| |
| |
|
All About Golf |
|
|
|
Returning Home: Scottish Golf Breaks
July 2005 sees the return of the world's greatest golf tournament to its spiritual home on the Scottish East Coast. With the 27th staging of the British Open taking place on the Old Course in 2005, St Andrews has held the event more often than anywhere else which has reinforced its strong reputation as the "Home of Golf". This year's event comes at a period of time where the Scottish Golf Industry is enjoying something of a renaissance, with more and more people choosing to visit the country for golfing holidays and test themselves on some of the world's most famous courses. The Old Course at St.Andrews, where this year the world's greatest golfing talent will compete for the famous Claret Jug, originally consisted of 22 holes - eleven out and eleven back. However, in 1764 the local society of St.Andrews Golfers decided that the format of the course needed to change as the many of the holes were simply too short. As a result the total number of holes was cut to 18 - which is now synonymous with golf courses around the world. However, despite the now settled structure of the course many in the town felt the links would be better served as a commercial opportunity rather than a playground for golfers. This combined with the local councils financial difficulties led to the links being sold in 1799 to a rabbit breeding company! This proved to be a very controversial move which essentially led to what is known locally as the "Rabbit Wars" for the best part of twenty years. Eventually, in 1821 a gentleman called James Cheape bought the links for the sole use of local golfers - which essentially led to the great golfing legacy which still exists to this day. While in many countries golf is seen as a game for the financial elite, it has always been a sport that was accessible to all levels of society in Scotland. The popularity of the game continued to grow and in 1860 Prestwick Golf Club held the first Open Championship and won by Willie Park. St Andrews first held the Open in 1873 when Tom Kidd claimed the title and more than a century later the course has seen some of the most exciting opens including the famous Tiger Woods victory in 2000 where he set a low-scoring record of 19 under par while becoming the youngest player to have achieved a career "grand slam" of golf's four major tournaments. In addition to the famous win by Tiger Woods the winner of the 2005 Open will be following in the footsteps of other legends such as Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Locke and James Braid who have all won over the famous links. Put simply winning the Open at the home of golf is the absolute pinnacle of achievement that any golfer can hope or even dream to achieve. It seems hard to imagine that a country with the rich history of golf that Scotland enjoys could lose its way in terms of promoting itself as a great golfing destination. However, during the 90's this was certainly the case. Countries such as Portugal, Spain and even Ireland worked tirelessly to sell themselves to the outside world as the ideal destination for a golfing holiday. Scotland was perhaps guilty of arrogance thinking that it could survive on its historical reputation alone. However, the last four years has seen a definite shift in the market with large amounts of (particularly English, American and Japanese) golfers once again visiting Scottish shores. Helped by the publicity surrounding this years Open at St.Andrews more and more golfers are looking for golfing breaks and have a large number of companies competing for their business. One such company is the short break specialist www.superbreak.com whom offer a range of golfing breaks to top Scottish resorts such as Marriott Dalmahoy which is set in 1000 acres of wooded parkland at the foot of the Pentland Hills and has hosted both the Solheim Cup and the Scottish PGA Championship. In St.Andrews itself the relatively new St.Andrews Bay Golf Resort provides 5 star luxury that rivals the best of golfing hotels anywhere in the world. Sitting amidst the rugged coastal landscape of East Fife the hotel is within a short distance of all the St.Andrews courses as well as other top local courses such as Lundin Links, Leven Links, Scotscraig and Ladybank. It seems despite heavy investment in promotion of golfing resorts in other countries Scotland will always command a very special place in the global golfing community. Lessons seem to have been learnt and the Scottish golfing industry is unlikely to rest on its laurels again. While a rich history and flagship tournament are important, if the industry is to continue to flourish then continued and focussed investment most remain a priority. Richard currently lives just outside Edinburgh, working hard for a leith based media company, and writes occasional articles for web sites.
MORE RESOURCES:
Golf - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
GPS Golf Balls Are Almost Here As GPS technology gets better and better and smaller and smaller it will be able to be used for many things? For instance at the World Series a baseball hit into the third level will be able to be recorded by GPS as to exactly how far it was hit and it's trajectory to formulate where it would have actually landed had the stadium been flat. Thus we will be able to tell who was the greatest homerun power house of all times, perhaps even who is on steroids based on their body mass, speed of pitch, GPS data and 'haptics' (body movement and form). Selecting A Golf Gift That No Golfer Will Forget Even as you contemplate on getting a golf gift for a close friend or acquaintance, you may have heard other golfers complain on numerous occasions about how useless some golf aid equipment they spent a fortune on turned out to be.This is not to say that golf products designed to improve golfer's games do not work. Golf Lessons From A Beginning Golfer? Would you rather hear what you need to learn from someone who is already an accomplished golfer? Would a few hours with Jack Nicholas REALLY help your game? "Just do what I do, it's easy!" Or would you rather learn from a beginner, who understands the struggles, the small improvements and remembers those early changes that lead to greater success?It almost makes sense, doesn't it? The best coaches are often mediocre players, and the worst coaches were stars, who had everything come easy to them. Natural ability is hard to teach to others! As a beginning golfer, I have noticed some dramatic improvements, though, and wanted to pass them along to other beginning golfers. Why Golf Tips Work Better For The Woman Golfer Gone are the days when a woman would feel intimidated standing on the same golf course to receive a golf tip side by side with a man. That's because golf exercise programs have proven that anybody can build enough golf strength to perform extremely well on the course. Facts and Fallacies of Strength Training for Golf Various aspects of golf training have expanded rapidly, but one area of development that has caught on somewhat slowly is golf-specific strength training. Not until very recently has this specific need been addressed. 10 Ways to Increase Your Energy Instantly with a Golf Performance Diet A golf conditioning program should always be accompanied by a solid golf nutrition plan. In essence, what you eat determines how you play. Correcting a Golf Slice Slicing the ball is a common problem among golfers. A slice is when the ball travels from one direction to the other [depending on the left or right-handedness of the golfer], generally not in the direction you want it to go. Staying Out of Trouble with Your Driver So what is it that's really causing problems with your driver? Is it a slice, a hook, or just flat-out inconsistency? Well the good news is that, regardless of what problem you are fighting, there are a few things to incorporate into your game that really will help you. If you're the golfer that's saying right now, "I've battled a slice for 25 years", then this is not going to be the undisputed end of your problem. How To Play Better Golf High handicappers, low handicappers and even the pros consistently have the goal of playing better golf. The methods often touted to arrive at the target of better golf are as varied as those attempting to achieve it. Have A Golf Fitness Expert In Your Home The term golf fitness expert has grown in popularity for the last few years thanks to Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam, Vijay Singh and many other tour players.They all have a golf fitness expert who actually travels with them to every tournament to keep them in top shape throughout their season. Returning Home: Scottish Golf Breaks July 2005 sees the return of the world's greatest golf tournament to its spiritual home on the Scottish East Coast. With the 27th staging of the British Open taking place on the Old Course in 2005, St Andrews has held the event more often than anywhere else which has reinforced its strong reputation as the "Home of Golf". A Lower Body Golf Swing Can Generate Maximum Power The perfect lower body golf swing involves the legs to a very large extent and it is therefore true to say that exercise that conditions these parts of the body will have a positive impact on the quality of the golf swing.This truth is obvious when you take a closer look at the golf swing. Learning To Play Golf With Fitness Learning to play golf has now become the pursuit of both men and women of different ages. Right from the very young golfers to senior citizens as old as 80 years old or even older. Try Developing Your Own Golf Style Some golf beginners think that all they have to do is copy Ernie Els, Tiger Woods or whoever their favorite golfer might be and bam, immediate golf success!I am sorry to say, it is just not that easy. If it were then everybody would be a lot better. Golf Fitness Dominates The PGA Tour Have you been curious why some golfers seem to take control and rule the tournaments these days? Tiger Woods is the golfer who is widely acknowledged with starting the revolution in fitness training, although many players before him like Gary Player are known exercise enthusiasts. While Tiger made it not only acceptable, but preferable, to train for golf, the majority of players are now taking their fitness levels very seriously. Ratings and Ranking Golfers Who's the best?Who's the best golfer in the world? Not such a difficult question. You probably only have to choose between a handful of golfers - Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson. Improve Golf Swing The Non-Traditional Way Improve golf swing seems like a thought that is on our minds as golfers dozens of times per day. Do you agree? But what are you currently doing to improve your golf swing?Let me take a guess. Instruction For Swingers (Golf) Could your golf swing use some improvement? You are in luck because there are lots of sources for golf swing instruction. Golf swing instruction will be beneficial for your game. Is Golf Conditioning Exercise Too Strenuous Is golf conditioning exercise so strenuous that most people will have difficulties going through them? Most amateur golfers and people who have not been through any golf exercise program in their lives definitely believe so.Especially when you start to mention such terrifying exercise equipment as dumb bells and the likes. How To Properly Check The Club Heads Of Second Swing Used Golf Club Interested in Second Swing used golf club? No surprise there. Second Swing golf clubs are swiftly gaining popularity these days.
|
| home | site map |
| © www.Tons-of-Articles.com 2006 |
