T&C's guide to great golf (Part 2)

JIM FLICK, 68, Scottsdale, Arizona. Background: One of the old-school luminaries. After morning With Arnold Palmer at Wake Forest, Flick was a club pro for twenty-two years before setting up first the Golf Digest and then the Nicklaus/Flick schools. Students: He has worked with more than 100 Tour players, including Tom Lehman. Named PGA Teacher of the Year in 1988. Teaching style: Likes to watch people on the course to see how they approach the game. "Most people work golf," Hick says. "I try to get people to play golf. I try to teach them to feel, to help them, through their grip pressure, to become aware of where and how the club is swinging." Advice: Don't pay attention to the tip or technique that supposedly turned around the game of a Tour player--you're not at that level. Follow the tips that work for you. Most memorable moment: Watching pupil Tom Lehman play his 5-iron 194 yards out of the rough onto the green at the 18th hole during the 1995 Ryder Cup. Favorite course: Royal County Down, Ireland. Cost: $250 per hour. Teaching base: Nicklaus/Flick Golf School at the Desert Mountain Club, Scottsdale, AZ; (800) 642-5528 or (602) 488-1791.

HANK HANEY, 42, McKinney, Texas. Background: The career of this lifelong teacher took off in 1984, after his student Mark O'Meara finished second on the Tour money list. Six years ago, he built the Hank Haney Golf Ranch near Dallas to house his own school. Named PGA Teacher of the Year in 1993. Students: More than 100 Tour pros have sought out Haney for advice, including O'Meara and LPGA stars Emily Klein and Kelli Kuehne. Teaching style: Relaxed, friendly and curious, Haney is known for teaching the correct "swing plane," or the angle your club takes on the backswing and the downswing. Advice: "Develop a good understanding of the golf swing so you can become your own best teacher and understand the flight of the golf ball." Most memorable moment: "When I met Mark O'Meara on the practice tee at a PGA event in North Carolina and started helping him right then and there." Favorite course: Pebble Beach, California. Cost: $250 per hour. Teaching base: Hank Haney Golf Ranch, McKinney, TX; (972) 529-2221.

BUTCH HARMON, 55, Las Vegas, Nevada. Background: This former Tour player is the son of Claude Harmon, a renowned teacher and winner of the 1948 Masters. After winning the British Columbia Open in 1971, Harmon devoted his life to teaching--one of his first jobs was a two-year stint as the personal golf instructor of King Hassan II of Morocco. Named Teacher of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 1995. Students: Best known as Tiger Woods' guru, but has also worked with Greg Norman, Davis Love III and Raymond Floyd. Teaching style: Sticks to the fundamentals. He likes to keep his teaching as simple as possible so students are able to understand his message. Lessons focus on all aspects of the game, including the mental approach and fitness. Advice: Stick to the basics and practice with a purpose. Most memorable moment: Seeing Tiger Woods win The Masters and Davis Love III take the PGA Championship--both in 1997. Favorite course: Pine Valley, New Jersey. Cost: $500 per hour. Teaching base: Harmon School of Golf, Rio Secco Golf Club, Henderson, NV; (888) 867-3226.

PETER KOSTIS, 50, Scottsdale, Arizona. Background: This former chemical engineer studied under Bob Toski and Jim Flick before setting up his own school With Gary McCord. Though he has given thousands of lessons, Kostis is perhaps best known for his commentary on the CBS and USA network broadcasts of Tour events. Students: He has worked with such luminaries as Tom Kite and Mark Calcavecchia, but Kostis also devotes time to teaching kids and promising younger players at a reduced rate. Teaching style: He focuses on the full swing and fundamentals as well as the short game and expects his students to come away from lessons having learned something about themselves, physically or intellectually. Advice: "You don't see many signs out there on the road telling you to speed up. Don't swing for the fences." Most memorable moment: Helping Calcavecchia advance from mini-tour player to 1989 British Open champion. Favorite course: Shinnecock Hills, New York. Cost: $250 per hour. Teaching base: Kostis/McCord Learning Center, Grayhawk Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ; (602) 502-2656.

DAVID LEADBETTER, 46, Orlando, Florida. Background: Though he has been teaching for only fifteen years, this English transplant is considered the best teacher in the world. The "king of swing" was also the first to turn himself into a marketing force and now runs eighteen David Leadbetter Golf Academies around the globe. Students: Greg Norman credits the lanky Brit for taking his game to "another level." Nick Faldo, Nick Price and Ernie Els are also disciples. Teaching style: Leadbetter is known for clearly communicating all aspects of technique and for his ability to teach "feel" Advice: "Most amateurs would improve their games significantly by learning to adopt a proper posture and place their hands correctly on the grip of the club. This is the area of the swing that every player can get right." Most memorable moment: Watching Nick Faldo, who had been written off as a player, win the 1987 British Open after working with him for two years. Favorite courses: Turnberry, Scotland; Royal County Down, Ireland Cost: CA for rates. Teaching base: The David Leadbetter Golf Academy, Lake Nona Golf Club, Orlando, FL; (800) 424-DLGA or (407) 857-8276, ext. 13.

RICK SMITH, 40, Gaylord, Michigan. Background: A former amateur tour player, Smith found himself helping other professionals at tournaments and developing interest in nonplaying aspects of the game. He met Lee Janzen when Janzen was 15 and guided the rising star to his U.S. Open victory in 1993. Smith now designs courses, writes books and produces Videos in addition to running the Rick Smith Golf Academy. Students: David Duval, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson. Teaching style: Direct and simple, Smith is known as a communicator. "I don't speak one language," he says. "I speak many languages to many individuals." Advice: It depends on the individual, but developing a sense of "feel" is essential to his teaching. Most memorable moment: Watching Janzen win the Open. Favorite courses: Pine Valley, New Jersey, and Shinnecock Hills, New York. Cost: Call for details. Teaching base: The Rick Smith Golf Academy, Gaylord, MI; (800) 444-6711, ext. 2485.

BOB TOSKI, 71, Coconut Creek, Florida. Background: One of the grand old men of golf. instruction, Toski helped start the famed Golf Digest Schools in the '70s with Dick Altman; later joined by Davis Love Sr. and Jim Flick. He was the leading money winner on the pro Tour in 1954. Students: Toski has taught innumerable Tour pros but still works with mostly high- and medium-handicap players. Teaching style: In your face, aggressive. "I'm not a bedside-manner teacher," he says. Advice: "There are no secrets and no gimmicks," Toski says, just the six P's: Peace of Mind, Preparation, Position, Posture, Path and Pace. "Start with the putter. Success is built on watching the ball go into the hole." Most memorable moment: "Watching Tom Kite win the U.S. Open in 1992. I worked with him for six years." Favorite course: Cypress Point, California. Cost: $150 per hour. Teaching base: The Toski/Battersby Teaching Center, Broward Community College, Coconut Creek, FL. Call Toski's home to schedule lessons: (561) 483-7299.

The Mind Game

BOB ROTELLA, 49, Charlottesville, Virginia. Background: Rotella, former director of the sports psychology department at the University of Virginia, spends about 75 percent of his time working with golfers. He got his start more than twenty years ago lecturing at a Golf Digest school and is now considered the best person to see about improving your mental game. Students: Almost all of his students are Tour players, but Rotella does work with amateurs. Teaching style: "I work on the mind and the emotions," Rotella says. "I don't try to teach someone how to swing." All sessions am two full clays of individual attention. Advice: "You must stay in the present to let yourself win," he says. "A lot of my work involves trusting what you've learned and letting it work under pressure." Most memorable moment: "Helping players realize their dreams and realize that anything is possible if they commit themselves." Favorite courses: The ones his students succeed on. Cost: Available on request. Teaching base: Glenmore Country Club, Charlottesville, VA. Rotella's office phone is (804)-296-7872. THEODORE SPENCER

A Golfer's Grand Tour

If there are no more passionate sportsmen than golfers, it also holds that no group travels with more anticipation. In the course of researching my book Golf Resorts of the World [Harry N. Abrams; call 800-962-6651, ext. 1115, to order], I not only got a chance to Visit the game's great venues, I met players who regularly trot the globe in search of courses that fully engage their senses--and fully challenge their skills. True enthusiasts tend to be generous with their suggestions (and wildly partisan about their favorites). First and foremost, a pilgrimage to Scotland or Ireland completes a golfer's education. If you've never been, I envy you, because there's nothing to compare with a maiden round on a genuine seaside links, the briny wind sweeping the seemingly featureless land, a caddie at your side to guide you. Because the game is so widely spread out, golf trips eventually become a lifelong quest to see how the game has embellished every corner of the earth--and to observe, of course, how one's game rises to meet the challenge. Based on the offerings currently available in the travel marketplace, the sky is the proverbial limit.

Scotland

The Holy Grail. Birthplace of the game, this mystical kingdom has nurtured "the Gowf" since the Middle Ages and is the destination with the most resonance for dyed-in-the-wool disciples. For players steeped in the game's traditions, nothing can match Caledonia's landscapes, its whiskey or the thick brogue of its citizens. Scotland can best be explored with the judicious use of a helicopter, according to Gordon Dalgleish, president of PerryGolf, a leading operator of custom golf vacations. Begin your trip at Turnberry on the Ayrshire coast, its Edwardian-style hotel fronting one of the grandest links in creation, the Ailsa Course. A few miles down the road, near the birthplace of Robert Burns, is Royal Troon, site of last year's British Open. Troon is a stern test with a sporty front nine and grueling back nine. On the third day, plan a helicopter trip from Turnberry to Machrihanish, a remote and timeless links on the Mull of Kintyre that offers golf in its purest, most unadulterated form. Next stop is Gleneagles, the "Palace in the Glen," one of the world's finest full-service resorts. The King's and Queen's courses, their holes tucked into hollows formed by glaciers, are two of the most beautiful inland layouts in Scotland. The newer Jack Nicklaus-designed Monarch's Course has more modern design features, as well as golf carts! On your third day at Gleneagles, reboard your helicopter for a flight to Royal Dornoch, northernmost of the great Scottish links and still relatively untrammeled because of its remoteness. The next stop is St. Andrews, the Home of Golf, where accommodations are found in the Old Course Hotel, which sits opposite the infamous Road Hole; or Strathtyrum, a staffed mansion with six guest quarters not far from town. Like centuries of players before you, you'll be alternately dazzled and befuddled by the quirky Old Course. A forty-five-minute drive across the Firth of Tay from St. Andrews is Carnoustie, a brutish links scheduled to host the 1999 British Open. On a windy clay, which is every clay at Carnoustie, it's the toughest course in Scotland. A fitting finale to your Scottish pilgrimage is found near Edinburgh at Greywalls, a charming hotel With beautiful walled gardens that sits opposite venerable Muirfield, shot for shot the fairest (and some say finest) links in the land. PerryGolf (800) 344-5257.

Ireland

The Greenest Greens. In addition to its fabled links courses, Ireland, the greenest and possibly the most charming golf destination on Earth, has debuted several deluxe resorts in the '90s that compare favorably to th e finest in Europe. Forty minutes west of Dublin is the Kildare Hotel & Country Club, a.k.a. the K Club, a 330-acre property anchored by a 6th-century estate and a superb Arnold Palmer-designed layout that skirts the River Liffey. Backtrack from the K Club to play Portmarnock, outside Dublin, a venerable championship links that provides a firm but fair test; or make the two-hour drive to Newcastle in Northern Ireland to play Royal County Down, a visually stunning links where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea. Heading south from Dublin is Druid's Glen, a spectacular inland course that hosted the Irish Open last year; and the European Club, a magnificent new links at Brittas Bay. Farther down the road in County Kilkenny is Mount Juliet, a pastoral estate with a restored Georgian mansion set amid formal gardens. In addition to a splendid Jack Nicklaus-designed course, there's a working stud farm at Mount Juliet where Thoroughbreds graze idly. In the west of Ireland, below Shannon Airport, is Adare, where charming thatched houses line the main street. Behind wrought-iron gates at the head of the village is Adare Manor, the former ancestral home of the Earls of Dunraven, recently ushered into the modern era. Outside the manor house, an architectural novelty with fifty-two chimneys and 365 leaded-glass windows, is the Robert Trent Jones-designed Adare Golf Club, a majestic spread marked by rock-walled streams and ancient specimen trees. The legendary links at Ballybunion and Lahinch are readily accessible from Adare or from Dromoland Castle in County Claw, a Relais & Chateaux property that's a triumph of hospitality. In the southwest, the resplendent Sheen Falls Lodge in County Kerry, notably Its new Little Hay Cottage overlooking Kenmare Bay (weekly rentals start at about $4,000), is the perfect base from which to explore courses at nearby Killarney, Tralee, Waterville and, the latest sensation in Irish golf, the Old Head Golf Links in Kinsale, its fairways propped on bluffs 300 feet above the crashing Atlantic. For customized tours, contact AtlanticGolf, (800) 542-6224, or Owenoak, (800) 426-4498.

The Golf Cruise

From Sea to Tee. Lindblad's Special Expeditions, renowned for its environmental voyages to the Galapagos Islands, Madagascar and other exotic locales, has pioneered the concept of expedition golf with a fascinating array of European cruises aboard the Caledonian Star, a 110-passenger ship small enough to enter ports inaccessible to larger vessels. In addition to an eleven-day program that will visit hidden gems in Scotland and Ireland this summer, an intriguing twelve-day cruise is planned for France, Spain and Portugal, departing August 29. The tour commences in Bordeaux and explores French, Basque, Cantabrian, Galician and Portuguese cultures, with a range of excursions (medieval city tours, nature walks, etc.) ideal for couples and friends who like to travel together but who have different interests. Golf highlights include charming Chantaco in St.-Jean-de-Luz; de Pedrena near Santander, where Spanish star Seve Ballesteros learned the game; and Penha Longa, a Robert Trent Jones II-designed course set on the grounds of a 14th-century monastery in the Sintra foot hills outside Lisbon. Tour costs range from $7,540 to $10,820 (airfare included if trips are booked by mid-April). For information: (800) 397-3348.

The Monterey Peninsula

California Classics. Few destinations can match the glamour and majesty of California's Monterey peninsula, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as the most beautiful meeting of land and water that nature has produced. Occupying Monterey's noblest expanse is Pebble Beach, which offers clifftop thrills, intoxicating views and a dramatic seaside finish along Carmel Bay. The treasured links will host the 2000 U.S. Open. Another must-play is Spyglass Hill, a cutthroat pirate of a golf course woven through sandy dunes and towering pines, its holes named for characters in Stevenson's Treasure Island., Spanish Bay, an inspired rendition of a Scottish links, features topsy-turvy holes carved from manufactured dunes that roll to the Pacific. There's even a strolling bagpiper to herald late finishers. Poppy Hills, one of the courses used in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, is also worth a tour. For accommodations, there's The Lodge at Pebble Beach (elegant rooms I with wood-burning fireplaces and links or sea views) and The Inn at Spanish Bay, a fabulous low-rise compound set into a forest of pines. Off-course attractions include Seventeen Mile Drive; Carmel-by-the-Sea (art galleries, fine dining); spectacular Big Sur; and fascinating exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. For a customized itinerary, contact Wide World of Golf in Carmel: (800) 214-4653.

New Zealand and Australia

Playing Down Under. While it doesn't generate the feverish heat sparked by the Ryder Cup matches, the Presidents Cup, a biennial competition pitting top PGA Tour pros against a team of "Internationals" (Greg Norman, Ernie Els, etc.), will be held in Australia this year. This premier three-day event is the focus of a Kangaroo Kiwi Tour Down Under trip, scheduled from November 29 to December 14. Organized by Australia New Zealand Golf, the tour departs Los Angeles for Auckland (New Zealand's "City of Sails"), with visits planned to Lake Taupo (trout fishing), Rotorua (center of Maori culture and geothermal activity) and Queenstown (backdropped by mountains called "the Remarkables"), with five rounds of golf at top Kiwi courses. The tour then departs for Australia's Royal Melbourne, site of the Presidents Cup matches. Players can tee it up at Metropolitan Golf Club, one of Melbourne's famous "Sand Belt" courses. Tour price is $5,645 per person, double occupancy. Information: (800) 622-6606. BRIAN MCCALLEN

RELATED ARTICLE: NEW BAG OF TRICKS

Not long ago, if you hit a golf ball poorly, your next shot would probably --and some say deservedly--be from the rough. Technology is changing all that. Indeed, if ever there was a time when you could "buy a better game," it is now. Space-age materials-graphite, titanium, steel and various other alloys--have enabled designers to create new dubs that make golf, never an easy game, certainly less difficult.

Understanding the manufacturers' lavish use of brain-twisting jargon is, another matter entirely. You should know, before entering a golf shop, that the "sweet spot" is the place in the center of the club face where club and ball should meet to produce a good shot. Designers have been enlarging the sweet spot. You'll hear of "cavity-back" irons. The term describes the look of the back of the club head, where manufacturers have neatly gouged out a piece of metal to improve heft and balance. The better irons nowadays are either "forged" (meaning, basically, finished by hand) or "cast" (mass-produced to very high standards). And when the word "soft" is used to describe a material, as in "soft stainless steel," it implies that shots executed with clubs of such material will seem soft and under control. The idea behind all the changes is to produce clubs that will forgive off-center shots and have the right "feel."

DRIVERS

Because every golfer (with the exception, perhaps, of John Daly) yearns for additional length off the tee, drivers are the game's hottest commodities. Currently, bigger seems to be better, especially if the dub head is made from titanium, which makers say is 60 percent stronger yet 4 percent lighter than stainless steel. Among the more popular titanium-headed, graphite-shafted drivers are two by Callaway Golf (800-228-2767): the Biggest Big Bertha (290 cc head size; from $600) and the slightly smaller Great Big Bertha (250 cc; from $500). Another manufacturer, Taylor Made Golf Inc. (800-4-BURNER), has come out with its Ti Bubble 2 line of woods ($360), featuring a patented Bubble 2 shaft designed to put weight in the club head. Purists may opt for Tideist's new 45-inch-long 975D model (800-555-9282; $499), with conventional looks and a titanium head. It was used by two top pros, Justin Leonard and Davis Love III, in winning the British Open and P.G.A. championships last year.

IRONS

Though cavity-back irons, many oversized to increase a player's confidence, still dominate the market, traditionally styled "blade" club heads are making a comeback. These irons tend to appeal to better golfers capable of "shaping" shots--making them move in flight slightly to the right or left--though there's enough forgiveness built into the latest forged or cast irons to benefit players with higher handicaps, too. You'll be struck by the crisp look of the new Pro Grind Irons from Top-Flite (800-225-6601), cast from soft stainless steel; the thin top line, flat sole and wide balance bar in the cavity are intended to enhance control. The irons are available with Fenwick's new Muscle graphite shaft ($1,000 for eight irons) or Dynamic Gold Sensicore steel shaft ($800); a custom-fitting option is available. Mizuno USA (800-333-7888), a maker of high-quality forged irons favored by Nick Faldo and other top players, has produced the T-ZOID True, a traditionally styled club with a nickel chrome finish and a "power bar" positioned behind the sweet spot ($960 for eight irons with Dynamic Gold Sensicore shaft). Snake Eyes (800-270-8772), known for its wedges, has introduced a new line of traditional irons with heads by gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson, which can forge soft alloy steel to within 3/1000ths of an inch of design specs ($999 for eight irons). The result is a consistent center of gravity from one club to the next, the manufacturer says.

PUTTERS

With putters, there's no accounting for taste--whichever gets the ball into the hole is the right one. Many of the best new putters on the market have face insets designed to improve feel. Dual Force putters from Odyssey Golf (800-487-5664) feature a cavity in the center filled with Stronomic, a lightweight, soft yet resilient material ($115-$145). Similarly, Karsten Manufacturing (800-528-0650) has introduced a new generation of its popular Ping putters with Isopur face insets ($120-$215), while the Bobby Grace inset putters by Cobra (800-BAFFLER) feature a patented face inset said to be blended from natural and synthetic materials. Five of the six models in the Bobby Grace fine have a triplane sole (a flat bottom, angled up slightly in the front and back) and a double-bend steel shaft ($125-$142). Custom fitting available.

WEDGES

Like putters, wedges are a specialty item. Among the top manufacturers is Cleveland Golf (800-999-6263), which offers beryllium/ nickel alloy ($166), beryllium copper ($136) and rough-faced, unchromed ($116) wedges in a variety of lofts. Snake Eyes produces hand-forged carbonsteel wedges ($200) that are popular on the professional tours. Having trouble getting out of bunkers? No wedge displaces more sand than "the Ultimate Sandwedge" produced by Alien Sport (800-652-5436; from $100). Its signal feature: a large, rounded flange on the bottom of the club.

RELATED ARTICLE: BONNING UP

Which are the best golf books? Let's start with instructional tomes. No beginner should think he can learn how to hit any club by reading about it. But if you can already play, two great, if decades-old, books can help you improve: Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, by Ben Hogan and Herbert Warren Wind (Golf Digest Books; $22), and Golf My Way, by Jack Nicklaus with Ken Bowden (Simon & Schuster; $14). Of all the books about golf courses, I recommend The Spirit of St. Andrews, by course architect Alister Mackenzie (Sleeping Bear Press; $24.95), for its old-fashioned, no-nonsense viewpoint; The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses, by Tom Doak (Sleeping Bear; $45), for its salty thumbnail assessments of courses in the U.S. and abroad; and Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens, by James Finegan (Simon & Schuster; $21), for its ability to transport readers to the quirky, glorious courses of Scotland. Among the abundance of books about the game--a catchall category--my favorites are the inspirational (and inspired) Golf in the Kingdom, by Michael Murphy (Penguin; $13.95), and the gently sardonic Dogleg Madness, by Michael Bryan (Atlantic Monthly Press; $8.95). For evocative photographs, nothing beats The Hogan Mystique (The American Golfer; $60), in which Jules Alexander's black-and-white shots capture I Hogan's magnificent rigor. And in fiction, my top choice is Dan Jenkins' hilarious Dead Solid Perfect (Price, Stern, Sloan; $10.95). To order any of these books, call (800) 962-6651, ext. 1115.

RELATED ARTICLE: FOR MEMBERS ONLY

Pine Valley, Seminole, National Golf Links, Desert Highlands, Augusta National--if there is one thing ardent golfers want, it is a chance to play these and other great American courses. Trouble is, they are private courses--resolutely so. You can't get through the gates, much less on the first tee, except as a guest in the company of a member. And you don't know any members. What can you do?

Money may help. Today you can play at Shadow Creek, Steve Wynn's fabled, superexclusive course outside Las Vegas, if you are willing to take a $1,000-per-night suite at one of Wynn's hotels (the Golden Nugget, the Mirage or Treasure Island); the price includes the greens fee. And research may help (in a way). Nobody can get on Augusta National without an invitation, but you can gain entry at the Pasatiempo club in Santa Cruz, California, another marvelous course designed by the same golf architect, Alister Mackenzie.

Make no mistake: you are going to have a very hard time playing at other people's private clubs. One thing not to do is pick up the phone and beg for a chance to play. You'll only be read the private club's steely policy. Instead, ask the pro at your club to call the pro at the target club. Admission is sometimes left to his discretion, and--because they communicate on a different level--one pro may even tell another about a chink in the rules. My pro, for instance, discovered that once a week (on Monday afternoons) there is a slot open for one properly recommended visitor at a fine course in Florida.

Then there is the U.S. Seniors Golf Association (914-347-4653) for amateur golfers 55 and older. It holds tournaments for its members at some of the nation's finest private golf clubs. Of course, this organization is something of a private club itself. You can join only if you can find one member to sponsor you, plus five or six others to write letters in support of your candidacy. In addition, you should preferably have a handicap no higher than 12. Annual dues run $200. And since there is a limit of roughly 1,000 members nationwide, expect to wait three to four years before your candidacy is considered. Is it worth the hassle? Well, consider this: Competitors in a USSGA tournament last year played a trio of legendary courses in The Hamptons: Shinnecock Hills, National Golf Links and Maidstone. Most golfers just dream of such things.

You can read more information on SleekGolf

T&C's guide to great golf (Part 1)

Golf involves the simplest of elements--grass, ball, club, hole. Yet in recent years, as the sport's popularity has taken off like a Tiger Woods tee shot, players find themselves facing an increasingly complex array of options: everything from beryllium/nickel-alloy wedges and short-game gurus to customized Scottish vacations with helicopter hops between courses. The good news is that, with a little guidance, today's golfer has a better chance of improving and enjoying his game than ever before. Thus, we present our first-ever golf guide. We've found golf schools where professionals will videotape your every move and lavish you with individual instruction, and where you will not only perfect your putting stroke but unwind with a seaweed wrap, a first-class meal and a slumber between lavender-scented sheets as well. We've singled out the country's top ten instructors, people who've had years of success with a who's who of top Tour players, who will work with you to improve your stroke. And we've mapped out golf vacations that will take you to the right courses in Monterey or to a staffed mansion near the Old Course at St. Andrews. There's also a primer on deciphering new club technology, a list of excellent instructional books and some insider's tips on how to get onto the country's best private courses. All this should come in handy, considering that five million new players have hit the fairways--and stayed there--in the last ten years, and that golf as an industry has doubled in size since 1984, now bringing in $15 billion a year, according to the National Golf Foundation. The NGF reports that 429 new courses were built or expanded in the U.S. in 1997, up from only 145 built a decade ago, and that waiting lists for junior programs are now hundreds of names long. Even development-phobic Nantucket Island recently permitted construction of a new course, and heavy demand has forced Long Island's exclusive Piping Rock Club to require members to reserve tee times, changing an age-old policy. All this is a long way from the days of sleepy pro shops and empty courses. But the changes are not to be bemoaned much less resented. Our guide is intended to reveal how golf, in expanding, has become more diverse; how it leads to greater enjoyment and richer possibilities. Now, all you have to do is figure out how to make the game itself easier.

Top Places to Stay While Learning to Play

There's a special breed of energetic, overachieving American who dominates business ventures, banks and boardrooms, and yearns to do the same to a small, white dimpled ball. Some in this group have played since they could grasp a cut-down club; others saw the light later on in life. But all insist on improvement. Eventually, their thoughts turn to golf school.

To lure this desirable yet dauntingly demanding group, golf schools are fast realizing that they must transcend the venerable traditions of dormitory living and drills at dawn and offer a more attractive learning environment. For a clientele as passionate about being pampered as it is about playing, they must provide both excellent instruction and world-class perks: a cushy clubhouse for a two-star lunch, elegant guest rooms with scented linens, digital video analysis of the swing and spa treatments for the soul, at least one championship course and a generous assortment of diversions for time off the tees.

The resorts included here are destinations with enough appeal for a nongolfing spouse or even for a family getaway. They have or are affiliated with superb schools--all top names in golf--appropriate for both new and experienced players. The list includes some time-honored classics (golfers are, after all, a conservative clan), but all have been renovating and updating to keep their sheen. Note: One other renowned resort will be adding a golf school and joining this august group before the millennium: The Greenbrier, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; (800) 624-6070.

Pebble Beach Resort

Pebble Beach, California

A golfer will always manage to mention it if he or she has played Pebble Beach, that legendary course with clifftop greens over-looking the ocean, a highlight of Monterey's Seventeen Mile Drive. The uninitiated may boggle at the thought of paying $310 per round ($245 for resort guests), but anyone who owns a set of clubs will tell you that "Pebble"--the course, the school and the resort--is as good as it gets. Courses: Pebble Beach was ranked the No. 4 course in America by Golf Digest and will host the US. Open in 2000. The resort has two other famous courses--Spyglass Hill and The Links at Spanish Bay--and those with a member introduction can also play the nearby No. 3-rated Cypress Point Club course. Instruction: The Pebble Beach Golf Academy offers two-day programs, including short-game practice on a nine-hole course and video analysis of your swing at the high-tech Calloway Performance Center. Afternoons are spent on Pebble or Spyglass, With an instructor escort for the first rune holes. Accommodations: Students stay at the luxurious Inn at Spanish Bay (sister to the smaller but equally soigne Lodge at Pebble Beach, which is not part of the Academy package), set between forest and ocean. The best of the 270 rooms feature gas fireplaces, whirlpool tubs and oceanfront balconies. In keeping with Spanish Bay's Scottish-style links, there's an appealing Highland atmosphere at the Inn, including bagpipes at dusk and superlative single malts at the Traps bar. Resort appeal: Eight restaurants, a beach and tennis club, and an equestrian center. A full-service spa debuts next fall. Rates and contacts: Pebble Beach Golf Academy: Programs from $2,495 per person, double occupancy, including three nights at the Inn at Spanish Bay, breakfast and lunch, and two rounds of golf, on Pebble Beach and Spanish Bay. (408) 622-1310.

La Quinta Resort & Club

La Quinta, California

The backing of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has given La Quinta new life, turning a 1920s Hollywood hideaway into a sprawling resort--and a bastion of golf--for the '90s. Big news: a comprehensive spa and wellness center debuts this summer. Courses: La Quinta holds the 1997 record for hosting the greatest number of televised PGA Tour events. Of the four courses, the Dunes, With scenic desert surroundings, has one of the toughest holes in America (the 17th). The Mountain Course requires demanding target play. The other two are at PGA WEST, an adjoining sister property: a rugged Scottish layout called the Stadium, and the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course. Instruction: On site is the highly regarded Jim McLean Golf School, with a three-day program of seventeen hours of instruction and course play, including video evaluations. Five minutes away is the training center of golf guru Dave Pelz, whose well-known Short Game School has three-day programs for putting, chipping and escaping sand traps. Accommodations: La Quinta has 640 rooms in one- and two-story casitas--some with wood-burning fireplaces, private patios and whirlpool tubs--set in a forty-five-acre garden dotted with pools and no fewer than thirty-eight hot tubs. Resort appeal: Five restaurants (the mega-margaritas at the Adobe Grill are very popular postgolf), riding, biking, hot-air ballooning, and a full range of fitness and beauty options, including outdoor massage. Rates and contacts: Jim McLean Golf School: Three-day programs from $2,200 per person, double occupancy, with three nights at La Quinta, plus daily breakfast and lunch; (800) 723-6725. Dave Pelz Short Game School: Three-day programs from m $2,710 per person, double occupancy, including three nights at La Quinta; (800) 833-7370. La Quinta: (800) 598-3828.

The Phoenician

Scottsdale, Arizona

The low desert-tan buildings, blue pools and green fairways that gleam in the desert near Camelback Mountain debuted just tell years ago, like a magical mirage. Golfers mix with spabarites in front of the soaring glass wall of the lobby lounge, a great place for tea and spectacular views of Phoenix. The Course: One of Arizona's most popular courses, and certainly among the most scenic. Twenty-seven holes wrap the resort, incorporating desert, mountain and classically lush layouts. Instruction: A half-hour away is the renowned Kostis/McCord Learning Center, founded by PGA pros and CBS golf commentators Peter Kostis and Gary McCord. October through May, three-day programs on the nine-hole teaching course include telephone consultation with a sportspsychologist. While at the Phoenician, you may want to consider an interesting new clinic, "Golf Power," offered by the resort staff since January. During the ninety-minute consultation, students swing for a digital video camera, and the footage is analyzed by both the Phoenician's director of golf and an expert in biomechanics from the Centre for Well-Being (the spa). Additional coaching in breathing, relaxation and visualization helps golfers build a better game with both body and mind. Accommodations: The main house has just under 500 rooms; more than 100 additional rooms are set in garden villas. Most in demand are the new one-bedroom suites in eight-unit casitas overlooking the golf course, all with private entrances and parking. The rooms are quite large (at least 600 square feet), with vast marble bathrooms. Resort appeal: Nine swimming pools offer something for everyone. The family version has a 165-foot water slide; a more serene adult option is lined with shimmering mother-of-pearl, for swimming laps in luxury. The spa offers both fitness classes and beauty treatments. Other diversions include tennis, croquet, archery, biking, a children's program, activities for teenagers (including a desert jeep rally) and, for everyone, guided stargazing on Saturday nights. Rates and contacts: The Kostis/McCord Learning Center: Three-day programs from $1,695 per person; (602) 502-2656. The rate does not include accommodation at the Phoenician, which starts at $410 per night; (800) 888-8234. The Phoenician's "Golf Power" clinics are $150.

The Ritz-Carlton

Naples, Florida

The Ritz, with its sleek U-shaped tower and its grand gardens on the Gulf of Mexico, is considered the most desirable destination in the golf-mad state of mind called Florida, even though it doesn't have its own course. The Course: Ritz guests have priority tee times at the thirty-six holes of Pelican's Nest, the finest of Naples' fifty-plus courses, located twenty minutes away. Instruction: The top name in golf instruction right now is David Leadbetter, whose clients include such PGA pros as Nick Price and Nick Faldo. Leadbetter operates several golf academies, one located twelve miles from the Ritz at Quail West, a private thirty-six-hole course with state-of-the-art practice facilities built five years ago. One enthusiastic Ritz guest from Germany recently signed on for two of the three-day courses, back to back. Accommodations: All 463 rooms have water views. Many guests gravitate to the Club Floor (on the fourteenth floor), which has its own concierge (convenient for booking tee times) and five daily buffets in the private lounge, from breakfast to evening hors d'oeuvres. Resort appeal: Three miles of blinding white beach, with beachside food and drink service and a massage tent. Five restaurants, a pool, a fitness and beauty center, six tennis courts, a children's program, fishing, sailing, Naples' concert hall, exploring the Everglades. Rates and contacts: David Leadbetter Golf Academy: Three days of instruction from $2,575 per person, double occupancy, with three nights at the Ritz and daily lunch; (800) 424-3542, ext. 3. The Ritz-Carlton: (800) 241-3333.

The Cloister

Sea Island, Georgia

Set on a private coastal island, this family-owned and -operated resort has a timeless feel--it still hosts black-tie dinners twice a week--yet promotes some of the most progressive thinking in golf. Courses: The Cloister's fifty-four holes, tended by immaculately uniformed caddies, are set across a small covered bridge on neighboring St. Simons Island. The most legendary are the Seaside Nine, known for unpredictable ocean breezes. Instruction: Classes (including parent/child sessions) are offered by the Golf Digest Learning Center, a venture of Sea Island and Golf Digest. The indoor/outdoor facility has greens and fairways to simulate every aspect of the game and is set between marshland and the Atlantic for ultrascenic training. The Cloister's own staff of pros--including Jack Lumpkin, a 1995 PGA Teacher of the Year--work with fitness trainers from the resort's acclaimed spa to design personalized programs for strength and flexibility, which is why no one blinks at the sight of CEOs engaged in a ritual of stretching and breathing at the first tee. Accommodations: The 262 rooms are set in buildings with a variety of views. The most popular are in three villas right on the beach, with private balconies or patios. Resort appeal: A live orchestra at dinner, and dancing six nights per week. Tennis, a five-mile private beach, a spa and fitness center, riding, boating, biking, fishing, sporting clay and instruction, as well as Friday night plantation suppers (oyster stew, pecan pie) and a bonfire set out along the river. The chef leaves out milk and cookies at night. Rates and contacts: The Golf Digest Learning Center: Three days of instruction from $3,110 per person, double occupancy, with four nights in a river-view room and all meals; (800) 243-6121. Strength/flexibility programs vary in price and are arranged by the spa. The Cloister: (800) 732-4752.

The Homestead

Hot Springs, Virginia

It's one of the most historic resorts of the South, where there's equal reverence for Thomas Jefferson, who many believe designed the octagonal bathhouse for the hot springs in 1761, and Sam Snead, the golf legend who began his career here in 1934. Though tradition is still important, new owners (the company that revived Pinehurst, in North Carolina) have swept away the relish trays and butter girls of the Vanderbilt era. The public rooms, golf courses and most guest rooms have already been renovated. Courses: The Cascades, one of three courses, is considered the best mountain layout in America (and ranked No. 42 overall in the US. by Golf Digest). Fun fact: The Old Course, established in 1892, has the oldest first tee in continuous use in America. Instruction: Programs with two-and-a-half days of instruction are offered from April to October by the Golf Advantage School, pioneered at Pinehurst. Schooling features video analysis and supervised play on the Cascades course. There are special dates for junior players ages 11 to 17. Accommodations: Renovation has thus far resurrected 260 of the 517 guest rooms. Quite popular are the aeries in the tower of the main house, where private balconies offer an eyeful of the Alleghenies, and rooms in the East Wing, with porches or fireplaces. Resort appeal: The updated and expanded spa, tennis, carriage rides, canoeing, hiking, biking, fishing, riding, a 1930s movie theater, an eight-lane bowling alley. Don't forget tea at four, served among the sixteen Corinthian columns of the Great Hall. Rates and contacts: The Homestead/Golf Advantage package: Two-and-a-half days of instruction from $800 per person, double occupancy, including three nights in a deluxe room and all meals; (800) 838-1766.

The Equinox

Manchester Village, Vermont

The minute the snow melts in Vermont, talk turns from skiing (and shopping) to golf (and shopping), especially at this grande dame of colonial inns, set on 2,300 wooded acres. The Green Mountain Boys met here during the Revolution, but they wouldn't recognize the place, which has been refurbished and expanded by Equinox Resort Associates, partly owned by the Guinness family. The Course: Thoroughly renovated in 1992 and renamed Gleneagles, after the Guinnesses' revered resort in Scotland. It's a great walking course (carts are available) and spectacularly beautiful in the fall, when the foliage flames. Instruction: It's a half-hour drive to the Stratton Golf School, which runs two-day programs from May through October on specially. built greens and fairways, with classrooms and shelters for rainy days. Accommodations: Of the resort's 183 rooms, the most favored are the suites with full kitchens in the Charles Orvis Inn, former home of the famous fisherman, set near the main house. Resort appeal: Three restaurants (don't miss Sunday brunch at the Colonnade), hiking, biking, riding, a full-service spa, Manchester's upscale outlet shopping, plus--most unusual--schools for fishing, falconry and off-road driving. Rates and contacts: Stratton Golf School's two-day programs start at $395 per person; (800) 787-2886. Stratton can reserve a room With a king-size bed at the Equinox from $169 per night, double occupancy. To book a suite, contact the Equinox directly at (800) 362-4747.

What I Learned In Golf School

It wasn't the fact that my mother and younger Sister play, or that I've always loved the drama of the televised game. It certainly wasn't Tiger Woods. It wasn't even because my husband ever-so-hopefully gave me a set of clubs one Christmas. I really don't know what it was. But one spring day it just seemed right to walk onto a driving range and smack my very first ball 100 yards down the middle of the fairway. Needless to say, the rest of my efforts weren't so successful; needless to say, I was hooked. I had discovered the glorious, maddening, oh-so-addictive charms of golf.

That's right. Addictive. (There's a reason all those Type A twenty-somethings are in the game--and blowing away the field.) Sure, some basic physical mechanics are involved, but golf is, above all, a subtle mind game with an anything-but-subtle adrenaline rush as the reward. What golfers really want isn't to beat the other guy or even, as the professional is fond of saying, the course. The real competition is with yourself. Every time you step up to the ball, you remember your best shot...your worst shot...and imagine hitting an unbelievable, fist-pumping, best-of-all-time, you-should-be-die-Tour-Champion shot. This is true even if, like the average golfer, you haven't a clue what you're doing. So imagine how much more fun you'll have if you make a commitment to yourself to really learn how this game should be played.

I'm not talking here about a few lessons with the dub pro or a daylong clinic at a public course. These are all fine things, but they're not enough if you want to achieve the dreams that golf is made of For that, there are just no shortcuts. You'll need to start with school.

"Practice makes permanent," says Bob, holding a putter before him like a pointer and emphasizing his words by pointing at each of us in turn. "Permanent practice makes perfect." Point taken. We may be in southern California, but for the fifteen students at the Aviara Golf Academy (in Carlsbad just half an hour north of San Diego), there's nothing laid-back about the instruction. We've been out on the range for what seems like an eternity, hitting bottomless buckets of balls in our quest for perfection. Our four wonderful instructors--Bob, Wayne, Bruce and Ted--have made us believers.

Most of Aviara's students, I'm told, come by way of the grapevine--a friend or colleague takes the course, knows he's on to a good thing, then passes the word along. The grapevine isn't lying since the student/teacher ratio for each of its schools and clinics is never more than four to one--and limited to no more than sixteen students each--the academy IS able to include players of all skill levels without compromising the amount of instruction each will need. This means that "beginners like me, can take the same class as an "Intermediate" or "advanced" friend or spouse.

I'm attending with my "advanced" spouse, Lex. (Advanced as a golfer, not as a spouse. We're newlyweds. There's time.) We have opted for the three-day school, the most intensive offered. Like the two-day school, it includes plenty of videotaping sessions, classroom time and range instruction, and--since the academy rents space from the Four Seasons Resort Aviara--a delicious lunch at the resort's clubhouse and late-day play on its eighteen-hole Arnold Palmer-designed course; unlike the two-day school, the three-day school offers a morning on the course with an instructor on the final day.

The first day, since Lex and I were staying at the resort's new hotel--a gleaming, bougainvillea-draped affair of soaring ceilings, imposing marble foyer and floor-to-ceiling windows--we took its convenient shuttle down to the course. (We were also able to have our clubs sent down there the night before, when we checked in.) We met our instructors, were issued locker keys at the club, and hopped into carts for the short drive out to the range for a warmup and preliminary videotaping.

"Well" said Bruce, as he recorded my preinstruction. stroke for posterity, "your backswing is terrible, but the downswing is terrific. You could be a 10 handicap based on that. Good movement through the hips and legs, club right on plane.... From the waist down, you look like Ben Hogan." (I decided to accept this as the compliment it was meant to be.) We went back up the hill and hit iron shots with an aim to having me "feel" the proper motion for puffing the club back. During the course of this instruction, Bruce realized that my grip was also terrible, and showed me in one easy lesson how to fix it. Eureka!

Bruce has moved on to another group, so Bob comes up to watch. "What are you working on?" he asks. (As if it isn't obvious--but these guys are very polite.) He takes the club out of my hands (pretty brave of him, considering that I was planning to hold on to it all day so that I wouldn't lose the grip I'd suddenly found) and shows me a clubless drill I can also use to improve the backswing--it consists of just twisting the upper body to get the feel. Feel is everything, I'm beginning to grasp.

Elsewhere on the range, other students are putting down their clubs and learning drills like mine or just practicing their setups in the full-length mirrors. Bob is helping Lex correct his reverse pivot problem by having him swing with one leg held rigid inside one of the tall iron bag holders. (We joke later that we hadn't known that restraining devices were included.) Wayne and Ted are circulating, looking for problems and offering creative solutions. "Let us know when something we say makes it `click' for you. It could be just the thing that will help other people, too."

Back at the classroom, Kip Puterbaugh, the founder of the academy, gives us a lecture on the "myths of golf," punctuated by videotapes of the pros in action. Essentially, it's a cautionary tale, showing how the pros aren't actually doing what they tell you they are in their books. "He knows what he thinks he's doing, but that's not the same thing as what he's actually doing. Look: Seve's head moved, didn't it? Watch Hogan's left arm--it bent, didn't it? That's why our method is based on actual observation--and that's why it works."

After lunch, Ted gives the group a lesson in the proper setup for the wood shots (we silently worship his way with a driver), then I have a video session with Kip: "Nice grip," he remarks. I glow--and cant wait to tell Bruce. Lessons end around 3:30; then, Lex and I head to the first tee to put our new skills to the test. As we should have expected, there are so many new things to remember and so many old things to forget that the round ends up becoming the golfing equivalent of dancing with a drunken sailor.

"Just remember," we are instructed the next morning, "that it's very tempting to go back to what you know works--sort of--even though you won't get better that way. Just keep practicing, and keep studying your manual and your video. It may take a year--but if you stick with it, you will improve. Dramatically." Today we improve our chipping and putting, and we have also broken down into small groups. Ours is led by Bruce, and includes Mike, a Japanese businessman from Los Angeles, and George, a local computer consultant. It is a good group, so after school today, Lex and I play eight holes before dark with Mike and George--and I hit the best 7-wood shot of my life. As it sails 120 yards over the menacing greenside traps and rolls to within ten feet of the hole, George and Mike just whoop and Lex can't believe it. Ted was right. It's all in the setup.

"OK," says Bruce the next morning, hands on hips, smile on face. "Let's see this amazing wood shot." I take out my 7-wood and just cream it, dropping it on the green. "Great!" says Bruce. "Do it again." Unbelievably, I do it again. Unbelievably, it's all starting to make sense. I'm hitting it straighter and longer. So is Lex. "Practice makes permanent. Permanent practice makes perfect "We've seen some amazing things in these three days, so...if Bob thinks there's perfection in our future, we're prepared to believe him. We can't wait for spring.

The Aviara Golf Academy charges $1,195 per person for the three-day school, $795 for the two-day school, $150 for the holiday clinics, and $90 per hour for private, one-on-one instruction. The two-and three-day options include accommodations at the Four Seasons Resort Aviara. All, options include a videotape of your personal instruction. For information and reservations, call (800) 433-7468.

The Four Seasons Resort Aviara offers its own golf/hotel packages (not including instruction at the Academy) for $525 per person per day. The hotel also provides all the amenities one expects from an executive-level hostelry (including spacious, well-appointed rooms, fine dining, tennis courts, a multitiered pool area, nature walks for the children and a spa for the nonplaying spouse). It also offers the convenience of proximity to the academy and the course. Call (800) 332-3442 for reservations. Other lodging options are L'Auberge Del Mar Resort and Spa (800-553-1336) and the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe (800-843-4661; a stay at the latter entitles You to afternoon playing privileges at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club).

Deans of The Greens

Ponce de Leon and golfers have something in common: the never-ending search for something that doesn't exist. While Ponce de Leon hacked in vain through the deepest jungles seeking the Fountain of Youth, golfers throughout the years have employed innumerable devices and gurus in their quixotic quest for the perfect swing. Ponce de Leon's quest is over; you, golfer, are condemned to continue yours.

The good news is that we have assembled a list of ten of the best teachers in the world. And while there are no women on the list-instruction is still a field whose zenith is occupied by men--many of these men, particularly Chuck Cook, Hank Haney and Peter Kostis, have enjoyed much success with women players.

But regardless of their gender, this is a group of shamans who--through their knowledge of the game, their ability to communicate, their unique perspective and their one-on-one attention--can help you attain a shimmering glimpse of that perfect stroke and its attendant bliss.

JIMMY BALLARD, 55, Key Largo, Florida. Background: Taught by Sam Byrd, Babe Ruth's former roommate with the Yankees and then a Tour notable, that the baseball swing and the golf swing are the same, just on different planes. Students: Ballard has worked with more than 300 Tour players, including Curtis Strange, Seve Ballesteros and Hal Sutton. Teaching style: Warm and affable. "We have a saying: `The dog Swings the tail and the body swings the arm,'" Ballard says, adding, "I teach a connected. golf swing, and I teach it as an athletic move" Advice: Get behind the ball and don't worry about keeping your left arm stiff. Most memorable moment: When Hal Sutton won the PGA in 1983--Ballard's first major tournament win as a coach. Favorite course: Pebble Beach, California. Cost: $250 per hour. Teaching base: The Jimmy Ballard Swing Connection, Fort Lauderdale, FL; (800) 999-6664.

CHUCK COOK, 53, Spicewood, Texas. Background: After doing a tour in Vietnam, Cook played amateur golf and attended graduate school before turning to teaching full-time at 27. He then went on to become head instructor at the famed Golf Digest Schools, and later started the Academy of Golf in Austin, the school that helped launch the, careers of short-game wizard Dave Pelz and sports psychologist Richard Coop. Named 1996 PGA Teacher of the Year. Students: Tom Kite, Corey Pavin and Payne Stewart, among others. Teaching style: Cook looks for a pupil's natural style and then works to find the fundamentals to match. "My feeling IS that it's real important to get immediate results; you should hit a lot of shots better during the lesson" Advice: "You get out of golf what you put into it. Find a teacher you're compatible with, one who can show you improvement within three lessons" Most memorable moment: Seeing Corey Pavin hit a beautiful 4-wood at the 18th hole of the 1995 US. Open; the two had worked on the shot a week earlier. Favorite course: Cypress Point, California. Cost: $150 per hour, or $5,000 per off-site outing. Teaching base: Barton Creek Lakeside Country Club, Spicewood, TX. Home office: (830) 693-6231.