Golfers have one huge advantage over most other sports enthusiasts; while football and cricket fans can only dream of playing in their favourite stadia, golfers can literally follow in the footsteps of the top pros. With a score card to play against, golfers can imagine they’re a hole behind their heroes, measuring their game up, stroke by stroke, even though they know they’ll come in second place every time.

It’s unsurprisingly, therefore, that golf resorts are booming, with luxury hotels catering for golfers around the world, providing easy access to the legendary courses on the PGA circuits in America and beyond, the problem instead lies in deciding where to play first.

Florida offers an astonishing array of magnificent golf resorts. The aptly named Sunshine State boasts 1,200 golf courses and no fewer than six listed in Golf Magazine’s top 100 courses.

Stroke play
Golfers aiming to emulate the stroke play of the PGA professionals, just need to book into the Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa at Ponte Vedra Beach. From there, the legendary TPC at Sawgrass’ Stadium course, home of The Players Championship, is within driving distance.

Once a swamp, sold for $1 in 1978, the Stadium has been called “a baby-faced assassin” for the way it can dazzle a player with its beauty before surprising golfers with its devastating water hazards. The Sawgrass Resort, which promises to combine elegance with ease, is recognised by golfers, families and MICE planners as one of the top resorts in the States.
Two-time U.S. Open champion, Curtis Strange, recommends golfers head to West Virginia for The Greenbrier. The elegant 721-room hotel, nestled in the scenic Allegheny Mountains, has been attracting guests since 1778, with presidents and film stars alike seeking comfort in its six-star facilities, dining and service.

Previously hosting the Ryder and Solheim Cups, The Greenbrier offers three championship courses, a 65,000 sq ft practice range, four putting, chipping and pitching greens and coaching at the Sam Snead Golf Academy. Away from the greens, there is falconry, fly fishing, riding, outdoor tennis, shooting, white-water rafting and mountain biking, along with an acclaimed cookery school and spa.

Rapid rise
On the other side of the world, Barnbougle Dunes lies in northern Tasmania, Australia, co-designed by Australian and European Tour winner Michael Clayton and Tom Doak, complete with rolling dunes, marram grass and breathtaking ocean vistas. “One of the things I love about Barnbougle is the relaxed atmosphere of the place,” Clayton explains. “There are none of the restrictions that are so much a part of the Australian private club scene. It’s very friendly, and guests feel none of the intimidation that public golfers experience when visiting a private club.”

Barnbougle is a relatively new resort, having opened just five years ago, but by 2006 it made Golf Magazine’s ‘Top 100 In The World’ list and offers guests the chance to stay in spacious cottages designed specifically for foursomes, with
two rooms, modern bathroom and patio with sea views, a short stroll from the clubhouse and first tee.

It may be difficult to ignore the world’s longest golf course at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Golf Club, in China’s Yunnan province. Surrounded by 13 majestic peaks and situated at the base of a Himalayan glacier, the course is 8,548 yards long.

Putter to pencil
Also in China is the impressive Mission Hills Golf Club at Shenshen, a World Cup course designed by Jack Nicklaus, since opening in 1994, it has been held up as the prime example of golf’s outstanding international growth in the last two decades and was host to China’s first international golf tournament, the 41st World Cup of Golf, in 1995.

Proving China’s emergence in the golf market, the Mission Hills Resort was awarded the nation’s Golden Pillow Award for its business holiday service and is perfectly situated in the heart of the golf course, housing 317 bedrooms and a balcony apiece. Because of the success of Mission Hills, insiders are now predicting China will boast more golf courses than Scotland by 2015.

With around 2,500 courses, there are more golf courses in Japan than the rest of Asia put together. Hirono has hosted all the major Japanese championships and presents the supreme test of golf, even though it is less than 7,000 yards from the back tees. The club was founded in 1932 by Englishman Charles Alison, who designed many of Japan’s best courses, and is only 15 miles from the city of Kobe, Japan’s main seaport.

Bring a camera
At the Kawana Golf Resort, on the mountainous Izu Peninsula, there are two courses, Fuji and Oshima. The Fuji course, designed by Alison in 1936, is rated highly and takes golfers around an elevated headland with Mount Fuji in the distance, is a favourite with many who adore the Pacific Ocean and mature woodlands. Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, on their honeymoon, and John Wayne are amongst those to have stayed at the traditional Kawana Resort Hotel.

Golfers seeking exotic surroundings can certainly find them in abundance in Indonesia. Golf has long been established on the 18,000 islands that make up Indonesia and there are now 150 courses. The best is the Nirwana Golf Club on beautiful Bali. It features a glorious Greg Norman layout which endears itself to many golfers by looking more difficult than it plays. Nevertheless, the seventh hole is especially challenging, requiring players to hit a cliffside tee shot across a stretch of ocean to a well-guarded green. The experience is made all the more enjoyable by an ever-changing panorama of glorious coastal views and ancient temples.

Located on the beautiful southwest coast, the Nirwana Bali Resort was the island’s first fully-integrated development and offers an array of luxurious facilities on a site combining the best of modern and traditional Balinese architecture in a lovely natural environment.

The undisputed number one golf resort in South Africa is the Durban Country Club, which has hosted more South African Opens than any other. Established in 1922, it is an oasis of calm away from the hustle and bustle of the cosmopolitan city. Set on the edge of the Indian Ocean, behind a tall ridge of sand dunes, players enjoy a course that winds its way through lush tropical vegetation. The clubhouse is an impressive white gabled building surrounded by scrupulously groomed lawns, a swimming pool and various club amenities. Its restaurants offer fine or casual dining, plus an intimate cocktail bar and traditional bar.

For golfers looking for something completely different, Mexico is emerging as a competitor to the more recognised golfing destinations. The new El Camaleon Resort, near the Playa del Carmen beach, already established as a major attraction, is an 18-hole » course designed by the great Greg Norman, and winds through three distinct landscapes, mangrove jungles, limestone canals and stretches of Caribbean seafront. The course, just 45 minutes south of Cancun, is the centrepiece of the luxury resort development of Mayakoba which includes the 401-room deluxe hotel The Fairmont Mayakoba.

Europe certainly has its fair share of world-class golf resorts and should not be discounted even though it might not boast the glamour of resorts across the rest of the world.

New direction
Tourist bosses in Portugal spotted the possibilities of tapping into the golf market a long time ago, not just in the Algarve, but in other areas too. On the glorious Estoril coast, golfers can enjoy the luxury at the Penha Longa Golf Resort, a 194-room hotel that dates back to the 14th Century. Over the years, it has been a favoured retreat of Portuguese royals and foreign dignitaries and offers two challenging courses set amongst the spectacular rolling hills and clear lakes of the southern Sintra mountains.

In neighbouring Spain, one of Europe’s most popular golf resorts is to be found at Montecastillo, to the north east of Jerez. With a magnificent late 19th century El Castillo clubhouse, reminiscent of the one at Wentworth, the course is nestled deep in the heart of the sherry region and was designed by Jack Nicklaus in 1992 to be long and demanding.

The resort occupies 400-acres and has recently hosted the Manchester United football team in the five-star hotel. The resort offers indoor and outdoor swimming pools, plus tennis courts and football pitches, while recent improvements have included the planting of 100-year-old olive trees around the course and the installation of a new drainage system.

For sheer Italian sophistication, the Castelconturbia Golf Club, at Agrate Conturbia, in Piedmont takes some beating. Just 12 miles from Milan’s Malpensa Airport, the club opened in 1984 features three nine-hole loops designed by Robert Trent Jones, largely regarded as some of Italy’s most challenging. The Castelconturbia course dates back to 1898 when it was one of only two in the whole of Italy.

Luxury greens
While many golf resorts have a link with one superstar, for the Sport Club Berlin, on the banks of Germany’s tranquil Lake Scharmutzelsee, Nick Faldo and Arnold Palmer have both designed courses. Top players regard Faldo’s layout as a brutal masterpiece best left to serious golfers, the par five 11th hole, for instance, features an astonishing 14 bunkers. The resort is set in 300 acres and away from the greens there are 11 conference and function rooms, three restaurants, a sailing marina and a helicopter-landing pad.

Tiger Woods is designing courses for new resorts in Dubai, North Carolina and Mexico. The first course, the ‘Tiger Woods Dubai’, is an incredible multi-million pound project involving palaces, mansions and a boutique hotel, all alongside a gigantic clubhouse and golf academy. Opening in the coming summer, developers hope the resort will attract golfers from all over the globe.

Tiger touch
Thailand’s lush Blue Canyon Country Club, on the tropical island of Phuket, Andaman Sea, is built on land that was once a tin mine and rubber plantation. Today it presents one of Asia’s more exacting golfing challenges. Just three miles from Phuket International Airport, it has hosted the Johnnie Walker Classic and elicited praise from some of the top pros, Tiger Woods once declared: “It’s one of the best I have ever played on.”

Animal magic
While clearing a round at the 18-hole championship course at Kenya’s Nyali Golf & Country Club, at Mombasa, golfers are likely to spot buffalo, wild pig, small buck and vervet monkeys, the club’s mascot, between shots. This course, right on the Indian Ocean, was opened in 1980 and is considered to have the best greens in the whole of Kenya.

Welsh wonder
The Celtic Manor Resort, near Newport, south Wales, will become the focus of the golf world in October 2010 when it stages the Ryder Cup. One of Europe’s leading golf and business resorts, Celtic Manor has three magnificent courses and an award-winning clubhouse. This great sporting showdown between Europe and the USA will mark the Ryder Cup’s first visit to Wales.