Taking the family out for a holiday and you play golf!
If you’re a golf enthusiast, you will know that golf is all about who you play golf with and where you play golf. It makes a world of difference! In fact, it’s a good idea for you to take your family on an outing or a holiday in a golf course. Although not all your family members will like to play golf with you but you get to kill two birds with one stone. You get to play your golf and your family gets to enjoy the luxurious hotel and resort setting and visit from travel destinations.

The golf courses will keep changing to give golfers a fresh layout
Before you start looking for a golf resort to play golf in, check whether the golf course is actually a public one, a private one or a semi-private one. The classifications determine whether you’ll get to play golf there or not. A private golf course is reserved and is not open to the public. The semi-private golf courses are a membership-based golf course that allows certain public to play on their golf courses, for instance, hotel customers. Bear in mind that re-design and renovation of golf courses is an extremely common thing. Hotels and golf course owners usually renovate their golf courses consistently because people get bored playing in the same golf course over a certain period of time. So, to make it more attractive for golf enthusiasts, they will renovate or improve on the layout of the golf courses. It’ll also be more challenging for return golf enthusiasts.

Keen on improving your golf? Enroll in a golf school, of course!
And if you’re keen on improving your golf, you can even enroll yourself into a golf school. A one-on-one golf course is probably going to cost you an arm and a leg - especially if you’re talking about engaging the services of a professional golf instructor. Budget and time may become an obstacle to a golf enthusiast. So, what is the next best thing to do? To enroll yourself in an affordable golf school, of course. You’ll get to play and have fun at the same time - and if it’s a crash course, it won’t take up too much of your time because the syllabus is cramped into a certain period of time. And because these golf schools give golf lessons in small groups and not on a one-on-one basis, the cost of enrolling in the schools is much more affordable. The newer and broader types of packages offered from some of these golf schools can accommodate golf enthusiasts with all kinds of abilities - from amateurs, beginners to expert golfers.

Dakota Caudilla, journalist, and website builder Dakota Caudilla lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.travel-and-play.com on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

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For many golfers, the thought of playing a round during the winter and early spring is simply a dream. Even if the snow subsides earlier than expected, you are still left to pray for a dry spring so the pins will go in as early as possible. Perhaps the thought of taking a warm weather holiday to squeeze in a couple of rounds has crossed your mind, but it may not appear to fit into your budget. Although a “golf vacation” may sound like a grandiose and extravagant expenditure, it does not have to be.

A golf vacation does not need to be a week-long excursion filled with fancy resorts and exorbitant greens fees. Who feels like dropping a couple hundred bucks on a round after not picking up a club for an extended period anyway? Why not consider a long-weekend outing with a few moderately priced rounds instead?

Using one of the popular travel websites, you can find big savings on airline tickets, especially when you package them with three or four nights at a local hotel. Whether you are flying to the Southeastern US or Southwest, there are multitudes of golf options around any major city. If you avoid the temptation to visit some of the high priced courses that host professional events in these areas, it is possible to find beautiful courses with affordable greens fees. Check a website such as www.golf.com to locate budget-friendly courses in the area that you are planning to travel.

When you split cost of a hotel and rental car with one or more golf buddies, this sort of trip begins to approach an affordable level. Better yet, if you have frequent flyer miles burning a hole in your pocket, why not put them to use? Beware, however, of the all-inclusive vacations advertised in many golf publications. On the surface, many of these package deals appear to be great bargains, but there are often strings attached and plenty of fine print. Before signing up for one of these trips, do a little investigatory work. Before you sign on the dotted line, call your travel agent. For a point of reference, see what it would cost to book a similar trip through them.

Another option to consider is to plan a golf weekend minus the airfare. In late winter, if the courses in your area are still sporting a coat of snow, make a few phone calls to some courses a day’s drive south of you. There is a good chance they have already opened, and better yet are probably even featuring discounted off-season rates. True, you can probably forget about sipping drinks around the pool after a round. Nonetheless, this is a great way to get your golf fix if you don’t think you can stand it any longer.

Additionally, do not overlook the opportunity to work 9 or 18 holes into existing travel plans such as a business trip. Anywhere there is a major airport or conference center; chances are that you can find dozens of courses just by thumbing through a local phonebook or asking the hotel concierge. If your boss booked you on an oddly timed flight to save a few bucks, this may give you enough time rent a set of clubs and hit a nearby course. Do not rule out a round of golf during an already planned family vacation either. Who knows, your spouse or children may even want to join you!

From finding a good deal on airline tickets to planning a golf weekend within driving distance, there are plenty of options. When planning a trip, explore all of your option and remember that by including several friends you can dramatically cut your cost. Even with plane tickets, split amongst a foursome a long weekend of golf can be reasonably affordable.

Robert Hayes is a featured author for http://www.engolfed.com, a web site that includes golf tips, golf articles, and a golf blog.

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For a real links-style golf experience we discovered the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links, located in St. Cloud, about 25 minutes southeast of the Orlando airport or the Disney area. The Royal St. Cloud Links greet you with a rolling layout of links-style fairways, punctuated by classic links bunkers that feature names such as Hell, Spectacles, Devil’s Pocket and Hoofprint. True to its link heritage, every club in the bag will be utilized as the terrain is naturally varied.

Unlike other Orlando golf courses, the Royal St. Cloud is free of any residential developments and offers a pure golf experience. The design features four sets of tees and from the blue tee offers a championship length of 7,111 yards and a 74.6 rating, all on flawless fairways and silky-smooth Tifeagle greens.

Its motto, as printed above the entrance to the club house is “Original Golf Played Here”, and indeed the Royal St. Cloud features original style golf at its unpretentious best. I had a chance to talk to Bill Filson, the Director of Golf and since 2002 co-owner of this facility.

Bill has an extensive teaching background. He has personally studied under some of the top-ranked teaching professionals and brings 12 years of teaching experience that featured beginners to PGA tour professionals. Bill has consistently been a top-ranked PGA Professional. The Royal St. Cloud’s teaching staff is complemented by Dave Rummels who brings 17 years of valuable PGA Tour experience with him and can share advice from the “Tour” with the students. Associate Professional, Doug Holloway, has 16 years coaching experience.

At the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links the commitment to teaching the game of golf commitment includes state-of-the art video equipment and even a teaching tent for inclement weather. Lessons, programs, and clinics are offered for every skill level and requirement. Bill explained that they run very reasonably priced children’s clinics at $7.00 per clinic and the club has 120 members in their junior program. Ladies can also learn the sport without embarrassment in a relaxed, comfortable environment. And with every family membership at the club kids play for free.

Bill prides himself on offering one of the greatest values in golf in the Orlando area. For the 2005-2006 season rates vary from $46 to $48 from November 1 to January 10, and $64 from January 11 to April 30, 2006. Discounted tee time rates
are available after 11 am or 12 pm respectively, 7 days/week. Bill went on to say that the fees at the Royal St. Cloud are always reasonable, and that he aims not to oversell his course, but to exceed the visitors’ expectations.

In addition, he offers a very unique proposition: a 100% money-back guarantee with no conditions if you didn’t enjoy your playing experience at the Royal St. Clouds. He said in the almost three years since he has run this course only 2 people ever asked for a refund; a phenomenal achievement, considering that several tens of thousands of rounds are played here every year.

One of the very unique features of this course is the handcrafted stonework which is evident in four bridges found throughout the course that have been hand-built by one individual brick by brick. Bill said that some of the bridges are even a little bit crooked, just to give them more character. The most famous stone bridge can be found on the 5th hole and many of the British visitors to this golf course come here specifically for this unique feature.

Bill explained that his golf course serves a value-based market that is composed of local residents, snowbirds escaping the cold northern winters, and British golfers, a very loyal crowd who refer this facility to many of their friends back home.

The Royal St. Cloud Golf Links have been rated as one of the Top 5 Most Underrated Golf Courses in the Orlando area and they have hosted the 2004 and 2005 British Junior Amateur. With its wide-open fairways the course looks deceptively simple, however, I experienced very quickly the unique challenges offered by the Royal St. Cloud. Traditional links golf is played on the ground, unfortunately I still managed to find water several times, despite the generously open fairways.
The other feature I really enjoyed were a number of the ponds on the back nine of the course that were playing host to a variety of local wildlife and water birds. I particularly enjoyed watching a very rare specimen of wood stork stalking the edges of a pond for food, and a crane standing upright with stretched out wings. The course had a very relaxed, casual and friendly feel to it and we enjoyed a tasty hot dog after our game on the beautiful patio outside the clubhouse as a way to cap off a very enjoyable golf experience on a gorgeous day.

Driving Directions from the Disney Area:
Royal St. Cloud Golf Links is an easy 25 miles from the Disney area.
(25-35 minute approximate drive time)
Take Osceola Parkway to the Florida Turnpike
Take Exit 244 to Hwy 192, turn left.
Go 4.6 miles to Vermont Ave, turn right.
Take Vermont 2.1 miles to Creek Woods Road, take a left.

Go only .7 miles to Michigan Ave, take a right directly into the Golf Club.

Statistics
Par 72 Yards Rating Slope
Blue 7111 74.6 128
Gold 6680 72.2 125
Green 6083 69.2 115
Citrus 5531 66.6 111

For more information please visit Royal St. Cloud Golf Links website or call them at (407) 891-7010.

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”.
The story with photos is published at Travel Stories and Photos (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/orlando_royal_stcloud_golf.htm).

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