I never thought that I would be writing an article about going on a Golf cruise for a holiday at my tender young age, let alone using it as the basis to describe the ultimate golfing holiday. Having been persuaded, by our older golfing buddies at our club, Foxhills, my wife and I agreed to our first cruise experience.
So in January 2007, we arrived at Gatwick airport to catch a flight to Barbados. This in itself was an interesting experience never before have I answered questions on my heart, toilet habits and recent ailments prior to checking into the plane It quickly became apparent that we were what you would call the younger cruiser, a point borne out by the fact we had began appearing on every video the ship produced (presumably to attract younger cruisers). Our adventure started with a friendly competition at Sandy Lane in sunny Barbados, it has to be said a sunny golf holiday in January is a welcome break from the British winter.
The speed of the greens took us all by surprise with the prize going to my wife who had a ten foot putt that finished off the green a good forty yards away! The highlight was watching the monkeys playing around the greens presumable where the name for the Green Monkey course came from. Despite many attempts we could not get a Green Monkey cap no matter how hard we tired, the rules are strict, you have to play the course to buy the hat, mind you at that price you would expect the hat free. If you meet anyone with the cap be seriously impressed because they will be one of the few who have played.
Our first port of call after Barbados was Antigua where we played the Jolly Harbour course, which, after Sandy Lane was a disappointing experience.It wasn’t near a harbour and it definitely was not jolly! However the highlight of the day was my partner and I taking the money, which paid for a nice cold beer afterwards. One of the upsides of being on a golf cruise, is that you don’t have to worry about driving back to the ship, and with the professional accompanying you everywhere you know it won’t go without you!
The presence of a golf professional on board the ship, accompanying us to the golf courses, negotiating local deals and what is more important giving golf lessons on board during cruising days, have you ever learnt to putt on a rolling ship or improve your chipping at an angle?
The next course we played was the Gary Player designed Guavaberry course in the Dominican Republic , culturally a real eye opener. With no one but us on the course, fights were almost breaking out amongst the caddies to carry the bags. That aside, there was a wonderful signature hole, a par 3 with a background of a man made waterfall and a fairly small green, many balls were lost in the rough at the back due to the over clubbing going on.
At the other extreme, golf in Aruba couldn’t have been more American with buggies that not only told you to hurry up, but also ordered half-way house hamburgers . The course here was very reminiscent of Arizona,.all cactus and dust surrounding the most perfect and lush fairways you can find anywhere. The course was made more interesting by the strong winds that blew off the sea
The California Light house, the symbol of the golf course, provided a romantic back drop to a tricky par three . The highlight in Aruba had to be the huge land lizards which graced nearly every tee. Being an American designed course there were buggies, but the prevalence of Dutch holiday makers meant that there was no ninety degree rule for buggies (my number one pet hate).
St Kitts was probably one of the most beautiful courses we played, with the sea in view on most holes and an on shore wind, this required a driver to be used off a par three into the wind! Definitely a course you wouldn’t get bored of over a week
We decided to play one more time towards the back end of the cruise taking an unscheduled opportunity to play an unknown golf course on the island of Margherita, which belongs to Venezuela. A fascinating island with no natural water supply, close links with Cuba and a distinctly eastern block feel to the place. The golf course, whilst not memorable, did grace us with a pond towards the end of the round with a resident alligator. No wonder it cost £20 for a sleeve of 3 balls in the pro- shop
I went prepared to put on weight and improve my handicap. I came back slightly lighter with some good swing thoughts that I am still using today, although they didn’t translate into a handicap revision until much later in year, when I came second in the Porsche UK final competition at Kingsbarns, in Scotland, but that’s another story!
