Recreation for the Business Traveler: Unique Golf Courses of the West Coast

I don't golf, I never have.  It's not that I hate the game, though. Far from it. Actually, I'm a bit afraid that if I ever do pick up a club and hit a ball, it will go 400 yards nice and straight down the middle of the fairway. Then I'd have to spend several thousand dollars on clubs and equipment, green fees, etc, only to learn that I'd never hit one that far and that straight ever again! I enjoy watching the game, however, and I can drive a beer cart with the best of them. I also know that Tiger Woods can hit 94 out of 100 balls into a hula-hoop from 100 yards with a pitching wedge while most public course players need an 8-iron or 9-iron to reach that distance and then still couldn't putt into the same damn hula-hoop.

Golf courses are some of the best and most manicured real-estate in the world. Recently, I read an article that described some of the most unique and picturesque golf courses in the country and I thought I'd pass them along this week. Today, we visit the West Coast.

The Mauna Lani Resort, Hawaii; South Course

There are four holes on this course that border Hawaii's coast.  If you're playing in the winter, you'll shoot worse than usual because you'll be distracted by all of the frolicking Humpback whales just off shore.  Duffers accustomed to the rolling prairies of regular courses will find quite a challenge here since the course is built over a random expanse of cooled obsidian and other rock from the lava that was molten here over a thousand years ago.  It's a bit like playing on the surface of another planet.  Another beautiful green planet, with whales!

Point Roberts Golf Course; Point Roberts, Washington

Designed around three enormous eagle's nests, this course was built on a massive peninsula that juts out over the Pacific ocean. The 5^th hole is a part five and if you hit out of bounds, you'll actually have to retrieve your ball from Canadian soil, so have your passport ready!  Actually, you'll need to display your passport 4 different times as you traverse all 18 links of the course.  It's worth it, how many times can you say, "I hit that one so hard, it left the country and landed in Canada?

North Star Golf Club; Fairbanks, Alaska

This is the northernmost golf club in North America and it's built on a massive plain of permafrost that is forever reforming itself so the course never plays the same twice.  The course is so festooned with wildlife, the scorecards come with a checklist so you can keep track of all of the foxes, moose, muskrats, and bears you encounter along with your eagles and birdies.

Stay tuned this week for more unique courses in the Central and East coast regions!

If you have questions regarding business travel, hotels, airplanes airports, etc, please call 1-877-49-EXPERT.  Your questions will be recorded and Ken will answer the best ones in a regular pod-cast.  Look for the pod-cast to be linked to this page soon, or use your iTunes account to search for it on AllBusiness.com!