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Posts tagged ‘golf courses’

Jan 31

Palm Springs – Golf

Don has made a lot of friends through his love of golf, which is how we find ourselves staying with Tom and Diane Caress in Palm Springs.

Don randomly met Tom on a golf course in Perth (Australia), in 1994.

Tom loves his golf, possibly more than Don.

I think Tom, has probably played more golf courses around the world than even Don has!

Diane an Tom, along with their daughter Kym and her son Lincoln (who are currently residing with them) welcome us warmly into their home.

Diane kindly hands over the washing machine and we make good use of it!

Tom gives us tickets to the PGA Humana Challenge at La Quinta Country Club and we head out and watch the Pros for the afternoon.

Having spent two nights with the Caress’, we move down the road for a week at the Marriott Desert Springs, for a week of ‘resortville living’.  That’s another timeshare week used up!

Don has bought me new golf clubs – in the hope that I will take my golf a bit more seriously.  

If he’s prepared to follow me down snow covered mountains on two planks in a few weeks, I guess I can chase a little white ball around the grass for a week.

Throughout the week I have three lessons including a playing lesson. The golf Pro is Johnny; he’s straight out of college, but I like the way he approaches the game and imparts his knowledge.

Don of course is like a pig in mud!  He is surrounded by golf courses.  Actually there are over 130 golf courses to choose from in the Palm Springs area.

The highlight of the week would be PGA West TPC Stadium course. No easy course and whilst I started off with a par, it went downhill from there.

Aside from playing three games with me (though the playing lesson probably doesn’t count), Don squeezes in another three.

My golf did improve – but I’m not planning on turning professional anytime soon.

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May 7

A side step to Belek – for some more golf!

Side is recommended, for it is an old walled city with Roman and Byzantine ruins.

We thought we might stay in Side, but on checking out a couple of options we decided to head round the coast a bit more to Belek (Don was also keen to sample a couple of golf courses).

Belek is a purpose built town of golf resorts and you probably wouldn’t visit unless you wanted to play golf.  We check out a couple of places to stay.  Don does not even get past the first hotel, as the pool is green with neglect.

We pull into the Hotel Vera Verde. We always send Don in to negotiate, as the Turkish like dealing with the man and Don enjoys the challenge of getting a good deal.

This one is pretty good and alternatives are looking slim  They offer us a 2 Bedroom room, all inclusive, for 2 nights for €190 ($285).  You know you’re in a tourist resort when all the prices are quoted in Euro.

Let me explain all inclusive; that’s all meals and alcohol for the entire stay.  They slip wrist bands on us, we dump our gear in the room and head for the poolside bar to start getting our value for money!

Of course it’s a bit like being in a club med resort. You eat buffet food, the cocktails are overly sweet and the gin is a local turkish brand which made me appreciate the difference between good and bad gin!

But it had been a while since we had stayed anywhere reasonable. The pool and beach club were nice, but most importantly Don got two games of golf in, including the novelty of playing the back nine under lights.

Katrina and I went back into Side and explored the ruins during one of Don’s games.  Side at one time had been an important port, so the ruins are pretty impressive.

The old part of town is fully geared for tourists, but still has some charm about it, especially if you get there early enough to beat the first tourist buses.

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