Top Four Beachside Courses for Golf Vacations

Beachside golf courses are actually quite common -- aside from the bothersome wind factor for your swing, beachside locations lend themselves well to golf course building. The sea breeze helps cool down bodies that are out in the sun all day, there is usually quite a bit of rain to keep the grounds nice without irrigation, and views are superb. Best of all, there are several great beachside courses for golf vacationslocated right in the US. Today we are checking out 4 of our favourites from across the country.

Caledonia Golf & Fish Club

This course in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was built upon a working rice plantation site. In its inaugural year, it was ranked 5th Best New Public Course in America by Golf Digest, and has been ranked 30th in Golf Magazine's Top 100, and 31st among the best 'Upscale Courses in America'. It is pricier than some other beachside courses, but well worth it. There are centuries old live oak trees and a slope of 132v on this 4 ½ star rated course.

Legends - Heritage Club

Still in Myrtle Beach, the Legends (Heritage Club) is at the other end of the price scale from Caledonia, but not so distant in playability, scenery or service. This was also built on an historic plantation, and has 600 acres of beautifully scented giant magnolias ... divine! Just don’t hit your ball into them too many times. It has a slope rating of 137, and an overall 4 and a half stars.

LPGA International - Legends

Make your way over to Daytona Beach, Florida, and you can enjoy sun, surf and plenty of golf at the LPGA International Legends course. It was designed by Arthur Mills, and just like in South Carolina, giant magnolias and pine trees abound. The clubhouse is Mediterranean style, and there is a gorgeous banquet room after you've worked up an appetite on your golf vacation with all that sea air!

Poppy Hills

This is one of the nicest Pebble Beach, CA courses on which you can play if you aren’t staying at one of the affiliated Pebble Beach resorts. It was designed by Robert Trent Jones, and was the first US course to be owned and operated by an amateur golf association. It isn’t easy on the wallet, nor is it easy on the legs ... but the challenge is extremely rewarding! Make your way from the tree lined greens to the white-sand lined shores in your spare golf vacation time.

Five Hot Tips for Left-Handed Golfers

If you are planning a golf vacation, and also belong to the 11 percent of people that are left-handed, you may be feeling a little apprehensive! Perhaps your spouse is keen, even though your game isn’t quite what it could be. Perhaps you're hoping that this golf trip will be the jump start that your game needs. Today we give you five hot tips for left handed golfers to pay attention to before you go on your next golf vacation.

1. Get the right clubs.

This is imperative! It sounds odd, but like left-handed guitarists, left-handed golfers often learn to play on right-handed equipment. Guitars and golf clubs are both quite expensive, and the right handed version is more readily accessible and cheaper. However, if you're going on a golf vacation, it is the perfect time to make the switch to proper, left-handed clubs.

2. The Simple Golf Swing by David Nevogt

Grab a copy of this book -- it is a great start and much less expensive than professional instruction (though don’t doubt that all that money is worth it!). He gives his readers a guarantee that they will reduce their score by at least seven strokes, or he'll refund the purchase price of the book. There is a special version of the manual for left handed golfers … despite what many righties think, there is more to learning left-handed than just reversing techniques.

3. Watch some DVDs

Check out some of the following famous golfers for tips on swing and follow through specifically for left handers before your next golf trip:

• Nick O'Hern, Australian
• Mike Weir, Canadian
• Bob Charles, New Zealand
• Phil Mickelson, US
• Kevin Wentworth, US
• Russ Cochran, US

4. Get left-handed golf instruction

Don’t bother with right-handed instructors, unless they have some sort of guarantee or extensive experience teaching left-handers. You could look into doing this in conjunction with taking your golf vacation -- no better excuse to fully focus on your game than having a holiday!

5. Pay most attention to your alignment

The place where most left-handed golfers go wrong is the body alignment. This is very difficult for right handed people to teach to lefties -- it just doesn’t come naturally! Learn the correct body alignment technique, and make perfecting it the focus of your next golf trip.