Golftrekker

Padraig Harrington disqualified after failing to properly replace ball at Abu Dhabu - European Tour Coverage | Golf Channel

2011-01-21T11:45:00.001-07:00

Another viewer violates the 9th Commandment of Golf by calling in a suspected rule infraction that Paddy himself didn't call. I understand that a ball "shall not change position" but 3 dimples forward and one and a half back? - jeez Padraig Harrington disqualified after failing to properly replace ball at Abu Dhabu - European Tour Coverage | Golf Channel

New Social Media Training Added To Golf Marketing Boot Camp 2011 | Golf Marketing Blog

2011-01-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

This requires a $2k investment and a trip to Florida, I can do it for a quarter of that via email and phone. And for Scottsdale and Phoenix golf courses I can come to you!

New Social Media Training Added To Golf Marketing Boot Camp 2011 | Golf Marketing Blog

Camilo Villegas disqualified from season opener - PGA Tour Coverage | Golf Channel

2011-01-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

The viewer violated the 9th Commandment of Golf with his call to tournament officials in the HYUNDAI Tournament of Champions in Maui. Right or Wrong?

Camilo Villegas disqualified from season opener - PGA Tour Coverage | Golf Channel

OT: What Not To Do On A Golf Course... » Victory Motorcycles: Victory Vision, Victory Kingpin, Victory Vegas, Victory Hammer, Arlen Ness

2010-11-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

If this video is for real and these golfers were actually pissed off at these kids with the "Burrita" remote controlled car, it's a sad commentary for golfers. Jeez, you old farts, where is your sense of humor?

OT: What Not To Do On A Golf Course... » Victory Motorcycles: Victory Vision, Victory Kingpin, Victory Vegas, Victory Hammer, Arlen Ness

Golf's 50 greatest destinations : Going on a golf vacation? For our 50th anniversary, we rank the 50 best places | Golf Digest | Find Articles at BNET

2010-11-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Golf's 50 greatest destinations : Going on a golf vacation? For our 50th anniversary, we rank the 50 best places | Golf Digest | Find Articles at BNET

NileGuide - Sponsored Post

2010-03-27T07:55:00.001-07:00

NileGuide - www.nileguide.com

Free trip planner and personalized travel guide. Think Frommers, TripAdvisor, CitySearch, OpenTable and many other sources of destination content more all rolled into one! Great for planning travel or just finding restaurants, bars and activities near you!

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Dick Schaefer's profile on MyLikes

Machrihanish Golf Course

2009-10-22T20:41:00.008-07:00

This one is from our friends at Forelinksters and if you can pronounce the name correctly you are either Scottish or you have played there!

Machrihanish Golf Course was created by time, with a little help from Tom Morris over 100 years ago. It is located on the tip of the Kintyre Peninsula on Scotland's western coast, and on a clear day, you will be able to spot Northern Ireland from the first tee. The first hole has been called one of golf's great starting holes since you drive across the Atlantic to the fairway. The course is routed through the natural dunes, valleys, and plateaus, and is one of the most natural settings for links golf you will find.

It is a tough test, the fairways somewhat narrow, the heather and marram overwhelming, and the greens undulating and small, then add the wind and you have a real test. Half of the experience of playing here is the virtual remoteness of the area, and the adventure in getting here. There are two ways to approach Machrihanish, either a 3.5 hour journey by car down the Kintyre Peninsula from Glasgow, or via two ferries, first to The Isle of Arran and then to Kintrye from Lochranza to Cloanig. It's breathtaking scenery on both approaches and worth the time to experience both routes.

We stayed at the Balinakill Country House about 30 minutes north, a kind of old castle-like estate, a bit stodgy and dated, but a great find, nice dinner, and a cozy bar.

Austin Mulligan

2009-03-06T21:09:00.008-07:00

Well, pardners, Golftrekker is jamming his travel bag full of balls and is off to Austin for a good ole Texas-style mulligan. He heard about that Barton Creek outfit from the golf experts at the Globe and Mail and just had to take a second look.

After his first trip was derailed by a sick llama he is itchin to get back to his favorite Calloway driver and a big spread of Tex-Mex grub & growl.

Fred is much better now and looking forward to the terrain and whooeee, he do love those Fazio courses! Yahooo!

Golf In The Orient

2009-02-28T23:01:00.003-07:00

If you havn't played golf in the Orient lately check out all the new fabulous places to play! Magnificent courses in Thailand, Vietnam, Bankok and much more.

Golf Cruise To Asia

2009-02-28T20:13:00.009-07:00

Now This Is What You Call - Off The Beaten Cart Path Golf!

A six-star Asia excursion aboard the luxurious Crystal Sympony - Hong Kong to Singapore. Not just any excursion mind you, but a marvelous Golf Themed Cruise Of Asia put together by the genius's at Crystal Cruises. Departing April 20 - 11 Days.

Check out the details at our sister site, LowCarb Cruising.

The Ugly American Golfer

2009-02-12T19:38:00.003-07:00

Loud, arrogant, demanding, we dress like clowns and oh, yeah - we're fat slobs too!

What can we do to shake this image?

After having escorted hundreds of golfers to foreign countries to play golf I can attest that, unfortunately, there is a lot of truth to that statement. There were too many instances of missed tee times, drunkenness, embarassing ego's, cheating and the worst sin of all to european golfers - slow play.

I heard that some business group was going to attempt to improve the image of the ugly American businessman. I wish them luck but if they think there is a problem with our businessmen wait until they try to tackle the image of the typical ugly American tourist traveling abroad. Those are the bermuda shorted, tight topped, black socked, tube topped and sausage casing spandex wearers that really give the rest of us a bad name.

Is this true about all Americans traveling abroad? - of course not. Here are some of the things that us courteous, thoughtful and respectful Americans do while traveling abroad:

We speak clearly and at much lower decibels and with a respectful tone. Nobody likes loud, it is perceived as threatening and will only serve to draw unwanted attention to yourself.

We listen - we want to know about their culture and way of life.

We wear nice, clean but subdued clothing, especially on the golf course. In a lot of countries, casual dress is a sign of disrespect. You can be a slob in your hotel room.

We maintain a good pace of play; there is no reason to spend more than a couple of minutes looking for the Pinnacle X-outs we hit OB, we don't hit more than one shot when it is our turn and we certainly don't waggle, practice swing and pose with each shot. We play ready golf, we keep up, we play by the rules of golf, we leave the stogies for the 19th hole and we enjoy the company of local golfers.

Unfortunately indications are that the ugly-American is getting uglier. 911 was no help but the people overseas don't just hate our foreign policy; they hate us too. These people used to admire the American culture and our independent way of life. Regular Americans were never before held responsible for the things our government did to annoy them. Now we don't even get the benefit of the doubt. As our government is so are we. No longer is there a distinction between Americans as individuals and our scandal ridden, corupt and medling government.

U.S travelers have not cornered the market on ugly. But as global travel becomes available to ordinary, middle-class Americans it is our responsibility to act like we care about our language, appearance, perceptions, religion and our fellow man. Treat anyone you encounter with respect and patience and you will be doing us all a big favor.

One Lucky Golfer

2009-01-31T22:10:00.005-07:00

Being in my late 50's should come as no shock I guess but doesn't it just seem to sneak up on you quick?! My life in the Scottsdale, Arizona golf scene is winding down from a full-time job to a part time consultancy. I can't do anything about my age but I have a lot of great memories and a Nike Sasquatch driver that's added 10 years to my game and I can still play to a solid 12 hndp (when I have to)

Have Golf Will Travel

I have been lucky - I've played golf all over the world. It helps to be in the business of golf travel but you have to pay your dues for a lot of years, build your credibility and hope your golf clients have a great time on their trips so that they tell their golfing/traveling friends.

I started with nothing - I made a cold pitch to the president of Ask Mr. Foster's Phoenix Headquarters for a golf travel program to be incorporated into their already huge leisure portfolio. Miraculously, he loved the idea! That was the good news - the bad news was he couldn't compensate me with any more than a straight commission -which meant I had to go out and find the business - quickly. I also suspected the travel benefits would help offset the pain of no income and to a large extent I was proved right.

Long story short, I spent four wonderful years at Ask Mr. Foster, a division of Carlson Worldwide, now Carlson Wagonlit, I traveled the globe in search of golf, led golf groups to some wonderful golf destinations in the U.S.,abroad and in Canada and Mexico. I left with a wealth of knowledge on how to sucessfully market, promote and lead golf tours and have never looked back. It was tough in the beginning but my philosophy, "do what you love", right?

World Match Play

2009-01-31T22:06:00.003-07:00

Golftrekker has his faithful LLama Fred, saddled and ready for another great golf adventure. This time we don't have to go far - it's just down the road in Tucson, Arizona - the Accenture World Match Play, Feb 23 - March 1, 2009.

This time I will be working with the guys at CBS Sports, Gary McCord, David Feherty and company. I will chronicle my adventures, take some candid shots from inside the ropes and will offer some info about things to do in Tucson.

Rumors are that the Tiger himself might make an appearance - stay tuned!

Been Golf - Done golf

2008-11-29T15:14:00.001-07:00

How To Plan The Perfect Golf Trip

So what do discriminating and well-traveled golfers talk about when the subject of the next golf trip comes up, other than the obvious one - where to lads? Well, for us the first thing we do is discuss what we liked best about past trips. The Journey? People? Golf course layout and condition, Scenery, Food, Prices, etc. Our little golf group tends to favor the cultural flavor of a destination more than the golf itself. It's not that we don't seek great tracks to play, with smooth and true putting surfaces, manicured fairways and lush tee boxes, but we have enjoyed golf in so many exotic places just accepting what it is without criticizing the course for not measuring up. Take advantage of shoulder seasons if selecting a popular tourist destination.

Golftrekker - "Traveling The World In Search Of Golf"

2007-09-28T17:04:00.005-07:00

You name the golf course and we will play it! Give us your feedback on featured golf destinations and share those "Diamonds In The Rough" golf courses with your fellow golfers. Let us know where you found these hidden gems of golf and what makes them worth playing.

Spain Golf Cruise

2007-04-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

Coast of Spain Golf Cruise - aboard Sea Cloud

Seville - Costa del Sol - Gibraltar - Granada - Valencia - Barcelona- Lisbon
April 23-May 4, 2008
Seville, Spain's eternal city, is the starting place for our itinerary. Known for flamenco dancing and bullfighting, Seville is also the site of Feria, Spain's spring fair. Guests may opt for the Lisbon Pre-Tour Extension to experience golf in Portugal and enjoy the wonderful city of Lisbon. The elegant four-masted barque, Sea Cloud, sails to different ports with easy access to several of the top golf courses in Europe. This tour offers Spain at its best - golf at Valderrama, San Roque, El Saler and PGA Golf de Catalunya, paired with the treasures of Gibraltar, the Alhambra and Barcelona.

Call Golftrekker at 1-888-799-4284

2007-04-03T13:44:00.008-07:00

The Masters Golf Tournament Is Here!

Spring is in the air! And when I see those PGA Tour guys teeing it up at Augusta National Golf Club my mind yearns to discover the next great golf adventure. It could be a magnificent but little-known Pete Dye golf course you find not far from home or more exotic golf in faraway places, like his Teeth Of The Dog Course in the Dominican Republic.

Take Time To Smell The Fairways!

But it doesn't take an occasion like the Masters to stimulate discussion among my friends and I about our next golf trip. All I have to do is pick up that 60 degree wedge I keep by the TV and lob whiffle golf balls over the sofa while watching Phil Mickelson do it for real. One of us is always trying to outdo the other with their vision of the perfect golf trip. These guys (thanks in part to me) have been just about everywhere, and to a man, believe in the axiom that "none of us gets out of this alive," a favorite expression of my Dad's - meaning, seize the moment.

The Old Course at St. Andrews and Pebble Beach Golf Links Are Not The Only Great Courses Out There

Having played the St. Andrew's and Pebble Beach's (name courses) of the world most of us prefer the experience of making new friends in other cultures more than finding superb golf conditions in extraordinary destinations. We like to dine with the locals and eat what they do. (there are limits!). There are many places that combine both exotic locale and great golf, and we hope to tell you about them in this blog.

I Heard New Zealand Golf Was As Good As It Gets

Then we start throwing out ideas, Pete wants to check out New Zealand, Bill heard about killer golf in the Dominican, John has always wanted to play golf in Africa. After some discussion of each we somehow arrive at one that stands out, pick the dates, choose an alternate and then the ball bounces to my court for research.

There are only four of us in the group, guys who can be depended on to go when they say they will go. Others have joined us for some memorable trips (oh, the stories!) but we are the core golfers who mean business when it comes to breaking new ground and taking chances on the not so well known. We have found that in any gathering where John Barleycorn is in attendance and the magic words are uttered; Golf Trip! - everyone wants to go! So the challenge then becomes - where? We know we will find the adventure part in the journey itself before even putting a peg in the ground and - once there, while rubbing elbows with the locals over a pint. We just need to be sure that the end result is a golf experience that is going to knock our (half) socks off. Wer'e talking here about that once a year big trip, not the Scottsdale's and the Myrtle Beach's. We go there all the time too but for shorter periods. I live in Scottsdale so it's always fun to introduce other golfers to target golf in the desert.

Back in my former life in the mid-west there were many years when, like many, my annual vacation consisted of two weeks. One week was reserved for vacationing with the family and one just for golf. Sometimes my wife would even let me play on our vacations together but only once in a while when it looked like a special course and the truth is I enjoyed doing other things. I am no longer the rabid golfer that would play at any time, under any kind of conditions, 36, sometimes 54 holes a day and pout like a kid if anything got in the way of a golf game. It's an improvement, I used to cry when it rained!

Visit this little blogspot regularly if you want to uncover some of the finest places in the world to play golf and at the same time enjoy different cultures and lifestyles. This is a place where you can dream about golf in far away places and some not so far away. There are courses by crystal blue waters and ocean breezes that will cause you to take one more club for that approach, golf courses in the mountains that will make you take a club less and hazzards you can't even imagine. Some of these trips you don't have to go on, just reading about them is enough to cause water-cooler conversation. However, it is our job to educate and amaze you with what is out there, provide you with the coolest golf we can find and get you there and back. You will spend the time immediately after trying to have the grin surgically removed from your face and wondering what we will come up with next.

We will feature golf destinations, some of which will be big enough to designate as, "once-in-a-lifetime trips" and some that will surprise you with their simplicity. We offer destinations that you see in the fancy golf and travel magazines and a lot more than that. Those trips are just the tip of the iceburg because it is so expensive to advertise in print that most never make it in at all.

We are fortunate that our GolfTrekker vendors take the guess work out of these trips because each specializes in a destination that they have down to a science with all the T's crossed and the i's dotted. The itineraries that we choose to feature with GolfTrekker come to us from well-known, respected tour operators that we know we can depend on to take care of our clients and deliver on their promises. No detail is too small. When we evaluate the potential of each itinerary for our clients, programs that are put together which such care and expense by our tour partners, we have to wonder - who are the clients that will accept the challenge and go on these trips? How do we inform the adventurous souls out there that there is life beyond the been there, done that crowd?

The answer to that question lies in the amount of energy expended by the promoting agency. You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring and hope that you catch a few adventurous souls or you can be pro-active about it, spend a few bucks and get it out there on the web. All of the tour operators promote their packages in differant ways, some spending a lot more time and effort than others. The problem is that all the cool trips are fragmented, promoted one at a time, by the individual operator in magazines or websites. You could spend all day finding all of the trips we list here in one central location.

Exotic golf does not necessarily mean having to travel out of the country. Keep an eye on Bend, Oregon my fellow chops, as you will see much coming from me on that subject. Our plan is to get Bend dialed in as a serious golf destination and expose the secrets that our Oregon golf brothers have managed to keep to themselves. The Southwest golfer is just starting to discover the awesome experience to be had in Oregon and I know there are others all over the country that would be interested in a first-hand opinion. We will give you that and more, after all we want to be the ones golfers look to for that perfect Oregon Golf Experience.

This won't happen overnight and there is a lot of work (golf) to be done, but someone has to do it! Oh, and in case you were wondering about my credentials, I am not just some golf nut that has wanderlust in his bones. Since my intro into the business of golf travel with Ask Mr. Foster travel in 1987 I have circled the globe in search of great golf. I have taken groups to Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Hawaii and a whole bunch of other cool places.

I am really fortunate to be located in Scottsdale, Arizona, home of golf in the Southwest. One of my many interests is in bringing golfers to Scottsdale to experience golf in the High Sonoron Desert and I do this for Arizona Trails Travel and Scottsdale Golf & Lodging, a brick & mortar, full-service travel agency just east of Scottsdale, Arizona. We have great people here specializing in Golf Travel, Cruises, Europe & Hawaii. I head up the golf division and work with groups of all sizes, both corporate and individual - virtually anyone looking for a great golf vacation. We first listen to what they want and then match them up with the perfect accommodations and tee times to suit their budget and style - just tell us what, when and how much.

One of the most important parts of any golf vacation is being able to deliver on the tee times and our 10 + years in the business of promoting Golf Packages in Scottsdale just about guarantees you will get the starting times you want. Just ask any of our thousands of satisfied clients. From January 15th to April 1 is our peak season with average temps in the mid-70's and the whole freezing planet wants to be here. (who could blame them?) If you want a great place to stay and guaranteed starting times 120 days in advance you need to talk to us.

Want to play Troon North, Grayhawk, TPC Scottsdale, Sanctuary, Legend Trail, Talking Stick, Whirlwind, Camelback, McCormick Ranch or Longbow? Or any of about 180 courses in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. How about rubbing elbows with Phil Mickelson while sipping a cold one at Phil's Grill after having enjoyed Tom Fazio's renowned Raptor Course at Grayhawk? We can make it happen for you and sometimes save you money in the bargain. Just go visit our genius's at GOOGLE, type in Scottsdale Golf and you will find us. Hint: Scottsdale Golf & Lodging R Us, the Golf Division of Arizona Trails Travel. No stinkin sponsored link - we got there the old fashioned way - we earned it!

Well, as great as Scottsdale is for golf, enough of that! We think this blog should focus more on those out of the way places that are too good to be true and maybe too stingy to tell the world about it. That's the only thing I can think of to explain why the golf world isn't beating a path to their door. Ever been somewhere that is just so cool and you wonder why nobody knows about it? For example; anyone who has ever picked up a golf magazine knows about Bandon Dunes and what a unique experience it is, but holy moly, have you checked their prices lately? Who do you think pays the tab for all that ink? - us golfers that's who. Do we really want the Pebble Beach, play-it-once-in-your-life, no- matter- the- cost experience? OR -Just down the coast in Florence is a course called SandPines that is Troon Golf mangaged - hence in great shape - a really fun course to play and is about one fourth the cost. The last time I played there we teed off at 8am on a Saturday in July and didn't see hardly another soul. The formula should go like this: Love the course, happy with the cost = good golf experience. Not all GolfTrekker Approved courses will fall into this category but many will. And I can almost guarantee that they will rock the needle on the first tee excitement meter.

You will also see some really exotic golf destinations here because we run across some real doozies just about every day. My partnership with Arizona Trails Travel makes a golf destination that is promoted via this blog credible because it comes from a tour operator that we know and trust. This is important! Some fly-by-night operator can grab your dough on the internet and where are they when you need them? We offer 24 hour service via toll-free assistance and trip protection plus we want you as a repeat customer. That means, service, service, service!

Here is one of our current favorites for you to check out. Peter Deilmann Cruises - Exclusive Golf Programs for 2007. Holy divets!, it don't get much better than this! The Britannia Golf Cup 2007 that starts off at the Old Course at St. Andrews, includes Gleneagles, Ballybunnion and Old Head - you get golf heaven on shore while enjoying the absolutely sinful luxury of the 5-star MS Deutschland at sea. Or how about a Rhine River Cruise in Germany with the backdrop of castle ruins in your backswing? Peter Deilmann does it again with the 5-Star MV Heidelberg on the Rhine . FREE air available for a limited time. You can view all of their golf itinerary's here: http://www.deilmann-cruises.com/theme/golf.pdf Anyone out there that wants to promote a Peter Deilmann cruise to their club or association I have a great deal for you. Get 10 passengers and your cruise is free + everybody saves an additional 8% on their cruise! This is an exclusive offer available only through GolfTrekker! Call us toll-free 1-888-799-4284 and ask for Dick.

Just remember our motto: "There is no place too far or too expensive when the journey takes you to a great golf course." Ok, so it's not an actual motto but it sure sounds like one!

Next Up: Golf In Africa

Stay Tuned,

Golftrekker