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Author Archives: peterswain
Golfing nirvana
Ask any golf writer for their favourite luxury golfing destinations and this resort will make the top five, but you’ve probably never heard of it. Peter Swain headed to sleepy South Carolina to tee off at Kiawah Island.
Get with the Caribbean vibe
With winter looming, thoughts turn to tropical golfing climes. Peter Swain has found one destination that won’t break the bank: St Kitts and Nevis.
How to play Four Seasons Nevis
The Robert Trent Jones II masterpiece on Nevis is consistently rated one of the best courses in the Caribbean. It’s a challenge for amateurs, but how does it look to Tour professionals?
Vintage golf
Peter Swain recommends some enticing destinations allowing visitors to combine a love of golf with a passion for fine wines and even finer whiskies.
Read the full ABTA article here
Transpontine transformation
With its taut, angular Thames-side architecture, louche gastro-pubs and 80-hectare park, Battersea is becoming one of London’s hottest “villages” in which to work, live and party.
Top courses in Guangzhou, China
Several notable golf clubs have recently appeared around Guangzhou, just 120 kilometres (75 miles) up the Pearl River from Hong Kong.
Why Beefy is bowled over by St Kitts
After a summer commentating on England’s triumphant Ashes campaign for Sky TV, Sir Ian Botham is looking forward to his next big innings in the West Indies.
Spain vs. Florida
Between them, Spain and Florida have many of our favourite golf course developments, but in a head-to-head, which one comes out on top?
Gourmet golf getaways
Five of the Best – Peter Swain finds the perfect destinations in France, Italy, Spain, England and Mauritius that combine fine dining with top class teeing off.
No place like home
For those wanting to combine the intimacy and familiarity of home, with the amenities and service of a leading hostelry, Private Hotel Residences are the answer.
Fairways to heaven
The world’s best new golf tournaments: as it grows towards universal appeal, golf is becoming the new barometer of global travel trends—here are the latest and greatest events on the scene.
Golfing Around… Edinburgh
The Scottish capital and East Lothian coastline have some of the very best courses in Scotland for the passing Business Traveller.
Kümmel ye faithful
Muirfield is widely acknowledged as one of the toughest challenges in links golf. Nicklaus rates it the best course in Britain. So what’s it like for the average club player?
A Mauritian masterpiece
Four Seasons Golf Course at Anahita: Pro golfer and South African native Ernie Els takes us behind the design of the island’s finest course.
Some like it hot in cinematic San Diego
Marilyn Monroe was romanced by Tony Curtis at the old-school Hotel del Coronado in Some Like it Hot – and Tom Cruise became a Top Gun, in between getting better acquainted with Kelly McGillis, on the shores of San Diego Bay.
Brand value – Sotogrande
What’s in a name? Everything when it come to the value of your investment.
Kiwi Magic
Queenstown in New Zealand’s South Island calls itself the ‘adventure capital of the world’, but can you combine a new home there with a great round of golf?
Retire to a resort in the Caribbean
The traditional playground of the rich and infamous has a host of ritzy golf destinations. Barbados leads the field, but other islands like St Kitts and Nevis have plenty to offer.
Cyprus will bounce back as a golfing mecca
Cyprus’s financial crisis hasn’t dulled Aphrodite’s Isle from being a popular British golfing destination for a decade. Peter Swain discovers several new developments around Paphos and a weak Euro are now making this eastern Mediterranean island a favourite for golfing retirees.
Spain still number one choice for golfers
Spain is still the favourite golf destination for British seniors but has suffered more than most in the recession reports PETER SWAIN. Ironically, though, substantial price falls mean there’s never been a better time to buy.
Portugal’s sunny fairways prove a year round winner
When it comes to multi-golf course developments with upscale amenities and a variety of property at different price points, the Algarve in southern Portugal takes some beating reports PETER SWAIN. Not surprising it is the retirement choice for so many golf-loving Brits.
Florida – a great value golfing heaven
With over 1,400 courses, warm weather all year round, hundreds of miles of beaches, and natives who speak English – well, sort of – it’s easy to see why so many golfing seniors find the Sunshine State the answer to their dreams.
From Mao to Mission Hills
China is building more new courses than any other country on the planet. But golf’s transition from a bourgeois, elitist sport to a game of the people in this Brave New Communist Party World is something of a Chinese puzzle.
Golfing Around… Guangzhou
The best golf courses that easily can be played by passing Business Travellers in and around Guangzhou, near Hong Kong.
Christchurch makes its comeback
As it moves out of clean-up into reconstruction mode, Peter Swain discovers vitality coursing back into the this New Zealand South Island city. “We now have a unique opportunity to remake, in fact to resettle, a modern city.”
City breaks
Peter Swain says San Diego is the new hotspot for golfers seeking sun, sea and immaculate greens. But Barcelona, Marrakech, Reykjavik and Venice also combine good courses with immaculate hospitality.
Make it a Canadian club
With Canada’s Atlantic seaboard only a five-hour flight away, Peter Swain looks at the courses and property scene in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Home and a hole in one
Golfers are the ultimate lifestyle buyers – much more interested in their handicaps and long-term investment than making a fast buck.
A Florida hole in one
Fairway-side homes have taken their share of the pain during the property market downturn – but with 2012 prices edging up, is now the time to search out a golf holiday home in the Sunshine State.