDON

Preferred Hotels

1. Camp Creek SM Inn Inlet Beach, Florida, USA | 2. The Inn & Club at Harbour Town Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA

3. The Empire Brunei Jerudong, Brunei | 4. Ojai Valley Inn Ojai, California, USA

5. ATELIER Playa Mujeres Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico | 6. Castlemartyr Resort Cork, Ireland

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BOOKING WINDOW: NOW THROUGH JUNE 24, 2024 PLUS FREE CATAMARAN CRUISE* $199 SPECIAL RATES FROM RESORT CREDIT + PP PN $ 250 JAMAICA SALE NOW ON

The Caribbean is where you go to find relaxation. It’s also where you go to find your drive. Bring your Sandals Caribbean vacation above par with a round at Upton Estate Golf & Country Club, an 18-hole course set against the breathtaking Jamaican landscape. With turquoise waters on one side, and lush rolling hills on the other, it’s no wonder we’re consistently named one of the most beautiful golf courses in the Caribbean.

Publisher & Co-Founder

MATTHEW SQUIRE

Executive Vice President, Content

BRUCE WALLIN

Art Director

MATTHEW HALNAN

Editors

ROBIN BARWICK (UK)

SHAUN TOLSON (US)

Head of Advertising Sales

JON EDWARDS

GM, Kingdom

JOE VELOTTA

Marketing Director

EMILY POPPERT

Contributing Editor

ALEXANDRA O’LAUGHLIN

Founding Director

ARNOLD PALMER

Photography

Bobby Altman, Leo Barber, Gray Malin, Ricky Robinson, Jacob Sjöman, Adam Szafranski, USGA, Nick Wall

Special Thanks & Contributors

Susan B. Barnes, Samantha Brooks, Eric Cole, Adam Erace, Brian Harman, Scott Kramer, Stacy Lewis, Paul McGinley, Hal Phillips, Jill Robinson, Sam Saunders, Stefan Schau ele, Xander Schau ele, Rina Stone, Gina DeCaprio Vercesi, Je Wallach

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JAY MEYER

Executive Vice President, Content BRUCE WALLIN

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Christian Poppert, Jana Robinson, Mark Cooper, David Van Sicklen, Tori DeClaris, Travis Haley

Marketing

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VP, Commerce & Growth

COOPER FLEISHMAN

Operations Manager

MANDEE KLENK

Chief Financial Officer

JOHN PIETROLUNGO

Founders

COVER Hole 10, Pebble Beach Golf Links

PHOTO Gray Malin GrayMalin.com

SOCIALS VISIT

Kingdom is a luxury lifestyle and golf magazine enjoyed by more than 2 million readers annually through our print publication, social channels, website, newsletters, and events. Co-founded in 2003 by Arnold Palmer, Kingdom continues the King’s legacy with original content that celebrates excellence and the modern golf lifestyle, both on and off the course.

MATT CARROLL

NICK VAN SICKLEN

NEWSLETTER

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Published by 7324 Gaston Ave, Ste 124-451; Dallas, TX 75214

© 2024 North & Warren, LLC. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. The articles appearing within this publication reflect the opinion of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the publisher. The contents of advertisements and advertorials are entirely the responsibility of advertisers. No responsibility is taken for unsolicited submissions and manuscripts.

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Always Moving Forward

Congratulations to Bryson DeChambeau, who overcame one of the toughest golf course setups I have seen—on Pinehurst No. 2—to claim his second U.S. Open title. It is a shame we cannot see Bryson taking on the likes of Rory McIlroy on a more regular basis, yet it feels like we have barely had time to catch a breath before getting ready for the 152nd Open at Royal Troon.

Troon is one of my favorite links courses and the site of Arnold Palmer’s second Open victory, in 1962. The Old Course there is likely to be running fast, like Pinehurst, and Bryson has every chance to earn back-to-back major victories.

Pub Letter

Talking of barely having time to catch a breath, it has been the same at Kingdom since our Majors issue in March, as this summer issue ushers in a redesign of the magazine. Our team has worked so hard to get this right, and I would like to thank all involved for their dedication to continuing to honor Arnold’s legacy and guiding principles. It is difficult to improve on what is already successful, celebrated, and sophisticated, but I hope you agree that we have achieved this.

As Kingdom revamps, I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our newest recruit, Alexandra O’Laughlin (shown with me at left). I first met Alexandra a couple of years ago when she hosted our flagship event, the Kingdom Cup (a role I am delighted she does not intend to relinquish anytime soon!), and the relationship between her and Kingdom has since blossomed. Alexandra brings a fresh perspective and a genuine breath of fresh air for women’s golf and the whole game. Please look out for her new, regular column on page 50.

I sincerely hope you enjoy this special Travel edition of Kingdom. No matter how long we golfers have played and traveled, there are always new and exciting golf journeys to make, and that is what we celebrate here.

Now that our summer issue is out, it will soon be time for me to settle down and watch the Open with another great Scottish tradition, a wee dram of Dewar’s…

Cheers!

ULTIMATE GOLF GETAWAYS

62

New Zealand

From Kauri Cliffs to hidden “country courses,” where to play, stay, and explore on a Kiwi golf adventure.

72 Ireland

Links, drinks, castles, and Ryder Cups—an insider’s guide to one of the world’s great golf destinations.

82 California

We scour the desert, coast, and peaks for inspiring alternatives to the classic Golden State golf itineraries.

94

The Islands

Twelve tropical resorts for an unforgettable golf trip.

ON TOUR

118 Xander Schauffele

Fulfilling the great promise of generations.

124 The Bay Hill Boys

The unbreakable bond between Eric Cole and Sam Saunders.

128 Stacy Lewis

Exclusive interview with the Solheim Cup captain.

Te Arai Links, South Course

Photo: Ricky Robinson

The Chateau Revealed

Nemacolin

Nemacolin resort’s majestic transformation is finally complete. The Chateau, our centerpiece hotel, has been reimagined like never before, with regal rooms and suites, personalized butler service, and a palatial standard of luxury. Reserve your stay to try everything new at Nemacolin, from late-night cabaret at Nightcap to exhilarating experiences.

Heritage Golf Group

Short and Sweet

The newly opened 19-hole short course at Bandon Dunes is, simply put, a masterpiece of golf in miniature form. Shorty’s, which was designed by WAC Golf and is named in honor of the land’s late caretaker, tumbles over and around a swathe of dramatically shaped dunes and ridges, answering the hypothetical musing of what golf might look like in the land of hobbits. Stretching south of Bandon Preserve (the resort’s other short course) and west of Bandon Trails, Shorty’s succeeds for its ability to maneuver around dunes that designer Keith Cutten (the C in WAC Golf) describes as the “biggest” and “most choppy” on the entire property. The land’s natural contouring might explain why Bandon Dunes’ owners decided to keep Shorty’s, well, short. “The gaps between those dunes are perfect for a course with holes that are between 55 and 175 yards long,” Cutten says.

Approach the

Bandon Dunes, Brian Harman, weekends in Newport, fabulous flyrods, perfect Pinots, and more

First and Long

This October, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship will be played for the first time at the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort in southern Indiana.

The captivating layout is perched atop a series of ridges that, in some areas, can provide 20- and 30-mile-long vistas. Depending on how the tour chooses to set up the course, it might feel 20 miles long, too. The 8,102-yard gauntlet (yes, you read that right) is surprisingly walkable thanks to the more than 2.5 million cubic yards of dirt that Dye and his team moved during construction to soften the extreme elevation changes. But considering the course’s length—and its ribbonlike fairways bordered by deep ravines—low scores might be hard to come by at French Lick.

Palmer, Perfected

Carlsbad, in San Diego’s North County, is the under-heralded heart of golf in California. Not only is the city home to Callaway, Taylormade, and Cobra Golf, it’s also the setting for one of the state’s top golf resorts in the Park Hyatt Aviara. Overlooking the Arnold Palmer–designed Aviara golf course, the Batiquitos Lagoon, and the Pacific Ocean, the resort recently completed a $60 million renovation that included the addition of a Miraval Life in Balance Spa and the golf club’s Ember & Rye steakhouse by chef Richard Blais. The property also features a world-class tennis and pickleball center, hiking trails, and even a Topgolf Swing Suite. After a day on the Palmer course, head to the suite to play virtual golf games—or “zombie dodgeball”—and order drinks and sushi from the adjacent lobby bar.

Kingdom’s special California travel section starts on page 82.

Hallowed Ground

As part of a $50 million renovation of Saint John’s Resort in Plymouth, Michigan, course designer Ray Hearn routed a new 18-hole golf course across a 200-acre parcel of land that was previously home to three nine-hole layouts. Several trees were removed to make room for the Cardinal; however, all of the old oaks and maples were saved. Also preserved was a mature crab apple tree that, rumor has it, is a favorite of Archbishop Allen Vigneron. (Saint John’s was formerly a seminary, and the property still has an active chapel.) “The land, with its natural glacier forms and beautiful hundred-year-old trees, was a great foundation to work with,” says Hearn, who drew inspiration from the Golden Age designs of Donald Ross and Tom Bendelow but was most influenced by the Old Course at Sunningdale Golf Club near London.

KETEL ONE Vodka. Distilled from Grain. 40% Alc/Vol. © Double Eagle Brands, B.V. Imported by Ketel One USA, Aliso Viejo, CA.

MOTORING THROUGH MONTEREY

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance may be the grand dame of Monterey Car Week (August 9–18), but it’s just one of several enthusiast-driven events that make this annual extravaganza a must for automobile aficionados. Auctions, rallies, and races take place everywhere from the fairways of Pebble Beach to the track at Laguna Seca. Among the many cars to watch this year is the first-built Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, being offered at RM Sotheby’s Monterey Auction with a pre-sale high estimate of $18 million.

This 1955 Maserati 150S starred at last year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

FOLDS OF HONOR FRIDAY

Fans at select PGA Tour events are donning red, white, and blue as part of the new Folds of Honor Friday program. The initiative—launched at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio—honors service in partnership with Folds of Honor, which has awarded more than ��,��� educational scholarships to family members of fallen heroes.

The Cut

e new Panerai Submersible Tourbillon GMT Luna Rossa Experience Edition PAM01405 is limited to just 20 pieces—all of which come with exclusive access to the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Barcelona. As a sponsor of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli racing team, Panerai will host a behind-the-scenes experience for the watch’s owners and other VIPs at the event’s nals in September.

Folds of Honor touches the hearts of a lot of people.

—MATT KUCHAR

OLYMPIC FLAME FIRST

On the Olympic torch’s customary tour from Olympia to the games’ host city, in this case Paris, the Olympic Academy Golf Course at Costa Navarino, in southwest Greece, became the first-ever Mediterranean course to receive the flame.

BESPOKE BOURBON EXPERIENCE

Barrel Global’s new Kentucky Bourbon Retreat ($35,000) allows individuals the chance to create 10 barrels of their own personal whiskey. e three-day experience includes hands-on participation in every phase of the distilling process—from mash-bill selection to mashing, fermentation, distillation, and barreling.

Shi ing Gears

Unveiled in May, the Cullinan Series II represents the most extensive model upgrade in Rolls-Royce history, introducing a new digital interface and other features geared toward younger drivers—with emhpasis on drivers, as fewer than �� percent of today’s Cullinan owners employ a chauffeur.

The Cut

R&A RENEWAL

e R&A Clubhouse in St Andrews is emerging from its most comprehensive interior renovation in 100 years, with updates including a new women’s locker room, Heritage Room, and members’ shop, as well as a refurbished Trophy Room.

KOHLER CREATIVITY

Contemporary art, home design, fashion, and golf are all coming together with Arsham in Kohler, a new three-way partnership between Kohler Co., artist and sculptor Daniel Arsham, and Malbon Golf. e collaboration includes an Arsham-designed cabin (pictured) and six large-scale sculptures debuting at Destination Kohler in Wisconsin, as well as an exclusive Kohler bathroom collection and a clothing line from Malbon.

CONTRIBUTORS: Susan B. Barnes, Robin Barwick, Shaun Tolson, and Bruce Wallin

ART X GOLF

for the 5Journey

Getting there is at least half the fun with these magnificent modes of travel.

words by SHAUN TOLSON

GOLF ROAD TRIP

In the Porsche Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid (from $���,���), the thrill of a golf road trip is as much about the drives on open roads as the drives off the tee. Finding the A position on both highways and backroads is easy in this third-generation Panamera, whose sports car–like performance (zero to �� mph in just three seconds) owes in part to a �.�-liter, ��� hp, V� turbo engine. The speedy sedan also offers ample trunk space—as much as �� cubic feet when the back seats are folded down—for golf bags and luggage.

MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE

Launched in 2023, Alpha Waves (from about $270,000 per week) spends summers cruising the western Mediterranean on private charters for as many as 10 guests. The five-suite, 133-foot Benetti Oasis’s open floorplan, circular seating arrangements, and sky lounge ensure a highly social experience. A beach club features fold-down balconies that transform the space into another open-air lounge, while a spacious sun deck is equipped with a bar area and outdoor dining space.

Machines & Gear

BUSINESS AND PLEASURE

Next year marks the 10th anniversary of the Bombardier Challenger 650 (from $32 million), the large-cabin business jet that remains Bombardier’s best-selling model. The plane’s 4,000-nautical-mile range makes flights from New York to London or Singapore to Dubai a breeze, while its steepapproach certification means it can land at Aspen, Lugano (Switzerland), and London City airports. Inside, the Challenger 650’s nearly eight-foot-wide cabin accommodates larger seats and a greater sleeping capacity than any other similar-sized jet, allowing passengers to sit back and enjoy the journey.

Alpha Waves’ beach club transforms into an open-air lounge.

APPROACH |

OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE

Contemporary comfort and nostalgic style come together in the new Blackbridge Mark IV Defender (from $170,000), a heavily modified Land Rover from Blackbridge Motors. The retro-inspired SUV features custom Jeep Wrangler underpinnings and a slew of GM components, not the least of which is a 6.2-liter V8 engine that can be paired to either an 8-speed automatic or 6-speed manual transmission. The specialty-vehicle manufacturer also installed custom-valve shocks, which provide better on-road stability and turn the Mark IV into an off-road, beachcruising juggernaut.

CROSS-COUNTRY JOURNEY

Road trips always feel more adventurous—and rebellious—on two wheels, but they can also be more arduous on a bike. Not so with the BMW K 1600 Grand America (from $28,130), which benefits from footboards, a backrest, and a high windscreen. The inline, 6-cylinder engine propels the bike to a top speed of 100 mph, while the galaxy-inspired Option 719 Midnight paint treatment (shown here), a $2,595 enhancement, ensures a unique look. Better still, the motorcycle’s adaptive LED headlight brings more illumination to night motoring, which means you can keep cruising comfortably and safely under the stars.

Grape Escapes

Cap off a round in California or New Zealand—or wherever you are— with the perfect Pinot Noir.

e dramatic landscapes of California and New Zealand are conducive not only to epic golf courses (see “Ultimate Golf Getaways” special section, starting on page 61), but also to growing world-class Pinot Noir. ough it thrives in both destinations, the ckle grape takes on decidedly di erent pro les in each. “California usually produces a bigger style of Pinot, with more fruit, alcohol, and ripeness,” says Jim Nolan, an 18-year industry veteran and Pennsylvania sales manager of Vine Street Imports, which specializes in New World wines from boutique producers. “New Zealand’s climate, where it’s warm during the day and cool at night, produces Pinot that has more freshness and acidity.” Nolan is a fan of both, here sharing his recommendations across three price points. Pick your poison based on what you carded on 18. —

ADAM ERACE

No. 19

2023 Scar of the Sea Vino de los Ranchos Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley

“From a next-gen producer, this wine is a blend of three separate picks from the organically farmed Rancho Ontiveros vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley AVA,” says Nolan, citing its “notes of candied cherry, juicy cranberry, and earl grey.” $��

2021 The Hilt Estate Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills

2022 Aunts eld Single Vineyard

Pinot Noir, Southern Valleys, Marlborough

“This unique wine is great for someone who likes a more concentrated, rounded style of Pinot,” Nolan says. It’s made with grapes from the first commercial vineyard in Marlborough, where the vines date to ���� and “the clay soils add more fruit depth.” $��

BIRDIE

2021 Burn Cottage Vineyard

Pinot Noir, Central Otago

Nolan calls winemaker Matt Dees “an enthusiastic soil scientist” who sources the fruit for this wine from “a little corner of the Santa Rita Hills.” A nose of herbs and black cherry leads to “raspberries and black fruit on the palate as it opens in the glass.” $��

Elegant and aromatic, this biodynamic Pinot comes from Central Otago on the South Island, home to “one of the highest diurnal shifts and some of the most UV exposure on the planet,” making for what Nolan calls “a serious, age-worthy wine, a sure bet every time.” $��

EAGLE

2021 Littorai “The Pivot” Pinot Noir, Sebastopol Hills, Sonoma County

Ted and Heidi Lemon are “winemaking legends,” according to Nolan. Planted on the Sonoma Coast in ����, their Pivot vineyard occupies three of the �� self-sustaining acres of Burgundy clones, where “the sandstone soils put out beautifully red-fruited, high-intensity Pinot.” $���

2021 Escarpment “Kupe” Pinot Noir, Martinborough

“Crimson in color, bright red fruit, very fragrant on the nose,” this banner, big-bodied Pinot comes from fruit grown in the acclaimed alluvial gravels of the Te Muna terrace, located in Martinborough, just east of Wellington. “A bottle worth aging,” says Nolan. $���

CALIFORNIA

NEW ZEALAND PAR

From left: Burn Cottage, Littorai ”The Pivot“, and Escarpment “Kupe”; top: Burn Cottage‘s Central Otago vineyards.

Travel in Style

Subtle essentials to add a touch of sophistication to your summer vacation.

1.

5.

6.

7.

Dubarry of Ireland, Portofino Leather Sneaker, $179. 2. Pendleton, Spider Rock Towel Collection, $40. 3. Portuguese Flannel, Labura Linen Jacket, $235. 4. Carl Friedrik, The Cardprotector, $175.

Paradise Row, Leather Passport Holder, $125, and Leather Laptop Sleeve, $215.

Ettinger, Capra Wash Bag, $490.

Bennett Winch, Weekender Bag, $1,400.

MID PINES INN, PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA

Handcrafted

Master CASTS

Maine Fly Company’s “small-batch” rods lend a personal touch to the fishing experience.

In a historic mill overlooking the Royal River in Yarmouth, Maine, a young rodsmith wraps the guides on a copper-colored flyrod with pine-green thread. Another half-dozen rods spin on dryers in the finishing room, where Maine Fly Company owner Jeff Davis applies a thin coat of epoxy to a gleaming 3-weight with a burlwood grip. A chalkboard displays the names of the rods the shop has available—the Little River, Dead River, Kennebec, Penobscot, Carrabassett—each inspired by one of the more than 5,000 waterways that course through the state of Maine.

The chalkboard itself is a nod to the state’s craft breweries, where ever-changing beer menus spotlight what’s on tap. “I’ve always had a connection with Maine’s brewers and the idea that when you walk into a tasting room, they’re

only pouring what they’ve got fresh that day,” Davis says. “That’s what we’re doing with flyrods. We’re a small-batch rod company.”

Like a good brewer, Maine Fly Company has its staple offerings, such as the Kennebec, which are always available. Others might be as fleeting as a monster rainbow on a fastmoving stream. “The St. John, our bamboo, we only made 10 of each size,” Davis says. “We want people to have something that’s rare and unique.”

Although his father was an avid angler, Davis didn’t grow up flyfishing. When his father passed, Davis found that spending time outdoors fishing with his dad’s gear was a way to heal. “My cast was horrible,” he recalls, “but out on the river, with the water running through my knees, I felt cleansed.”

Founder Jeff Davis (far left) aims to keep Maine‘s centuries-old rodsmithing traditions alive with his company‘s handmade flyrods.

Davis was hooked after just a few trips. He bought a book about flyrods and a simple rod-building kit and retreated to his basement. “It took me days,” he says. “I could barely tie a knot. But when I finished, I felt like I did after a day on the river.”

That first rod led to another, then another. He started researching Maine’s rod-building history, which dates back to the late 19th century, when Hiram Lewis Leonard first popularized the split-cane bamboo rod. The craft flourished throughout New England until the advent of fiberglass in the 1950s. That, coupled with the shortage of high-quality Tonkin bamboo due to the U.S. embargo on trade with China, made it difficult for traditional rodsmiths to compete with the mass manufacture of synthetic rods.

“Maine Fly Company is here to help preserve that heritage,” Davis says. “Once the mass market took over, the art of the rodsmith began to disintegrate. We want to keep that real personal approach to building flyrods alive.”

Handcrafted

Davis and his team of six builders hand craft each Maine Fly Company rod using carbon, graphite, or flame-finished bamboo blanks; locally harvested wood reel seats; sustainable cork grips; and bespoke touches such as agate stone stripping guides, richly colored wraps, and nickel-silver trim. The goal, says Davis, is to ensure that the person swinging one of his Roach River 5-weights or other rods can glance downriver and know that they have something different in their hands. “Flyfishing is very personal,” he explains. “At Maine Fly Company, we build rods that are as unique as the anglers who swing them.” —gina decaprio vercesi

I could barely tie a knot. But when I finished, I felt like I did after a day on the river.”

—JEFF DAVIS

Maine Fly Company‘s rods are named after some of the more than 5,000 waterways that run through its home state.

NEWPORT, Rhode Island

Whether for its ocean blues or golf-course greens, New England’s City by the Sea is tailor-made for a quick summer getaway.

by SHAUN TOLSON

Teeing O

e recent Senior U.S. Open at Newport Country Club served as a reminder that the Ocean State— and the greater Newport area, speci cally—is riddled with exceptional golf courses. Better still, many of them are public. A 16-minute drive northeast of downtown brings avid golfers to Newport National, an Arthur Hills design that rambles across 200 acres and abuts protected wetlands and bird sanctuaries.

Stay

Weekender

Once the mansion of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, the Vanderbilt hotel from Auberge Resorts sparkles for its sense of history and its location a short walk from the shops and restaurants that line Thames Street. The rooftop deck and whiskey room make for an ideal retreat following a day spent out on the links.

e 7,244-yard layout is mostly bu eted from the wind, but its undulating greens and lush, native grasses lining the edges of playing corridors keep golfers in check. Peak-season greens fees ($175) may seem high given the lack of a driving range and the fact that the clubhouse is a modestly out tted double-wide; however, Newport National’s immaculate course conditions justify the cost of entry.

Green Valley Country Club, located six miles north of downtown Newport, is the epitome of parkland golf in New England. In the mid-1990s, the club became the state’s rst public course to host both the Rhode Island Amateur and the Rhode Island Open. Another six miles to the north, Montaup Country Club o ers a challenging test with its narrow, tree-lined fairways and small, raised greens—two features that re ect the 6,538-yard layout’s 1920s origins.

Eat

Local and uber-seasonal ingredients dictate the ever-changing menu at TSK (Thames Street Kitchen), where mission-cut rib-eyes are the can’t-miss attraction. As cocktails go, TSK takes a refreshingly simple approach, grouping its libations into three categories: martinis, Negroni drinks, and fancy drinks. Order the mezcal drink. Better yet, order two.

Do

To gain an appreciation for precisely hit shots of a different variety, visit the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where thousands of artifacts on display chronicle the sport’s history through three distinct eras: The Birth of Tennis (���� to ����), The Popular Game (���� to ����), and The Open Era (���� to present day).

The Vanderbilt

TSK

Setting Sail

Newport has long been the unofficial capital of American yachting, as the “glory days” of the America’s Cup—an era that spanned more than 50 years during the mid-20th century—were contested at the mouth of Narragansett Bay on waters that surround the City by the Sea.

Predictably, Newport today offers a vast range of sailing experiences, with charters and tours designed to suit equally diverse audiences. If the thought of racing gives you a thrill, a customized day on the water with America’s Cup Charters will deliver the surge of adrenaline you’re after. The company’s fleet includes half-a-dozen 12-meter racing yachts, several of which have America’s Cup pedigrees, and its racing charters provide an authentic taste of competitive sailing, as each member of a group takes a dedicated position on board and is responsible for a given task.

For more relaxed boating excursions, Sightsailing offers private charters and public sailing tours that include mimosa cruises, day sails, and sunset cruises. The company’s fleet of yachts is just as varied. Larger tours will sail aboard Aquidneck, an elegant and accurate reproduction of a late-1800s coasting schooner, while smaller trips might utilize Sightsailer, a 46-foot sloop, or Starlight, a 34-foot O’Day.

Weekender

Stay

Castle Hill Inn is spread out across more acres (40) than there are guest rooms (33). The Relais & Chateaux property is positioned on a point about four miles from downtown and boasts half a mile of private shoreline. Its gently sloped lawn, outfitted with Adirondack chairs, is the best place in town to relax by the water.

Eat

Adventurous diners will get their fill at Cara, the fine-dining restaurant at the Chanler, a boutique hotel at the end of the cliff walk. Chef Jacob Jasinski produces five- and eight-course blind tasting menus comprising avant-garde dishes that change daily. The kitchen team presents the fare tableside to explain each dish.

Do

Touring the mansions owned and maintained by the Preservation Society of Newport County provides an illuminating glimpse into the Gilded Age. The Breakers, in particular, will leave you awestruck, as the 70-room palace covers more than 125,000 square feet.

Newport Country Club (Photo: USGA)

America’s Cup Charters

The Breakers

Castle Hill Inn

Blades of Glory

Let’s take it back to 2021. I’m new to Nashville, settling into the golf scene. The name Blades Brown, who is 13 years old at the time, keeps popping up in conversation. People couldn’t wait to tell me about this junior golfer who was breaking records and winning tournaments left and right. He had just won the high school state championship....as an eighth grader....by six shots, with scores of 64 and 69. I grew up playing junior golf in Colorado with now major champions Wyndham Clark and Jennifer Kupcho, so I was familiar with exceptional junior golfers. This, however, felt like a whole new level.

FAMILY FIRST

Now 16, Brown played in his first PGA Tour event this May, and he has an incredibly promising future in the sport. But to understand this budding superstar, it’s important to consider his family’s past. Brown’s father, Parke, was given 12 months to live following a leukemia diagnosis. It was 18 months after that projection that he watched his son finish T26 at the Myrtle Beach Classic. Brown stayed consistent each day of the tournament, taking the time for autographs and fist bumps with the gallery and media interviews after the rounds. The ability to perform under pressure runs in the family. His mother, Rhonda, was a standout basketball player at Vanderbilt and was the first in WNBA history to shoot a three-pointer. She knows about being in the spotlight, and she recognizes her son’s gift. “The best ones shine brighter when the lights are on,” she has said, “and I think that’s him.”

CADDIE CONNECTION

Jack Bethmann had been caddying for Peyton Manning at Colorado’s Cherry Hills for a few years when the Tennessee alum recommended that he caddy for Brown in the U.S. Amateur. Brown ended up becoming the youngest co-medalist in the history of the U.S. Amateur, breaking Bobby Jones’s 103-year-old record while also setting a course record during one of the stroke-play rounds. Bethmann was on the bag once again in Myrtle Beach, where they were three shots off the cut line with nine holes to play. Brown shot a 31 on the back nine to make the cut. “Keeping things light and fun is crucial,” Bethmann told me, adding that the two have formed a big/little brother relationship. “We share lots of inside jokes and laughs between shots. He’s known to slip ice cubes into my pockets, and I tease him about having assigned reading and studying for high school exams.”

NAME OF THE GAME

Alexandra

I met Brown last year with nine-time PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker, one of the many mentors who has taken the young golfer under his wing. I was seriously impressed by the way the teenager carried himself and his contagious confidence. You know the vibe a tour player gives off? Not just the pressed pants, good posture, and concise analysis of golf rounds, but the overall swagger? Brown has it. Both he and Snedeker were in the field in Myrtle Beach, where Snedeker was quoted as saying “He doesn’t need anything from me—he’s way better than I am!” Throughout the week, ‘Blades Brown’ was trending on X, with comments about it being the best name in sports. (As perfect as it is for golf, his first name didn’t originate from the small-headed forged irons, but rather from his mother’s maiden name.)

WHAT IT TAKES

We are seeing more and more golfers getting better at a young age. Brown was the second 16-year-old to make the cut in a professional event over the span of two weeks. Long-term success, however, has at least as much to do with a player’s makeup as it does with natural ability. You see a sliver of Arnold Palmer in Brown’s charisma and media presence, and his down-to-earth values remind me of Scottie Scheffler’s. Not placing self-worth on scores and caring about something bigger than yourself are the superpowers in golf. And as Brown said about his Myrtle Beach start, he was “just treating it like it’s any other tournament, ’cause that’s what golf is…it’s the same shot.”

Contributing editor Alexandra O’Laughlin is a golf correspondent and media personality.

The best ones shine brighter when the lights are on, and I think that’s him.”

—RHONDA BROWN

OPEN MINDED

What’s special about the Open for you?

I played in my first Open at Hoylake in 2015, and I fell in love with it immediately. Even though I didn’t have very much success over there until recently, I always really looked forward to getting the opportunity to go back. There’s a lot of different ways to play golf over there and to be successful over there, and I enjoy that. A lot of times we end up [on a course] where [we decide that] we’re going to hit the ball as high and as far as we can, and wherever it ends up, we’re going to hit it as far and as high as we can again. But there, you have to hit every club, every shot; you have to be able to work it both ways. I loved having to flight golf shots. I loved having to just miss those bunkers. I think that’s a lot of fun.

Full Round

Brian Harman returns to the British Isles this summer as the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year.

Immediately after your victory, you told reporters that you planned to drink Guinness out of the Claret Jug. How else have you celebrated with the trophy? That trophy has made the rounds. I’ve upheld the tradition of really partying with that thing. I’m not sure there’s been a spirit that has not been in that jug and celebrated. It has to be one of the most iconic trophies in sports, and people love being around it. It’s probably heavier than you think it is. And then when you pick it up and it’s full of wine or beer or something else, it’s even heavier.

You played well in the rain during your final round last year, but in your post-tournament press conference you said that historically you hadn’t played as well in bad weather. What changed that Sunday? I had a moment where I thought, ‘I wish it wasn’t going to be this way; I wish it was going to be slightly easier.’ And then I caught myself and convinced myself to be thankful because no one was going to shoot a low score that day. The weather was really bad. It was to the point that it was pure survival. And I realized that that could work to my advantage—if I could make a bunch of pars, there was no way that anyone was going to catch me. I just made my peace with it as opposed to letting it get to me.

Is bad-weather golf in the UK different than bad-weather golf here in the States? The weather is an extra defender over there, and because of that, they set up courses for bad weather, and I love that. I think that’s why the weather doesn’t bother me nearly as much over there. When we play in the States, the courses are set up for perfect weather; and if we get bad weather, it can be damn near impossible. But they set up courses over there in case of Armageddon, and they let the weather dictate the scores. If you get perfect weather over there, the scores will be low. And when the weather is bad, the scores are bad.

You mostly flew under the radar before your Open victory. Tell us something about yourself that you think most people don’t know. I’ve dabbled in a lot of different hobbies over the years, and I tend to get very passionate about whatever it is that I do. I got into long-range shooting for a while. I was shooting targets that were 1,000, 1,200, 1,400 yards away, and I taught myself how to build ammo. I was obsessed with it. And then I got into bow hunting, and I learned how to build my own arrows. I also bought a piece of property for recreational hunting, and my dad and I have completely obsessed over how to maintain the land and regrow these natural pine tree forests. I’m very passionate about all those things, but I don’t really advertise any of that. And no one in the media really knows any of that because no one has really asked. But if someone wants to know, I’ll talk for days about it.

Have you ever considered creating a podcast to talk about all those things? If Kevin Kisner and I wanted to make content about all the adventures that we have during the offseason, hunting and fishing and all this stuff, it would blow people’s minds. But we don’t do it for other people. We do it because we like to do it with the people we like to be around. —shaun tolson

When you pick it up and it’s full of wine or beer or something else, it’s even heavier.”

LLAK

Lessons learned from Kingdom co-founder Arnold Palmer

A Good WALK

Arnold Palmer always had a preference for playing golf on foot, a practice that has benefits beyond better health.

When Arnold Palmer grew up playing golf amid the rolling hills of Latrobe Country Club in western Pennsylvania in the 1930s and ’40s, the game was played on foot. Within a few decades, mass production of golf carts had enabled golf courses to bring in their own fleets, opening a significant new revenue stream— and relegating golf on foot to the status of old fashioned. Palmer’s father, Deacon—course superintendent and professional at Latrobe—never liked the idea of golf carts on the course he helped build. His traditional approach to the sport rubbed off on Palmer, who also inherited a preference

for walking from his mother, Doris. “My mother encouraged me to walk everywhere and walk every day,” Palmer once said in an interview with Kingdom. “A good long walk is good for the body and really clears up the mind, too. You can do a lot of good thinking on a long walk.”

When it comes to golf, the benefits of walking can even extend to lower scores (see “Foot Facts,” page 56). For Palmer, however, it was simply a matter of how the game was meant to be experienced. “Walking is the better way to enjoy golf,” he told Kingdom. “Walking is the way the game is supposed to be played.”

Type-two diabetes is easily curable; it is simply down to diet and an exercise regimen.”

—TIGER WOODS

Tom Watson echoed Palmer’s sentiment in an interview with Kingdom. “I don’t agree with Mark Twain’s comment that ‘Golf is a good walk spoiled’,” Watson said. “You can enjoy a walk in nature when you play golf. You can get away from the world on the golf course, if you turn your cell phone off.”

We put this to Tiger Woods, too, and he didn’t hold back in considering the health benefits of walking golf.

“Look at the obesity rate in the United States,” said Woods, who would often caddie as a youngster. “It has gone through the roof. Type-two diabetes is easily curable; it is simply down to diet and an exercise regimen.”

Nothing against the golf cart. Golf carts are here to stay, and they play a valuable role in the game. On some golf courses, however, and with certain company, you can’t beat a good walk. —robin barwick

FOOT

FACTS

LLAK

In 2022, the Colorado Center for Health and Sports Science published a study that was music to the ears of golf’s pushcart companies. The study showed that over nine holes, walking golfers burned 36 percent more calories than riding golfers did. The report also found that walking golfers had better mental focus than those riding carts, and that on average, walking golfers posted lower scores.

NEW

VIBE

The Air Pegasus ’89 G brings Nike’s cushioning and comfort from the track to the course, concealing new shoe tech under a retro chassis. A hidden Zoom Air heel unit offers sneaky spring in your step through the closing holes.

Stewart Golf’s new Q Follow Carbon Range promises outstanding durability thanks to Cerakote liquid ceramic coating. This space-age caddie follows the golfer via a pocket handset with bluetooth connection.

SHOE, RETRO

REMOTE CONTROL CADDIE

Top: New Zealand’s Te Arai is a walking-only golf club (photo: Ricky Robinson); above: Tiger Woods at the Masters.

WITH THE WORLD’S MOST RENOWNED ARCHAEOLOGISTS

TEE UP AND TAKE YOUR GAME TO NEW DESTINATIONS WITH TURKISH AIRLINES

As a longtime sponsor of the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup and many other golfing events, Turkish Airlines supports the deep-rooted passion behind the sport. Making it more convenient for golf-lovers to take their passion to new destinations, the airline offers passengers the opportunity to carry their first set of golf clubs and golf equipment, such as golf shoes and a golf bag, free of charge on all Turkish Airlines flights.

Flying to more countries than any other airline in the world, Turkish Airlines invites passengers to visit their favorite destinations and discover new horizons with comfort and ease. From its 12 United States gateways, the airline seamlessly connects passengers through its centrally located hub in Istanbul to more than 340 destinations in 129 countries across five continents.

New Turkish Airlines Lounge at JFK

Award-Winning Business Class Service

As of 2023, Turkish Airlines now offers passengers transiting through Terminal 1 of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) an elevated lounge true to the Turkish Airlines experience. The lounge amenities are synonymous with the brand’s comfort and hospitality in the newly renovated and rebranded space. Featuring the famous flavors of Turkish cuisine, passengers can enjoy three meals a day including breakfast, lunch and dinner served uninterruptedly, in a thoughtfully designed mid-century inspired space created for function and comfort.

In addition to having one of the most robust flight networks, Turkish Airlines offers an award-winning Business Class service. Business class passengers enjoy modern full flat seats with a first-rate entertainment system, free WIFI service on all wide body fleet, active noise-canceling headphones by Denon, a Ferragamo special amenity kit, a welcome drink and dedicated bar, turnup service and sleeping kit on long haul flights, a snack bar, Turkish coffee and Turkish delight service, a special menu with gourmet meals, hot towel service, dedicated lavatory with live plants, and more.

A Premium Onboard Dining Experience

Turkish Airlines

Stopover Service – Discover the Wonders of Istanbul and Beyond

Turkish Airlines offers passengers award-winning cuisine featuring premium menus prepared with fresh ingredients, courtesy of Turkish DO & CO. With a strong commitment for its quality of service and maintaining its status of the airline with the world’s best inflight dining concept, Turkish Airlines launched new inflight menus this year for domestic and international flights. The new menus draw inspiration from healthy nutrition trends and include eclectic flavors from traditional Turkish cuisine and global cuisines, with 80% of ingredients sourced from local producers. Flying Chefs, a unique in-flight chef service offered on all long-distance flights and some short distance flights, offers passengers the luxury experience of dining at a restaurant high above the clouds.

Turkish Airlines offers its passengers the opportunity to discover the world’s connection center, Istanbul, and its unique wonders with its stopover accommodation service for passengers with lengthy transfer times. As part of its Stopover Service, Turkish Airlines provides a two-night stay in a 4-star hotel for economy class travelers and a three-night stay in a 5-star hotel for business class passengers.

For travelers looking to extend their stay, Türkiye offers 24 golf courses, 15 of which are nestled together in Antalya in the region of Belek, close to the Mediterranean Sea, and known as the Turkish Riviera. Antalya, notably the Belek resort area, offers luxury hotels and resorts with international standards of luxury, superb accommodations, a gourmet dining and pampering service and features numerous championship courses.

Türkiye is a modern country with a captivating blend of antiquity and contemporary and of East and West. The cradle of civilization and center of world history today stands as one of the fastest-growing tourism destinations in the world. Its spectacular coastline, majestic mountains, cosmopolitan cities, and quaint villages make it one of the world’s most fascinating destinations.

Park Hyatt Aviara

ULTIMATE GOLF GETAWAYS

NEW ZEALAND

You’ve been dreaming about it ever since that first time you saw a photo of Kauri Cliffs. Here’s why you should go now—and what you need to know before heading south on an epic golf adventure.

Kauri Cliffs

Photo: Jacob Sjöman

Local FLAVOR

For a true taste of New Zealand golf culture, tee it up at one of the nation’s uniquely Kiwi “country courses.”

New Zealand is known for luxury golf resorts.

New Zealand

Kauri Cliffs pioneered this trend when it opened in 1999, and some two dozen elite courses have since debuted, frequently accompanied by stellar accommodations (with prices to match). This template has become the global face of Kiwi golf, but what of the Kiwis themselves?

The locals, it turns out, lean very much the other way. Kiwis are famously without airs, an ethos faithfully reflected in the nation’s collection of “country courses.” These casual, obscure, rough-hewn, frequently magisterial, and always idiosyncratic layouts are sprinkled across the North and South islands. Invariably modest, they tend to exist in remote locations where honor boxes prevail and sheep maintain the fairways (but not the greens, thanks to perimeter fencing).

The bulk of the country courses were developed in the 1950s and ’60s by farmers operating their own DC3 Oliver tractors. And they might well have remained a national secret if it weren’t for, ironically, a man largely responsible for New Zealand’s luxury-golf reputation.

Tom Doak arrived in New Zealand in 2002 to build Kauri Cliffs’ sister course at Cape Kidnappers. He would later return to create Tara Iti GC and, next door, Te Arai Links. Each time, he was accompanied by a coterie of course-shaping design nerds who, along with their likeminded boss, fell in love with these rusticated, off-brochure golf experiences. Their subsequent evangelism has drawn

far-flung Doak acolytes and minimalist-architecture mavens to the country courses, in addition to well-heeled tourists looking to break up the drive between resort venues.

Here, a few of our favorite local spots from Auckland to Aoraki.

90 Mile Beach Golf Links

Raw, subtropical links just south of 90 Mile Beach in Ahipara, five hours north of Auckland by car. Formerly known as Kaitaia Golf Club, the course features 18 gorgeous all-weather holes, with an outside loop that is truly sublime.

Waitara Golf Club

Seaside parkland layout three hours west of Taupo, highlighted by what Doak shaper Clyde Johnson calls a “cracking seven-hole stretch that tracks along the rugged Taranaki coastline and back, over perfectly scaled dunes.”

Waverley Golf Club

Johnson, who now has his own shop (Cunning Golf Design), calls Waverley “an adventurous journey over varied inland dunes, interspersed with half-par holes that tempt and frustrate.” Great fun and just 90 minutes south of Waitara.

Hokitika Golf Club

The first president of this nearly 120-year-old club was turn-of-thecentury New Zealand prime minister Richard Seddon. Set on the South Island’s wild and rugged west coast, the club’s 18-hole, out-and-back links course borders the Tasman Sea and offers fantastic views of Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak.

Where honor boxes prevail and sheep maintain the fairways.

Kawhia Golf Club

Nine quirky, exhilarating holes routed over flamboyant terrain, with greens to match (some of them perfectly rectangular). This region south of Auckland is known for its black-iron-sand beaches, visible across the peninsula from the high ground at Kawhia, which is nevertheless bunker-less.

hal phillips

New Zealand

Roxburgh Golf Club

Par-68 thrill ride set amid a South Island moonscape accented by outcroppings of shist rock. Roxburgh is almost too organized to be considered a country course (it even has a website, www. roxburghgolfclub.co.nz, when many of its contemporaries get by with Facebook pages at best). But it qualifies based on its absolute middle-of-nowhere location—and the fact that it’s well worth the trek.

Photos, this spread: Leo Barber

The Course That Started It All

How an American businessman turned New Zealand into a golf mecca.

On a recent visit to what is now known as Rosewood Kauri Cli s, my wife and I were the only guests on property. We were ably catered to by a cadre of servers, chefs, golf pros, and other sta , and each night a fresh tasting menu with wine pairings awaited us. Most signi cantly, we also had one of the best golf courses in the world virtually to ourselves.

Such an intimate, exclusive golf experience—one that you won’t nd at Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, or other top golf resorts—owes to the vision of billionaire American hedge-fund manager, developer, and philanthropist Julian Robertson. When he opened Kauri Cli s in 1999, Robertson essentially created a new class of golf experience, one that he and other developers have since used as a model for New Zealand’s elite lineup of luxury golf resorts.

New Zealand

“The player who can control his trajectory will be master of the course.” —TOM DOAK

“Golf travelers everywhere owe a debt to the Robertsons,” says Ray Geffree, director of golf at Cape Kidnappers, which Robertson opened in 2004 outside of Hawkes Bay. “Others have since followed and riffed on their example, but the Robertsons almost single-handedly created this country’s luxury destination golf brand.”

The Robertson family bought the 6,000-acre property that would become Kauri Cliffs in 1995. The site lies in the northern Bay of Islands and rolls across high cliffs hiding three private beaches below, including the unmissable Pink Beach, where the colorful sands are made of millions of broken-down shells.

Golf architect Dave Harmon visited more than threedozen times to design an inspired and unusual collection of golf holes in this unique setting. At various times the course brings to mind Lowcountry golf in the Carolinas; windy oceanside holes in Hawaii; Irish links complete with spectating sheep; and Western mountain golf where using the terrain to move the ball toward the hole may be your most successful strategy. The par-3s, all requiring ravine crossings, are especially dramatic. And best of all, even with the ample attention it has received since opening a quarter century ago, Kauri Cliffs hosts a mere 50 rounds on a busy day.

Robertson followed on the success of Kauri Cliffs by

purchasing 6,000 acres on a peninsula in prime New Zealand wine country. There, he built Cape Kidnappers, a country retreat on a working sheep and cattle farm. He also created a wildlife sanctuary to protect native species, a collection of villas and suites, and a Tom Doak golf course that, like its predecessor, would soon rank among the top layouts in the world.

“The play is seaside golf at its finest,” Doak says. “The surface is firm and fast, the conditions can be windy, and the player who can control his trajectory will be master of the course. You’ll hit shots over the tops of tea trees and play along the edges of deep ravines.”

Robertson bought the final property in his masterful triumvirate, Matakauri Lodge, in 2009. The resort, outside of the adventure capital of Queenstown on the South Island, lacks a golf course but serves as an ideal first or last stop on a journey through the Robertson portfolio.

That portfolio, now managed by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, stretches from Queenstown to the northern tip of the North Island, where Kauri Cliffs’ plantation-style suites and villas overlook the Pacific from a high promontory. In addition to golf, the resorts offer hiking, tennis, fishing, sailing, wine tasting, cultural experiences, and more. And if you’re lucky, you might just have it all to yourself.

—jeff wallach

Kauri Cliffs (above); Cape Kidnappers (top right).

Photo: Nick Wall/AirSwing

Huka’s 100th

Perfect Pairing

John Darby is one of the reasons that golf and wine converge with such vigor in Queenstown. The landscape architect helped develop the famed resort destination’s two top golf clubs: Jack’s Point and Millbrook. He also founded Amisfield, one of Central Otago’s most respected vineyards (whose eponymous restaurant in Queenstown proper is divine). Golf and wine will also come together at Gibbston Valley, located just east of town, which has produced the region’s renowned Pinot Noir longer than anyone. Later this year, the vineyard’s lodge, spa, restaurants, wine cave, and real estate community will welcome nine new golf holes. —H.P.

New Zealand

Long before there was Kauri Cliffs, Huka Lodge at Taupō created the template for what would become New Zealand’s signature blend of luxury accommodations and outdoor adventures. Now known as the grand dame of luxury lodges in the country, Huka had humble beginnings, in 1924, as a fishing outpost along the Waikato River. It gradually evolved into a world-class retreat with a who’s who roster of visitors over the years. This December, just in time to celebrate its centennial, Huka will reopen after a significant renovation by its new owners, Baillie Lodges. The transformation includes updates to the main lodge, the 20 generously proportioned suites, the two owners’ residences, and the spa huts and wellness grounds. Still intact is Huka’s legendary roster of activities, featuring everything from flyfishing and jet boating to sky diving and heli-hiking. Though not a golf resort, the lodge is only five minutes from Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary and about 20 minutes from the Jack Nicklaus–designed course at Kinloch GC. jill robinson

Amisfield Vineyard

DUNES Doppelgänger

New Zealand

Te Arai Links feels like an old, beloved friend to this Oregonian golf writer.

You approach with a “whatthe-what?” expression, wondering if maybe you made a wrong turn.

If you’ve ever had a stranger rush up to hug you and call you by someone else’s name, you understand the concept that we all have someone roaming the world who looks just like us. And if you were, say, the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, your doppelgänger would surely be Te Arai Links on New Zealand’s North Island.

As an Oregonian who’s lucky enough to live just 200 miles from Bandon, I’ve played all the courses there dozens of times. Arriving at Te Arai last year, I essentially rushed up and embraced the terrain, whispering, “Hello, old friend.”

It starts with the fact that Te Arai, like Bandon, awaits at the end of a long drive through remote country. You approach with a “what-the-what?” expression, wondering if maybe you made a wrong turn a while back. Then you see it: the perfect grassy expanses of green rolling dunes pocked with occasional flags, the sublime bunkering, the absolute perfection of the blending of masterful golf architecture and spectacular natural terrain carpeted in dreamy soft fescue. All set by the ocean, with holes stretching toward and away from the blue horizon.

The view, as at Bandon, is not marred by golf carts—all

layouts at both properties are walking only, with no housing crowding the golf holes. The similarities extend to the artists who worked on each of these properties: Both resorts boast some of the best designs executed by Tom Doak and the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.

Even some of the specific holes at Te Arai bring to mind holes at Bandon, featuring giant punchbowl greens, waste areas, and muscular earthworks. Doak’s new North Course at Te Arai encompasses exposed red rock faces, like the legendary 16th hole on the original Bandon Dunes course.

Both resorts were also created by wealthy American visionaries on two of the world’s best sites for the game. Mike Keiser, Bandon’s founder, is legendary for risking his own money to build the resort’s first course on a stunning site that’s convenient to nothing and nowhere. In New Zealand, Jim Rohrstaff and Ric Kayne took a similar gamble, although Te Arai is only an hour from Auckland and its amenities are noticeably more upscale and stylish.

“Bandon was absolutely an inspiration,” Rohrstaff says. “We admire what Mike Keiser did there with pure destination golf and the tradition of walking. We’re flattered by comparisons to Bandon.”

Even with the many similarities between the two, in the end, Te Arai, like Bandon Dunes, is a one-of-a-kind golf experience. —j.w.

Photo: Ricky Robinson

Kai Master Class

A food tour like no other with the former captain of the Māori All Blacks.

Former professional rugby player—and once-captain of the New Zealand Māori All Blacks—Deon Muir today leads guided adventures into the world of Māori cuisine through his Muirs Tours. The tangata whenua (people of the land) maintain a sustainable balance with the natural world, and their food, known as kai, reflects a respect of its bounty. Muir shares his Māori worldview on explorations around the seaside community of Maketū, in the North Island’s Bay of Plenty. His years of fishing, diving, hunting, and gathering bring a lifetime of perspective and knowledge to the experiences, which include a 6.5-hour privately guided ocean trip where you can learn different fishing and filleting techniques. The premium tour package is an 8-hour land-and-sea adventure that begins with a scenic helicopter flight and includes an introduction to cultural landmarks around Maketū, fishing time on the ocean, and a dining experience with Karena and Kasey Bird, sisters and MasterChef New Zealand winners. —j.r.

New Zealand

Star Power

Three hours from Christchurch, at the base of the Southern Alps, lies milky turquoise Lake Tekapo. The accompanying town isn’t much—a couple of restaurants, a few hostelries, and a lot of sheep—which is part of what makes it so special. Miles from anywhere, Tekapo sits amid 1.1 million acres designated a UNESCO Dark Sky Reserve, where the near total lack of light pollution ensures the clearest view of the night sky you’ll ever see. Several outfitters offer sky tours from mountaintops, hot springs, craters, and other locations. Expect to see close-ups of the moon, Milky Way, constellations, and nearby roaming planets through a telescope, with explanations provided by professional astronomers. Book in advance. —j.w.

Ōhope Beach, Bay of Plenty (left); Muirs Tours feast (below).

KIWI Couture

Fantl Sport makes golf clothing cut out specifically for New Zealand, with an appeal far beyond.

New Zealand

Dan Fantl founded Fantl Sport to solve the clothing challenges golfers face in his home country’s unpredictable climate. But drab waterproof jackets and scratchy wool sweaters Fantl Sport is not. New Zealand’s climate might not be so agreeable, but the country shares a casual, laid-back lifestyle with California, an influence that’s unmistakable in Fantl’s street-smart and course-ready designs.

Golf is just the beginning for Fantl, who wants to move beyond overly branded course wear and develop a lifestyle brand focused on versatility, durability, and comfort. “We’re creating incredible product, but ultimately, how do we get people to stay on the golf course, and then how does golf become the entry point to a bigger health and wellness journey?” he says. “That’s the dream.”

Of course, Fantl is still fanatical about golf, and counts Auckland’s Muriwai Golf Club as his home course. He’s also happy to make the 90-minute drive outside of Auckland to Te Arai Links, or head farther afield to the Kinloch Club in Taupō.

If you’re readying to the hit the links in New Zealand, here are a few ways to look like a local—and be prepared for any kind of conditions. —j.r.

Clockwise from above: Fantl Sport’s Hybrid Half Zip and Hybrid Short; founder Dan Fantl wearing Claire Cap, Edwin Tee, and Peter Pant; model in Birdie New Era Strapback Hat, Hybrid Half Zip, and Hybrid Short.

IRELAND

From County Clare to the Causeway Coast, we explore the Emerald Isle’s links, drinks, castles, and hidden corners. Don’t forget your rain gear.

Adare Manor

Of Castles and Courses

Two of Ireland’s storied traditions are linked together at three historic hotels.

Medieval times in Ireland were volatile. Power was fragile, allies were fickle. For kings, earls, and landowners of the era, a good castle communicated strength and inspired awe. It was also very hard to destroy.

All of which might explain why Ireland is home to more than 3,000 castles today, many remaining in remarkable condition. A few of the finest examples even uphold at least part of their original purpose: to house people in luxury and treat them as royalty. Each of the three convertedcastle hotels outlined here offers an elegant taste of ancient Irish history—and an ideal home base for playing some of the country’s top golf courses.

Dromoland Castle, County Clare

Dromoland Castle was the ancestral home of the O’Briens, and castles in different forms have existed here for more than 1,000 years. The O’Brien family pedigree—which is recorded on paper that is 36 feet long and stored in a vault at Lloyd’s of London—dates to the beginning of the second millennium and to Brian Boru, one of the last High Kings of Ireland.

Set within what is now a 500-acre estate, the existing castle was built by the Lord of Dromoland, Sir Edward O’Brien, in the early 1800s and converted into a hotel in 1962. It remains a destination of rare sophistication, where guests can row on the lake, enjoy the 18-hole championship golf course, play tennis or pickleball, or simply take in the stunning and expansive walled garden, which is modeled on the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.

This year, the resort debuted Dromoland Lodge, an exclusive five-bedroom retreat set along the golf course’s 14th hole. In addition to Dromoland’s parkland course, guests can also play nearby clubs including Lahinch and Ballybunion.

Family Ties

Given its many American guests with Irish roots, Dromoland Castle employs an in-house genealogist, Lorna Moloney. A weeks-long consultation, which begins before a guest’s arrival, enables Moloney to prepare a detailed genealogy report, accompanied by suggestions for next steps if guests want to dig deeper. The report is typically presented to Dromoland guests over tea and scones, when Moloney might recommend specific Irish towns, castles, or graveyards where familial connections can be confirmed and explored.

Lough Eske Castle, County Donegal

Lough Eske Castle, as it stands, dates to 1861, although the estate spent previous centuries as the seat of the powerful O’Donnell clan. Lough Eske lies to the northeast of Donegal Town in western Ireland, a ording views of the Blue Stack Mountains—and a true sense of retreat. e Elizabethanstyle castle is equipped with a spa, and guests can explore the estate on bicycles or via horse-drawn carriage. Links golf is available at nearby Donegal Golf Club, which anks the ocean along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, where a coastal breeze is guaranteed.

Ashford Castle, County Mayo

e oldest parts of Ashford Castle will celebrate their 800th birthday in 2028. e castle was once the primary stronghold of the Anglo-Norman de Burgo family. In 1852, it came under ownership of the Guinness family from Dublin, and it rst became a country hotel a er World War II.

Beginning in 2013, Red Carnation Hotels spent ve years renovating Ashford Castle, including repairs to more than 40 battlements and the tting of 130 chandeliers. e Connaught Room is exquisite for a ernoon tea, and tunnels under the castle have been converted into wine cellars. Whether for snooker, chess, or a game of cards, the Billiards Room will beckon as day turns into night.

Ashford Castle boasts nine golf holes on rolling parkland that was once the deer park, and classic links golf is available nearby at Connemara, Carne, Enniscrone, and Sligo. —ROBIN BARWICK

Ireland

The Light and Dark of Dublin

Dublin is a city that de es de nition: It is old yet embraces everything new. It is maritime yet tied on three anks to rich agricultural land. It is traditional up one street, Bohemian down the next. You nd tranquility in its parks while rock and roll pulses in its pubs and bars. Ultimately, Dublin is a city loved by its own, and one that treasures its visitors in turn. To borrow words from local band U2, every day in Dublin is a “Beautiful Day”, although it might come in “Mysterious Ways”. Here, a few recommendations for a beautiful day or night in Dublin.

Guinness Storehouse

e famous “Black Stu ”—the slow-settling porter called Guinness—originated in St. James’s Gate, old Dublin. In 1759, enterprising brewer Arthur Guinness gambled £45 a year on a 9,000-year lease on the brewery. e Guinness Storehouse was built here in 1904, and today it houses a colorful and interactive exhibition. Ensure your interactions end with a pint at the roo op Gravity Bar.

Dromoland Castle (left); afternoon tea at Ashford Castle (below); Guinness Storehouse (top right).

ULTIMATE GOLF GETAWAYS

Trinity College

Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, and Jonathan Swift are among the literary legends who studied at Trinity. The idyllic campus dates to 1592 and leaves all visitors wondering if they can still enroll. Don’t miss the awe-inspiring Long Room Library and its 200,000 books. The Book of Kells, dating to 800 A.D., is displayed in Trinity’s Treasury, so brush up on your Latin.

Little Museum of Dublin

Take a stroll through tranquil St. Stephen’s Green before ducking into the eccentric Little Museum of Dublin. This is a homey place, displaying a collection of items that are donated by Dubliners, to show what this dynamic city means to them. Be immersed in the paintings, furniture, photographs, and memorabilia that encapsulate the Irish capital over the past century. One floor is dedicated to U2, while the Hatch & Sons basement kitchen serves traditional smoked fish.

Pub Crawl

The city pubs epitomize Dublin’s age-old welcoming nature. For flowing pints and live Irish music, try the Stag’s Head on Dame Court or O’Donoghue’s on Merrion Row. For a flavor of historic Dublin, head to the Long Hall on South Great George’s Street, which was established in 1766. Bruce Springsteen is known to enjoy a pint there when he’s in town.

Dublin Bay Cruise

Catch a boat from the city at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay on the River Liffey, and enjoy a tour of Dublin Bay, flirting with the Irish Sea. Take in Poolbeg Lighthouse, Dalkey Island, Dun Laoghaire Harbour, and the spectacular Howth Cliffs.

Home Base

The Westbury, on Balfe Street, is within easy walking distance of all our recommendations above. (Admittedly, it’s about 1.5 miles from the Guinness Storehouse, but the walk back might be beneficial.) Afternoon tea in the Gallery should be compulsory, as guests enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the bustle on Harry Street below and Grafton Street beyond. We also suggest a nightcap in the Sidecar, with art deco décor, where bartenders prepare martinis from a tableside cart. —r.b.

Trinity Library (left); the Stag’s Head (below); Christy O’Connor Jnr (bottom right).

Cup of the Irish

Luck doesn’t explain Ireland’s long and legendary tradition at golf’s incomparable trans-Atlantic competition.

It was the late Christy O’Connor Jnr, from Galway, who broke the seal. He was 41 years old at the 1989 Ryder Cup at the Belfry. His career until that point had skirted around the fringe of the Ryder Cup, and his selection for the team that year was widely and harshly ridiculed by the British press.

Ultimately, retaining the Ryder Cup came down to O’Connor’s final shot on the 18th hole, in singles against American talisman Fred Couples. O’Connor played a two-iron to the green, from 229 yards and with a lake to clear, and he delivered his ball to within four feet of the hole. Couples then sprayed his approach wide, couldn’t get up and down, and without even the need to putt, O’Connor prevented the U.S. from reclaiming the cherished cup. The newspapers printed their apologies.

The Irish magic at the Ryder Cup continued with Dubliner Philip Walton, who secured Europe’s winning point in 1995 at Oak Hill. In 2002, back at the Belfry, fellow Dubliner Paul McGinley (see story at right) holed the clinching putt on the 18th green. At the K Club outside Dublin in 2006—Ireland’s debut as Ryder Cup host—Northern Irishman Darren Clarke was the hero on Arnold Palmer’s golf course.

In 2010, it was the turn of Portrush-born Graeme McDowell at Celtic Manor in Wales. Most recently, another Northern Irishman, Rory McIlroy, made the difference. McIlroy did not hole the winning putt last year, but he led Europe to success in Rome, finishing the week as the only player from either team to secure four points.

Ireland’s rich Ryder Cup heritage will reach a new level in 2027, when the biannual matches arrive at Adare Manor in County Limerick. We can’t know who, how, or when, but we expect an Irishman to once again raise his game at the Ryder Cup. —r.b.

Paul McGinley’s IRELAND

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The former Ryder Cup star player and captain—and Dublin native—grew up playing the great links courses of the Emerald Isle. ROBIN BARWICK picked his brain.

Amateur Access

Trying to pick your favorite golf course in Ireland is like trying to pick a favorite from your children!”

“Growing up, we played all of Ireland’s best courses in amateur tournaments. The ‘North of Ireland’ was played at Royal Portrush, the ‘West of Ireland’ was played at Rosses Point in County Sligo, the ‘South of Ireland’ was played at Lahinch, and the ‘East of Ireland’ was played at Baltray in County Louth. My favorite golf course in Ireland has always been Royal Portrush, and County Louth would be the other. Royal County Down is also fantastic. Trying to pick your favorite golf course in Ireland is like trying to pick a favorite from your children! They are all great. County Down is an elite golf course, and there are seven or eight in Ireland of that standard.”

Open Ambitions

“In terms of hosting professional events, our best two courses are probably Waterville and Portmarnock. There has been a lot of media speculation that the Open might go to Portmarnock one day, and I really hope it does. There are some fantastic holes at Portmarnock and a lot of variety. The Irish people would embrace the Open, and Portmarnock is the perfect location, being just outside Dublin and near the airport. Portmarnock has everything the R&A looks for in a host venue. My fingers are crossed that in my lifetime we will see the Open there.”

Parkland Specials

“In Ireland we have four brilliant inland clubs in particular: Adare Manor, the K Club, Mount Juliet, and Killeen Castle, which held the Solheim Cup. I go down to Adare Manor regularly. The hotel and the facilities are just amazing, and it stands toe to toe with any of the best hotels in the world. A lot of investment has gone into the golf course, and it has become the Augusta National of Europe. The spa and the fitness center are great, the walks around the property, the ambience in the hotel, the service, the food, the quality of everything is out of this world. It is absolutely six-star.”

Time for a Pint

“Irish pubs always have a lot of character. Kenny’s in Lahinch is very popular, and they have live traditional music there on most evenings, particularly during the summer. O’Donoghue’s in Dublin is one of our most famous pubs, but every town in Ireland has great pubs.”

The Next Frontier

“Tee times in southwest Ireland are getting extremely hard to find, and sometimes you can’t even get a tee time for next year, and so golfers are beginning to migrate north, to Donegal. On the Atlantic coast, this is the next frontier of Irish golf. My design company has a big renovation project ongoing at Donegal GC, which is an excellent golf course, and we are working at a hidden gem called Portsalon, which is enjoying increasing popularity. Then there is Dunfanaghy, and that is the golf course my dad grew up on. My dad was a 1-handicap for most of his life, and he is the reason I got into golf. If the regions of Ireland were stock, I would be buying Donegal. There is a place in Donegal called Rosapenna, and up there is a golf course designed by Old Tom Morris, which really is a hidden gem. Rosapenna is becoming more popular, and demand is only going to grow.”

Links of NORTHERN IRELAND

The Causeway Coast is the crown of Northern Ireland. It is craggy, weather-beaten, and bejeweled with a rare array of nature, great golf courses, and drops of golden Irish whiskey. Centering on the old fishing town of Portrush, we have compiled a four-day itinerary featuring three golf courses that might be as good as any links trio anywhere. This one is for the links connoisseur.

Castlerock

From Belfast International Airport, it is a 50-mile, northwesterly drive through green and rolling countryside to the Causeway Coast at Castlerock. Forgoing a gentle warm-up on this tour, we head straight into the thick of vintage Irish links on the classic Mussenden Course at Castlerock Golf Club, alongside the River Bann estuary. This 18-hole layout,

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defined by peaking dunes and forbidding pot bunkers, opened in 1901, before being shaped by clubmaker Ben Sayer and, later, by Harry Colt.

From Castlerock it is a 12-mile drive to Portrush, which is the ideal hub for this Causeway tour. For traditional Irish hospitality, stay at the Antrim House Bed & Breakfast, right in the heart of town. The many pubs and restaurants of Portrush are an easy walk from here.

Portstewart

At breakfast in Antrim House, try the hot porridge before your day on the links. Note the bottle of Bushmills by the porridge pot, for extra warmth (optional).

From the center of Portrush, it is a five-mile drive back west to Portstewart Golf Club, home to 45 holes amid one of the most dramatic dune systems anywhere in the British Isles. The championship Strand course can be tight and twisting, but it is not to be missed, and hardy golfers will enjoy the par-64 Old Course and the Riverside nine.

Giant’s Causeway

A break from golf gives the chance to travel eight miles up the coastline to the Giant’s Causeway, which is Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site. The enigmatic, hexagonal, basalt columns took their defiant stance against the Northern Atlantic almost 60 million years ago, at a time when the Emerald Isle literally split from North America. Or you might prefer the legend of Finn McCool,

Consider This…

Dress Appropriately: Wind supplies the strongest defense for any links course, and the Causeway Coast receives its share, usually the prevailing southwesterlies off the Atlantic. Wind speeds of 20 miles per hour are normal. Anything less is a gift to golfers from somewhere above. The winds can chill golfers to the bones, so bring layers and a woolly hat, even in summer.

Ireland’s Trailblazer: The first Irishman to win a major was Fred Daly, born and bred of Portrush, who won the Open at Royal Liverpool in 1947. By the age of 10, Daly worked among the caddie ranks at Royal Portrush, and as a young man he was part of the workforce that applied Harry Colt’s renovations. Daly was born in Lower Causeway Street in the heart of Portrush in 1911, and on his death, in 1990, he was buried in the town’s Ballywillan Church graveyard. Half Measures: At Portrush, the halfway house on the Dunluce Course is called the Tavern, and when the flag is flying above the Tavern, golfers know it is open for business. If the winds are up, a local favorite is hot Bushmills. A pint of Guinness is also popular, although the bestseller in the Tavern is its hot soup of the day.

Royal Portrush (left) and Castlerock (below).

a giant who is said to have built the Causeway in order to cross the Irish Sea to face his Scottish rival, Benandonner.

A compulsory diversion on the journey back to Portrush comes at the Bushmills Distillery, founded in 1608 and now the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. See how malted barley is triple distilled in copper pot stills, before tasting the golden produce and enjoying a traditional, hearty County Antrim dinner at the Bushmills Inn.

Royal Portrush

Is Royal Portrush on day four saving the best for last? You can decide in the bar afterward.

The mighty Portrush offers a pair of 18-hole courses, the Dunluce and the Valley, with the Dunluce being the only golf course outside England and Scotland to have staged the Open. The course, renovated by Harry Colt in 1929, hosted the event in 1951 and 2019, and it will do so again next year. To get the most of this legendary links—as with all the great links courses—hire a caddie. The breaks on the greens can be surprising, and these people know them all, as well as more than a few tall tales.

Top off your round with a pint at the Rathmore Club, at the town end of the Portrush links. Rathmore is the locals’ club that enjoys access to the Royal Portrush courses, and this is where the U.S. Open champ of 2010, Graeme McDowell, grew up. He donated a replica of the U.S. Open trophy to the club, which takes pride of place in the clubhouse. —r.b.

Lasting LEGACIES

In Newcastle, Northern Ireland, Royal County Down and the Slieve Donard hotel form a timeless bond.

With the Mourn Mountains behind me and the rhythmic sound of the Irish Sea in my ears, I look down the first fairway—a gently rumpled corridor of short-mown fescue nestled between two angular dunes. I pause, taking a couple of deep breaths to settle my quickening pulse. It’s true that you only get one chance to make a first impression, and Royal County Down immediately turns on the charm.

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My arrival the night before at the Slieve Donard hotel, in Newcastle, Northern Ireland, solicited a similar response. The reception desk, which resembles an old-fashioned railway ticket window, rises from a chestnut-brown parquet floor in the high-ceilinged lobby, opposite a wood-burning fireplace framed with lush greenery. Busts of antlered deer share wall space with paintings of idyllic landscapes, all part of a faithful re-creation of the lobby as it existed at the turn of the 20th century. The hotel’s design team referenced an antique oil painting of the space when undertaking a recent $20 million renovation.

“There’s just so much to take in; your eye is drawn to so many different things. It’s almost sensory overload,” opines Michael Weston, the hotel’s former general manager. “When you walk through those doors, you can almost picture yourself being in a period drama. It is almost as if you’re transported back in time but with a modern twist.”

The Slieve Donard hotel and Royal County Down, frequently in tandem, have enraptured visitors for 135 years—in ways that go far beyond first impressions.

Across the 7,186-yard masterpiece designed by Old Tom Morris and, later, Harry Colt, the aforementioned dunes— blanketed by heather, Marram grasses, and gorse—inject an inherent drama from one shot to the next. On the fourth hole, I watch with bated breath from the elevated tee box as my high-arching shot hangs in the air for several seconds before landing on the putting surface. The very next hole delivers an even more prolonged sense of anticipation, as I have to crest a steep dune to discover if my flared drive has avoided an untimely—and prickly—demise inside a patch of gorse bushes. Even Royal County Down’s routing enhances

Giant’s Causeway (left); Royal County Down (above); Slieve Donard’s restored lobby (right).

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the variance of play, as the course’s pair of distinctive ninehole loops require golfers to continuously readjust to the wind’s direction.

It’s the beauty and the beast. The place is some of the most beautiful scenery around, and yet it’s a very difficult golf course.”

—KEVAN WHITSON

“That’s the great part of this golf course; it’s the beauty and the beast,” says Kevan Whitson, the club’s head professional and director of golf. “The place is some of the most beautiful scenery around, and yet it’s a very difficult golf course. When it’s hard and running in the summertime, the undulations gather the ball and move it into all sorts of places. Most of our greens are like slightly upturned saucers, so even just hitting some of the greens requires an extremely good shot.

“But that’s what the great courses tend to do,” he continues. “They make you play a bit defensively. If you hit really good golf shots, you’re rewarded. But if you hit really poor golf shots, you go into some horrific places, which are very difficult to recover from.”

Fortunately, recovery is offered in a variety of forms inside the Slieve Donard, located a mere five-minute walk from Royal County Down’s clubhouse. From therapeutic treatments inside the destination spa to nourishment at any of four restaurants and bars, the hotel specializes in rejuvenation. More than just an elegant place to retire, however, the historic property stands as a proud symbol for this part of the Emerald Isle. “It’s not a hotel,” Weston says. “It’s an institution that has touched probably every family in Northern Ireland in some way, shape, or form.” —shaun tolson

CALIFORNIA

Windswept coastal stunners, demanding desert resort courses— golf in the Golden State offers something for everyone. Here’s how we like to mix it up from San Diego to the Sierra Nevada.

Alternative POWER

California is graced with more marquee golf courses than just about any other state. But what about the days when you can’t book (or don’t want to pay for) Pebble Beach or PGA West? Fortunately, the Golden State is also filled with under-the-radar alternatives to its world-famous courses, masterpiece municipal or otherwise open-to-the-public venues that are easier to get onto and just as easy to enjoy. Here, a few of our favorite “dupe” courses from the desert to the coast.

San Diego

Everyone wants to play Torrey Pines South, the renowned municipal facility perched right above the Pacific Ocean. Instead, sail about 15 miles south to Coronado Golf Course, where many locals prefer to play at a fraction of the price (and with more available tee times). The flat, player friendly, walkable course wraps around charming Coronado Island and its harbor, with several holes directly on the water, offering perhaps the most enjoyable golf experience in town.

Orange County

The 36 holes at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast have rightfully garnered international acclaim. Greens fees are accordingly steep, and tee times can be hard to come by, but a great low-key alternative can be found by

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heading slightly down the coast and a half mile inland to San Clemente Municipal Golf Course. Each of the 18 holes at this classic from Billy Bell—whose resume includes many top-ranked Golden State courses—offers an ocean panorama. The course is rarely in outstanding condition, but it’s never in bad shape either.

Los Angeles

L.A. is loaded with great golf courses, but almost all of them are private. One shining exception to that rule is Rancho Park Golf Course, a well-maintained municipal tract across from Fox Studios on Pico Boulevard. The course, also designed by Billy Bell, hosted 18 Los Angeles Opens in its heyday, and it still presents a solid challenge for elite golfers. But you’ll find players of every skill level at this L.A. landmark, especially at its double-decker driving range.

Santa Barbara

This gorgeous seaside town north of Los Angeles draws tourists mainly for its beaches, historic mission, wine country, and other notable attractions. Golf is fairly low on the list of priorities, which might explain why Sandpiper Golf Club isn’t more famous than it is. Situated on cliffs at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, the 7,159-yard masterpiece is nothing short of spectacular, offering dramatic terrain and holes that recall those of Pebble Beach Golf Links.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find another nearby course this fun and fantastically conditioned.

Monterey

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If you’ve never played Pebble Beach Golf Links, you must. But you can also meander five miles up the famed 17 Mile Drive to Pacific Grove Golf Links, a walkable, scenic gem with ample ocean views and almost no photo-snapping tourists. It’s both affordable and awesome—often ranked among America’s top public courses—with gently rolling fairways on the front nine and links-style holes on the back.

San Francisco

Not exactly under-the-radar—it hosted the 2020 PGA Championship, after all—or easy to get onto, TPC Harding Park (see “Swing Through San Francisco”) is still an accessible and exceptional alternative to its legendary Lake Merced neighbor, the Olympic Club. Harding Park was designed by William Watson and Sam Whiting, who also built the Olympic Club’s courses, and offers a similar cypress-lined, waterfront golf experience.

Palm Desert

The dozen or so top-notch resort courses along the Palm Springs–Indio corridor tend to cater to their hotel guests, who often play at a painfully slow pace. For a brisker round, head to Desert Willow Golf Resort. You’ll be hardpressed to find another nearby course this fun, upscale, and fantastically conditioned. Desert Willow is challenging but not unreasonably so; expect to score well and play fast. scott kramer

Desert KING

Arnold Palmer is more often associated with Pennsylvania, where he grew up, or with Florida, where he owned the Bay Hill Club, but Southern California held a special place in his life and career.

Arnold Palmer formed a lasting bond with Palm Springs in Southern California’s Coachella Valley. The winter climate in the resort town is made for golf, and Palmer played particularly well there, especially in the Bob Hope Desert Classic (now called the American Express).

“The ‘Hope’ was one of my favorite tournaments,” wrote Palmer in his autobiography, A Golfer’s Life. “I always seemed to find my game there and won the tournament a record five times.”

Palmer also had personal ties to Palm Springs, including a close friendship with Bob Hope himself, but his success in the desert predated his friend’s namesake tournament. In 1959, Palmer won the precursor to the Bob Hope, the Thunderbird Invitational, on a golf course where he often scored low—and where he would become a member—the famous Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage.

The golf course at Thunderbird was built in 1950 on land that had been a dude ranch. Among its founding investors were Hope and Bing Crosby, whom Ben Hogan called crazy for building a golf course out in the sticks of the Coachella Valley.

Hogan turned out to be the one out of touch with reality. Today, there are more than 130 golf courses in the Coachella Valley, and it all started with Thunderbird. In its day, the club held so much cachet that Ford named its answer to the Chevrolet Corvette after it, and the first Thunderbird to roll off the production line was presented to the club.

ARNOLD PALMER’S FIFTH VICTORY in the Bob Hope Desert Classic, in 1973, would be his last win on the PGA Tour.

Palmer overtook his age-old rival, Jack Nicklaus, in the final round at Bermuda Dunes. “It seemed like old times out there,” said Palmer, who was presented with the trophy by Linda Carter, before she found fame as Wonder Woman.

Sandpiper Golf Club (left); Desert Willow Golf Resort (above).

Palmer’s connection to Palm Springs would continue for decades after his initial victory. In 1988, the Arnold Palmer Private Course—part of the nine-course PGA West community in La Quinta—joined the rotation for the Bob Hope Desert Classic. Most famously, it was on the Palmer Private Course in 1999 where David Duval shot a 59, 13 under par, to win. It was the third 59 in PGA Tour history, but the first in a final round. Duval described it as “the easiest round of golf I ever played.”

More or less next door to PGA West, the stunning desert oasis of Tradition Golf Club in La Quinta, with a backdrop of the Santa Rosa Mountains, would become Palmer’s winter home. With its palm trees, shimmering lakes, and white-sand bunkers, the club’s manicured 18-hole Championship Course, completed in 1996, is widely regarded as one of Palmer’s finest designs. “This land is something really wonderful,” said Palmer, who was later named chairman emeritus at the members-owned club. “It bends and curves beautifully, set against the mountains, giving the golf course lots of drama.”

IN THE 1961 L.A. OPEN at Rancho Park, Arnold Palmer recorded a 12 on the par-5 18th, after swiping four balls out of bounds. A plaque at the hole today tells the story and reminds golfers that even the best take punishment in this game. Back in ’61, when asked how he could card a 12, Palmer said: “It was easy. I missed a 30-foot putt for an 11.”

In the men’s locker room at Tradition—named “Deacon’s Den” in honor of Palmer’s father—Palmer’s locker remains there as he left it. In 2018, the club unveiled a Palmer statue in front of the hacienda-style clubhouse.

Palmer’s influence on the Southern California golf landscape extends to the beach town of Carlsbad, in San Diego’s North County. Another of his premier designs, the Aviara Golf Club shares some traits with Tradition— elaborate water features, imposing bunkering, vibrant flower beds—while allowing public access within the setting of a luxury resort.

Whether you start here, at the Park Hyatt Aviara, or in the desert at PGA West, a swing through Palmer’s Southern California history is sure to be a highlight of any golfer’s life.

—robin barwick

Arnold Palmer told me how I could cut eight strokes off my score… skip one of the par-3s.”

—BOB HOPE

Tradition Golf Club (above); Park Hyatt Aviara resort (right); TPC Harding Park (opposite).

Swing Through SAN FRANCISCO

Cable cars, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and…golf? Yes, the City by the Bay’s beauty extends to a handful of gorgeous golf courses scattered throughout the peninsula and surrounds. We spoke with Devin McDonald, concierge at the famed Fairmont San Francisco, to find out a few of his favorite urban golf experiences in the city. One initial tip: Don’t wait to call your concierge. “Guests will try on their own to make the reservations, and it can be quite competitive,” he says. “When they are unsuccessful, then they come to me.”

TPC Harding Park

The host course of the 2020 PGA Championship is “absolutely my top choice for guests who want to play in San Francisco,” McDonald says. “It’s owned by the city but managed by the PGA Tour and was originally designed by William Watson and Sam Whiting—the same designers

who did the Olympic Club.” Harding Park plays through cypress groves along Lake Merced, offering “a beautiful 18 holes and a great experience. The premier public course in San Francisco.”

Presidio Golf Course

“Very historic” course in “one of the nicest parts of the city,” near the Golden Gate Bridge. “It dates back to 1895 and is one of the oldest courses on the West Coast.” Though it’s “on the shorter side,” at about 6,500 yards from the tips, the setting within a former Army base—now a national park—is “gorgeous, with great views, and the wind doesn’t whip you as much as it does at the Olympic Club or Lake Merced.”

Lake Merced Golf Club

McDonald can help guests get into this historic private club, which opened in 1922 and was redesigned by Alister MacKenzie in 1928. Gil Hanse led the most recent update to the course, in 2022, which retains its air of exclusivity. “Just about any time I’ve reserved here, the guests come back and say, ‘We were the only ones there!’ It’s a private course, and they keep it very, very private.”

The Course at Wente Vineyards

“My ace in the hole” when Harding Park is booked up and guests want more of a championship course experience than the Presidio offers. “It’s about a 35-minute drive from the hotel, across the Bay Bridge into the East Bay. There’s a Greg Norman golf course and a beautiful winery there. Guests love the experience.”

The Olympic Club

“Even more difficult” to get into than Lake Merced Golf Club, the legendary Olympic Club features two 18-hole courses and a nine-hole executive track, all in a stunning setting between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean. “It’s gorgeous, but it can get windy in that part of the city.” No matter the weather, if you have an opportunity to play at the Olympic Club, you take it.

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My ace in the hole... There’s a Greg Norman golf course and a beautiful winery.”

—DEVIN MCDONALD

Topgolf Burlingame

The rapidly expanding experiential golf company is opening in Burlingame, just south of San Francisco, later this year. “I’ve been to Topgolf in Arizona and Las Vegas, and who would think Topgolf could compete with all the things there are to do in Vegas? It’s a great activity, and it will be a huge hit here with the view of the bay in Burlingame. Fun for all ages.”

Ballpark Back 9 at Oracle Park

Best known as the home of the San Francisco Giants, Oracle Park transforms once a year (typically for a few days in the fall) into a one-of-a-kind nine-hole golf course. “Oracle Park is one of the top baseball parks in the country, and to be able to turn it into a golfing event and to tee off facing the bay, it’s a really fun experience. I wish they did it more often!”

bruce wallin

The Course at Wente Vineyards (top); Ballpark Back 9 (left); Fairmont San Francisco hotel (above).

Drives for Show

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valuable automobiles every year. But historically accurate restorations typically trump glamor and rarity. Still, the list of Best of Show winners from years past counts some of the finest automotive creations ever assembled. Last year’s winner, a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster, dazzled attendees and judges with its history—only two similar examples exist in the world, and this one was first owned by the Shah of Afghanistan. “I was impressed by the time and thought invested in this restoration,” said Sandra Button, the concours’ chairman. “Every piece of this beautiful Mercedes-Benz was researched so carefully to honor its history.”

The Concours d’Elegance, which this year takes place on August 18, is not the only show in town during what has become known as Pebble Beach Automotive Week. The days leading up to the main event include auctions, car rallies, parties, and more, all attended by collectors and connoisseurs from around the world. “If you have something that’s rare and valuable, it’s most fun to show it to a fellow collector who can understand its rarity and value,” chief honorary judge Stephen F. Brauer once said. “That’s one of the joys of collecting—sharing it with your peers. That’s the experience at Pebble Beach.” —shaun tolson

Every August, one of golf’s most famous fairways transforms into a runway of rolling art.

To stand on Pebble Beach Golf Links’ crescent-shaped 18th fairway without a golf bag in tow or a club in hand seems sacrilegious. On the third Sunday in August, however, it can be quite the opposite—a holy experience for connoisseurs of collectible cars.

The world’s most esteemed collector-car competition, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance rolls into town every summer with unequaled pageantry. Many of the participating car owners dress to the nines in bow ties, seersucker suits, and other period attire that complements the sports cars and grand tourers they are entering in the various competition categories. Similarly, the prestige of a First in Class or Best of Show award here is unmatched—and an honor that goes far beyond good looks. “It’s not a pretty-car contest,” former chief judge Ed Gilbertson once said. “In our class judging, we focus on originality and authenticity.”

Yes, “the lawn,” as the 18th fairway is referred to during the show, is teeming with stunningly beautiful and incredibly

Sierra Splendor

California’s summer concours calendar isn’t limited to automobiles on the Monterey Peninsula. For the last half century, wooden-boat enthusiasts have set a course for the Tahoe Yacht Club, some 200 miles northeast of Pebble Beach in the High Sierra, where the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance celebrates the most beautifully restored Chris-Crafts, Gar Woods, Rivas, and other classic wooden motorboat marques.

If you head to Lake Tahoe for the event (scheduled for August 9–10 this year), don’t forget your sticks. The famed alpine destination is home to Edgewood Tahoe, a lakefront beauty that hosts the annual American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament. Edgewood is technically on the Nevada side of the lake, but it’s only about an hour’s drive—or a half-hour wooden-boat ride—from California’s Tahoe City. —s.t.

1950 Porsche 550A Prototype Spyder at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Lean and GREEN

At this San Diego spa retreat, wellness and golf come together in true California fashion.

There won’t be any hot dog or beer for me at the turn today. Instead, my back nine at the Havens Country Club will be fueled by the contents of a small lunch bag: a gluten-free chicken Caesar wrap (with no Caesar dressing), an apple, and a flourless chocolate cookie, all of which will be counted toward my 2,500 calories for the day.

I am here, in San Diego’s North County, for a three-day wellness program at the revered Cal-a-Vie Health Spa. Set on 400 acres of chaparral hills, about seven miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, Cal-a-Vie is a European-inspired retreat where guests—many of them repeat visitors—come to get healthy. Depending on the person, that can mean anything from shedding a few pounds or recovering from an injury to the simple act of recalibrating in an undeniably stress-free environment.

Unlike some of its European counterparts, Cal-a-Vie is not a strict boot camp. A casual California attitude pervades the tranquil grounds, where you’re never too far from a burbling fountain or a relaxing nook with views of lavendercovered hills. Within this sanctuary, a team of practitioners and planners helps guests create customized schedules that can be as hard-core or low-key as they choose. There’s no

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need to give up caffeine or flush out all your toxins; you pick the wellness path you want to follow—and then do your best to follow it.

The many offerings at Cal-a-Vie include a revolving roster of fitness sessions, morning hikes, massages, consultations, therapies, and cooking classes. Calories are also burned through competitive sport, most frequently on the resort’s pickleball and tennis courts. Not as commonly incorporated into routines is Cal-a-Vie’s most unexpected amenity: an 18-hole private golf course reserved for members and resort guests.

The Havens Country Club is next door to Cal-a-Vie and is owned by the same Houston-based family, who are also building a winery and private community across the street. The golf course plays along both sides of a seasonal creek lined with old sycamores that bend, bow, and twist from one bank to the other. Rocky, brush-covered hills rise on either side of the canyon, where the lack of fellow golfers contributes to a Zen-like environment. It’s the kind of place where you might forget to mark your score, too pleasantly relaxed, or perhaps too hungry, to notice or care.

Upon finishing my round at the Havens, I find a driver from Cal-a-Vie waiting for me by the pro shop. He casually suggests I go upstairs to the newly renovated clubhouse restaurant for a beer and a bite to eat. As tempting as the proposition sounds, I stay the course, heading back to the resort for an afternoon Pilates class and a precisely prepared dinner. —b.w.

California Combo Cal-a-Vie Health Spa isn’t the state’s only wellness retreat to pair well-being and golf. Set on a former private estate in Rancho Mirage, Sensei Porcupine Creek features a full slate of wellness programs, an 18-hole golf course in the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains, and a clubhouse menu designed by chefs at the resort’s Nobu restaurant.

Cal-a-Vie Health Spa (left); Havens Country Club (above).

50

YEARS

OF

NAPA VALLEY CABERNET

“ Caymus began in 1972 after Napa Valley prune farmers Charlie and Lorna Wagner pulled the trees and planted grape vines— Cabernet Sauvignon. Their goal was simple enough: to produce good wine from their farm’s special earth. Today our family remains in place at Caymus with two of my kids, Charlie and Jenny, working with me to share the day-to-day responsibilities. Since those early days, it has been a thrilling family experience to continue to make Caymus. We sincerely thank wine lovers who share in the wonder of wine and the many ways it enhances the experience of life.” life.

Caymus Wines

Caymus Wines

ISLAND TIME

There’s nothing like a morning round on a tropical golf course, with the trade winds blowing just so and the sun rising over a turquoise sea. When we’re in the mood— and when are we not?—these 12 island resorts are where we want to be.

COMO LAUCALA ISLAND Fiji

This is not a dream. There really is an 18-hole David McLay Kidd golf course on your private island in the middle of the South Pacific. Verdant, narrow fairways laced between hills landscaped with lush palms; a signature par-5 extending right onto a white-sand beach; and, quite likely, not another golfer in sight. Of course, you didn’t come all the way to Fiji just to play golf. Even without its McLay Kidd course, Como Laucala is one of Earth’s most remarkable destinations, with just 25 villa-style accommodations scattered throughout the more than 3,000-acre island. The undeveloped expanse offers ample opportunities for hiking and horseback riding, while underwater explorers enjoy access to some of the world’s best dive sites. comohotels.com

1

2

HALF MOON Jamaica

Jamaica isn’t the first Caribbean island most people think of for golf. But “the Rock,” as Jamaicans call it, is home to a handful of exceptional courses, including Half Moon Golf Course, a classic Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that serves as a cornerstone attraction at Half Moon resort. The course meanders through a former sugarcane estate, hugging the base of the hills that overlook the property’s namesake Half Moon Bay. Modernized by Roger Rulewich in 2005, the 7,120-yard layout still showcases Trent Jones’s shallow fairway bunkers and notably contoured greens. In addition to golf, the resort, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, features an oceanside spa with overwater bungalows, a 28-horse equestrian center, and two miles of white-sand beach. halfmoon.com

ROSEWOOD BAHA MAR

Bahamas

Baha Mar is big: Three hotels, a 100,000-square-foot casino, more than 40 restaurants, a 15-acre waterpark, and multiple boutiques, sports facilities, and just about everything else you can imagine a resort having. There is something for literally everyone at this development on Nassau’s Cable Beach, and that’s good news for golfers, who can enjoy the resort’s Royal Blue course without worrying about whether non-golfing family members are having fun. The Jack Nicklaus signature design is set just inland from the hotels, playing through a varied landscape of dunes and limestone-lined lagoons. After your round, retire to the development’s best hotel, Rosewood Baha Mar, where amenities include a Daniel Boulud restaurant and a private beach club. rosewoodhotels.com, bahamar.com

4

FOUR SEASONS RESORT LĀNAʻI Hawaii

Old Hawaii is alive and well on Lāna‘i, a mostly private island that’s home to historic Lāna‘i City, empty beaches, abundant marine life, and two completely different Four Seasons resorts. Sensei Lāna‘i is a wellness retreat set in the pine-covered mountains of the island’s interior. Four Seasons Resort Lāna‘i, meanwhile, sits majestically above Hulopo‘e Bay, the lone beach resort on one of Hawaii’s most alluring islands. Here, too, is the rightfully renowned Manele Golf Course, a Jack Nicklaus signature design that hugs the lava outcroppings and cliffs above the bay. (The course is open to guests of both resorts.) Chances are, you’ll lose a golf ball or two—several tees require forced carries—but you’ll likely see dolphins while playing one of the most enjoyable rounds of your life. fourseasons.com

FOUR SEASONS RESORT HUALĀLAI Hawaii

“God spent overtime when he created this place,” golfing great Bernhard Langer once said of the famed Hualālai resort along Hawaii’s Kona-Kohala coast. The development’s Jack Nicklaus signature course hosts the annual Mitsubishi Electric Championship, an event that attracts the top players on the Champions Tour, often accompanied by their extended families and friends. The resort’s many allures include King’s Pond, a swimmable lava-rock aquarium containing nearly 2 million gallons of saltwater. When it comes to golf, the Big Island’s black lava fields provide a spectacular backdrop (and powerful ball magnet) on the Nicklaus course, which finishes along the Pacific. To hone your skills in style, head to the Hualālai Golf Hale, the resort’s 3,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor instruction facility. fourseasons.com

5AURORA ANGUILLA RESORT & GOLF CLUB Anguilla

The finest beach in Anguilla is the sweeping Rendezvous Bay, with its broad expanse of white sand sloping gently into the warm, calm, blue sea. The southerly prospect reaches across the Anguilla Channel, to the island of Saint-Martin in the distance. Above Rendezvous Bay—in pride of place on this quiet and unspoiled Caribbean island—is Aurora Anguilla, which is home to the destination’s only golf courses. The first is a stunning, inviting championship test created by Greg Norman, which is perfectly complemented by a nine-hole short course. While Norman’s design is defined by a series of water features and expansive bunkers, it also offers plenty of pristine fairway for golfers to find. The short course is ideal for a quick game or a little practice, and it is certain to get the less-experienced player hooked. auroraanguilla.com

APES HILL Barbados

Barbados’s prestige as a golf destination recently got a boost with the construction of a Ron Kirby–designed course that trundles through tropical forest about 1,000 feet above sea level. The 6,972-yard Apes Hill golf course—the crown jewel of a resort and residential community of the same name— delivers striking vistas (much like Kirby’s most famous design, Old Head Golf Links, does in Ireland). In fact, along certain stretches of the course, golfers enjoy simultaneous views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The Apes Hill resort is still in development, but guests can enjoy amenities that include hiking and nature trails, racket courts, swimming pools, a fitness club, and a destination spa, while staying in plush three- or four-bedroom villas. apeshill.com

HERITAGE GOLF CLUB Mauritius

Heritage Golf Club, hugging the southern shoreline of Mauritius, is the Indian Ocean’s only 45-hole golf resort. Impressively, Heritage has developed a pair of championship golf courses that are contrasting in nature: the linksy La Reserve Golf Links, co-designed by past Open champ Louis Oosthuizen, and the lush, parkland setup of Le Chateau. Heritage also o ers a pair of luxury beach resorts, Le Telfair and Awali. For an ultra-exclusive journey into 19th-century French elegance, guests can stay in the private suite of Le Chateau, overlooking ornamental gardens and its namesake golf course. heritagegolfclub.mu

Photo: Jacob Sjöman

VELAA PRIVATE ISLAND Maldives

is Maldives retreat might be the archetypal private island resort. A 45-minute seaplane ight from Malé’s Velana Airport, or a 35-minute speedboat ride from the Maafaru private airstrip, Velaa is one, very small yet perfectly formed island among a constellation that makes up the Noonu Atoll. e island o ers 47 villas and residences, 18 of which sit above the turquoise ocean shallows. Behind the white-sand island fringe and palm trees, the theme of “small yet perfectly formed” extends to the seven-hole Velaa Golf Academy course, designed by Masters legend Jose Maria Olazábal. Seven holes are plenty on an island that reaches only 500 yards each way, especially with nine sets of tees and tour-level greens and bunkering. Velaa also o ers a range of golf training facilities and programs with PGA professionals. velaaprivateisland.com

Islands

CASA DE CAMPO RESORT & VILLAS Dominican Republic

For the better part of half a century, Casa de Campo’s agship golf course, Teeth of the Dog, has been hailed as the Caribbean’s premier design. Beginning in January, the Pete Dye masterpiece will close for a projected 10-month restoration, one that will see the entire course re-grassed with Dynasty Paspalum, a varietal that’s ideal for seaside conditions. Along the way, the project’s lead architect, Jerry Pate, will not only expand and reshape greenside bunkers, but return the greens to their original size, slightly re-contouring them in the process. When the course reopens next November, it will join Casa de Campo’s new Premier Club (a standalone wing of butler-enhanced luxury suites) and state-of-the-art destination spa in a trio of amenities that promise to reestablish this historic retreat in the Dominican Republic as the Caribbean’s leading golf resort. casadecampo.com.do

DORADO BEACH, A RITZCARLTON RESERVE Puerto Rico

Laurance Rockefeller first developed Dorado Beach nearly 70 years ago, and the coastal resort community remains one of Puerto Rico’s preeminent destinations. The 2012 opening of the Ritz-Carlton Reserve— extending across 50 acres within the Rockefeller estate—took Dorado Beach to a new level. Elegant villas and suites, multiple pools, a pristine beach, and a sprawling destination spa make for one of the Caribbean’s most luxurious resorts. As for golf, the TPC-branded club features two championship-caliber courses, and a third layout, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., is set to open later this year. The forthcoming West Course, with a projected cost of almost $20 million, is the latest chapter in a long family history at the resort, where Robert Trent Jones Sr. built the original East Course in 1958. ritzcarlton.com

TURTLE BAY RESORT

Hawaii

Arnold Palmer and George Fazio designed the championship golf courses at Turtle Bay, a family friendly luxury resort along Oahu’s famed North Shore. It is a spectacular Pacific landscape that has been sensitively developed, with protection of the natural environment being paramount. The property extends to 1,300 acres, half of which is conservation space. Playing golf at Turtle Bay is to connect with nature, as the courses meander through Oahu’s wetlands and circumvent natural waterways, marshland, dense Hawaiian jungle, and bird sanctuaries. The resort features its own 468-acre Kuilima Farm, the produce from which heads straight to the kitchens and spa, as well as supplying surrounding communities. turtlebayresort.com

CONTRIBUTORS: Robin Barwick, Samantha Brooks, Shaun Tolson, and Bruce Wallin

America’s Favorite Island®.

From arts and culture to the great outdoors: Local experts share five ways to explore Hilton Head Island.

HiltonHeadIsland.org

Boat to Table

Sourcing locally is key to Hilton Head Island’s sustainability— and to the fresh flavors of its famed Lowcountry cuisine.

Andrew Carmines wants people to know where their food comes from. Growing up, Carmines worked around the shrimp boats that supplied his parents’ restaurant, Hudson Seafood House on the Docks, the oldest on the island. “We had 25 or 30 boats that would come and go, and we’d chip ice into the holds and head the shrimp,” Carmines recalls. “Even way back then, I thought it was really cool that we were bringing shrimp off the boats and serving it to customers in the restaurant.”

Hilton Head - Edit

When Carmines took the helm of Hudson’s in 2006, things had changed. “Imports had flooded the market and driven the price of shrimp way down,” he says. “My parents were buying some shrimp from the shrimp boats, but only if it was really convenient.” The first order of business, says Carmines, was to mend fences with the different boats and start sourcing locally as much as possible. After that, he and his team built a seawater hold at their dock and began shedding out softshell crabs on site. “People saw the softshell crabs, and they just sort of flipped,” Carmines says. “We were watching those crabs 24 hours a day. People got to see what that kind of dedication looks like.”

Oysters came next. Carmines learned everything he could about oyster farming and secured permits to put grow cages in nutrient-rich Port Royal Sound, a 12-minute boat ride from Hudson’s. Today, Shell Ring Oyster Company harvests upwards of 850,000 oysters each season. Soon, visitors will be able to get out onto the water to tour the farm and slurp Carmines’ briny bivalves, freshly shucked.

“People want a relationship with their food,” Carmines says. “Plucking an oyster out of the water and eating it? If I can give people that opportunity, that’s an experience they’re going to cherish for a very long time.”

Pro Tip

“Definitely go out throwing the cast net for shrimp. My cousin has a company called May River Excursions, and he takes people out to do that. Then come to Hudson’s for the sunset.”

—Andrew

Carmines

Photo Courtesy of The Sea Pines Resort

Hilton Head -

Pro Tip

“Get some friends together and take a golf clinic before grabbing bikes and heading to Quarterdeck, right next to the iconic Harbour Town lighthouse, for lunch.”

—John Farrell

Great Outdoors

Biking,

boating, beachcombing, tennis, golf—the options are endless on Hilton

Head Island.

Edit

As director of sports operations at The Sea Pines Resort, John Farrell knows a thing or two about being active on Hilton Head Island. “I always say that when you get here, take the batteries out of your remote control,” Farrell says. “There’s so much to do outdoors on this island, and it’s all right at your fingertips.”

Whether that means going for an early morning run on the beach, biking the island’s 60-plus miles of paved trails, kayaking its serene Lowcountry waterways, or improving your doubles game at The Sea Pines Racquet Club, the outdoor opportunities are endless on Hilton Head Island. “There’s really nothing missing,” Farrell continues. “If you do it right, you’re going to go home tired. But it’s a great tired, because it’s all really healthy.”

Hilton Head Island is probably best known for having more than 20 championship golf courses, many of which open to the public, including Oyster Reef, Palmetto Dunes, and Sea Pines’ iconic Harbour Town Golf Links and Heron Point by Pete Dye. “We have a very comprehensive, very full-circle golf experience here,” Farrell says. “We have play for beginners who don’t even know which end of the club to hold, and we host the signature RBC Heritage event on the PGA Tour for the best players in the world. We’ve gone to great lengths to make sure we have a place to play for all ability levels, from families to collegiate players to new players that want to learn and develop skills for a lifetime.”

Living History

A rich heritage and Gullah Geechee traditions infuse the Hilton Head Island experience.

Despite its pivotal role in American history, Hilton Head Island’s Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park remains largely unknown outside of the region. Ahmad Ward, the park’s executive director, is leading an effort to change that.

When the Union Army captured Hilton Head Island in 1861, plantation owners fled, leaving behind hundreds of enslaved people who were considered “contraband” of the Civil War. A year later, Union general Ormsby Mitchel established what became the first town of self-governing, formerly enslaved people in the United States. Mitchelville, as it was called, soon became a thriving community of Gullah Geechee people—most with roots in West Africa— complete with rows of wooden homes, churches, and South Carolina’s first mandatory school system.

Hilton Head - Edit

“Mitchelville residents went from being property to owning property,” Ward says, “It was the first time that Africans in America could feel like citizens without fear of reprisal.” The lush, 36-acre landmark features building replicas, walking trails, and a pier overlooking Port Royal Sound. A visitor center, interpretive exhibits, and classroom space are in the works. “Even though this story is steeped in African American culture, its major themes are freedom, democracy, citizenship, and opportunity,” says Ward. “And those are themes we can all relate to.”

Lola Campbell, an attorney who can trace her Gullah heritage back six generations, is on her own mission to promote island history. In 2022 she opened Binya, a chic little boutique where she sells jewelry, art, and homewares made in the Lowcountry, as well as offering workshops, tours, and celebrations of traditional foodways. “Being isolated on these Sea Islands is really what allowed us to keep a lot of our culture close,” Campbell says, “Binya is a store, but it’s a cultural experience in and of itself.”

Pro Tip

“Take a walk through Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park and then stop by Binya—everyone who comes in here ends up having a conversation with me, my mom, or my sister about Gullah culture. Afterwards, have lunch at Mama Joy’s Kitchen, where you can get some good, Gullah soul food.”

—Lola Campbell

Island Vibes

From live jazz to culinary festivals, Hilton Head Island has become a Lowcountry capital of arts and culture.

Hilton Head - Edit

When Dave Masteller’s father, Bob, opened a jazz supper club on Hilton Head Island in 1999, people thought he was crazy to take that kind of a risk. “The island had more of a Jimmy Buffet-on-the-beach kind of music scene back then,” Masteller says. But the elder Masteller and his wife, Lois, cultivated a following among Hilton Head Island locals and visitors alike, showcasing jazz legends like Freddy Cole, Ellis Marsalis, Bucky Pizzarelli, and the late, great George Shearling.

“He put Hilton Head Island on the map for jazz,” Dave Masteller says. “It’s cool to see people who were never really familiar with jazz come in and love it.”

Pro Tip

“I love seeing shows at the Tiki Hut. It’s right on the beach, and it just has that fun, vacation feeling. I’d also recommend Kind of Blue and Ruby Lee’s. Both are great venues that put their own spins on the island’s live music scene.”

—Dave Masteller

Today, the Jazz Corner features live jazz seven nights a week, all year long. Sundays are for Deas Guys, a popular Motown and R&B band, while the club’s signature, New Orleans–style ensemble plays every Tuesday, with Masteller on bass. “We also like to bring in Grammy nominees and young, hip musicians who are starting to make their mark,” says Masteller.

“We give people the chance to hear a variety of musicians in a small room with great acoustics while they’re on vacation on Hilton Head Island.”

In the 25 years since the Jazz Corner opened, Hilton Head Island’s cultural scene has blossomed. “There are outdoor concerts in the parks, and you can always hear live music somewhere,” says Masteller. “We’ve got the Wine and Food Festival and the Burgers and Brews Fest, and there are art galleries and art walks and performances,” he continues. “I’ve been to a lot of great places, but I’ve never seen Hilton Head Island with so many things to do at any given time.”

Natural Connection

On Hilton Head Island, nature and wellness go hand in hand.

Hilton Head Island native Charlotte Hardwick lived in cities all over the world before the nature and beauty of the Lowcountry lured her back three years ago. “I wanted to get back to living around all of the things I love most,” Hardwick recalls. “The ocean, the marshes, being outside—just getting back to that feeling of connection with the land.”

Hilton Head - Edit

A certified yoga teacher and nutritionist, Hardwick took her passion for holistic health and launched Flow and Nourish, a wellness company that blends movement and breath work with inspired, seasonal eating. “My cooking and yoga classes tune into what the season does to our bodies” Hardwick says, “and the ways we can use movement and food to support the change of season.”

One of the ways she does this is to encourage people to pay attention to their surroundings. “This island invites people to notice and to be curious,” Hardwick says. “People come here ready to slow down, and this practice that I’m doing really supports that.”

Hardwick crafts personalized wellness experiences for her clients based on their interests and needs, whether that’s learning to transform fresh tomatoes from Spanish Wells Seafood & Produce into a delicious tomato pie or practicing yoga on the beach at sunset. “I think people are looking to have experiences that are different from what they do at home,” says Hardwick. “They’re traveling with a lot more curiosity, and when I think of Hilton Head Island, I think there’s just a natural curiosity here, and that encourages me so much.”

Pro Tip

“Start with a sunrise beach walk and then take a class at Jiva Yoga Center or do a private session with me. For lunch I’d go to Delisheeyo— they have the best juices and wraps and salads. End the day with a kayak in the tidal creeks, where you can see dolphins. To me, that’s just the definition of wellness.”

—Charlotte Hardwick

Photos: Bobby Altman and Adam Szafranski

On TOUR

RisingSon

Features - Schauffele

With a PGA Championship victory in his recent past—and an Olympic title defense in his near future—World No. 3 Xander Schauffele spoke with Kingdom’s ROBIN BARWICK about his evolving career and the man who has been his guiding force from the start.

Xander Schauffele basks in major-winning glory at the PGA Championship at Valhalla in May.

Xander Schau ele made his debut in the Junior World Golf Championships as a 9-year-old, in 2003, at Reidy Creek near San Diego. His nerves were jangled when the pro shop did not have a yardage book for the par-3 course, where the 9-to-10-year-olds competed. Schau ele’s father, Stefan, took matters into his own hands.

“My dad created a yardage book for me,” remembers Schau ele, in an exclusive interview with Kingdom magazine, a couple days a er he had become a major champion at the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

“He just wanted me to be as professional as possible and to motivate me as much as he could, because he knew I was really nervous,” Schau ele adds. “He traced some holes on the pages, and on each page of the yardage book he wrote little phrases.”

Some of the phrases were technical reminders—as Stefan was Dad and coach—some were motivational, while others were little jokes to lighten the tension.

Xander did not win that week, but it began a habit of competing at the highest level available to him, which would lead to success on the PGA Tour, at the Ryder Cup, at the

Olympics, and now, at the PGA Championship.

At Valhalla, the 30-year-old Californian opened with a scorching 62, nine under par, to set a PGA Championship scoring record and take the rst-round lead. Schau ele then went wire-to-wire—such an incredibly hard feat in a major—closing with a birdie on the nal hole of a dramatic tournament to edge Bryson DeChambeau by a shot.

Schau ele’s four-day total came to 263, or 21 under par, both marks setting new men’s major scoring records. Yet it was close, with all of Collin Morikawa, DeChambeau, and Norway’s Viktor Hovland climbing into a tie with Schau ele for the lead at di erent points on the nal day.

More than 20 years on from that drawn yardage book, the phrases from Stefan Schau ele remain instrumental to his son. On May 19 at Valhalla, as Xander tried to grasp the enormity of what he had just achieved, he referred to a phrase from that yardage book that helped him cope with leading a major for four days: “Commit, Execute, Accept,” or “C.E.A.” for short.

“When you are in a tough spot, you can over-complicate things and your brain goes way too fast,” he says. “One of the most important things was to commit, execute, and accept. It is such a simple thought, and to simplify the moment was really important for me.”

One of the most important things was to commit, execute, and accept.”

Features - Schauffele

Man with a Shovel

Stefan Schauffele is not very easy to contact. The Schauffele family purchased a remote, 22-acre plot on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, and Stefan heads out there for weeks on end, living in a container on a hillside, without running water, to prepare the land for construction of a farmhouse and working farm. He is often out of range for wifi or a cell phone—and that’s how he likes it. So we are delighted to get a call through to the elder Schauffele soon after the PGA Championship, the conclusion to which he watched on a friend’s TV.

“Schauffele in German means ‘Man with a shovel’,” says the German-born Stefan, 59, on a surprisingly clear phone line. “I grew up laying bricks in the summer while others went on vacation, and I know how to frame a house. I am a general contractor, so I am very hands-on. I am running excavators, bulldozers, and tractors. When building begins, I will lay bricks. I will literally have my own hands in the mud, to ensure I have everything the way I want it.”

Stefan has handed his son’s coaching reins to Chris Como, but he remembers the yardage book from Reidy Creek. “My wife has the book somewhere at home in San Diego,” he says. “I came up with a bunch of key words or phrases that would stick in a young boy’s mind.”

Another key phrase: “Rhythm equals balance equals power.”

“Power starts with rhythm,” explains Stefan, “and you can’t be powerful without balance. For Xander, power is the result of rhythm and balance.”

“Some of the phrases come from German philosophy,” says Xander. “Another one is: ‘A steady drip caves the stone.’ That is one of Dad’s big ones. He just wanted me to be on this calm, steady incline for my entire career, with nothing too fancy or too crazy, but just to stay the course, and then good things happen. That is what I am trying to do.”

Stefan was an exceptional athlete in his own right. At the age of 20, in 1985, he was selected to join the prestigious “Aufbaukader”—development squad—for the German national decathlon team. However, just months after he started training with the squad, Stefan’s car was struck head-on by a drunk driver, leaving him with serious injuries and blind in one eye. With one terrible stroke of misfortune, his dream of competing in the Olympics was stolen.

“I never even competed in a full decathlon,” reflects Stefan, whose grandfather, Richard Schauffele, showed similar ability in the early 1900s, without reaching the

Schauffele lifts the Wanamaker Trophy (opposite page); at home with his father, Stefan, and plastic club, aged around 4 (above; special thanks to the Schauffele family for sharing); and with the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits in 2021.

I promised Xander that he would find out how good he is.”

STEFAN SCHAUFFELE

An American in Paris

It is 8 am on a Thursday morning in Hawaii when Stefan speaks to Kingdom, with a full day’s groundwork ahead. But as we discuss the moment that his son won gold, the emotion rises fast.

Features - Schauffele

Olympic stage. “I showed promise, and there was hope. People would tell me how good I was, but I never got the chance to prove it. In hospital, I promised myself that if I ever have children, they would absolutely reach the limitation of their abilities. That explains my motivation. I promised Xander that he would find out how good he is, because that is the one thing I was deprived of.”

It was particularly poignant, 36 years later, when Stefan’s second son, Xander, represented the United States in the Tokyo Olympics. “My dad’s whole life was dedicated to trying to compete in the Olympics,” Xander says. “Lots of the stuff he taught me growing up—like trying to be good at every part of my game—it has the decathlete’s approach to it.”

The Tokyo Games were the Covid games, postponed by a year to 2021. Schauffele could take two people with him, so he took his caddie, Austin Kaiser, and his father. Similarly to this year’s PGA Championship, he had to hold his nerve down a tense final stretch at Kasumigaseki Country Club, as Rory Sabbatini—representing Slovakia—made a spirited late charge. Schauffele prevailed by a single shot to bring home gold.

“The Olympics are so special to me because of my dad,” Xander says. “I know that the Olympic gold medal is pretty much the coolest thing I could deliver as a son to a father. It was almost like a Schauffele curse that no one was able to cross the finish line. For me to achieve it for my family is something no one can ever take away from us.”

“Xander just… [pause], I don’t know,” says Stefan. “Well, he said to me that he went out and won the gold medal for me.”

Words that mean so much can be the hardest to speak.

“During play I am an observer and not a spectator,” continues Stefan, quickly recovering, “because I am so involved, and I look at statistics, and I work out percentages, and I am very analytical, and so during play it is not emotional. On the final hole in Tokyo, they had TV cameras in my face, trying to catch me crying—you know, that’s television—but I was not emotional then. The game is not over until it’s over, and I was rather stoic, but my God, once…. [pause]—you see, I have to take a breath—once Xander stood on the podium, the floodgates opened. At that moment, I melted. For me [pause]… it can’t be topped. It was wonderful.”

Qualifying for the U.S. Olympic men’s golf team is one of the hardest tasks in sports. Only four men can go, based on the World Ranking, and at the time of writing, six of the world’s top 10 were American. (Schauffele’s victory at Valhalla pushed him to a career-high second place in the ranking, though he slipped to No. 3 after the U.S. Open.) Schauffele has deservedly earned a return trip to the Games, where he will represent the U.S. alongside World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, and Collin Morikawa.

The Paris Olympics will be another nerve-racking test for Schauffele. And yet, his ability to simplify the moment— and, perhaps, to think back to a few of Dad’s yardage book notes—should help him focus if he works his way into contention again.

Xander and Stefan Schauffele on the practice range at the Tokyo Olympic Games (above left); checking the gold medal for purity (above).

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM OF GOLF.

Folds of Honor Friday is a new initiative at select PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and Korn Ferry Tour tournaments that serves as a day of respect and recognition.

We stand united to honor the commitment and service of our military service members and first responders.

52,000

Since 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded over 52,000 educational scholarships.

$244M

Totaling about $244 million in educational impact.

Folds of Honor ABOUT FOLDS OF HONOR

JOIN US. FOLDS OF HONOR FRIDAYHONOR THEIR SACRIFICE. EDUCATE THEIR LEGACY.

HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE:

Show Your Support: Wear red, white, blue and specially-designed ribbons available on-site at the tournament to stand united in appreciation.

Witness the Ceremony: Be present for the powerful playing of the national anthem.

At each participating tournament, 13 educational scholarships will be awarded to deserving local families. This initiative helps bridge the gap for qualified applicants who lack funding.

91%

We’re proud to have a cumulative average ratio of 91% of every dollar raised going to our scholarship program.

45%

Minority recipients represent 45% of all scholarships awarded.

4-STAR

Folds of Honor is rated 4 out of 4 stars by Charity Navigator.

The Bay Hill Boys

A decades-long bond between two affable pro golfers was born on Arnold Palmer’s most famous course. Eric Cole and Sam Saunders share their story with Kingdom’s SHAUN TOLSON .

Fifteen-year-old Sam Saunders stood on the first tee at Bay Hill Club, anxiously awaiting Eric Cole’s arrival. The next few hours would be a moment of truth, he thought. As it turns out, Saunders was right, but the moment would prove decisive in ways a 15-year-old couldn’t have forecasted.

Features - Cole & Saunders

In 2002, Saunders and Cole were both freshmen, but they attended separate high schools. Their schools’ golf teams didn’t play each other, so the two promising young athletes only knew of one another through grapevine gossip. “I had heard of him,” Saunders recalls, “but I didn’t know if this kid was actually that good.”

Cole held a similar stance. “Everyone said he was a really good player,” the now-35-year-old PGA Tour pro remembers. “I kind of knew who he was, just for being Arnold Palmer’s grandson.”

Because of his famous grandfather, Saunders practically grew up at Bay Hill, Palmer’s masterpiece outside of Orlando. Cole, on the other hand, only gained entry via a family membership once his mother got re-married around the start of his freshman year. “It worked out very well for me,” Cole says, chuckling as he thinks about his fortune being a young golfer with professional aspirations whose new stepdad was a member of such a prestigious club.

As Cole began spending time at Bay Hill, members of the club soon took notice, and it wasn’t long before Saunders heard speculations that Cole could beat him. “There’s no way he can beat me,” Saunders remembers saying. “I’m the best ninth-grader there is.”

While Saunders was eager to play Cole just to settle any debates, his would-be opponent harbored a similar desire— and with similar motivations. “We were only in ninth grade, but more people knew of him and talked highly of him,” Cole says. “I was pretty decent, too. So I wanted to play with him just to see where his game was compared to mine.”

By the end of their informal nine-hole match that day at Bay Hill, the teenagers posted identical scores—Saunders has hazy recollections that they each shot five under par. Of greater significance, they both walked off the ninth green with a newfound, mutual respect for one another. “Even though we didn’t play at the same high school or play in a lot of the same junior golf tournaments, I always had my eye on him,” Saunders says. “And he always had his eye on me, just following each other through the process of growing up.”

About eight years later, following successful collegiate careers at Clemson and Nova Southeastern University, respectively, Saunders and Cole returned to Orlando and promptly moved in together, both setting out to pursue careers as pro golfers. The duo would often coordinate practice sessions and social rounds together at Bay Hill, and just as it had been during their high school years, their contrasting approaches to the game proved to be positive influences on each other. “Sam is less technical and plays golf more on feel,” Cole acknowledges. “I liked the way he did that—it helped me realize that you don’t have to swing perfect or play perfect golf. With Sam, I probably did the exact opposite, helping him focus more on his technique

THE BAY HILL BOYS

and being more detailed with what he was doing. It was a perfect combo. His strengths rubbed off on me, and my strengths rubbed off on him.”

Saunders found professional success first, in large part due to sponsor exemptions that got him into the field of seven PGA Tour events during the 2010 season. Then 22, he made the cut in three of those tournaments, finishing as high as a tie for 17th at the Honda Classic. The following year, he played in eight PGA Tour events, making the cut only twice; however, one of those two events (the Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am) saw him finish tied for 15th.

It was a perfect combo. His strengths rubbed off on me, and my strengths rubbed off on him.”

—ERIC COLE

accompanied those victories—was paramount. At one point, Saunders offered to help Cole out financially. He was happy to gift his friend some money, which he knew would go a long way to help Cole make ends meet as he worked his way up the mini-tour ranks. But Cole refused to accept it.

Features - Cole & Saunders

“I respect the heck out of that,” Saunders says. “Eric was never there to take a handout from anybody. And having to win a tournament to be able to pay your credit card bills, there’s nothing that’s going to make you handle pressure better than that.”

“Getting sponsor exemptions is interesting, especially in the position I was in being Arnold Palmer’s grandson,” Saunders acknowledges. “I know why I was getting them. I’m not an idiot. But there was pressure that comes along with that, and sometimes I kind of wish that I could’ve gone about my professional career being an unknown name.”

That said, there were tangible benefits that came with the notoriety of Saunders’s lineage, and the journeyman pro golfer is the first to recognize them. Most notably, those sponsor exemptions introduced opportunities for significant paydays, and when Saunders played to his ability, the monetary rewards that followed were significant.

“The most advantageous thing that happened for me getting those sponsor exemptions—other than the experience—was actually making money to the point where I could support myself, chase Korn Ferry Monday qualifiers, do Q School, and all that stuff without a lot of stress,” he says.

Cole, on the other hand, had to follow a different path. He had to grind it out on the mini-tours, playing to win because winning—and the modest paychecks that

In 2018, however, Cole was hampered by a back injury that prevented him from competing. Saunders, at that point, was entering his fourth year on the PGA Tour, and while he had made the cut 47 percent of the time during his previous

Sam Saunders (at left) and Eric Cole at the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana. Saunders caddying for his grandfather, Arnold Palmer, at the Masters in 2004.

three years on tour, he felt like he could do better. Moreover, he knew Cole could help. So Saunders hired him.

Features - Cole & Saunders

Cole worked as Saunders’s caddie and also as a swing coach, if and when Saunders needed it. “He helped me dramatically,” Saunders says. “The consistency in the things that I did well that year—I drove it great and my putting was better—a lot of it was because of his guidance. It was my best year on tour.”

During that season, Saunders regularly fielded inquiries about his new caddie. When fellow players would ask who his coach was, Saunders’s answer was often not what they expected to hear. “Oh, he’s better than you,” Saunders would tell them. “He’s just not out here.” In fact, looking back on that year, Saunders is confident that Cole was better than 90 percent of the guys who were playing on the PGA Tour at that time.

Five years later, after a steadfast journey up the mini-tour ranks and finally the Korn Ferry Tour, Cole earned his PGA Tour card. Not only that, but by the end of last season, he had claimed rookie of the year honors, poetically earning the Arnold Palmer Award. “It was so cool to watch him get out there and win rookie of the year,” Saunders says. “I could not be happier for him, because I’ve seen the process he’s had to go through. I told a lot of people how good this guy was. And he proved me right.”

Although Cole’s abilities were the predominant reason for his success (he finished the year ranked inside the top 20 for total strokes gained, as well as strokes gained putting and strokes gained on approach shots), the year he spent caddying for Saunders was instrumental. “While everyone on tour is extremely good—they’re the best golfers in the

world—I saw that you don’t really have to play perfectly, you don’t have to have your best game every week to have a successful tournament,” Cole says. “I think it was good for me to see Sam having good tournaments even when he didn’t feel great about the way he was playing.”

In Saunders’s estimation, another factor in Cole’s success on the PGA Tour was all the time that he ground it out at the minor-league level. “Through all those years on the mini-tours, Eric learned how to win consistently,” he says. “I don’t care what people say, if you’re winning on one of the best mini-tours in the world, you can win on the Korn Ferry Tour. You can win on the PGA Tour. Winning is winning. It’s a fine line between winning on the PGA Tour and winning a minor-league tour event. Once you get in the mindset of shooting low scores and winning, it carries over.”

These days, it’s Saunders who is grinding on the Korn Ferry Tour, working his way back from injuries and hoping to reclaim a weekly spot on the PGA Tour next season. Cole’s recent success is just one more motivator to earn back his card and to fulfill their longtime shared goal of playing together on the PGA Tour.

The two friends briefly experienced that last season, when Saunders’s status on the Korn Ferry Tour allowed him to partner with Cole for the Zurich Classic’s inaugural two-man team format. If only for a couple of days, the opening rounds of that tournament realized their boyhood dreams of being on the PGA Tour together. “While we both thought back then that that was possible, to actually do it is pretty cool,” Cole says. “To think about where we started versus where we are now, it’s just been a cool road.”

Cole with the Arnold Palmer Award after being named PGA Tour rookie of the year, and playing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club.

Captain LEWIS

The United States has not defeated Europe in the Solheim Cup since 2017—the longest win drought since the trans-Atlantic matches were inaugurated in 1990. After leading her squad to a tie last year in Spain, the popular team captain Stacy Lewis is back at the helm for the 2024 chapter. Here, Lewis shares her hopes for the September event with Kingdom’s ROBIN BARWICK .

You have talked about instigating a culture shift in the American Solheim Cup team. Is it mainly about embracing performance data? The data is part of it, but we are seeing a generational shift. We had a core group of myself, Morgan [Pressel], Paula [Creamer], and Angela [Stanford], and we were around for a very long time, but now Lexi [Thompson] is the veteran, which for me is strange, but we are teaching the girls what the Solheim Cup is all about, and it is their job to pass it on to the next generation.

You made players laugh and cry in your team talk at the end of the 2023 Solheim Cup. What did you say?

It was just how proud I was of them, and they laughed when I said: “Guys, we didn’t lose!” I wanted them to grow as people and as teammates and care about each other, and to see the team room evolve throughout the week and to see how they picked each other up. It was really cool behind the scenes, and those girls understand the Solheim Cup.

Are you altering your strategy for 2024? I have changed up my assistant captains, which brings a new sense of energy. Morgan and Angela are back, but I have added Paula and Brittany [Lincicome], and they are so excited.

Paula is “Miss Solheim Cup”. She always raised her game at the Solheim Cup. I asked her once: “How do you make all these putts at Solheim?” It was like she just wills the ball into the hole. Our players need to see her energy and excitement.

When Juli [Inkster] was captain three times in a row, with the same assistants, that meant that we weren’t prepared for the future. It has been a big push of mine to prepare the next captains and to make sure they are involved.

Features - Stacy Lewis

Nelly Korda has found a new level in 2024 and is now number one in the world. This must be great to see from your perspective as captain. I played with Nelly in a practice session before the 2017 Solheim Cup, and I said to Juli at the time: “Nelly’s going to be way better than her sister.” At the time, Jess [Korda] was playing some really good golf, but I said: “Nelly’s got the attitude, she’s got the personality to handle being number one and being that player.” Maybe it took a little longer than we all thought, but Nelly has matured, and now she is comfortable in those big moments.

As team captain, do you stay in regular contact with Nelly? I have texted her a little, just trying to tell her to get some rest! I have talked to her caddie quite a bit. You learn a lot by talking to caddies, so I stay connected. I have been in her shoes, I have been the top American and number one in the world, so I understand all the extra things that come with it, so I try not to ask too much of her. It is great for women’s golf, and it is great for our team, to see Nelly get more comfortable in the spotlight.

Nelly’s got the attitude, she’s got the personality to handle being number one and being that player.”

Stacy Lewis at Finca Cortesin, Spain, last year, where her U.S. team was half a point shy of victory.

CAPTAIN LEWIS

AT HOME ON THE OLD COURSE

This summer will see the Women’s Open played on the Old Course, St Andrews (August 22–25), for the third time. Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa won the first Women’s Open there in 2007, before Lewis triumphed in 2013, birdying the final two holes in the fourth round to win by two. Lewis also led the U.S. team to victory at the 2008 Curtis Cup at St Andrews, becoming the first golfer in the history of the Curtis Cup to compile a 5-0 record.

The Women’s Open returns this year to St Andrews, where you won in 2013. You also went 5-0 on the Old Course in the 2008 Curtis Cup. What is it about you and St Andrews? I just love the Old Course. I played it 11 times during that week of the Curtis Cup, and that created my love affair with links golf. That Curtis Cup was one of the highlights of my career.

Features - Stacy Lewis

One of the best things about that Curtis Cup was that we were each assigned a local caddie for the week. My caddie [Fraser Riddler] fed me information about different shots, and on the par-5 fifth, I was 40 yards short of the green. He handed me my putter and said, “Here, putt through this big valley.” I was like, “Are you crazy?!” But I got to learn all these different shots and how to play them.

It must help on links courses that you are an oldschool shot shaper… Oh yeah, I hate how straight the golf balls fly now! It is a lot harder to move the golf ball in the air now than it was 10 or 15 years ago. If someone asks me how I hit a cut, I don’t know, I just see it and hit it. I have always liked seeing the golf ball turn in the air, and being creative, and hitting shots like that.

Some girls and caddies have been frustrated playing with me, because another golfer and I might hit the same club on a par-3, and then on the next par-3 I might be hitting two more clubs than them. They are like, “What is going on?” For me it’s not just a simple seven-iron, but what kind of seven-iron? I have always played golf that way. It is very old school.

Can you win the Women’s Open again? I hope so! It has been circled on my calendar for a couple years. I have more knowledge on that golf course than anyone else in the field, so I am really looking forward to seeing the women’s game back on the Old Course, and hopefully we can get there a little bit more consistently.

I hate how straight the golf balls fly now! It is a lot harder to move the golf ball in the air.”

College: University of Arkansas

Turned Pro: 2008

LPGA Tour Wins: 13

Major Wins: 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship; 2013 Women’s British Open

Solheim Cup Player: 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017

Assistant Captain: 2019, 2021

Captain: 2023, 2024

Partnerships: Insperity, KPMG, Stephens, Antigua, Tyson, Mizuno, Barbasol

ALL EVEN

When Stacy Lewis, then 38, led her team at the 2023 Solheim Cup in Spain, she became the youngest U.S. captain in the tournament’s history. The event, held at Finca Cortesin, ended with Europe retaining the trophy after a 14-14 draw, the first tie in the history of the international competition. So as not to clash with the Ryder Cup, the Solheim Cup returns to even years in 2024, taking place at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia, September 13–15.

Stacy Lewis at the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (above); holding the Women’s British Open trophy on the Old Course, St Andrews, in 2013 (right).

STACY’S CV

Good luck to Team Antigua Member and Solheim Cup Captain, Stacy Lewis.

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At the beach, on the boat, or playing golf the Vibe Cup is a stainless steel tumbler and Bluetooth speaker combo, making a perfect addition to your vibe. Promote your brand, celebrate reunions, or gift to friends and family. Standard Golf, authorized distributor of Vibe Tumblers, will help you create custom branded tumblers for any need.

Life & St yle

THREE CHEERS TO SUMMER TRAVEL

If we’ve convinced you to visit California, Ireland, or one of our other Ultimate Golf Getaways (see page 61), it’s time to celebrate with a destination-inspired elixir.

CALIFORNIA

Whether for a power lunch or the perfect martini or both, the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel is the ultimate L.A. watering hole. The restaurant and bar’s El Jardin Gimlet pays tribute to the venue’s rich history, which dates to 1941. “It was originally named El Jardin Restaurant,” explains Kaitlyn Demasi, director of food and beverage at the Beverly Hills Hotel. “This drink pays homage to those early days when celebrities gathered here for business meetings or post-polo-game celebrations.” Based on a classic gimlet, the “fresh, light, and herbaceous cocktail” is designed to evoke the foliage and gardens of California.

EL JARDIN GIMLET

2 oz Tito’s vodka

GLASS TYPE ROCKS GLASS LIST of INGREDIENTS 3

¼ oz jalapeño agave syrup

2¾ oz cucumberlime mix (muddled cucumber, lime, and cilantro)

METHOD for CRAFTING the PERFECT DRINK

Add a small bunch of cilantro to a mixing glass with the above listed ingredients; gently muddle. Add ice, shake, and double strain into a cucumber-ribbon-lined glass.

THE TROPICS

In matters of food and drink, we would not argue with the late Anthony Bourdain, who once called the Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar at the Fairmont San Francisco hotel “the greatest place in the history of the world.” at helps explain why we turned to this iconic tiki venue—where live music is played from a boat oating along the bar’s “lagoon”—when it came time for a tropical island–inspired drink. e bar’s signature Hurry Kane is a play on the original Hurricane cocktail that was created at the famed Pat O’Brien’s in New Orleans.

GLASS TYPE

HURRY KANE

1.5 oz Mount Gay Black Barrel rum

1 oz Hamilton 151 rum

2 oz passion fruit syrup

1.5 oz Hennessy V.S cognac

2.5 oz lemon juice

HURRICANE GLASS LIST of INGREDIENTS 6

Taylor Fladgate 10 Yr Old Tawny port

METHOD for CRAFTING the PERFECT DRINK

Combine r ve ingredients into a shaker with ice, then shake and pour over fresh crushed ice. Top with the port for color contra .

IRELAND

Ballyfin—a palatial Regency mansion turned country-house hotel on 614 acres in central Ireland’s County Laois—is the kind of place that inspires poetry. One imagines, therefore, that it isn’t too difficult for the hotel’s beverage manager, Carl Mifsud, to dream up drinks for his guests. “A stroll through Ballyfin’s gardens in a glass,” is how Mifsud describes the May Flower, which incorporates plum gin made onsite with fruit harvested from those very gardens.   —bruce wallin

MAY FLOWER

1.7 oz homemade plum gin*

.7 oz Italicus bergamot liqueur

.7 oz peach syrup

.5 oz lemon juice

METHOD for CRAFTING the PERFECT DRINK

Combine all the ingredients into a shaker with ice, then shake and strain over large ice cube. Garnish with plum flowers and dried lemon wheel.

*or gin of choice with dash of plum or similar syrup

GLASS TYPE ROCKS GLASS

Taste of the TROPICS

Six new rums for sipping or mixing, just in time for summer.

words by SHAUN TOLSON

When it comes to seasons and spirits, nothing goes better with summer than rum. Just a taste of finely distilled sugarcane evokes fantasies of white-sand beaches, azure-tinted seascapes, and palm fronds swaying in the breeze. (The kinds of places you’ll find in our ode to tropical golf, “Island Time,” on page 94.) Such a scene might call for a mai tai, daiquiri, or mojito. But when the day draws to a close, and you find yourself relaxing on a balcony to the sound of lapping waves, it’s time to trade in that cocktail for a neat pour of aged rum. Here, six newly released spirits to suit any mood and savor every moment of summer.

Life & Style - Rum

1Brugal

Maestro Reserva

Unlike many of Brugal’s aged rums, which take on a syrupy viscosity the older they get, the Dominican Republic brand’s latest release, Maestro Reserva ($���), shines for its ability to deliver rich, layered flavors in a pleasingly thinner form. The rum, which is matured in ex-American sherry barrels, is crafted using an innovative technique, whereby those casks are emptied and toasted before being refilled for a final finishing period. The result is an elegant sipping rum characterized by aromas of caramel and honey (with a wisp of smoke) and flavors that mingle between vanilla, dark chocolate, and candied orange peel.

2

The Last Drop Release No. ��

Three dozen releases into its noteworthy story, the British independent bottler Last Drop Distillers has produced only two rums. Its latest, a ��-year-old “Infinitum Rum Blend” ($�,���), is a fascinating fusion of global flavors. Infinitum blends are crafted from the assemblage of aged spirits from a number of distilleries. This particular release is the amalgamation of rums produced in Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Venezuela, Guadeloupe, Brazil, and Fiji. After �� years of maturation, there was only enough of the blend to fill ��� bottles, hence its four-figure price tag. Honeycomb, nutmeg, allspice, and cedarwood characterize the rum’s aroma, while similar spicy baking notes—along with a tingling of cloves—are juxtaposed by a pleasing sweetness on the palate. The blend finishes dry, with a whisper of white pepper that offsets the rum’s lingering sweet notes.

Life & Style - Rum

Coconut Cartel Blanco

Six years ago, Coconut Cartel entered the market with an aged Guatemalan rum cut to proof with coconut water. This spring, the Miami-based brand added a second expression to its lineup, Coconut Cartel Blanco ($29), which benefits from the same proofing technique but lacks the barrel maturation. When tasted neat, the rum showcases a subtle, natural coconut flavor, but when mixed, the results are surprising. Classic daiquiris, for example, come off slightly rough around the edges. But swap out the lime juice for lemon, and the resulting libation is smooth and satisfying. Mojitos with Coconut Cartel Blanco are really where it’s at. The hint of coconut not only adds a touch more tropical character, but it allows the rum to better stand up against the drink’s vibrant flavors of lime juice and mint.

Goslings Family Reserve

Old Rum Rye Barrel Finish

Goslings introduced its Family Reserve Old Rum more than two decades ago. The original spirit overflows with savory, root beer–like flavors (which isn’t a bad thing), but the Bermudian distillery’s latest Family Reserve release ($80) offers a touch of char on the palate and a notably spicier aroma. Finished in rye casks, the rum delivers a dry finish with a lingering spice that gives it serious staying power. Originally a pleasingly sweet sipper, Goslings’ Family Reserve Old Rum is now—in this iteration—a complex, contemplative pour.

Renegade Cane

Cuvée Nova

Roasty. Sweet. Spicy. Warm. Those are the primary impressions that linger after a sip of Renegade Cane’s Cuvée Nova ($60). The all-island blend features a marriage of rums made from five distinct species of sugarcane that are sourced from all six of Renegade Cane’s farms spread out across the island of Grenada. The upstart rum producer takes a winemaker’s approach to cultivating sugarcane (with an emphasis on developing and celebrating unique terroirs), but also a whisky maker’s ideology for distilling a spirit that reflects the character of its foundational ingredients. As one of four expressions within the brand’s new flagship range, Cuvée Nova is the headlining star, a marriage of aged rums that celebrates the slightly vegetal character of raw sugarcane. It deservedly claimed double gold—the highest accolade—at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Club Kokomo

Tahitian Vanilla Rum

Club Kokomo Spirits is liquid proof that assumptions can be misleading. Founded by the Beach Boys’ Mike Love, the brand originally came to market with a lineup of canned cocktails. In most instances, those two conditions—a focus on ready-to-drink beverages and a celebrity owner—would foreshadow mediocrity at best. Yet, the brand’s new rums are delicious mixers. Most impressive is Club Kokomo’s Tahitian Vanilla Rum ($32), which drinks like a liquid Rice Krispies treat on its own but adds just the right amount of sweetness to a daiquiri, mitigating some of the tartness from the lime juice without masking the flavor of the fruit.

Club Kokomo Spirits is liquid proof that assumptions can be misleading.

Life & Style - Rum

OGOING with the FLOW

Whether wading through a spring-fed creek or floating on a drift boat along a swift-moving river, flyfishing aficionados will find a blissful rhythm at these five adventure lodges.

words by SHAUN TOLSON

Features - Fly Fishing

ne of life’s quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly becoming the author of something beautiful.” So writes Norman Maclean in A River Runs Through It, his seminal novella that celebrates a lifetime spent flyfishing the Blackfoot River in Montana. Maclean’s lyrical prose aptly describes the near-spiritual act of casting with a flyrod, which might explain why so many anglers dedicate themselves only to this method of fishing.

In their pursuit of rhythmic perfection, flyfishers become deeply connected to the natural world around them. And when a fish strikes, the thrill of battling it with a flyrod—stripping in the line or deftly letting it slide through the fingers when the fish tries to run—bonds anglers to their prey in a powerful, unique way.

Few places are better suited to this pursuit than the five properties featured here. Spread throughout North America and the Caribbean, these resorts, lodges, and private clubs deliver transformative experiences for those who appreciate the beauty of flyfishing.

THROWING FLIES IN BIG SKY COUNTRY

Founded by the husband-and-wife duo of John and Krista Sampson, Madison Double R offers fishing along Montana’s Madison River, which flows right through the property. The relatively new lodge previously existed as a cattle ranch, and its location offers enticing proximity to two other waterways—the Jefferson River and the lower Big Hole, the latter of which is prized for its brown and rainbow trout—and lends itself to impressive wildlife sightings that can include eagles and moose.

The lodge features five secluded Creekside cabins that deliver picturesque views of a meadow framed by cottonwood trees, as well as two Mountainview cabins that comfortably accommodate eight guests and, as their name suggests, provide vistas of the Madison Range. The ranchturned-lodge is also home to a handful of stocked ponds, where guests can fine-tune their casting skills. For those who wish to roam farther afield, the Sampsons can arrange flyfishing trips to high-mountain lakes and streams via horseback. madisonrr.com

EAST COAST EPICENTER

More than 86,000 miles of rivers, streams, and creeks flow through Pennsylvania, almost 16,000 miles of which are designated as wild trout fisheries. Decades ago, those waterways inspired some of America’s foremost anglers and authors to declare the region “the epicenter of American flyfishing.” Homewaters Club, a members-only flyfishing haven rooted at the center of the Keystone State, leverages that location to deliver superlative fishing opportunities across 10 miles of private and protected creeks and streams. “That’s one of the biggest things we offer our members—the advantage to fish sections of streams that are not heavily pressured,” says Mike Harpster, the club’s director of membership. “It makes a world of difference in the quality of the fishing.”

Homewaters’ private fisheries are teeming with massive brown and rainbow trout, largely because the club makes sure its sections of rivers and streams are allowed to rest as many days as they’re fished. Many of the club’s members live within a half day’s drive of the club, and while most are avid

Delphi Club

Exploring Colorado’s Upper Gunnison River with Eleven.

Features - Fly Fishing

anglers, the club is aptly suited to host novices, too. (It can provide rental equipment and guides to help beginners learn and succeed at the same time.) Regardless of ability, all Homewaters members share a privileged sense of exclusivity while wading through the club’s waterways. “Any day that a member goes out to fish,” Harpster says, “they feel like they own the river that they’re fishing on.”

A two-hour drive southeast from Homewaters Club leads to Allenbery Resort, where the Yellow Breeches Creek flows right along the back of the property. Famous for its trout, the creek serves as an ideal flyfishing spot for newcomers, as well as anglers who appreciate the ability to cast flies just steps from their rooms. Two other limestone, spring-fed creeks—Big Spring and LeTort Spring Run—are a short drive from the resort. “LeTort Spring Creek has a reputation for being such a difficult fishery,” says Dusty Wissmath, a longtime guide who teaches flyfishing classes at the resort. “The water is gin clear and the fish are easily spooked, but the payoff can be quite large—literally—with some amazing trout.”

Anglers who stay at Allenberry can also fish with dry flies for smallmouth bass during the summer, using popping bugs, dragon fly, or damsel fly imitations. According to Wissmath, it’s a similar technique to how one would fish for trout on larger rivers. “People are expanding their horizons a little bit and discovering how much fun smallmouth bass fishing is [with a fly rod],” he says. “It’s a wonderful way to do it, and we’re very lucky that we can offer both types of experiences.” homewatersclub.com; allenberry.com

ROCKY MOUNTAIN MAJESTY

If you’ve ever traveled with Eleven, an adventure company with a portfolio of luxury lodges worldwide, you already know what sets its journeys apart. If you haven’t—and you’re a flyfishing enthusiast—make your way to Taylor River Lodge, located in the heart of the Gunnison Valley about four hours southwest of Denver.

Guests of the lodge’s six private cabins and two single-family homes can access hundreds of miles of fishable rivers and streams. Float trips down the Upper Gunnison River explore 26 miles of pristine, trout-filled waters, while more expansive, multiday journeys allow anglers to track the source of the Gunnison from its humble beginnings as a stream high in the mountains to its final form as a rushing waterway near the Taylor Park Reservoir dam. The ultimate flyfishing experience in the Gunnison Valley, the adventure begins with small creek and tailwater fishing and concludes aboard drift boats floating down the Gunnison River. elevenexperience.com

BAHAMIAN BONEYARDS

Maclean expounded on the merits of casting flies for freshwater trout, but the rewards—and the accomplishments—can be just as great when flyfishing along the shallow salt flats in the Bahamas. Bonefishing is what attracts the vast majority of guests at the Delphi Club, a luxuriously appointed boutique lodge located on the eastern shore of Great Abaco Island. “It’s the holy grail of flyfishing,” says Robert Ford, the Delphi Club’s

Features - Fly Fishing

The water is gin clear and the fish are easily spooked, but the payoff can be quite large.”

—DUSTY WISSMATH

general manager, who purchased the property with a small group of friends about five years ago, after experiencing the lodge as a guest years earlier.

Bolstered by a fleet of eight shallow-drawing skiffs, the Delphi Club’s guides are well equipped to traverse hard-to-access waters. While Great Abaco is famous for the Marls, a sprawling expanse of shallow water punctuated by wilderness flats and mangrove stands, Hurricane Dorian damaged the area in 2019. That doesn’t mean the Marls are off limits—Delphi Club guides will still bring guests there—but the lodge also taps into its network of more secretive fishing spots. “We have these little niche areas where not many people go, so they get less pressure,” Ford explains.

The sense of exclusivity extends to the Delphi Club itself, where a twostory main guest house sports an infinity pool and passage to a secluded white-sand beach. “It’s well-geared to relaxation,” Ford says of the club. “Our wives really love it, and there aren’t many bonefishing lodges that you can say that about.” delphi-bahamas.com

Homewaters Club in Pennsylvania (far left); Taylor River Lodge in Colorado (left, top and bottom); the Delphi Club in the Bahamas (this page).

CROSSING LINES

Golf fashion has seen an influx of lifestyle brands creating collections for the course. Now, golf apparel brands are flipping the script, developing lifestyle collections designed for everything from a day at the beach to a night on the town.

�. PXG

From the outset, PXG’s foray into apparel was done with versatility in mind. Some of the brand’s newer pieces—like this women’s short-sleeve varsity jacket—seem more suited to off-course than on. The jacket benefits from four-way stretch and quick-drying fabric, plus a full-zip design that lends itself to easy layering.

�. Travis Mathew

Finding the water in a traditional pair of Travis Mathew shorts would ordinarily lead to lateral drops and penalty strokes. But water is a welcome environment when wearing the brand’s new Eco Collection boardshorts. Stretchy and quick-drying, the swimwear is also eco-friendly, thanks to its largely recycled-polyester construction.

�. G-Fore

First established as a disruptor of traditional golfing style, G-Fore has recently expanded its lineup to bring a chic edginess to fashion away from the fairways. Take the California brand’s Tech Stretch Suit Jacket, which is crafted from waterrepellent Japanese polyester. The tailored piece of formal wear pairs a timeless, two-button design with a sleek modern aesthetic.

�. Peter Millar

Although it technically began as a lifestyle brand, Peter Millar is now as synonymous with golf as any golf-centric apparel company. The Excursionist Boat Shoe brings the brand back to its origins. Lightweight in its construction and featuring a soft custom sole that expels water, this all-leather loafer is equal parts chic and casual.

�. FootJoy

Hoodies might have become acceptable golf course attire, but some remain better suited for treks to the gym or lounging on the weekends. Case in point: FootJoy’s latest training hoodie for women. Constructed from a breathable, four-way-stretch synthetic fabric that also wicks moisture away from the body, this sweatshirt is designed for comfort—whether you’re moving hard or hardly moving.

�. Payntr

These days, every serious golfer spends time working out, whether at the gym, on a bike, or on a trail. The golf footwear brand Payntr is targeting that crossover market with its Trainer X ���. The rugged athletic cross-trainer features an upper constructed from a woven blend of nylon and threaded TPU, which makes it resilient and longlasting, though not as cushioned as a pure running shoe. —SHAUN TOLSON

Fashion

4

6

Beyond the ALGARVE

Vacation Home

Portugal’s far south is renowned for its exclusive golf communities, but the country’s Atlantic coast is adding an exciting new dimension to the Iberian golf landscape.

Portugal’s west coast is as far west as the terra rma of continental Europe stretches. e region has been carved by the North Atlantic into a rugged, rocky landscape, where the Portuguese government has allowed for limited, sensitive development. e area is known for its surf breaks, its wines, and its agreeable year-round climate, as well as the culture that comes from being in close proximity to Lisbon, Western Europe’s oldest city.

For its many charms—and its relatively easy-to-navigate residency requirements—Portugal has become a highly popular location for expats, with research showing that the number of Americans living in the country rose 45 percent from 2021 to 2022. “ e Portuguese economy has been growing, real estate values are rising, the tourism market is very strong, and Portugal is a very safe country,” says Jose Cardoso Botelho, CEO of Vanguard Properties, which is leading the development at Terras da Comporta, a golf resort community about 100 miles south of Lisbon. “Now is a very good time to invest in Portugal.”

Golfers have long enjoyed a number of real estate options in the Algarve, the famed resort region in Portugal’s south. anks to developments like Terras da Comporta, the west coast has now become a viable, less touristed alternative. —ROBIN BARWICK

Terras da

Comporta

Terras da Comporta comprises two resorts—Torre and Dunas—each of which will eventually offer two hotels. The Dunas ��-hole golf course, designed by David McLay Kidd, opened last October, and a Sergio Garcia design is due at Torre in summer ����. Vanguard has plans for ��� residential units in total, with turn-key properties ranging from about $�.� million to $�� million.

Praia D’el Rey and West Cliffs

Sixty miles north of Lisbon, the sibling resorts Praia D’el Rey and West Cliffs have two excellent golf courses. Praia D’el Rey’s ��-hole layout, designed by Cabell B. Robinson, swings between pine forests and dunes, with views over the Atlantic and the Berlengas Islands. The Cynthia Dye–designed West Cliffs course opened in ����, and yet it plays as if it is as old as the dunes that define many of the holes. Among the destination’s real estate offerings is a new collection of villas and townhouses at West Cliffs, where owners will enjoy golf course and ocean vistas.

Quinta do Lago

Though new-plot options are limited, real estate opportunities remain on the Algarve. The final areas of undeveloped land at the famous Quinta do Lago resort are at the One Green Way community and at North Grove, the latter of which has �� sites available for custom luxury villas. Quinta do Lago offers �� holes of great golf, as well as a Paul McGinley golf academy and enough restaurant options so that owners can eat somewhere different every night for a fortnight.

Dunas villa rendering, Terras da Comporta

Vacation Home

North Grove villa rendering, Quinta do Lago

West Cliffs villa rendering

Dunas clubhouse rendering, Terras da Comporta

Gale Beach, Comporta

Mark Burnett

A passionate lifelong golfer, Mark Burnett leveraged his degree in business administration and management to cultivate a 30-plus-year career in the sport he loves. Formerly the president and COO of ClubCorp (now known as Invited), Burnett oversaw the investment of more than $750 million into a network of golf facilities that grew by more than 70 properties under his leadership. Today, the 59-year-old businessman is continuing his journey as the president and CEO of Heritage Golf Group, one of the country’s leading private golf ownership firms.

Love of the Game

Was it always your goal to work in the golf industry?

I had a passion for golf, and I played a lot growing up, but it wasn’t my intention when I graduated college to work in the golf business. I was planning to go into finance and management, but I had an opportunity to work one summer at Lochmere Golf Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, and that evolved into me being able to run that club in a short period of time, which was great. It allowed me to take some of my business practices and do something oriented toward sports and athletics. I was fortunate to be fairly successful early on, and my career took off from there.

What do you love most about the game? I love the competitive aspect of the game and being able to personally improve. I’m a golf swing tinkerer. I enjoy the continual quest for improvement—the tweaks to make your swing look better and to improve the shots that you hit. I also love playing with people that I like to be around. With golf, you’re making a time investment, and so if I’m going to do that, I want to be around people that I really enjoy and to be able to solidify and improve social relationships, whether that’s with family or friends or business partners.

Have those personal interests in golf impacted the business decisions that you’ve made with Heritage Golf Group? Yes, we’ve invested a lot in golf technology for

indoor simulators, especially at all of our northern and midAtlantic clubs. We’re spending significant amounts of capital on indoor simulators and creating winter golf leagues, so even when the weather isn’t good, members are still able to be active and participate with other members in league play. And at many of our clubs, we’ve invested in the technology to help you improve your game on the range with launch monitors and other devices where you have the ability to get your numbers and see shot shapes—if you’re into that kind of thing. That leads into club fittings and more instruction. It’s a balance of how we can help people get better at the game, and then how can we make the game fun and create an entertainment aspect.

You’ve greatly expanded Heritage’s portfolio of clubs since you acquired the company. What potential do you see for private golf in this country? Private golf is thriving right now. With disposable income, you can certainly purchase things, but experiences really matter. Going on a nice vacation with your family or spending time experiencing your club, that’s the draw today. So it’s a big responsibility on us as owners and operators of private clubs to give our members great satisfaction and delight in the investment that they’re making. We want to make sure that they see the value when they go to their club every week.

You’re making a time investment... if I’m going to do that, I want to be around people that I really enjoy.”

Heritage recently acquired Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club outside of Tampa, Florida. What attracted you to the club? It was definitely one that we had tracked for a while. It’s an unbelievable property and one of our flagships now, in part for its breadth and size. When we acquired it, the club had 54 holes of golf with three courses, two clubhouses, two ranges, two pools, 20 tennis courts, and 20 pickleball courts. And the community of Lakewood Ranch is incredible—not just within the gates around the golf courses but the entire Lakewood Ranch Township.

How do you plan to improve the club now that it’s Heritage-owned? There was a public course called the Legacy at Lakewood Ranch that we acquired the week after we bought Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club. The course was an Arnold Palmer signature design, and from what I hear, it was one of Palmer’s favorite creations. We’re converting the Legacy into a private course and incorporating it into Lakewood Ranch, which will complement the club’s other courses nicely since two of them are also Palmer designs. There aren’t any other 72-hole country clubs in North Florida or even on the west coast of Florida that have the full-scale amenity package that Lakewood Ranch does, so it’s exciting to have the opportunity to be so unique.

Love of the Game

You’ve made golf clubs and courses your business, but do you see business being conducted on golf courses as it was in the past? No doubt, there’s lots of great fun, discussions, and business dealings that still occur out on the course, but I think the big change with private golf is that there are fewer corporate memberships. The core driver at a country club—especially the clubs with other amenities besides golf—is families. Those clubs are now about kids being able to learn how to swim at an early age or learn how to play golf or tennis, and it’s about making new friends in that environment.

What do you hope Heritage’s legacy will be? Besides having a collection of great golf clubs, I want the Heritage legacy to be rooted in member and guest satisfaction. I strive for all of our members and their guests to be thrilled with how we’re investing in their clubs. But I also want our company to be known for our efforts to make a difference in the various grow-the-game golf initiatives. Anything that can get a golf club in someone’s hands and get them attached to the game, taking it less seriously and having fun and wanting to get better—I love it all. —shaun tolson

Florida’s Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club (above and top right); Heritage Golf Group CEO Mark Burnett (bottom right).

Club Collection

our members to experience

Kingdom’s Club Collection highlights premier golf courses, resorts, and communities that belong on every golfer’s must-visit list.

ROBERT TRENT JONES GOLF CLUB

This prestigious tournament venue in Virginia is home to what might be its namesake designer’s finest work.

Less than an hour’s drive west of Washington, D.C., along the shores of Lake Manassas, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club has become known for hosting high-profile international tournaments. The private club in Gainesville, Virginia, was the setting for the first four U.S.-based Presidents Cup events, and this September it will host the 19th Solheim Cup.

Of course, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club is much more than just a spectacular venue for team competitions. A golf club in the truest sense, this prestigious establishment is dedicated to a reserved number of members who are as passionate about the game as they are respectful of its traditions. It is also home to a 7,473-yard layout crafted by the “father of modern golf course architecture,” Robert Trent Jones Sr., who considered the course his pièce de résistance. “The terrain is aesthetically perfect,” the late designer said when the golf club opened, in 1991. “I don’t think we could have done anything better anywhere.”

Club Collection

Club Collection

THE LINKS AT SPANISH BAY

Though it may have a more famous neighbor on the Monterey Peninsula, this Tom Watson design along Asilomar State Beach is a bucket-list destination in its own right.

Just as the other great links courses of St Andrews live in the shadow of the Old Course, so a number of stunning layouts on the Monterey Peninsula enjoy a more tranquil existence behind figurehead Pebble Beach Golf Links. The Links at Spanish Bay is a perfect illustration.

Certainly one of the world’s greatest public courses, Spanish Bay ranks alongside Bandon Dunes and Whistling Straits for dune-scape drama. Weaving between dunes and indigenous pines, the course marked Tom Watson’s heralded design debut, in collaboration with Sandy Tatum and Robert Trent Jones Jr.

From Pebble Beach, take the famous 17 Mile Drive northbound for less than four miles, past Cypress Point and Spyglass Hill, through the Del Monte Forest, and up to Spanish Bay, where the golf course is tucked between the rocky Asilomar State Beach and the elegant Inn at Spanish Bay.

Photos: Pebble Beach Company

TREETOPS RESORT

The Masterpiece at Treetops Resort is one of the most photogenic golf courses in America, but as with all great courses, beauty can be a beast.

Don’t be completely spellbound by the scenery of the Masterpiece at Treetops Resort, in Gaylord, Michigan. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., this secluded championship course is shaped by ancient forests and dramatic changes in elevation, as it sweeps through the hills overlooking the Pigeon River Valley. Yet, with a slope rating of 147, it is the most demanding of the five golf courses that comprise Treetops Resort, and golfers need to keep wits sharp.

With the rises and falls of the golf course come tricky questions over club selection, and some holes allow only a narrow passage through to well-protected greens. The Masterpiece’s masterful 18 are part of 81 golf holes in total at Treetops. The resort’s nine-hole Threetops is rated among the finest par-3 courses in North America, serving as a perfect venue for a fun, late-afternoon round after facing the beauty— and beast—of the Masterpiece.

Club Collection

Arnold Palmer Design Company

Arnold Palmer could have lived anywhere, but he chose to stay—and to raise his family—in his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. His father, Deacon, helped to build Latrobe Country Club, and it was here where Arnie shaped his love of golf and of people, where his character was built and where he launched a life and legacy that inspired an Army of fans around the world.

The Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation is mustering Arnie’s Army to preserve Latrobe’s role in inspiring dreams, building character and leading the game of golf forward. We owe it to Arnie’s legacy to share Latrobe with the world.

“Your hometown is not where you’re from; it’s who you are.”

— ARNOLD PALMER

KINGDOM CLUBHOUSE

Personal picks from Kingdom’s publisher and staff—what we’re wearing, playing, imbibing, and enjoying this summer.

Kingdom Clubhouse

The sparkling wines of Col Vetoraz come from the finest vineyards of the Valdobbiadene hills, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The elegant and rounded Millesimato, produced using the charmat method, brings a beautiful bouquet of roses, acacia, white peach, and citrus fruits. —JOE VELOTTA

When the sun is out, these blue tortoise shell sunglasses are on, Timberland ROBIN BARWICK new from

Kingdom co-founder Arnold Palmer loved a good driving shoe, whether he was in the driver’s seat or cockpit. Tod’s Gommino Bubble suede shoes are hand-stitched in Italy.

I travel frequently (sadly, not always to play golf!), and I value an elegant watch that displays a dual time zone, which is why I chose the Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller from Rolex. It is distinctive, designed to perfection, and easy to use. It is also waterproof to ��� meters. —MATTHEW SQUIRE

Kingdom Clubhouse

If you are in Troon for the Open, spare a few minutes (or more) to visit the Jar at this Scottish seaside town. It is a cozy establishment with a focus on independent bottlings. A visit might redefine what you think are your favorite whiskies. —SHAUN TOLSON

I had the pleasure of testing the Barrett Collection Wedges from Grindworks, conceived by Patrick Reed and Kiyonari Niimi. These clubs are as stunning to play with as they are to look at. No time or expense is spared in design or production, and even a mid-handicapper can benefit from the extra spin they impart.

—JON EDWARDS

Photo:

Geoff Cooper

Zen Green Stage, which produces sloped putting greens, is collaborating with onboard stabilization specialists Stable to create putting greens for superyachts, in case that is just what you need. —R.B.

Kingdom Clubhouse

Golf caught my eye. It is a replica of an advertising sign that hung proudly in pro shops in the ����s. If you ever spot an original sign in a dusty storeroom somewhere, please drop me a line! —J.E.

For the Augusta National enthusiast, Ryan Publishing has introduced a new collection of writings by Alister MacKenzie, Augusta’s course architect. The book is available in softback, hardback, and a leather-bound collector’s edition. —R.B.

My glove for those hot and humid summer rounds is the all-weather Tactile Glove by Clinch Golf. A proprietary fabric allows the glove to retain its grip when it’s wet. —S.T.

Penfold

Quite simply, Vessel produces the best golf bags in the world.

e brand’s partnership with the Open has gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years, with items that feature the iconic Claret Jug. For our special Travel Issue, my pick is the Signature Garment Du el. —m.s.

Quick Dry Beach

Towels from Dock & Bay are ideal for my summer beach bag: lightweight, compact, they don’t grip sand, and, as their name promises, they are quick to dry.

—EMILY POPPERT

The quintessential post-round cocktail accompaniment is the Happy Hour Mix from Hubs. Best served with a cold beverage.

Kingdom Clubhouse

—J.E.

Record-Breaking PUTT

I300

305

n September 2023, Jay Stocki was part of an eight-man group that set up camp on the two-acre putting course at the Baths of Blackwolf Run, in Kohler, Wisconsin, in an attempt to set a world record for the longest putt. e group spent two days trying to hole out from 401.2 feet, taking turns in 15-minute shi s. On his 238th attempt, as the sun was setting on the second day, Stocki nally hit the jackpot. He has since established the World’s Longest Putt annual competition (worldslongestputt.com), with qualifying events held at charity golf days.

111ft 5in

Scorecard

310

Longest Putts on Tour

110ft

(Source: Guinness World Records)

110ft

Football Field

Statue of Liberty

Big Ben Dodger Stadium (Home plate to center eld fence)

Jay Stocki’s Putt

Craig Barlow

2008 Buick Open, Torrey Pines, California

Jack Nicklaus

1964 Tournament of Champions, Desert Inn CC, Nevada

Nick Price

1992 PGA Championship, Bellerive CC, Missouri

Whittier Trust

Tim McCarthy Managing Director

Tim and Karon’s cherished 1936 Ford Roadster holds more than memories; it’s part of their legacy. A legacy much like those that have been carefully cultivated at Whittier Trust. Just as he plans to pass down their beloved car, the work he and advisors like him have done empowers families to pass on their own unique legacies.