Cambridge Beaches: Coves and Cottages
Cambridge Beaches is set on a private 30-acre peninsula on Bermuda’s western coast, its 94 pink and white cottages and suites strung along the coastline. People checking in here can afford the ride from the airport (about $50), the rates (from $395 for two including breakfast, dinner and tea ) and cab transportation to and from the golf courses.
They may come to play golf but they also come to relax on four intimate cove beaches, the clothes-optional sun deck, the indoor or outdoor infinity pool or their own patio or balcony. They might play croquet or work out in the fitness center.
Special indulgences? A massage at Ocean Spa, dining on French-inspired cuisine in the Tamarisk Room or under a night sky in Breezes before having a nightcap. www.cambridgebeaches.com

The Reefs:
At The Reefs, every room and suite has a balcony and view of the sea. Many of the beds face out so you wake-up to a view of sun, sand and sea. There are just 65 rooms and one-bedroom cottages perched along the crest of a limestone cliff while the long pink-tinged beach, one of the best in Bermuda, stretches out below. The three Point Suites with drop-dead views of the water and crashing waves and even has a private hot tub on the balcony.Think infinity pools, outdoor Jacuzzis and massages at La Serena spa. Three very different restaurants range from the casual open-air beachside Coconuts to the more elegant Ocean Echo and the dinner-club style Royston’s. Rates are from $369 per room including breakfast and dinner. Ask about golf and stay packages. www.thereefs.com

Bermuda’s Port Royal Golf Course gets $14 million redo

Originally designed by Robert Trent Jones (1970) and praised for its layout and seaside beauty, over the years, Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda recently underwent a substantial redo by the Roger Rulewich Group. Now it's right up there in views and challenge with the famed Mid Ocean Club.

Part of Port Royal’s deterioration stemmed from lack of water. Bermuda does after all, get most of its water from rainfall. Wind also contributed to the sad decline, raking sand from the bunkers and general maintenance issues brought the course down to the status of a shabby step sister to the polished Mid Ocean.

While the course was closed for 18 months, Rulewich dug into the reconstruction while retaining the good bones of the original Jones tract. The design is about the same except holes #12 and 13 which have been reversed to pars 4 and 3.

Now bunkers are deeper but the good news is the sand is better; Casuarina trees have been replaced with indigenous Bermuda Cedars opening up more vistas to the sea and computerized irrigation has been added to the entire course. Fairways have been graded and greens resurfaced with TifEagle grass.

Rulewich noted that the course now has a more open feeling with 13holes revealing views of the turquoise water. Hole #16, for example, is a breathtaking par 3 where tees barely cling to land with sea all along the left.

Green fees are $165 including a cart with special mid-week rates. www.portroyalgolf.bm

What's new on the links?

Belmont Hills Golf Club running along the top of a seaside plateau used to be a rather ho hum layout. No longer. It has been redesigned by Algie M. Pulley Jr who literally moved mountains in 2002 to create a challenging, 6,100 yard track. New trees, multi-tiered greens, slender fairways and multiple water hazards, unusual for Bermuda, will thoroughly test your shot-making skills.

Riddell’s Bay Golf & Country Club, the oldest course in Bermuda dating from 1922 and designed by Devereux Emmet, is private but welcomes visitors. At just 5,800 yards with narrow fairways and small greens, accurate shots are required to score well.

Sharing the same hilly terrain as arguably Bermuda’s most highly rated golf course (Mid Ocean Club) the once tired resort track for the Castle Harbour Hotel (now gone), has morphed into Tucker’s Point Golf Club under the direction of the Roger Rulewich Group (2002). Reopening in 2002 the 6,361 yard course is a beauty as is the 29,000 square foot clubhouse. Gone are many of the blind shots of the 1930s layout while fairways and bunkers have been shaved and sculptured. From its fairways, you can look down to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s light blue tropical pad set on a small peninsula. Lush ribbons of fairway lead to greens while the sea sparkles in the distance just about everywhere. www.tuckerspoint.com

Next door at the Mid-Ocean Club course which is ranked among the top 50 links in the world, you tee off from a hilltop on the challenging first hole dog leg left. Strings of deep bunkers run along both sides of the fairway setting the tone of holes to come.
Originally designed by Charles Blair Macdonald in 1921, Mid Ocean was updated by Robert Trent Jones in the 1950s. Like other Bermuda classics, Mid Ocean features roll-up greens, elevated tees and fairway rolling over the undulating landscape enhanced by palms and tropical flowering plants.

The big resort experience can be found at The Fairmont Southampton where the neat Par Three Executive course is often used as a venue for corporate events and popular with those who want to warm up their game. With elevated tees and several lakes, each hole is a solid par 3 and a fun play.

There is also St. George’s Executive Course, a little gem designed by RT Jones and the nine-hole Ocean View course.

Bermuda Golf Packages

Riddell's Bay Golf Package includes: three nights at the Fairmont Southampton, two rounds of golf at Riddell’s Bay Golf Course, shuttle to and from hotel/course starting at $346 per person, per night. www.fairmont.com

Ultimate Tee Time Golf Package includes: accommodations (minimum two nights), unlimited golf at The Fairmont Southampton's Par 3 course with shared cart or one round at Riddell's Bay from $579 per room, per night. www.fairmont.com

Cambridge Beaches' Fairway to Heaven includes: four days of golf, play on three courses, breakfast and dinner, private on-course golf instruction, a pre or après golf massage, a seat at the chef’s table or private beach
dining, and a pair of classic Bermuda shorts. Courses played are Port Royal Golf Course, Belmont Hills and Mid Ocean Club. www.cambridgebeaches.com

Tucker’s Point Golf Club: Three Ways to Play” grants golfers three different ways to play a round at the Tucker’s Point Golf Club. “Get Linked” from $585 per night gives you a round of golf per person, use of the practice range, club rentals and breakfast daily at The Hotel & Spa’s. “Get Schooled” from $705 per night includes a round of golf per person, two hours of private instruction, use of the practice range, club rentals and breakfast daily. “Get Zen” combines golf and spa from $885 per night.

Golf Packages are offered by most resorts including the Pink Beach Club, The Fairmont Southampton Princess, Cambridge Beaches and Elbow Beach Resort.

Golf Packages typically include golf, accommodations and participation in a dine-around program airport transfers, greens fees, and service charges and taxes.
www.BermudaTourism.com; www.bermudagolf.org; www.caribbeanonthecheap.com;


Home US & Canada Caribbean/Bermu a Mexico/S.Americ a Europe Africa Asia Pacific Golf & Travel Golf &Travel Gear Golf Fashion Equipment Golf Resorts Packages & Tours Golf Schools Resorts About Us Advertise Just One Blogs When you go: You should know that nothing about Bermuda is cheap...except the incredible views. A dozen golf balls can set you back $70, dining out can easily run you $100 or more and there are no rental cars. Most travel via taxis, bus, ferries, mopeds, bicycles and motor scooters which have room to balance your bag. Many Bermuda courses are private and green fees tend to be on the high side of $100 and up. For access to private clubs, you will probably need a letter of introduction from your home club unless you know a member or stay at a hotel which has an agreement with the club. So why come here? Maybe it’s the endless blush sand coves. Maybe the lush tropical foliage punctuated by the blossoms of red and yellow hibiscus, pink oleanders and sweet-scented frangipani. Maybe it’s waking up to views of a sunlit turquoise sea and later teeing off to incredible views. Or maybe it’s riding your scooter along winding roads lined by limestone walls, softened by drifts of bougainvillea and mosses. Or British traditions like high teas and regimental celebration. Most likely all of these. The posh new Tucker’s Hotel & Spa opened this year for those with a taste for the good life and deep pockets. A good deal for golfers who don’t need a big beach, the Pompano Beach Club is located a nine iron shot from the Port Royal Golf Course.	Bermuda Cambridge Beaches: Coves and Cottages Cambridge Beaches is set on a private 30-acre peninsula on Bermuda’s western coast, its 94 pink and white cottages and suites strung along the coastline. People checking in here can afford the ride from the airport (about $50), the rates (from $395 for two including breakfast, dinner and tea ) and cab transportation to and from the golf courses. They may come to play golf but they also come to relax on four intimate cove beaches, the clothes-optional sun deck, the indoor or outdoor infinity pool or their own patio or balcony. They might play croquet or work out in the fitness center. Special indulgences? A massage at Ocean Spa, dining on French-inspired cuisine in the Tamarisk Room or under a night sky in Breezes before having a nightcap. www.cambridgebeaches.com The Reefs: At The Reefs, every room and suite has a balcony and view of the sea. Many of the beds face out so you wake-up to a view of sun, sand and sea. There are just 65 rooms and one-bedroom cottages perched along the crest of a limestone cliff while the long pink-tinged beach, one of the best in Bermuda, stretches out below. The three Point Suites with drop-dead views of the water and crashing waves and even has a private hot tub on the balcony.Think infinity pools, outdoor Jacuzzis and massages at La Serena spa. Three very different restaurants range from the casual open-air beachside Coconuts to the more elegant Ocean Echo and the dinner-club style Royston’s. Rates are from $369 per room including breakfast and dinner. Ask about golf and stay packages. www.thereefs.com Bermuda’s Port Royal Golf Course gets $14 million redo Originally designed by Robert Trent Jones (1970) and praised for its layout and seaside beauty, over the years, Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda recently underwent a substantial redo by the Roger Rulewich Group. Now it's right up there in views and challenge with the famed Mid Ocean Club. Part of Port Royal’s deterioration stemmed from lack of water. Bermuda does after all, get most of its water from rainfall. Wind also contributed to the sad decline, raking sand from the bunkers and general maintenance issues brought the course down to the status of a shabby step sister to the polished Mid Ocean. While the course was closed for 18 months, Rulewich dug into the reconstruction while retaining the good bones of the original Jones tract. The design is about the same except holes #12 and 13 which have been reversed to pars 4 and 3. Now bunkers are deeper but the good news is the sand is better; Casuarina trees have been replaced with indigenous Bermuda Cedars opening up more vistas to the sea and computerized irrigation has been added to the entire course. Fairways have been graded and greens resurfaced with TifEagle grass. Rulewich noted that the course now has a more open feeling with 13holes revealing views of the turquoise water. Hole #16, for example, is a breathtaking par 3 where tees barely cling to land with sea all along the left. Green fees are $165 including a cart with special mid-week rates. www.portroyalgolf.bm What's new on the links? Belmont Hills Golf Club running along the top of a seaside plateau used to be a rather ho hum layout. No longer. It has been redesigned by Algie M. Pulley Jr who literally moved mountains in 2002 to create a challenging, 6,100 yard track. New trees, multi-tiered greens, slender fairways and multiple water hazards, unusual for Bermuda, will thoroughly test your shot-making skills. Riddell’s Bay Golf & Country Club, the oldest course in Bermuda dating from 1922 and designed by Devereux Emmet, is private but welcomes visitors. At just 5,800 yards with narrow fairways and small greens, accurate shots are required to score well. Sharing the same hilly terrain as arguably Bermuda’s most highly rated golf course (Mid Ocean Club) the once tired resort track for the Castle Harbour Hotel (now gone), has morphed into Tucker’s Point Golf Club under the direction of the Roger Rulewich Group (2002). Reopening in 2002 the 6,361 yard course is a beauty as is the 29,000 square foot clubhouse. Gone are many of the blind shots of the 1930s layout while fairways and bunkers have been shaved and sculptured. From its fairways, you can look down to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s light blue tropical pad set on a small peninsula. Lush ribbons of fairway lead to greens while the sea sparkles in the distance just about everywhere. www.tuckerspoint.com Next door at the Mid-Ocean Club course which is ranked among the top 50 links in the world, you tee off from a hilltop on the challenging first hole dog leg left. Strings of deep bunkers run along both sides of the fairway setting the tone of holes to come. Originally designed by Charles Blair Macdonald in 1921, Mid Ocean was updated by Robert Trent Jones in the 1950s. Like other Bermuda classics, Mid Ocean features roll-up greens, elevated tees and fairway rolling over the undulating landscape enhanced by palms and tropical flowering plants. The big resort experience can be found at The Fairmont Southampton where the neat Par Three Executive course is often used as a venue for corporate events and popular with those who want to warm up their game. With elevated tees and several lakes, each hole is a solid par 3 and a fun play. There is also St. George’s Executive Course, a little gem designed by RT Jones and the nine-hole Ocean View course. Bermuda Golf Packages *Riddell's Bay Golf Package* includes: three nights at the Fairmont Southampton, two rounds of golf at Riddell’s Bay Golf Course, shuttle to and from hotel/course starting at $346 per person, per night. www.fairmont.com *Ultimate Tee Time Golf Package* includes: accommodations (minimum two nights), unlimited golf at The Fairmont Southampton's Par 3 course with shared cart or one round at Riddell's Bay from $579 per room, per night. www.fairmont.com Cambridge Beaches' Fairway to Heaven includes: four days of golf, play on three courses, breakfast and dinner, private on-course golf instruction, a pre or après golf massage, a seat at the chef’s table or private beach dining, and a pair of classic Bermuda shorts. Courses played are Port Royal Golf Course, Belmont Hills and Mid Ocean Club. www.cambridgebeaches.com *Tucker’s Point Golf Club: Three Ways to Play”* grants golfers three different ways to play a round at the Tucker’s Point Golf Club. “Get Linked” from $585 per night gives you a round of golf per person, use of the practice range, club rentals and breakfast daily at The Hotel & Spa’s. “Get Schooled” from $705 per night includes a round of golf per person, two hours of private instruction, use of the practice range, club rentals and breakfast daily. “Get Zen” combines golf and spa from $885 per night. Golf Packages are offered by most resorts including the Pink Beach Club, The Fairmont Southampton Princess, Cambridge Beaches and Elbow Beach Resort. Golf Packages typically include golf, accommodations and participation in a dine-around program airport transfers, greens fees, and service charges and taxes. www.BermudaTourism.com; www.bermudagolf.org; www.caribbeanonthecheap.com;
Updated April 2010		Copyright 2010	Subscribe