Posted on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 2:06 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Golf, Dubai, Tiger Woods, Travel, Punta Brava, Mexico
Tiger Woods 18 Holes in Baja Have Put Our Plans for Dubai on Hold
On the cusp of returning from knee surgery (although he reportedly hasn't started swinging his clubs just yet), Tiger Woods is still busy as ever. With his second child on the way, Woods has already introduced his newest baby to the fairway-aiming world. The baby's name is Punta Brava, a new par-70 all-luxury course located about 65 miles south of San Diego. It?s not the first such project Woods has unveiled, but it could be the most interesting.
With his first pet project, Tiger Woods Dubai, slated to become the Arab world's top-tier golf resort thanks to its private residential lots and fine dining courtesy of chefs like Guy Savoy, Punta Brava has a lot to live up to. The fact that it's a short ride from the Mexican border already endears it to the typical high-end golfer, who may not be looking to fly halfway around the world to play 18 holes, even if it does have a private spa bungalow on site.
With water within site of every hole, Punta Brava already features a backdrop superior to Dubai's. We initially expected Dubai (which has a reputation for making a four-star property look like the Chelsea Hotel circa Sid Vicious) to crush any other property in terms of luxury amenities. But with the plans just being revealed, it looks like Brava might be more than just a gorgeous course.
Aside from the requisite upscale clubhouse, spa, and fine-dining, the new Woods project also features an intriguing combination of residential lots, villa residences, and villa hotel, each of which is expected to offer high-end amenities for the clientele, who will have the intriguing option of accessing the property via either air, land or sea.
Alright, so it looks nice, but Dubai is going to look nice too once it's all done. But Brava does seem to have a Tiger Woods signature on the course that his first private golf resort is lacking. During his Brava press conference, Tiger gushed over some of his favorite holes in a way nobody really seems to be doing with Dubai. He mentioned eight separate shots in which you'll have to blast your ball over water (which is cool) and a No. 12 that he thinks looks remarkably like No. 8 at Pebble Beach.
What's more, he told the Wall Street Journal that he'd be buying a home at Brava too, a home that the native Californian will arguably be seeing more than his Dubai club. With an estimated 2011 opening and sales beginning immediately, you've been given fair warning.
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Posted on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 3:51 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: New York City, Life in New York, Golf, Callaway, New York, Sports
Grand Central to Become Golf Simulator for a Day November 7th
Plenty of New Yorkers look to spontaneously spend their lunch break swinging at some golf balls, but the west-side range at Chelsea Piers has a long wait to contend with (usually at least an hour or two). Nevertheless, we have found out that one of New York?s favorite landmarks will be providing a much-needed golf simulator sponsored by Callaway.
In what they hope will make for the ultimate casual Friday, Callaway Golf is marking the upcoming launch of their FT-iQ driver by setting up a first-class golfing simulation on November 7th at Grand Central Terminal?s Vanderbilt Hall. From 7am to 7pm, the simulator will allow golfers to test out the new FT-iQ drivers while taking a moment out of their day to enjoy what we?d all rather be doing anyway.
Aside from the driving ranges and demonstrations, Callaway will even be holding a long drive contest. It?s not the same as a mid-day round of golf, but with most of New York?s surrounding golf clubs closing for the winter season and an impromptu Manhattan driving session hard to come by, Callaway?s all-day mid-town golf simulator might be worth a look.
As for the FT-iQ, Callaway is heralding it as the longest, straightest driver ever and the finest club they?ve ever made. Boasting 35% less spin, the new square-headed titanium club has been getting strong reviews so far. And if you have to pull yourself away from the office to test drive it yourself, well then that?s just what you?ll have to do.
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Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 4:05 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bill Gates, Hotels, Travel, Carnegie Mellon University, Golf
Abu Dhabi is now running the English Premier League's Manchester City football club. Dubai is Disneyland for a new generation of global capitalists. And now neighboring Qatar is poised to become more than just the home of the Al Jazeera news network. The emirate's been drawing major non-energy investment from all over the world (though the current global economic uncertainty may slow that growth), and now Sotheby's auction house is building a Doha office. Opening in 2009, it will coincide nicely with the opening of the Museum of Islamic Art, a large-scale cultural project helmed by renowned architect I.M. Pei. Add it all to the recently opened W-shaped luxury W Hotel, world-class equestrian club, regional cruises, and Doha Golf Club, and there is plenty percolating. As if that weren't enough, Bill Gates will be making his first visit to Doha as a keynote speaker at next year's International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development. The Spring ?09 event will be hosted by Carnegie Mellon University?s overseas campus in Doha (just one American school pursuing Qatari expansion) and is expected to be a meeting of some of the world?s most advanced technological minds covering technology's role in everything from governments to corporations to non-profits. With Gates' address expected to attract convention and hospitality dollars, the conference takes place around the time Qatar launches the world's first commercial mobile TV deployment, an initiative of Nokia Siemens. Not bad for the area formerly known as the UAE's dorky middle child.
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Posted on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 10:27 AM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Access, Golf, Web/Tech, New York City, New York, New Jersey, Life in New York, Ballyowen, Great Gorge Country Club, Cyrstal Springs, George Fazio
It's a situation some of us do occasionally encounter. You need a quick tee time within the greater New York/New Jersey area. Normally you'd be screwed, but the Crystal Springs family of golf courses in Northern New Jersey have a web site that could make this situation more tenable. The site oversees seven public courses, all within a reasonable drive from New York City. They include the George Fazio-designed, four-star Great Gorge Country Club and the renowned Ballyowen.
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Posted on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 5:26 PM
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Tal PinchTagged as: Golf, Stewart, Electronics
Golf, Stewart, Caddy, Motor, Car, Motorized, Links.
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