Golf Guide to Cancun SF

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Cancun - Riviera Maya - Cozumel - Merida | Fifteen World Class Championship Golf Courses

MEXICO TOURISM BOARDGolf in Mexico Supplement

GREG NORMAN: BEST'S GOLF PERSON OF THE YEAR The legend, the life and the legacy

TOP GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT COMPANIES IN CANCUNGolf Companies that Dominate Golf in Cancun

TOP GOLF REAL ESTATE COMMUNITIES IN MEXICO2012 Real Estate in Cancun and Riviera Maya

Features

Departments

Top Golf Real Estate Communities Real Estate properties in Cancun/Riviera Maya

Person of the Year: Greg Norman Catch up with the Great White Shark

Palace Resorts An insight into the transformation to Hard Rock

Fairmont Golf Management El Camaléon: site of the Mayakobá Classic

Publisher's Letter Chuck Kinder

CONSEJO Mexican Tourism Board Golf in Mexico Supplement

Golf Course Directory Guide to Golf Courses in Cancun/Riviera Maya

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Table of Contents


Publisher’s Letter

From left: Chuck Kinder, Nick Price

golf in Mexico. She is a pleasure to work with and she has a great knowledge of people and a passion for golf in Cancun and the Mayan Riviera.

The Mundo Maya Golf Tournament, the first of a series of PGA Latin America events, is scheduled for September 6-9, 2012 at the spectacular Yucatan Country Club in Merida. This will compliment the annual PGA Tour event at the El Cameleon Golf Club at Mayakoba each February. The eyes of the golf world are seeing the Yucatan Peninsula better than ever.

For golf reservations in Cancun and the Mayan Riviera go to: www.best4mexicoteetimes.com

Come and play Golf in Cancun and Riviera Maya…everyday is a great day for Golf in Mexico.

Best regards,

Chuck Kinder, CTC President/Publisher

Dear Golf Amigos,The purpose of our BEST’s Golf Guide to Cancun/Mayan Riviera publication is to provide perceptive and timely insights into the world of Golf in Mexico. Through an intensive network of friends, colleagues, golf and travel industry associates, we manage to cover events and activities that warrant reporting to each of our loyal readers. Not only have we reached over five million readers from over 55 countries, mainly from the US, Canada and Mexico, but also from Great Britain, France, Brazil and Japan. Whenever we get replies or tracking stats from Wales, I know we have covered our bases and that the world has taken notice of Golf in Mexico.

Today’s travel world is full of so many contradictions and sometimes with CNN bad news headlines that divert the reality of the goodness of Mexico. We are here to say golf is alive and well in Mexico. Come explore great golf through our golf guides in print or our online guides that are full of videos, flash and multi photos of some of the most beautiful golf resort properties in the world. Mexico’s golf destinations are safe and secure and have the welcome mat out for your next golf outing.The Cancun and Mayan Riviera area has recently taken over as Mexico’s number one golf destination in terms of number of golf courses, rounds played and distance from one end to the other. This magnificent Mayan Trail stretches from the north at Punta Sam and south, past the Palace Resort courses and the new Cancun Country Club. A collection of courses with Iberostar, Grand Coral and the El Cameleon (host of the Mayakoba PGA Tour Classic) playing south via Playa del Carmen, and then part Tulum and the beautiful Bahia Principe/Riviera Maya.

We are pleased to welcome Arianna Conde Ferrini as the newest member of our Golf Guide to Mexico team, headquartered in Cancun. She will be responsible for sales and marketing and distribution in this great growth area of

Best’s Golf Guide to Mexico

1540 South Coast Highway #206Laguna Beach, Caliifornia 92651 USA(949) 494-8561 • (949) 494-9292 fax

www.golfinmexico.net

PublisherCharles Kinder

Associate PublisherFabiola Thébaud-Kinder

Creative DirectorAnalise Hannah

Art DirectorAra Bedelian

EditorMaria Ring

Special Thanks to:Kristen Purll

Jaime Alvarez del CastilloEnrique Castellanos

Marta CereghinoRalph Coster

Carlos HampeSho Kaneko

John LaraJose Antonio Murillo

Cayetana De RegilChris Partida

Eva Evans

Advertising Sales Offices

USAEleanor Kreis (949) 494-8561

GuadalajaraAndrés Castellanos (333) 640-1180

CancunArianna Conde Ferrini (998) 841-3919

Puerto VallartaCarlos Farias (322) 225-8158

To advertise in Best’s Golf Guides, visit: www.golfguidetomexico.com

Published semi-annually by Golf Publishing International, a California Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without written permission from Golf Pub-lishing International. Every Effort was made to insure the accuracy of the material presented. We are not responsible for any errors or omissions of data for golf courses, facilities, resorts or rates. © Copyright 2012 SF

Sustainable eco-system,

smart homes are the buzz words of the day, and those projects that premote

these concepts are reaping

the benefits and separating

themselves from the competition.

Chuck KinderPanelist, Speaker, WriterPublisher/PresidentGolf Publishing International

Best’s Golf Guide to Cancun 5www.best4mexicoteetimes.com

GROWTH IN REAL ESTATE IN MEXICO – A GOLFER'S PARADISE

Not all golfers seeking retirement, investment, second homes or condos are looking for golf course communities. After all, not all residents of golf course communities are golfers, but they do like to be near great

golf in Mexico.Real Estate marketers seek out golfers as a desirable target group known

for their higher net worth, premium spending for airlines, hotels, restaurants and real estate. Golfers tend to travel and love to play golf year round, which is something that Mexico offers.

The fact is, today the economic balance in real estate has shifted from a seller’s market to a buyer’s delight, especially in the search for homes in the US. The Mexican real estate market should expect the same. Mexico has over $300 billion worth of build out value in the planning stage or in process of development. All of Latin America is aware of Mexico’s real estate growth as an investment opportunity with plenty of direct flights from Rio, Buenos Aires, Lima and Bogotá.

Sustainable, eco-sensitive, smart homes are the buzz words of the day, and projects that promote these concepts are reaping the benefits and separating themselves from the competition. The growth of world class golf in the key areas of Los Cabos, Vallarta and Cancun / Riviera Maya have helped stimulate and enhance accumulated appreciation of real estate projects.

The US and European Union lead the way with experienced and well financed companies planting the seeds for over 30 new golf courses with designer labels like Nicklaus, Fazio, Dye, Love, Player, Norman, Doak and even Tiger Woods. You can bet that all of these courses are real estate plays: hotels, full ownership and fractional ownership homes, villas, and condos, and to some degree, time shares, residence clubs, or exchange clubs. Where to live and invest is a matter of preference, knowledge of locations in Mexico, proximity to airports, health services, safety and sanitation. Typically golfers who have traveled about Mexico have experienced one or more destinations, and are attracted to areas with multiple courses to choose from, among daily fee, resort courses, or private country clubs.

Although beach destinations are the favored location for many US and Canadian second home or retirement investors, inland cities are getting on board and are becoming attractive due to lower cost of land and housing, living expenses, fee simple title, and thriving US ex-PAT communities. Areas such as Ajijic /Lake Chapala near Guadalajara, San Miguel de Allende, and Merida are fast becoming terrific communities befitting old world colonies, with modern health services, gourmet restaurants, and private country club amenities at respectable rates.

We have created a directory of select real estate projects and golf course communities in most of Mexico’s key locations. Some are private, guard-gated golf communities, while others are stand-alone condos, villas, single family homes, or townhouses near golf courses. For your convenience we have an updated website featuring these same properties at www.golfinmexico.net/re_dir or www.mexicogolfcourserealty.com.

Mexico has become more American consumer friendly with the availability of title insurance and escrow companies, which assure secure title and transfer of funds, and ease in the closing process.

By Chuck Kinder

MEXICO REAL ESTATE

The Mayakobá complex houses several upscale resort properties, including the Fairmont Mayakoba, Banyan Tree, Rosewood and Mandarin Oriental.

All have world class spas to compliment the El Cameleón golf course site of the Mayakobá Classic, the only PGA Tour event in Mexico.


About the only thing left to do is to pack your clubs, clothes, and sun lotion, and head south for a look at your next new home! For a primer and your own quick tour guide of golfer’s paradise, take a read on the Cancun / Riviera Maya courses mentioned below, now known as "ITZA GOLFERS PARADISE" inspired by the Mayan Chichen Itza Pyramid, one of the wonders of the world, in the Yucatan.

CANCUN / RIVIERA MAYA COURSES The Cancun area attracts upwards of five million visitors a year. For golfers, it offers a couple of vintage courses in and around the main tourism area and a host of new ones along Riviera Maya, the expanded corridor to the south. With fifteen world class golf courses, and now the MOST played area in Mexico, this is truly a golf destination set on gaining market share in the world of golf in Mexico.

It all started when Robert Trent Jones designed the Cancun Golf Club at the Pok-Ta-Pok course that was part of the original FONATUR development in the early 1970’s. Now it is a very playable municipal type course with value priced daily fees. Nearby is the Iberostar Cancun Beach & Golf Resort, formerly known as Hilton Golf Course. Four miles north of Cancun, on a small, secluded peninsula nestled between the Caribbean Sea and the Chacmochuc Lagoon is a budding 930-acre development known as Playa Mujeres Resort, with a Greg Norman designed course.

Puerto Cancun Golf Course will be an elite 18-hole golf course nestled within 75 hectares of gorgeous ocean and tropical forest views. Comfortably lodged between Cancun's hotel strip and the downtown area, one would rarely, if ever, enjoy a better golf experience. It is designed by award winning golf architect, Tom Weiskopf, a former PGA Tour player and British Open champion. Puerto Cancun will include over 2,100 luxury condominiums and apartments, 435 single-family residential lots in a guard gated community, a full service mega yacht marina with capacity for over 350 yachts, five resorts, and a shopping center.

From Cancun, one must definitely experience the Riviera Maya, including Playa del Carmen by driving along a modern highway known as “the corridor”, which continues to Tulum. Here, one will find some of the best golf resorts in the world.

First stop is the Riviera Cancun Golf Club, an 18-hole, par 72 golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus. It is now part of the Hard Rock Group, featuring a first class clubhouse and country club facilities. A drive and a short iron and you come upon the new Cancun Country Club, a TPC golf course located on the inland side of the corridor road, seven miles south of the airport. Nick Price, a PGA tour star player, designed this centerpiece of the 2,000-acre residential golf community, which opened this year. At full build-out, Cancun Country Club will include over 2,800 residential units, and a Tom Fazio designed golf course, which is scheduled to open in 2013.

Next door is the Palace Resort’s Moon Spa & Golf Club with 27 holes, designed by Jack Nicklaus. As fine as the course is, being one of the fairest tracks on Jack’s long résumé, Moon Palace is not all about golf. A round of golf here doubles as a nature safari. Further south, the mega resort, Iberostar Playa Paraíso Golf Club has a great championship caliber course designed by Pete Dye’s eldest son, PB Dye. The course is covered from tee to green in paspalum, the emerald-green, salt-tolerant turf grass that is driving golf growth along the Riviera Maya, as it has in the Caribbean.

Forty miles south of Cancun, Mayakobá features the Greg Norman-designed El Camaleón Golf Course, site of the Mayakobá Classic, the first ever PGA Tour event in Mexico. The golf course has sinuous fairways that trace the curve of

MEXICO REAL ESTATE

The Yucatan Country Club is the BEST Country Club experience in Mexico with their Jack Nicklaus Signature design masterpiece in Merida. Known as the White City in the Yucatan Peninsula, it is the site for the first PGA TOUR Latinoamérica golf tournament.


the meandering waterways with cenotes, and even a few limestone caves. The Golf Club at Mayakobá transitions very quickly from short grass to dense jungle. Two of the holes are links-style creations that are routed among dunes near the sea, but for the most part, the golf experience, is set back from the beach and the sea’s turquoise-blue waters.

The Grand Coral Riviera Maya Resort has Nick Price’s first completed golf course in Mexico. Born in the abundant Mayan jungle, just meters away from the Caribbean Sea, its 18 holes include 6,990 yards that seek to protect native vegetation and provide minimal impact to the environment.

Next stop, Playa del Carmen, is the major crossroad in this corridor and a “jump off” spot from the ferry to Cozumel and is visible in the horizon. Playa del Carman is home to the highly rated Robert von Hagge course at Playacar Spa & Golf Club, long considered one of the most challenging courses in Mexico, at 7,202 yards. Opened in 1994, with a slope rating of 148 from the tips, it incorporates a number of cenotes, or sinkholes used by the ancient Mayans to collect rainwater. A key characteristic of von Hagge’s design is the use of steep mounds that guard very long 5 pars, some over 600 yards. Bring your "A" game!

Cozumel has one golf course under Club Corp management, the Cozumel Country Club, designed by Nicklaus.

Riviera Mayan Golf Course at Bahia Principe is located half way between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. On 700 plus acres with beach frontage, it has land allocated for 27 holes of Robert Trent Jones championship design, a nine-hole par 3 course, and a practice facility. Wow, are you still awake after all this reading?

MERIDA-CAMPECHE AREAOne of the hidden treasures in the Yucatán Peninsula is the emerging area of Merida, Progreso, and Campeche on the Gulf of Mexico. The ancient Mayan have built some of the most incredible cities of stone that one must visit today. Chichén Itzá, Uxmal and Kabah are wonders of the world. Jack Nicklaus, of course, has already made his mark in this wonderful part of Mexico with two new projects. Yucatán Country Club is a beautifully designed master plan in the heart of Merida, with rolling hills and open space conducive to residential, resort, spa and golf, perhaps the BEST Country Club experience in Mexico. On site is the first ever, state-of-the-art, Jack Nicklaus Golf Academy teaching center in Latin America. All of this is ready for play, a good time to buy your next home.

In summary, golf in Mexico is growing and attracting top investors and adventuresome golfers from around the world. Come join them, and play and live at the Best Golf in Mexico.

MEXICO REAL ESTATEMEXICO REAL ESTATE

When you are ready to buy – follow these key points.• Get proof of ownership – an Escritura or Fideicomiso• Hire a Mexican attorney with references you are comfortable with.• This is a must to help you though the buying process - get legal advice• All contracts must be written in Spanish, the official language in Mexico.• Make sure you get a certified translation of documents and that you understand before signing anything.• Use an escrow company with an American deposit institution to protect your deposit and final payment. Some foreign banks• have lost deposits due to negligence, fraud or corruption.• A notario oversees all land ownership transfers in Mexico. You must use one.• Bank Trusts (Fideicomisos) are required in the Restricted Zone.

MEXICO REAL ESTATE


2012

2012THE PLACE YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW

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Best’s Golf Guide to Mexico presents:

G r e g N o r m a n“Pers on of t he ye ar 2012”

With unparalleled charm and energy, Greg Norman, also known as “The Shark,” has won more than 90 professional tournaments around the world, and claims the unique distinction of having held the No. 1 position on the world rankings for 331 weeks. His crowning achievements are British Open Championships in 1986 and 1993. Norman set the lowest final round score of 64 in 1993, securing his second major at the Open Championship at Royal St. Georges Golf Club. In recognition of his accomplishments both on and off the golf course, Greg was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.

reg Norman has been selected to be the PERSON of the YEAR, 2012 by Golf Publishing International.

Greg NormanBEST Golf Guide to Mexico Person of the year 2012

G

Norman became interested in the game of golf at the age of 15, when he offered to caddy for his mother during her regular mid-week game. Following the round, Norman borrowed her clubs and set out on his own. Just six years after first picking up the game of golf, Norman started his professional career. He would become the first player to surpass more than $10 million in career earnings. Norman’s aggressive style and charisma delighted fans as he was uniquely different than the other golfers of his time. Norman, who drove the ball incredibly high, long and straight is regarded as one of the best drivers of the golf ball.

As time went on, Norman became more involved in building businesses with his now famous shark logo and the Greg Norman brand. He currently has a variety of signature lines, including: golf apparel and accessories, wine , beef and his signature designed golf courses. In Mexico, his impact has been pro-found. Norman’s design of the El Cameleon at Mayakoba is the top-rated course in the Riviera Maya, and site of the only PGA TOUR event in Mexico. His other courses include Playa Mujeres in Cancun and his new Litibu creation in Riv-iera Nayarit. Big things are on the horizon for Greg Norman

For more information on what’s happening with Greg Norman, go to: www.theshark.com

Career Highlights:1978 Order of Merit: Winner1980 PGA Tour of Australia Order of Merit: Winner 1982 European Tour Order of Merit: Winner1983 PGA Tour of Australia Order of Merit: Winner1984 PGA Tour of Australia Order of Merit: Winner1986 The Open Championship PGA Tour of Australia Order of Merit: Winner PGA Tour Leading Money Winner

1988 PGA Tour of Australia Order of Merit Winner Byron Nelson Award1989 Vardon Trophy1990 PGA Tour Leading Money Winner Vardon Trophy Byron Nelson Award1993 The Open Championship Byron Nelson Award

1994 Vardon Trophy Byron Nelson Award1995 PGA Tour Leading Money Winner PGA Player of the Year Byron Nelson Award2001 World Golf Hall of Fame

2008 Old Tom Morris Award Charlie Bartlett Award

Setting goals for your game is an art. The trick is in setting them at the right level, neither

too low nor too high.- Greg Norman

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Playa Mujeres Golf Club (1)

Puerto Cancun (Opening Soon) (2)

Cancun Golf Club at Pok Ta Pok (3)

Iberostart Cancun (4)

TPC Cancun Country Club (5)

Moon Spa & Golf Club (6)

El Manglar Golf Course (7)

El Camaleon Mayakoba (8)

Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club (9)

Grand Coral Golf Riviera Maya (10)

Playacar Spa & Golf Club (11)

Cozumel Country Club (12)

Riviera Maya Golf Club (13)

www.best4mexicoteetimes.com

Cancun

Cozumel

Playa del Carmen

www.cancungolf.org

ITZA golfer's paradise

Moon Palace, The Golf Club at Playacar and The Riviera Cancun Golf Club courses are the 500 pound gorilla in the Cancun/

Riviera Maya area. They dominate the fifteen individually managed courses that belong to the Mexican-Caribbean Golf Course Association.. The Palace Resort Group has split off some of

their properties, retaining the brand of Palace Resorts and Moon Spa & Golf Resort. The new Director of Golf for the Moon Spa & Golf Resort is Fernando Sandoval. A few of their properties will become Hard Rock Hotels. (RCD Resorts is the new entity). They have taken over three Mexican properties formerly of Palace Resorts and those are Cancun Palace now (Hard Rock Cancun); Vallarta Palace now (Hard Rock Vallarta) and Aventura Palace now (Hard Rock Riviera Maya). In addition RCD will retain the ownership of the Golf Club at Playacar. This golf facility is no longer in any way affiliated with Palace Resorts.Riviera Cancun Golf Club will be managed

by PGA Master Professional Philip Krick, Jr”s Golf Promotions group along with Playacar where Philip remains the Director of Golf for the Golf Club at Playacar. Moon Palace, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf

course, now with 27 holes of golf, is a top-rated course. Juan Carlos Seminario, is the Director of Sales and will continue to market it with the advantage of their all-inclusive program. This concept that helps make the 27-hole

Moon Palace the number one course in

Mexico for rounds played annually. The Golf Club at Playacar, a Robert von

Hagge design and the first major golf course on the Riviera Maya, has long been considered one of the most challenging and enjoyable course in Mexico. Riviera Cancun Golf Club is a Jack Nicklaus Signature design, featuring strategic bunkering, immaculate greens, and a challenging layout, with sand dunes, lakes, mangroves and Tasiste native palm trees. Both Riviera Cancun and Playacar Golf Club operates completely independent and is managed by Philip Krick’s golf operations NOT affiliated with any particular hotels or resorts. along with consistent policies and procedures. Philip has made these stratigic adjustments

while maintaining his watch, as President, over the Mexican-Caribbean Golf Course Association. He emphasizes, “Cancun is preparing for a major marketing launch of winter 2013, bringing attention to the fifteen championship golf courses in our entire destination. The new marketing campaign is "ITZA GOLFERS PARADISE" inspired by the Mayan Chichen Itza Pyramid, one of the wonders of the world, in the Yucatan. They have recently established a Nicklaus Golf Academy and teaching centers on site at each of the course locations. Palace Resorts and Hard Rock resorts and these golf courses provide value and diversification along the Cancun/Riviera Maya corridor. Cancun / Riviera Maya “ITZA GOLFERS PARADISE”.

"The new marketing

campaign is "ITZA GOLFERS

PARADISE" inspired by the Mayan Chichen

Itza Pyramid. one of the wonders of

the world, in the Yucatan"

-Philip Kirk Director of Golf

Golf GuideBEST’S

Mexico’s TOP Golf Course Management Companies

w w w. p a l a c e r e s o r t s . c o mw w w. a l l i n c l u s i v e c o l l e c t i o n . c o m

PALACE RESORTSHard rock resort & golf

M o o n P a l a c e - 2 7 H o l e s - J a c k N i c k l a u s S i g n a t u r e

Moon Spa and Golf Club

The Golf Club at Playacar

The Riviera Cancun Golf Club


moon palace

i n v i s i o n e d a n d d e s i g n e d b yPlayacar

Rober t von Hagge

Mayakobá Classic ... the only

official PGA tour event held in

Mexico

-Justin WoodExecutive

Director of GolfFairmont Group

The Fairmont Group, with 20 worldwide golf courses, currently operates golf at El Cameleon at Mayakobá in the Riviera Maya. El Camaleón

at Mayakobá is a Greg Norman design and number four rated resort golf course in Mexico according to Best’s Golf Guide to Mexico. It is the site of the annual Mayakobá Classic, a PGA tour event held each February, with winners Fred Funk, Brian Gay, Mark Wilson, Cameron Beckman, Johnson Wagner. This year’s winner, John Huh, took home a $666,000 check with a final round 63 and a play-off victory. This is the only official PGA tour event held in Mexico and places great responsibility on the shoulders of the Fairmont management team, led by Kevin Sebulski, Director of Golf. El Camaleón stretches out over 7,000 yards ––tough for the professionals, fair and friendly to the daily fee and hotel guest from the amateur tees. It has a diverse landscape from jungle and mangroves to scenic views of the green blue, calm Caribbean Sea. When Greg Norman first looked at the property he was quoted as saying, "How are we going to do this?" The results were spectacular and the course in now part of the worldwide Audubon Cooperative

Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. The Fairmont golf group has great depth of management in operations, marketing and sales led by Executive Vice President of worldwide golf, Justin Wood. Several hotels on Mayakobá’s property share golf privileges, adding to the diplomacy of golf course management skills. Included are The Rosewood, Banyan Tree, Laguna Kai, and of course, the Fairmont Mayakobá. Plans for a future golf course were announced during last year’s Mayakobá Classic with Greg Norman and Lorena Ochoa co-designing a second course on the property. Fairmont's other location is on Mexico’s Pacific coast at the Acapulco Princess. Fairmont leads the way to top management in Mexico, with 223 golf courses in total; 173 are nine and eighteen-hole private clubs, and 70 are resort courses. There are NO public golf courses in Mexico. Mexico is the number one international golf destination for US golfers, with over 700,000 traveling each year to play golf south of the border. The Fairmont group will be there to welcome each guest with special services.

Golf GuideBEST’S

Mexico’s TOP Golf Course Management Companies

FAIRMONT MEXICO w w w. f a i r m o nt . c o m / m ay a k o b a

M a y a k o b á E l C a m a l é o n

w w w. f a i r m o nt . c o m / m ay a k o b a


“I have played with Ford, Bush forty-one and, was on my way to play with Kennedy in Palm Beach when he hurt his back.” When at Bay Hill Palmer prefers the men’s Locker Room because

“it is a friendly place where we play cards, chat about our round, and compare scorecards.” The Bay Hill Men’s Locker Room is also a favorite among many

Tour players. The first win he celebrated was the 1955 Canadian Open. After he won Arnold, his wife, Winnie, and Tommy Bolt had dinner and drinks at a cotttage near the clubhouse. “After I won the British Open at Royal Birkdale I received a call from Walter Hagen. That was a surprise and thrill for me. When asked if he had the opportunity to do any shots over what comes to mind, he chuckled and responded,

“Oh, there are a lot of shots I would do over . . . the Open at Olympic, the Masters, Oakmont in 1962 come to mind quickly.” Nowadays we are inundated with media images and we are able to see and hear from superstar athletes via Facebook and Twitter. It is interesting to look back to an earlier era without technology and realize how organic and widespread Arnold Palmer’s mass appeal was. He attributes this to the fact that he likes people and always appreci-ated that they rooted for him so hard. When having a drink at the 19th hole he always made time to talk to people and sign autographs.

The King of golf has long had a drink named after him. The “Half and Half,” half unsweetened iced tea and half lemonade, is better known as the Arnold Palmer. It’s no surprise that this is Arnold’s favorite drink even today. The evolution of this relatively simple concoction that he first asked for in Palm Springs, California, in the early 1960s has now become a popular staple at golf clubs and restaurants across the globe. Because of its popularity, a number of Arnold Palmer variations have been developed after the “Half and Half ” as a result of a licensing arrangement with the Arizona Beverage Company. Arnold enjoys a Ketel One on the rocks when he is having a cocktail. When asked if he is aware of a drink known as the John Daly (lemonade, iced tea, and vodka), he replied, “Well, young lady, I like an Arnold Palmer with Ketel One an Arnold Palmer with a kick.” Arnold Palmer had created an impressive and successful golf course– design business with over 300 courses in 28 countries. When asked why there are 18 holes on a golf course, Arnold replied,

“According to legend, that’s what it takes to finish a bottle of scotch.” “I have two favorite spots where I prefer to spend my time after a round,” Palmer said. “Latrobe Country Club and Bay Hill.” Palmer splits his time, spending his summers in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and his winters at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida. “Golf has been a large part of my life and I have always enjoyed sharing special moments with friends and family after a round over drinks or a Half and Half.” Arnold Palmer has met every US president from Eisenhower to Obama and often played golf with Eisenhower, who regularly shot in the low 80s.

“I spent a lot of time with Ike talking and golfing,” Palmer said.

What is...an Arnold Palmer?- Excerpt from Two Good Rounds by Elisa Gaudet

Two Good Rounds is an international tribute to great golfers and the golf lifestyle, which often includes the enjoyment of drinks.For more information or to purchase this book visit:www.twogoodrounds.com or www.amazon.com

“Arnold enjoys a Ketel One on the rocks when he is having a cocktail. When asked if he is

aware of a drink known as the John Daly

(lemonade, iced tea, and vodka), he replied,

“Well, young lady, I like an Arnold Palmer with Ketel One an Arnold

Palmer with a kick.”

Golf Guide to Cancun SF

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