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The addition of Tiger Woods’ first American golf course design at The Cliffs at High Carolina brings The Cliffs’ lineup of championship courses to eight. Members at The Cliffs belong to America’s only private club that offers two Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses and two Tom Fazio designs, plus a new "river" course by Gary Player under construction, a parkland style layout from Ben Wright and an award-winning design by Tom Jackson. All are located within a short drive of one another and accessible via one membership.

The Cliffs’ experience extends far beyond the courses, offering members an incredible range of amenities, including over a dozen restaurants, marinas, equestrian centers, wellness centers, trail systems and hundreds of acres of private parks. Members also enjoy The Cliffs Retreat Collection of destination properties around the world—British Columbia, Chile and the Bahamas—without extra dues. Entranced by 50-plus mile mountain views but drawn to the charms of the acclaimed city of Asheville? This fall will mark The Cliffs’ initial property release at High Carolina, a community that will offer the height of living at 4,000 feet.

Dream of living along the shores of a mountain lake? The Cliffs at Keowee Springs—home to America’s First Luxury Family Wellness RetreatSM and located on the shores of 18,500-acre Lake Keowee— continues to set new standards with the introduction of new lakefront residences, cottages and custom homesites.

The vision of a full and robust life built around family, wellness, nature and philanthropy continues to attract residents from 45 states and 16 countries to The Cliffs and why the communities were named "World’s Best International Development" in 2007 by the CNBC International Property Awards.

Queens Gap
Offering a wealth of ways to enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle.

At Queens Gap, an approximately 3,500-acre private golf community in early development stages in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, the simple question, "What do you want to do today?" opens up a world of possibilities. The answers are multiple choice, and all of them are great options.

For starters, there’s the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, which will be routed through high-country glens, past cascading streams and around rugged rock outcroppings. Anglers and water-sports enthusiasts will be lured to the Outfitters Lodge on the Broad River for fishing and kayaking or to Lake Lure for waterskiing. Horse lovers will be able to opt for the Equestrian Center, with its miles of bridle trails; hikers can hoof it on foot through groves of aspen, along woodland trails and up to scenic nooks with distant views. A tennis facility and an indoor swimming pool are just two more of the recreational amenities planned for this community of 1,500 residences, where estate and cottage homesites are currently for sale.

In keeping with its commitment to helping residents enjoy full and healthful lifestyles, Queens Gap recently announced an alliance with the LaValle Metabolic Institute. Utilizing an experienced staff of medical doctors, registered nurses and dieticians, a clinical pharmacist and acupuncturist, LMI uncovers each client’s metabolic weaknesses and builds an individualized plan of action to help them look and feel better. The LMI alliance is a natural extension for Queens Gap, where a comprehensive focus on health and well-being has already begun with the community’s planned 18,000-square-foot Wellness Pavilion and Spa. Perched along a high ridge with long views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this state-of-the-art facility will literally elevate the focus on a life well-lived at Queens Gap to a higher level.

From the complimentary bicycle rentals to the convenient tram system to the $50 gas credit offered on your first night stay, Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort makes it easy to leave the gas-price blues behind this summer. Once you’ve arrived at this 2,400-acre beach and bayfront destination between Pensacola and Panama City on Florida’s Northwest Gulf Coast, your only "drive time" is on one of four great courses, including the tour-caliber Raven Golf Club designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., Rees Jones’ Burnt Pine Golf Club and Tom Jackson’s Links and Baytowne creations.

For kids, Sandestin is about "hang time"—as in the new 650-foot zip line that suspends you (safely) 52 feet over a lagoon. It’s the latest hit at the new Baytowne Adventure Zone, where there’s more fun in the form of a ropes course, rock-climbing walls and Euro-bungy, not to mention popular weekly events, activities and entertainment. With miles of sandy beaches and pristine bays, a 98-slip marina and dozens of water sports and activities, as well as more than 70 shopping, dining and nightlife venues, it all adds up to "quality time" for the entire family.

Destin, Fla.; 877-870-5917; Sandestin.com/links.aspx

Ponte Vedra Inn & Club
Pampered at a Florida Landmark

Ponte Vedra Inn & Club introduced golf to Florida in 1928; a half-century later the landmark oceanfront resort opened the area’s first spa. Both the spa and the golf continue to set ever-higher standards for luxurious leisure in this toney corner of the Sunshine State. The Lagoon Course, the resort’s newer companion to its fabled Ocean Course, is back in play after a six-month-long renovation by Bobby Weed. With several hole routing changes, improved tees, turf standards and drainage, and scenic water hazards on 11 holes, it’s a better-than-ever complement to famed British architect Herbert Bertram Strong’s original seaside links-style layout.

Also recently unveiled is an expanded, 30,000-square-foot spa facility with the latest in technologies and therapies in a lavish setting. The spa’s extensive menu of more than one hundred beauty and pampering services have made it a haven of relaxation and rejuvenation like no other. Lauded for its AAA Five-Diamond service and comforts, Ponte Vedra Inn & Club offers 250 elegantly appointed rooms and suites, most overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. To book resort packages, call 800-234-7842 or visit PVResorts.com.

Look no further than Tee Times USA, Florida’s own golf vacation specialist.

One toll-free call to Tee Times USA gives you free information on more than 300 Florida golf courses and hundreds of hotels, condominiums and resorts, including some of the state’s finest spas and family vacation destinations. You can also book free advanced tee times with or without accommodations, months before play.

Those looking for a great variety of activities beyond golf should ask their Tee Times USA representative about Doral Golf Resort and Spa, PGA National Resort and Spa, Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate and Orange Lake Resort and Country Club.

Arrange your Florida golf vacation with Tee Times USA and know that the state’s leading golf travel specialist is seeing to every detail of your trip.

Florida; 888-465-3356; TeeTimesUSA.com

Tierra Del Sol Resort, Spa & Country Club
A List of Amenities as Spectacular as the Views

For golfers heading to Aruba, the first choice in destinations is Tierra del Sol Resort, Spa and Country Club, a private 600-acre retreat on the rugged and picturesque northwest point of this sun-drenched Caribbean island. It’s the scenic setting for Aruba’s only 18-hole course, an endlessly entertaining 6,811-yard, par-71 design by Robert Trent Jones II that is praised for combining the challenges of a wind-swept Scottish links and a sun-drenched desert course, with sparkling vistas of the Caribbean.

Tierra del Sol Vacation Rentals offer luxuriously appointed two-, three- and four-bedroom condominiums, villas and estate homes, all clustered in intimate neighborhoods, complete with a full menu of services, including complimentary green fees and free use of the Body & Soul Spa and Fitness center, the pool and tennis courts, as well as access to the beach facility in Palm Beach.

For summer golf and spa packages and more information about the Tierra del Sol’s Villa Vacation Rentals, visit TierraDelSol.com or call 866-978-5158.

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Red Ledges
A full-slate of attractions and amenities in Utah’s high country

The course that Jack Nicklaus is creating for the Red Ledges private community in Heber City, Utah, a short drive from Salt Lake City toward the western flanks of the Rocky Mountains, is set against dramatic red-rock cliffs and plunges down into cedar-filled canyons before rising again onto plateaus featuring spectacular views of Mount Timpanogos.

But just as the Golden Bear was always more about golf even in his playing days—family first, with fishing and other sports and recreations not far behind—so, too, is Red Ledges creating a full slate of attractions and amenities for all four seasons. In the summer, take a tubing and rafting expedition, make use of one of the community’s club boats on nearby Jordanelle Reservoir or soak up the fun closer to home at the Swim Center, with its large meandering outdoor pool and lap-pool area. Saddle up at the equestrian center and take a lesson or head out on miles of scenic trails, where riders of every level can mosey along for a spell or join a group on an all-day mountain adventure.

Your options are just as grand during wintertime, for there are a half-dozen world-class ski resorts within an hour’s drive of Red Ledges, including Deer Valley Resort, just 10 minutes away, where owners will have access to a private ski-in/ski-out lodge.

Red Ledges will also be home to the first Cliff Drysdale Tennis Academy in the western U.S. Cliff’s methods are world renowned for drilling techniques and technical instruction, which make him a fine partner in game improvement to golf’s Jim McLean, who is establishing a state-of-the-art golf school and practice facility on site.

Find out more about what’s in store for Red Ledges by visiting the community’s "discovery centers" in Park City or at 2 Main St. in Heber City, as well as at the on-site center that opened earlier this year.

Heber City, Utah; 877-733-5334; RedLedges.com

Pine Canyon
A four-season playground for all ages

Winding its way past soaring Ponderosa pines, along trout-filled lakes and ponds and through scenic high-desert meadows, Pine Canyon offers up some serious fun for members of this luxurious private golf community on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Arizona. There’s even an exclamation point to your day of play on the acclaimed Jay Morrish Signature course ranked fourth best in the state by Golf Digest in only its fourth year, in the form of "Double or Nothing," an 85-yard 19th hole that plays to an island green.

Set at 7,100 feet above sea level and surrounded by National Forest Land, Pine Canyon is a four-season playground in every respect, from hiking and biking to skiing to the professionally staffed spa and fitness center within its strikingly grand 35,000-square-foot clubhouse. Built of Telluride stone and large timbers, the clubhouse was voted the best private clubhouse of 2007 by Golf Magazine.

Pine Canyon has ensured that the fun is shared by all ages. Now open, Camp Pine Canyon offers an array of activities for children: arts and crafts, hands-on learning experiences and athletics. With trained, professional educators as their guides, campers will explore the natural world using the beautiful Flagstaff outdoors and surrounding areas and challenge their skills through sports camps such as soccer, football, basketball and cheerleading. The Camp offers two tennis courts, three pools, including a kids’ pool with water features, and a kids’ recreation area with large-screen televisions and video games. A full-service kitchen provides indoor and outside dining for members.

Returning to the fold for some at-home family R&R is a pleasure, indeed: Custom homesites at Pine Canyon average a half-acre, with homes ranging from 2,400 to over 6,000 square feet. Some have views of San Francisco Peak, the snow-capped mountain that lords over Flagstaff, some look out onto the rolling fairways, while others back up to Forest Service land. The community’s newest residential option, available this summer, is the Mountain Vista Condominiums, priced from the $500s and featuring two- and three-bedrooms, each with two-car garages. The initial offering resulted in 12 sales of the first 24 released; a total of 60 homes is planned, all with sweeping views in Flagstaff’s temperate high-country playground.

Flagstaff, Arizona; 866-779-5700; PineCanyon.net

Running Y Ranch may have the only Arnold Palmer-designed course in Oregon, but the King’s special brand of high-caliber resort golf is hardly the only game in town. Located along Upper Klamath Lake in the heart of the Cascade Mountains of Southern Oregon, this full-service resort community puts other pastimes—from fly-fishing, kayaking and other water sports to hiking, biking and horseback riding—right out the door. Literally.

For starters, the Running Y community encompasses 3,600 acres, more than half of which is reserved for open space, wildlife refuge areas or recreational use. Just as close at hand is the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway, one of only nine All-American Roads in the nation with dramatic views around every bend. Also within a short drive are six national wildlife refuges—which make the area one the most important gathering points for migratory birds (and bird watchers) along the Pacific Flyway—not to mention Crater Lake National Park and its legendary 33-mile Rim Drive, offering spectacular views of the deepest, clearest lake in the U.S.

Your base camp for all this four-season exploring is Running Y’s 82-room western-style lodge. On-site amenities include over eight miles of walking and biking paths, a full-service spa, sports and fitness center, tennis and volleyball courts, even a seasonal ice area. Part of a 9,600-acre working cattle ranch, the Running Y also offers horseback riding, cowboy-for-a-day programs and guided ATV tours. Ownership options at the Running Y range from low-maintenance townhomes and chalets to semi-custom homes, fully furnished villas and spacious custom homesites with lake and mountain views.

Drink in the scenery, the golf and the fun with special events, from Concerts on the Green and Blues Block Parties to a Fall Art Festival and 5K Fun Run. Special golf, spa and other lodging packages are available. For details, you can visit MountainandLakeLiving.com.

Klamath Falls, Oregon; 866-674-4723; MountainandLakeLiving.com

Foresight Golf 
Course Conditioning:the Secret to Success

As the stewards of a growing portfolio of premier public-access courses in South Texas, Foresight Golf knows the secret to success is in creating a golf experience that leaves its customers wanting to come back again and again. And that means making the game affordable and enjoyable for all players and providing them the finest playing surfaces kept in top-notch condition, day in and day out. Here’s proof: There were only four courses in the San Antonio area that were overseeded last fall; three of them were Foresight’s, including The Republic Golf Club, The Bandit in New Braunfels, and Buckhorn Golf Course in nearby Comfort.

Together with San Antonio’s storied Pecan Valley Golf Club, purchased this February, and the 54-hole Cypresswood Golf Club in the lush, piney woods of North Houston, Foresight’s family of first-class daily-fee facilities offer consistently terrific golf at competitive rates.

To book tee times, group outings or to get email updates regarding specials, clinics and demo days, call 830-249-7528 or visit ForesightGolf.com.

Nestled in its own private, secluded section of the Vail Valley, surrounded by thousands of acres of protected sage and pinon-covered wildlands, Adam’s Rib Ranch, in Eagle County, Colorado, promises its owners and guests a "wildly different" experience. Located away from the hustle and bustle of the resorts, Adam’s Rib Ranch offers luxurious living in a private golf and ranch estate community on par with anything found elsewhere in this Rocky Mountain haven.

Adam’s Rib Ranch is certainly delivering on its promises. Stretching over 1,600 acres, this gorgeous property comprises 98 parcels of four to 10 acres, with one 38-acre ranch estate, and five Member cottages conveniently located across from the clubhouse. All homesites are strategically located to ensure privacy and to maximize the views of Brush Creek Valley and the surrounding mountains—and the Tom Weiskopf-designed course that is the centerpiece of the property.

Adam’s Mountain Country Club’s 7,250-yard layout meanders through 285 acres, with 10 holes playing around or adjacent to lakes and Brush Creek. "This is as good as any golf course I have ever designed in the mountains. Rather than typical mountain slope play, the course is broad and open, allowing for special golf experiences on every single hole," says Weiskopf of his handiwork. Open to both residents and non-residents, with a total of 300 memberships, all will enjoy the community’s expansive 40,000-square-foot clubhouse which features a spa and fitness center, men’s and ladies locker rooms, golf shop, and several indoor and outdoor dining venues.

Though just a 10 minute drive from the Eagle/Vail airport and the Vail Valley Jet Center, Adam’s Rib Ranch provides its families a way of life that feels remote yet luxurious, and an escape as well as a destination. Owners will have fly-fishing on nearly four miles of Brush Creek and an on-site equestrian center which boasts a 40,000-square-foot indoor riding arena, boarding stables, and miles of picturesque trails leading into protected wildlands. A host of other four-season recreations are also available, from mountain biking trails to white water rafting. Skiing at some of the most prestigious well known resorts (Vail, Beaver Creek, and Aspen), is also within easy reach. Private limousine service to these resorts will be provided to members of the club. Adam’s Rib Ranch is an extraordinary opportunity for families to gather for golf, adventure and the comforts of home.

Eagle County, Colorado; 888-760-2326; AdamsRibRanch.com

Walters Golf Las Vegas
Bangers, chips and pints

The Open Championship returns to Royal Birkdale July 17-21 for the 10th anniversary of Mark O’Meara’s dramatic triumph. Also celebrating its 10th year is the acclaimed Royal Links Golf Club in Las Vegas.

The connection? Royal Links is an inspired montage of links-style holes found at 11 different British Open rotation courses, including two holes from this year’s venue. The 12th hole at Royal Links, the longest par-4 on the course, re-creates the look and feel of Birkdale’s sixth hole, and the sixth at Royal Links memorably captures the shot challenges of Birkdale’s 10th, a sharp dogleg left.

Located just nine miles from the heart of the Strip, Royal Links is your passport to golf with a major British accent, Vegas style. The clubhouse is a castle, and inside you’ll find Stymie’s Pub, where you can enjoy bangers and chips and a post-round pint. Best of all, with weekday rates as low as $50, your dollar will go a lot farther at Royal Links than across the pond.

Royal Links is just part of the great golf in Las Vegas offered by Walters Golf. To book your tee times online or for details about their "Tour the World" golf specials this summer at Royal Links, Bali Hai and Desert Pines Golf Clubs, visit WaltersGolf.com or call 866-861-9785.

Surrounded by three million acres of National Forest and designated wilderness areas, nestled between the soaring cliffs that frame the Animas River Valley, Glacier Club offers luxury living amid authentic Rocky Mountain charm.

At this private golf community just 18 miles north of Durango, golf takes center stage with three of the most scenic nines in the Rockies. One artfully designed and lavishly maintained hole after another, crafted from scenic ponderosa groves, mountain meadows and dramatic rockscapes, each nine as challenging as they are alluring.

Just down the road, Durango, "a real town with real people," evokes memories of the Old West, with old storefronts, eclectic cafes, award-winning restaurants, art galleries, museums and historically-preserved homes and hotels. Northwards is Silverton, a gem of a mining town, linked to Durango via the 120-year-old Narrow Gauge Railroad. And within an easy day trip are such attractions as Mesa Verde National Park in the Four Corners area; the resort towns of Telluride, Ouray and Wolf Creek; and water activities and fishing on the Animas River and Navajo Reservoir. "Everything you want to experience when you come to the Rocky Mountain region is easily accessible from Glacier Club," says Malcolm Dunlevie, one of the developers behind the community.

Limited to some 400 residences, Glacier Club’s residential options range from townhomes to expansive custom homesites and custom homes. All building envelopes are designed to minimize impact on the land and maximize enjoyment of it, from stunning panoramas of the Animas River Valley to sightings of elk, eagles and other wildlife.

Durango, Colorado; 866-379-5723; TheGlacierClubLinks.com

Keystone Resort
Where the lazy days of summer are anything but

It’s summer, and the slopes at Keystone Resort in Vail Valley are filled not with skiers but mountain bikers and hikers, and the valleys are covered not with snow but high-country wildflowers. The "off-season" here is golf season, and Keystone’s two spectacular offerings have made it one of the country’s top golf resorts.

Keystone Ranch, the Resort’s acclaimed 1980 Robert Trent Jones Jr. design, winds its way through lodgepole pines, around sage-scented valley meadows with miles-long views and past the historic old log homestead that now houses the clubhouse and the Keystone Ranch Restaurant, one of the state’s finest and a destination in its own right. Keystone’s newer 18-hole layout, the River Course by Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, gets its beauty from an environmentally-sensitive routing along the Snake River on the front nine and its drama from impressive elevation changes and jaw-dropping views of snow-capped peaks on the back nine.

These may be the lazy days of summer, but you can knock yourself out in many other pleasurable ways in the high-mountain air of Keystone. The resort offers a full menu of "Energetic Escape" packages for the summer. Choose from the "Giddy Up to Keystone" vacation for horseback riders, to specials for mountain bikers (with unlimited-run lift tickets that take you to Keystone’s world-class downhill trails) to Family Adventures that combine river-rafting, guided hikes and fly-fishing, among other treats.

Relax and rejuvenate from the high-altitude golf and other active escapes at the RockResort Spa. Newly renovated, the 10,000-square-foot haven offers special packages, called Rocky Mountain Journeys, that combine several signature spa treatments, such as the "Head in the Clouds," a five-hour indulgence that begins with a full-body Babassu Sugar Scrub to soften and cleanse the skin, followed by a full-body massage, customized facial, Heavenly Hands manicure and Sweet Feet pedicure. Find details and booking options for golf, the Energetic Escapes and the Spa’s special journeys at GolfKeystone.com.

Keystone, Colorado; 800-322-2094; GolfKeystone.com

Halfway between Denver and Salt Lake City, on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, lies Grand Junction, Colorado. A technicolor landscape of towering, red-rock mesas and verdant valleys dotted with orchards and vineyards, Grand Junction is truly an oasis in the high desert.

It’s the kind of terrain that high-plains native Jim Engh excels at fashioning into high-value golfscapes, and that’s just what he’s done at The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa, the centerpiece of a four-season golf community just five minutes from downtown. Each hole seems etched from sandstone, with fairways routed around large rock outcrops and through corridors of native plants and terrain. Half the holes play downhill from elevated tees, affording extra yards at the 4,600-feet elevation—and unparalleled views of the nearby Colorado National Monument and, in the distance the other direction, of the panoramic horizon of Grand Mesa. The tee on the ski jump that is the par-three 17th hole is just one of many Kodak moments.

As befits Engh’s design wonderland, Redlands Mesa is an architecturally-driven golf course community. Of its 500 acres, one-third is natural open space, one-third is golf and the rest divided among neighborhoods artfully nestled into the landscape by Downing, Thorpe and James, Colorado’s Architect of the Year in 1998. Homesites range from one-third to over two acres, with the homes themselves seemingly part and parcel of the sunset-hued vistas. See for yourself by selecting one of the Stay & Play packages offered to visiting golfers by Redlands Mesa’s hotel partners at RedlandsMesa.com.

Grand Junction, Colorado; 877-501-6372; RedlandsMesa.com

Cougar Canyon
A Southern Colorado resort that makes others "green" with envy

At Cougar Canyon, everything is "green"—and we’re not just talking the long, lush fairways of its Jack Nicklaus course, which opened to rave reviews this past fall: Colorado Avid Golfer magazine promptly named the 7,669-yard layout the state’s best new course, and Golf Magazine voted it one of the "Top Ten Courses You Can Play" for 2008.

Located on 1,500 acres of high-desert mesa near the historic trading and mining town of Trinidad, Cougar Canyon is environmentally-aware right down to the fiber-optic "roots" that help connect its homes to the outside world, sight unseen. Many of those affordable custom and semi-custom residences—there will be 1,700 in all, clustered in eco-friendly neighborhoods—are being built by Canyon Homes, the first "green" builder of Energy Star-rated homes in southern Colorado.

Cougar Canyon has over eight miles of in-community nature trails through its greenbelts and open spaces, plus its own, private 3,000 acres of conservation land protected by easements. There’s also an equestrian center and a recreation center with fitness facilities, swimming pools and tennis courts.

"You wake up to clear skies and golf weather 320 days a year on average," says project manager Karl Gabrielson. "You’ll experience superb natural conservancy in a resort community with equally high standards for world-class golf. You get all the character of a historic town and a golf community for active lifestyles with resort amenities, yet none of the outrageous expense that traditionally comes with each."

To experience Cougar Canyon Golf Links, with its dramatic elevation changes and eye-popping mix of mountain and desert features, take advantage of the $99 Stay and Play package this summer. Just call the golf desk at 719-422-7015, and they’ll take care of all the bookings—the golf, the hotel, all of it—or visit CougarCanyonLiving.com, and click on "Golf Course," then "Stay and Play."

Trinidad, Colorado; 877-547-7455; CougarCanyonLiving.com