Mike at Monarch House in St. Andrews sent me an email about a terrific contest:

Next year, 2011, is the 10th anniversary of Monarchs House in St Andrews. We are holding two drawings. One for those who stay with us next year and another for those who provide their email address and a comment about why they would like to visit St Andrews. We are giving away 2 weekly stays at Monarchs for up to 8 guests. (Not insignificant for a small business at £17,00+). It’s a cracking prize with no strings attached.

You can read about it here.

http://monarchshouse.com/2010/09/13/monarchs-house-10th-anniversary-2011/

This is one I’d really like to win.

For most of my golfing buddies, South Carolina means Myrtle Beach. But Hilton Head golf is another viable South Carolina alternative. There’s the Harbor Town Golf Links, of course. But there also are other not-so-well known gems, such as Arthur Hills’ Palmetto Dunes, the Robert Cupp Course at Palmetto Hall, Pete Dye’s Herron Point, Point Royal, The Shipyard, Oyster Reef ... the list goes on and on.

My sense from people who have visited both Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head is that Hilton Head is a little more relaxed and much more upscale. The Golf Channel has a page where you can book Hilton Head tee times, and find Hilton Head packages.

I played my first golf in Florida last summer on a family trip to Disney World. And in spite of the incredible heat, and disappointing lack of alligators (I really wanted to see one. I did, however, see a lynx), I had fun.

I wouldn’t go back to Florida in the summer, but for a winter vacation, Orlando would be just the ticket. I played a Disney layout, but there are so many Orlando Golf Courses that you can’t even begin to count them. I could send the wife and kids to a water park or amusement facility and spend a quiet afternoon on a course.

There’s another benefit to Orlando: It’s reasonably priced if you take advantage of the many Orlando golf packages available. The Golf Channel also has a helpful page that can help you find Orlando tee times.

For many, many years, my Grandmother send me a subscription to Arizona Highways magazine. To this day, I’m not sure why. She was a Cherokee who grew up on a reservation in Oklahoma and who lived in Fort Collins, Colorado. But I loved the desert photos.

To this day I’ve never managed to get to Arizona—other than a quick drive-through at the Four Corners. The family did make it to New Mexico in the early 1970s, and I have very vivid memories of Navajo selling their wares off blankets in the heart of old town Sante Fe, and eating at the Pink Adobe restaurant. But I’m still in an Arizona holding pattern, after missing a good chance to go there for a cousin’s “destination wedding” a couple of years ago.

Arizona golf, however, may get me there. In the dead of a Michigan winter, a little desert warmth has a lot of attraction. The three major golfing areas in Arizona: Scottsdale, Tuscon and Phoenix offer a huge variety of courses

Scottsdale golf offers top rated courses like Troon NorthGolf Club’s Monument and Pinnacle, Grayhawk, Boulders, the Saguaro Course at We-Ko-Pa and the redesigned Champions Course at TPC Scottsdale. All are accessible.

Tuscon golf apparently offers a bit more of the natural feel, with tracks like Tom Fazio’s Ventana Canyon, Arnold Palmer’s Starrt Pass and Jack Nicklaus’ La Paloma. There also would be spas for Mrs. GolfBlogger.

Finally, Phoenix golf offers a bit more urban flavor, which would offer plenty for Mrs. GolfBlogger to do while I hack away at places like the Biltmore Adobe or the Raven at South Mountain.

I’m thinking hard on these ...

For most of my buddies, the annual golfing getaway means heading out for a week at Myrtle Beach. They stay in the same hotel, play the same courses and eat at the same restaurants year after year after year. But there are plenty of other warm weather options. They might be a bit more expensive, but from the horror stories I’ve heard about Myrtle Beach trips, the extra expense might be worth it.

An Hawaii golf trip is high on my list of prospects. I’d take Mrs. GolfBlogger, of couse, and she could happily sit on the beach with a book while I hack my way around Hawaii golf courses like Kapalua, Wailea, Makena and Royal Kaanapali. My research tells me that one of the best values is with Pukalani, which is located on the slopes of a volcano.

I’d reserve the nights, of course, for luaus and the like.

The Golf Channel has a site that lists various courses, lets you book Hawaii tee times, and look for packages.

Hmm. This might even make a good trip for our upcoming (next year) 20th Wedding Anniversary. But then I’d have to curtail the golf and do more touristy things.

When they was younger, Things One and Two were convinced that there were two kinds of golf. They called it “Standing Golf” and “Walking Golf.” Standing golf was the range. He liked that one because I’d give them a club and let them whack away. And Walking Golf was the course. They liked that too, because I’d hit a shot and then the two would run at top speed to find it.

Notice, however, that there was no “Riding Golf” in the equation. I’m sure they would have liked to ride a cart, but unless I’m playing in dangerous heat, or with someone who has a physical ailment, I’m a walking golfer. I’ll even trek across courses that the pro tells me are “unwalkable.” (In fact, I haven’t yet met one of those—not even in the hills of West Virginia and Maryland.).  And as for those courses that forbid walking—for the most part, I just don’t play there.

Walking is good for your health, and good for your golf. And to their great credit Marriott resorts are getting on board. A recent press release says that in an alliance with Bag Boy, top Mariott golf resorts now will offer resort golfers the chance to push their clubs with one of those fancy three wheeled carts.

Kudos to Marriott. Lets hope it’s a trend at courses nationwide.

Press release follows the jump:

As a history buff, Spain is a country that invokes for me strong images and emotions: El Cid, The Reconquista, Conquistadors, Miguel Cervantes and Don Quioxte, The Inquisition, Napoleon’s Peninsular War and De Goya (top left), The Spanish Civil War, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Bullfighting, the Running of the Bulls.

Spain also invokes strong golfing images for me: Seve and Sergio and Miguel Angel Jimenez. The 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderama. Sun drenched fairways, reminiscent of the American Southwest, but with an old world flavor.

It was all brought back with the recent Volvo World Match Play Championships at Finca Cortesin. That was a terrific course, and surely one of the reasons that Spain is challenging for the title of golf capital of Europe. Spain is probably third on my list of places outside the US to play, after Scotland and Banff in Canada.