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.
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