Golf International Lifestyle - Issue 99

JAN/FEB 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 1

MEMORABILIA / WOMEN’S LUXURY / GOLF PROPERTY / MOTORING / & MORE...

GOLF INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2011

Ryder Cup years always tend to spark added in-terest in golfing memorabilia and this was cer-tainly tru in 2010, where early signs of therecovery came at the Tennants Sporting auctionat their Leyburn salesrooms in North Yorkshirein April. The illustration you see to the right isof a rare and highly collectible 2nd Ryder Cup‘Complimentary Dinner’ menu dated 27 April1929. As far as I am aware this is only the sec-ond such menu to come to auction within thelast 5 years. Bonhams sold one in 2008 for£3,200, and while theirs was in better condition,it hadn’t been autographed by any of the play-ers. The Tennants menu had been signed byboth teams as well as the event’s sponsor,Samuel Ryder. It was pitched at £5,000 but fewwere surprised at the interest and it eventuallysold for £8,500.

RARE PHOTOS & AUTOGRAPHSAcross the pond, Heritage Auction Galleries inDallas, Texas sold ‘The Mark Emerson Collec-tion of Rare Golf Autographs’(23 April 2010). Emerson theconsignor is a much respectedcollector of ephemera and is aleading authority on golfing au-tographs and signatures. Thedepth and breadth of what wason offer at Heritage was breath-taking with super clean signa-tures of great golfers from the past to includeWalter Hagen, Willie Park Jr., Francis Ouimet,Arnaud Massy, Ben Hogan as well as presentones such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus,Payne Stewart and Tiger Woods. In all therewere 250 lots, with a number of fascinatinghighlights:Lot 82444: For a Bobby Jones collector, it

doesn’t get much better than this original 8 x10 photograph that has been boldly signed byRobert T. Jones Junior. Sold for $10,157.50.Lot 82454: A Tom Morris signed Royal Bank

of Scotland St. Andrews Branch £800 cheque,dated 31 October 1898. Sold for $17,925.Lot 82462: This Andrew Strath handwritten

GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JULY 20102

Quite a yearAmarked increase in theconfidence of not only buyers butsellershintedatawelcome recoveryin the golf memorabilia market in2010. Here, Gi’s auction-room ex-pertKevin McGimpsey casts hiseye back on the high quality itemsthat caught his attention

(Top): Signed by both teams and the event’ssponsor, Samuel Ryder, little wonder this 1927Ryder Cup dinner menu sailed past its estimate;(above): this TomMorris signed banknote from1898 went for $17,925; (right): the rare auto-graph of the unmistakable Bobby Jones; (below):1865 wage slip signed by Andrew Strath

and signed wage receipt was dated 18 Septem-ber 1865 at Ayr. Described by the Texas auctionhouse as being ‘quite possibly the only Strathsignature in existence...’Sold for $7,767.00

Inevitably there was a great bargain atthis auction. Lot 82615 – described asbeing a ‘10/10 Samuel Ryder fountainpen signature’ – only sold for halfits normal price at $388.00. What asteal!

Perhaps not surprisingly,given Tiger’s near-dominationof the tabloid press for his anticsoff the golf course, 2010 was the year in whichTiger Woods memorabilia started to lose its ap-peal. Lot 82474, a super clean 1998 TigerWoods signed colour photograph failed to getpast its $250 starting bid!

THE BONHAMS SUMMER SALEA little closer to home, The Bonhams SummerGolf Sale took place in June and again was wellsupported, with total sales hitting the £100,000mark. There were several highlights. The Hon-ourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (Muir-field G.C.) entered six books that had beencompiled and published by one of their augustmembers, Charles B. Clapcott, O.B.E., (1867 -1955). He was a much respected researcher andauthor on the subject of golf history and hespent a considerable amount of time at the Hon-ourable Company’s Clubhouse examining all itsavailable records. The end product was the pro-duction of what is thought to be only a fewcopies of each book. Bonhams offered the sixbooks as single lots and they attracted interna-tional interest selling for a total of £10,000.

Bonhams had a great selection of antiquegolf balls that had come from two private col-lections. Several of them were just as the mar-ket likes them – wrapped and in mint or inun-played with condition. Six Cochrane‘Paragon 27½’ gutta-percha golf balls circa1899, un-played with condition, all retainingparts of their original paper wrappers completewith its original cardboard 12 box. Sold for£3,100Six ‘Silver Town 27½ No.4’ moulded meshgutta-percha golf balls circa 1878 These are theearliest known examples of the Silvertown guttagolf ball and are believed to be the first to cometo auction. Sold for £2,900

The Sayers family consigned to Bonhamstheir Ben Sayers Senior and Ben Sayers Juniorcollection of memorabilia. Ben Sayers (1857-1924) known as ‘Wee Ben’ was an outstandinggolfer who played in every Open Championshipbetween 1880 and 1923. Although he won 24tournaments in his long career he never wonthe Open. His son Ben (1884-1961) joined hisfather in the golf club making business in 1913and went onto establish Ben Sayers Ltd. Thelots varied from superb black and white photo-graphs of Ben Sayers and contemporary profes-sional players, to samples of clubs made in theNorth Berwick shop to a silver prototype of aminiature iron that was made in 1923 for theQueen Mary’s Doll House.Lot 52, Old Ben Sayers’ set of golf clubs and

golf bag that sold for £2,500.Another exception highlight was Lot 80,

Willie Park Junior’s original bent neck putter (agift to Sayers), with an estimate of £600-1,000that sold for just under £4,000

The last three lots of The Bonham Sale (230,231 and 232) were three important Charles LeesR.S.A. (1800-1880) mid-19th Century prelimi-nary oils on paper portraits of The Earl of Eglin-ton, John Campbell of Glensaddell and ViscountValentia (see overleaf for the artwork). Eachportrait measured only 5 x 3½ inches.

Lees painted them prior to them appearing inhis ‘The Golfers – A Grand Match Played on St.Andrews Links 1841’ painting. This magnificentpainting was finally completed in 1851. It meas-ured 7 feet long by 4 feet 3 inches high. In2002, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery inEdinburgh bought it for a sum in excess of £2.2million.

The R. & A. were keen to buy the Eglingtonbecause he was an early Captain and they didn’thave a portrait of him. The other two portraitswent to private collectors.

OPEN FOR BUSINESSIn July Mullocks held their sum-mer golf sale during the weekbefore the Open and they werevery pleased as theypassed the £100,000mark for golf for thefirst time.

Original golfing art-work did well thissummer and an inter-esting section at Mul-locks was ‘The Ken Reed

MEMORABILIA

(Top): Serious collectors love nothing more thanto find lots of antique golf balls in the sort ofcondition these Paragon and Silvertown ballsturned up at Bonhams – wrapped or barelyplayed with and in their original box.(Left): A collection of six very rare books by golfhistorian Charles B Clapcott fetched £10,000.(Right & below): Memorabilia linked to the leg-endary Ben Sayers was prominant at Bonhams,with items including Willie Park’s original bentneck putter (a gift to Sayers) fetching just under£4,000. A set of clubs and a canvas bag be-longing to Sayers went for £2,500

FRSA Art Collection’ that comprised 11 of hisoriginal paintings and poster artwork. Pro-grammes also to hold their own and Mullockshad a strong representation starting with one ofthe earliest recorded a 1921 St Andrews OpenGolf Championship Qualifying programme thatfetched £2,600 and a 1925 Open Golf Champi-onship programme when the Open was playedat Prestwick for final (£2800); a 1929 Open GolfChampionship programme (£1,000) and a 1946Open Golf Championship programme £1,300.

Vintage golfing medals remained strong in2010 and Mullocks had two ‘feather ball’ eramedals. Lot 541, an extremely rare 1832 Brunts-field Links Golfing Society Medal and won byR.G.Cairns, sold for £4,000.

Bundles of wooden shafted woods and ironsremain the stable diet of the auction houses.More often they are being bought, not by clubcollectors, but by dealers and enthusiasts whospend time and or money having them re-fur-bished back to their original state. They are notused as decorative items but as clubs to playwith in hickory golf events.

Lot 204 could be regarded as being the HolyGrail for such enthusiastic golfers who playtheir game of golf with pre-1935 clubs – a rareset of 6 matching Spalding Kro-Flite ‘Robert T.Jones Jr.’ signature irons complete with its redSpalding retail box circa 1930 sold for £800.

One of the year’s quirkiest lots must havebeen lot 577, a stuffed bird and an old golf ball.Mullocks described lot 577 as being a rare Vic-torian Pratt & Son of Brighton cased Linnet andEureka 27 gutta-percha golf ball. An attachedplaque described the event of how the bird waskilled by the golf ball on 15 July 1890 atMitcham Golf Club in Surrey… ‘playing in an ex-citing foursome, all square at the 17th hole atwhich I drove a good ball; only went 40 yards hitthe Linnet and cut the head off; the bird and ballfell into a bush. Lost the hole and the match anda full sovereign…’ Sold for £580.

BACK TO BONHAMSBonhams held their third golf auction in mid

October and its star turn brings us neatly backto the 2nd Ryder Cup in 1929. Lot 200 was a‘Bon Voyage Dinner’ programme for the 1929American Ryder Cup team at the New York Ath-letic Club. Its American owner had found it in achest of drawers underneath a newspaper.

The programme measured 9½ x 6½ inchesand comprised dark blue coloured card covers,the front of which was decorated in red withjazz and big band graphics. There were 6 dou-ble sided pages inside, five of which had profilephotographs of the American team; J. Farrell, L.Diegel, G. Sarazen, J. Turnesa, H. Smith, A, Wa-trous, E. Espinosa and team Captain W. Hagen;these are all autographed.

Walter Hagen’s prowess as a match play com-petitor made him a fearsome opponent and heonly lost the one match in 1929 at Moortown.Hagen deliberately arranged to play GeorgeDuncan and with his usual self confidence, toldhis team that they already had ‘one point in thebag’. However Duncan played superbly and beatHagen 10 and 8.

Other highlights at this October auction in-cluded a rare programme for the 1930 AmateurGolf Championship played at St. Andrews thatsold for £1,900. The reason why it sold so well

(Above): The magnificent 7’ x 4’ Grand Match’painting by Charless Lees – can you identify thethree personalities in the painting? Also sold atBonhams, Lot 230, The Earl of Eglington (right)sold for £11,000; Lot 232, John Campbell ofGlensaddell sold for £12,000 and Lot 231, Vis-count Valentia fetched £8,50

GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JAN/FEB 20114

(Below) A rare 1837 Bruntsfield Golf Medal –‘gained’ or won in 1837, sold for £3,200; (bottom)Lot 86, a Ken Reed original of the 2000 OpenChampionship at St Andrews poster artwork wasknocked down for £5,000

(Below) A dream for any collector of woodenshafted golf clubs, this set of six matching SpaldingKro-Flite Robert T. Jones Jr. signature irons in theiroriginal case; (right) one of the quirkiest lots of thesummer appeared at Mullocks, this cased Linnetand the Eureka ball that did for the luckless bird

MEMORABILIA

was because that Championship was the first ofthe Bobby Jones ‘Impregnable Quadrilateral’ or‘Grand Slam’ wins. Jones summed up his feel-ings towards his Amateur Championship vic-tory in his autobiography, ‘I have soberlyconsidered that this is the most important tour-nament of my life.’

And what of 2011? Will there be some majorgolf collections coming to auction? I haven’tanything specific to announce here, but pleasecontinue to watch these pages.

Certainly with the Open being played at Royal

St. George’s where the great Harry Vardon wonhis 5th of six Opens in 1911 there could be inter-esting Vardon sub-sections within the golf auc-tions.

Bonhams already have 5 beautiful golf re-lated travel and railway posters each withstrong graphics and bold colours dating to the1920s and 1930s (below). They will be auc-tioned in June 2011 and they are expected tofetch at least £1,000 each. Three of the postersthat each measure over 4 feet high to be offeredby Bonhams in June 2011£250 and £300.


Please send your letters and bestphotographs to Kevin McGimpsey at this ad-dress: PO BOX 120, Deeside, Flintshire, N.Wales or email with jpegs:[email protected]

(Above left): Lot 200 at Bonhams autumn salefeatured this 1929 Ryder Cup programme / menu– featuring the autgraphs of all the American play-ers including captain Walter Hagen – which soldfor £2,300. (Above right): Rare 1930 AmateurChampionship programme

Callaway Diablo Octane Black DriverThis brings a whole new dimension to the concept ofpower dressing: Callawayʼs new Diablo Octane Blackdriver is the product of a collaboration with the techni-cal team at Lamborghini who have helped develop arevolutionary new Forged Composite driver materialthatʼs light and strong and designed to transfer morepower to the ball to help you hit longer drives. Thestriking black finish of the Diablo Octane certainly putsthe va-va-voom into your drives!Guide: £249; Lofts: 10.5, 11.5, 13HTwww.callawaygolf.com

Cleveland CG16 wedgeWhen it comes to speciality wedges ladies often loseout and are forced to make do with a wedge that istoo heavy and cumbersome. Cleveland Golf has an-swered that dilemma by including a ladies option intheir new line of CG16 wedges. It has a light-weight graphite shaft, the perfect weightbalance in the head and a soft Winngrip that offers plenty of feedbackand feel on those all-importanttouch shots.Guide:£105,Options:52°, 56°, 60°www.clevelandgolf.com

Bonjoc Crystal Ball MarkerPut some sparkle into your game whilesupporting a great cause by clipping one ofthese dazzling magnetic ball markers to your hat.This eye-catching accessory is designed and hand-made from 100% genuine Swarovski crystals by Bon-joc artisans. Proceeds from each Pink Ribbon ballmarker will be donated to Birdies for Breast Cancer, acharity founded by LPGA Tour player Cristie Kerr.Guide: £24.95 • www.golfqueen.co.uk

Nicole MillerDesert Argyle VisorUS ladies clothing designer Nicole Miller offers atouch of catwalk fashion for the fairways with her lineof stylish visors. Designed with an oversized peak togive you plenty of shade and an adjustable coil backto ensure a headache free fit, the visor can be handwashed to keep it clean and fresh.Guide: £16.95 • www.golfqueen.co.uk

Luco Sport Headcover SetLuco Sportʼs vibrant headcovers are some of the fan-ciest club covers on the market. There are 20 fashion-

able designs making it easy to find a set tomatch your bag and add some class to yourclubs. Theyʼre made from a stretchy durablematerial designed to accommodate any woodfrom the largest driver to the smallest fairwaywood and have a clever LucoLeash tying them to-gether to stop you ever losing one again. The mate-rial is machine washable and you can also buymatching hybrid covers to complement your set.Guide: £44.95 • www.golfqueen.co.uk

Tag Heuer F1 LadyThe Tag Heuer Formula 1 Diamonds is a glam-orous version of the popular menʼs watch, designedby tennis superstar Maria Sharapova for the sportylady wanting to wear a comfortable yet chic time-piece. Thereʼs no need to worry about knocks as the


IT’S A GIFT - FOR THE LADY IN YOUR LIFE

Objects of desireIn the first of a new section for lady golfers CCaarrllyy CCuummmmiinnss chooses her favourite new golf products, accessories and ‘must-have’ fashions for you to step out in style in 2011

ON HER WISH LIST?

sapphire crystal face is scratch resistant and water re-sistant, so you will be fine come rain or shine. Themost spectacular feature is the bezel, fully set with 60

dazzling diamonds. Guide: £1250 • www.tagheuer.com

GloveIt Hounds Tooth GloveIt is rare to find a golf glove that is both functional andfashionable but GloveIt has bucked the trend with theirunique line of gloves that put a touch of glamour intothe game. This high fashion, high performance gloveis made from a combination of soft cabretta leather onthe palm and a spandex back for the perfect fit. Itcomes with a matching valuables pouch and can behand washed so that it lasts longer.Guide: £19.95 • www.golfqueen.co.uk

Druh Belts & BucklesFrom the flamboyant Christina Kim to the glam-orous Carin Koch the one thing that all the top ladyTour professionals will be accessorising their golfoutfit with this season is a Druh golf belt. These styl-ish belts are handmade from leather or snakeskinand feature diamante buckles that will put some

sparkle into your game. Guide: £130 (snakeskin), £65 leatherwww.druhbeltsandbuckles.co.uk

Nike Air Embellish ShoesThereʼs nothing more stylish than a golfer who co-ordi-nates their outfit with their golf shoes, but few of ushave the luxury of owning more than one pair at atime. Nike has answered our fashion dilemmas by de-veloping a pair of golf shoes with four interchangeablecolour saddle pieces, allowing you to customise yourlook perfectly. The shoes are comfortable, waterproofand designed to offer total support during the swing.Guide: £80 • www.nikegolf.eu

The Moda Collection by Stewart GolfIf you are a lady that likes to co-ordinate then theStewart Golfʼs Moda Collection is definitely for you. Astylish yet highly practical golf bag is complementedby a matching valuables bag, sports bag and garmentcover. With three distinctive colour designs it doesnʼtmatter whether you opt for the shimmering pink, babyblue or sophisticated cream and black youʼll definitelyturn heads on your ladies day. Guide: £249 • www.modagolf.com


ECCO Biom Golf Performance ShoesEccoʼs innovative Biom shoes really do fit like a glove.They r̓e cleverly designed to follow the foot̓s natural mo-tion, helping your feet to absorb impact during the swing.The vibrant neon soles aren t̓ just for show, either; they r̓edesigned to bring your feet closer to the ground improv-ing traction, stability, feel and swing power. Guide: £160 • www.ecco.com/golf

Odyssey Divine PutterIf youʼve bought a standard length putter ʻoff the shelfʼand are struggling then it would be well worth invest-ing in one of Odysseyʼs new Divine putters. Madespecifically for ladies, these great-looking putters havea shorter shaft and matching head-weight for optimumbalance, while a new soft insert offers plenty of feed-back and feel. There are four different models tochoose from, including a new 2-Ball with adjustableweighting so that you can fine-tune feel.Guide: £99 • www.callawaygolf.com

Feeltec Hawaiian Series putter gripFeeltec are new to the market for 2011 but with flam-boyant styling and a superb soft feel they are set tomake a big impression. The grips are unique becausethey are seamless, allowing your hands to really con-nect with the putter, giving amazing feel and respon-siveness. The clever design also absorbs moistureenabling top performance in all-weather conditions.Sergio Garcia is among the worldʼs top Tour profes-sionals whoʼve converted to Feeltec. Guide: £10 • www.feeltecgrips.com

FootJoy Boot Whoʼd have thought a pair of boots could make suchgreat golf shoes? Remarkably these FootJoy bootsdo. Despite their cumbersome appearance theyʼre ac-tually really comfy with a warm fleece lining that stopsyour feet from freezing. The boots are waterproof anddesigned for traction so that your feet donʼt slip whenyou swing, even in muddy winter conditions.Guide: £67.50 Sizes: 4-8 • www.footjoy.co.uk

Cobra Baffler Rail Hybrid The hybrid has revolutionised golf and made the gamea lot more fun and forgiving. Gone are the days ofstruggling to get those hard-to-hit long irons airborne,these invaluable clubs are the must-have weapons inyour bag. The Cobra Baffler is particularly good fromtricky lies as the four-way rail sole helps the club travelthrough tough turf effortlessly, while the powerful high-strength steel face propels the ball a long way. You canalso buy the complementing fairway woods to match.Guide: £129 • www.cobragolf.co.uk

Under Armour ColdGear Subzero MockWhen you first peal yourself into an UA ColdGearMock you feel as though you are putting on a straightjacket, yet once worn it becomes like a second skinand is totally invaluable during the winter months.There is nothing as effective at keeping you warm andcomfortable, without restricting your swing, whileclever moisture-wicking technology keeps you feelingand smelling fresh for the full 18 holes. Guide: £35 • www.underarmour.com


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With the deluge of new resortsarriving before the crash nowreduced to a trickle, it’s been atricky year for golf develop-ments abroad. Several new and

existing projects are seeing only stuttering sales,and a number of future high-end schemes havebeen either postponed or shelved altogether.

In the first half of the year, the weak poundhurt Brits lusting after pads in Euroland, whilethe Celtic Tiger turned into a pussycat. The Irish,big buyers over the last 10 years, have almost en-tirely disappeared from the scene leaving stacksof empty property behind, not to mention a fewdistressed banks needing major bailouts.

All of which is bad news for developers but notnecessarily for buyers. Price falls in Spain, Portu-gal and Florida mean there is better value formoney in those markets than at any time in thelast 10 years. Turkey’s emergence has createdeven more downward pressure at the budget end,so there are some good deals out there.

New golfing destinations like Morocco andEgypt are adding spice to life, and the Caribbeancontinues to be the ultimate dream location,with Mauritius close behind.

Altogether, if you’ve got some spare cash,there’s never been so much choice combined withsuch good value. Different buyers have different

priorities, so within typical golfing property crite-ria, here are my favourites from the year.

Best new kid on the blockLAS COLINAS, SPAINWith so many brash developments in the morepopular parts of Spain still struggling with nega-tive publicity and all sorts of licensing issues it’srefreshing to report on a success story. The newCabell Robinson designed 6,973-yard course atLas Colinas, half an hour’s drive south of Ali-cante in the relative peace and quiet of the CostaBlanca, opened just a few months ago and has

the makings of a real gem.Managed by the ever-dependable Troon Golf,

the superbly manicured layout meandersthrough orange and lemon groves, with a num-ber of sweeping elevation changes adding to theattraction of what is a challenging par 71 coursefor players of all levels. You can just catch aglimpse of the sea from the higher points of thecourse – for a closer look, owners and guests canhead for the Las Colinas Beach Club, a fantasticfacility just a 20-minute drive away.

With building complete, 70% of the 124 mod-ern units are already sold, but there are still two-bedroom apartments available for £200,000,semi-detached villas from £290,000 and plushfour and five-bedroom detached villas starting at£590,000, all with gardens and easy access to the


Time to turn those dreams into reality?PPeetteerr SSwwaaiinn plays estate agent with a look at a changing market and a personal Top-10 of developments to have caught his eye...

PROPERTY

communal pools. If you’re interested in taking alook a number of the units are available to rentmaking this a terrific destination for a few days’golf away from the British winter.lascolinasgolf.es

Best Ryder Cup venueTHE K CLUB, IRELAND Before Celtic Manor came along most wouldagree that the 2006 Ryder Cup produced someof the greatest scenes in the biennial contest.The 7,350-yard Palmer Course certainly pro-vided a glorious backdrop to a memorable Euro-pean triumph, the classic parkland set-upmaking the most of its setting along the fabledRiver Liffey near Dublin. In superb condition,with big greens and even bigger bunkers, wateris in play on no less than 13 holes. The second18, the Smurfit, has a wilder, linksy feel to it.

The Ladycastle residential estate is on theedge of the course, a short stroll from the club-house. House prices have been pounded by Ire-land’s current economic woes, so fractionalownership is the way to go: for six weeks usagea year, two-bed apartments start at £114,000,three-bed houses from £158,000. firstlightinternational.com

Best for short-haul winter breaksPALHEIRO, MADEIRAAnother Cabell Robinson gem, snaking throughthe 200-year-old Blandy Estate high up abovethe harbour town of Funchal, this is a splendidlyold-school 6,656 yards of sheer golfing fun,favouring players who can draw the ball aroundthe many left-to-right, heavily wooded doglegs.

Santo do Serra is the other island course asnaking 20-minute drive away, while adventur-ers should also make for Seve’s Porto Santo lay-out a shortish ferry ride away.

On the vertigo-inducing hillside looking overthe Bay of Funchal, 79 pastel-hued villas andapartments are being built, well away from thecourse, with prices ranging from £282,000 for aone-bedroom apartment to £1 million for athree-bedroom villa with a private swimmingpool. palheiroestate.com

Best for all-round sporting facilitiesLA MANGA, SPAINFounded 40 years ago, the three championship

18-hole courses have hosted Spanish Opens, nu-merous tour events, and thousands of golfingholidays. With 28 tennis courts, this is also aDavis Cup location. Eight football pitches,cricket, rugby and even Gaelic Football facilitiesall make this Murcian resort a sporting mecca.

The latest property phase to launch is LaReserva del Coto, a combination of apartmentsand luxury golf villas overlooking the 12th holeon the South Course. With prices as much as20% down on 2008, a two-bedroom apartmentcosts £305,000. A palatial frontline Golf Villawith swimming pool and tennis court is yoursfor £863,000. lamangaclub.com

Best in the CaribbeanROYAL WESTMORELAND, BARBADOSThe Robert Trent Jones Jnr. 7,045-yard, palmtree-lined, Caribbean links features unnerving


(Facing page): Owners and visitors to the brandnew resort of Las Colinas in the Costa Blancaenjoy not only a fine Cabell Robinson-designedgolf course but 5 star beach club 15 minutes’drive away; (Left): With its economy in the rough,Ireland is currently open to offers – fractionalownership at the K Club providing the opportu-nity to play the 2006 Ryder Cup course (Below): Set high above the harbour town ofFunchal, Palheiro also boasts a Cabell Robinsondesigned golf course, while pastel-hued villasdecorate the terraces

(Above): Royal Westmoreland is a magnet for the rich and famous; (below) closer to home, La Manga remains one of Europe’s premier play-grounds with a wide-ranging property portfolio

jungle-filled gorges, sublime ocean views andsome of the best par-3s in the world, accordingto Ian Woosnam. Holiday home-owners MichaelVaughan, Joe Calzaghe, Gary Lineker andWayne Rooney, all frequent the colonial-styleclubhouse, the perfect end even for an imper-fect round.

Owner John Morphet is keen to broaden theresort’s appeal, so he’s building 250 new homeson 250 acres next to the original site, with apart-ments starting at a modest £293,000 and four-bedroom townhouses on the exclusive newSugar Cane Ridge development selling from£811,000. royalwestmoreland.com

On the same island, the new Apes Hill set-upis making waves. In a historic sugar plantationon the island's crest 1,000 feet above thefavoured west coast beaches, the immaculate7,049-yard Landmark course challenges scratchplayers but is quite user-friendly from the for-ward tees. There are six other world-classcourses on Barbados.

With Barbadian international pop star Rihannathe headline act, plots of land on the 470-acredevelopment are being sold from £250,000 rightup to £1.5 million for the best fairway sites withsea views. Fully furnished three-bedroom Bajan-themed Polo Villas are going for £550,000.knightfrank.com

Best for golf widowsAPHRODITE HILLS, CYPRUSGolf in Cyprus is on a roll. Aphrodite Hills re-cently hosted a PGA EuroPro tournament, and asecond course is planned. Next door, Secret Val-ley are also talking about another 18 holes, whileover towards Pafos, the brand new Nick FaldoEléa course is an absolute cracker. The spa, localopera and marina at Limassol are all good diver-sions for non-golfers.

Aphrodite Hills itself is just launching Alexan-der Heights, a bijou mix of 21 detached frontlinevillas, 16 junior villas one row back, and 32apartments, priced from £573,000. £260,000two-bedroom apartments are still available in thedevelopment’s well-established Theseus Village.aphroditehills.com


(Above & right): The quality of the golf in thesunshine at Aphrodite Hills is matched by therecent launch of Alexandra Heights, a mix of vil-las and apartments(Below): Just an hour from Barcelona, PGACatalunya has earned numerous plaudits forthe championship golf course and now offersbuilding plots from around £330,000

PROPERTY

Best all-round locationPGA CATALUNYA, SPAINUniquely well-placed, PGA Catalunya is an hourfrom culture in Barcelona and skiing in the Pyre-nees, close to the beaches of the Costa Brava,and only 15 minutes from Girona airport withgood Ryan Air connections. The 6,594-yard Sta-dium Course has twice hosted the Spanish Open,and is consistently rated up there with Valder-rama in the rankings. The Tour Course is wideroff the tees and more inviting.

Elevated building plots, set back in the treeswell away from the fairways, start at £330,000for a 1,000 sq metre lot. With the roads, infra-structure and mains services already in place,sleek, modern three-bedroom townhouses arepriced from £542,000. knightfrank.com

Best for je ne sais quoiGOLF DE SOLOGNE, FRANCEAn hour and a half south of Paris, this is a 450-acre forested estate in the Loire Valley with a19th century château at its heart, and an 18-hole parkland course which is already goodbut, with a little investment, could be even bet-ter. The legendary Les Bordes is nearby but at€1 million for membership, ridiculously moreexpensive.

Ninety-one terraced cottages and 168 villas,plus a spa and a 99-suite hotel are to be built inthe local half-timbered style. The one- and two-bedroom cottages, which start at £155,000, andthe larger detached villas going for £243,000 and

up, are scheduled for completion in 2012. cluttonsresorts.com

Best fractional offeringDOONBEG, IRELANDGreg Norman’s track has been ‘softened’ since itopened in 2002 and is now merely challenging -down from almost impossible. Looping along theAtlantic cliff-top, through mountainous dunes,the classic links next May hosts ‘The Great IrishLinks Challenge’, together with nearby Bally-bunion and Lahinch.

Twenty of the 28 Links Cottages have nowbeen sold, with re-sales priced from £390,000for smaller suites up to £1.3 million for bigger

houses. The eight cottages left are in a frac-tional scheme in association with Timbers Re-sorts: £170,000 gets you a 1/10 share, and fiveweeks annual usage of a four-bedroom, 3,000sq ft luxuriously decorated house. cottagesatdoonbeg.com

Best if you win the Lottery!VILLAS VALRICHE, MAURITIUSThe championship Le Chateau course, runningacross a hillside with spectacular, uninterruptedIndian Ocean views is only one of nine world-class tracks in Mauritius. Designed for both lowhandicappers and occasional players, it featureselevation changes, water hazards, and large, fast


(Above): A 19th century chateau lies at theheart of Golf de Sologne, a 450-acre devel-opment 90 minutes’ south of Paris, wherecottages and villas will be available in 2012 (Left & below) A view down the par-five 1sthole at Doonbeg – a storming Greg Normandesign that will leave you breathless. Thespa is similarly 5 star.

greens. The clubhouse restaurant is an old plan-tation house with excellent French Mauritian fu-sion cuisine.

In a truly enchanting location, 288 Maurit-ian plantation style villas are being built over-looking both the course and the ocean. Thereare four villa designs each with an infinitypool, large verandas, air-conditioning andstate-of-the-art communications, priced from£772,500.

With other such wonderful golf as can befound at the original Belle Mare Plague resortand the once-in-a-lifetime-adventure that is theboat ride to experience Bernhard Langer’s stun-ning designed at Le Touessrok, you begin to un-derstand why Mauritius is fast becoming one ofthe world’s most talked about golfing destina-tions. Luxury golf – and living – doesn’t getmuch better. cluttonsresorts.com

Best for...great golf on a budgetBELEK, TURKEYArguably, the 14 Belek courses, end-to-end alongthe coast south of Antalya, represent the biggest

concentration of high quality, good value golfanywhere around the Mediterranean. The Na-tional, Montgomerie, Faldo, Gloria New Course,Sultan and Carya are all outstanding, and cost onaverage £65 a round.

There are no ‘integrated’ developments yet,i.e. homes built right on a course, but with greatweather, good value property and inexpensivegolf right on the doorstep, who cares? Oppositethe National course, two-bed apartments start at£109,000, while luxury modern villas with pri-vate pools go for £335,000.PropertyTurkeyforSale.com

Coming up in 2011...There should be progress on the dramaticTom Fazio course at Christophe Harbour onSt Kitts in 2011... the new Pinheirinho HyattGolf & Beach Resort on the stunning and un-developed Alentejo coast in Portugal looks interesting...with a new Olazábal course, BelekGolf Club will become the first integrated golfand residential community on Turkey’sMediterranean coast....


(Above): For the height of luxury, look no furtherthan Villas Valriche in Mauritius (Below): The Montgomerie at Belek in Turkey is justone of 14 terrific golf courses on the coast south ofAntalya. The area is enjoying something of a boom– not surprising given that 2-bedroom apartmentsare available from as little as £109,000

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Ironic, isn’t it, that as cars become increasinglyreliable and are designed to survive everlonger, the showroom lifespan of each newmodel has become increasingly short. Memorypossibly clouded by the cataracts of time, I

could swear that when I first weaved timidly ontothe tarmac with Osibisa (‘criss-cross rhythms thatexplode with happiness’) thumping through theeight-track, any new model had to trundle aroundfor at least a decade before we were treated toeven the impending gleam of a replacement.

In these More Bigger Snacks Now times, how-ever, cars built to last until hell is at least looking alittle frosty round the edges are written off by man-ufacturers in half that time, notwithstanding the in-evitable biannual facelift to keep us all interested.

And this poses two questions: Firstly, does thepublic get what it wants, or want what it gets? Inother words, has the car buyer’s attention span re-ally shrunk to that of a newt, or is it the manufac-turers themselves who have decided that we musttreat our astonishingly expensive cars like white

goods and simply discard them every other year inthe manner of a ninety quid microwave oven?

And secondly, how on earth are car makers man-aging to catapult new models at us with such increas-ingly short lead times? Surely, sacrificial short-cutsmust be made somewhere in that mysterious mire ofresearch, development and manufacture…

Interestingly, a recent week in which I foundmyself behind the wheel of both Jaguar’s new XJand the latest iteration of BMW’s arch-rival 5 Se-ries has left me convinced that not even the man-ufacturers themselves have come up with astraight answer to either question.

I drove the 5 Series on BMW’s home turf, inMunich, and the company spent an inordinateamount of time during launch proceedings show-

ing off their latest R & D technology. Alongsidemore wind tunnels than you could shake a stick at,in which new models are subjected to every con-ceivable (and, indeed, hitherto inconceivable) test,BMW has spent a large fortune installing legion,360o driving simulators merely to demonstrate toitself that customers can safely operate their oftmaligned iDrive multimedia control system with-out simultaneously hurtling into the shrubbery.

The fact that the nice lady in charge herself can-tered into kerbs, cones and innocent wheelie-binbystanders more than once during a short, knob-wielding demonstration did little to reassure methat many of these all-in-one, audio/phone/sat’nav’ control systems do not, in fact, represent farmore of an on-board driving hazard than that


JAGUAR XJ V6 3.0 TURBODIESEL

In the not inconsiderable shapeof the new XJ V6 TurbodieselJaguar has delivered a lithe andengagingly pacey saloon – a carwith the credentials to be consid-ered ‘the ultimate driving ma-chine’, writes Gi’s motoringcorrespondent, AnthonyFfrench-Constant

This Jag merits the badge

TECHNOLOGY

quick, verboten chat on the mobile phone… But what really rang the alarm bells was the

curt, one word response to the question; ‘Haveyou driven the new 5 Series on our dreadfulBritish roads yet?’ Answer; ‘No’.

Welcome, then, to an age wherein new carsunder development appear to spend far too muchtime as laboratory rats, and far too little as actualroad runners. In the case of said BMW, the proofof that particular pudding being a new, electricsteering system about as inert and uninvolving asa pre-snog Snow White. Not entirely the level ofresponsiveness one equates with ‘The UltimateDriving Machine’, and kindling the suspicion that,en route to the launch pad, the 5 Series may notactually have been driven on any real roads at all.

All of which brings us to the £64,400, 3.0 litreV6 turbodiesel version of Jaguar’s new XJ. This isa very different kettle of fish indeed, and what itlacks in terms of the sheer crushing efficiencywe’ve come to equate with a 5 Series, it more thanmakes up for in elegance, charm, a whiff of quirk-iness and great dollops of driver involvement.

Admittedly, in the manner of Jennifer Lopez,the rear view might at first appear gently out ofproportion (not unpleasant, just, well, a tadlarger than expected), and the creak-and-reekfull-leather interior may still be a little chromeheavy and replete with the occasional clunky de-tail such as that dreadful, high street chain jew-eller-quality clock, but the whole is largely ratherdelicious and the XJ has tremendous road pres-ence. Besides, 100 yards down the road, you’llforgive it anything.

Used to effortless performance from any bigJaguar and with every other engine in the rangeboasting some 5.0 litres, I was initially concernedthat a humble 3.0 litre V6 might not be able toshift a tin of this not inconsiderable size with therequisite alacrity. But a relatively modest 271bhpis only half the story, and a handsome 442lb ft oftorque rapidly allays any such concerns, the XJthumping to 60mph in just 6.0 seconds, and onto a governed top speed of 155mph.

Establishing the high speed loafing, loungelizard credentials you’d expect of a Jaguar is onething, but what really stands out here is just howengaging this big car is to throw around. Most sig-nificantly, the good old fashioned hydraulic,speed sensitive power steering is everythingBMW’s offering is not. A mine of detailed roadsurface information, it’s perfectly weighted, un-

nervingly accurate and sweetly responsive. Alliedto appropriately tenacious undercarriage, itmakes for such effortless, scything progress thatyou’ll invariably find yourself travelling somewhatmore rapidly than your nicely cosseted senseswould have you believe.

However, where Jaguar must be applauded forclearly having driven the XJ the length andbreadth of Britain to elicit such an involving drive,a small Bronx cheer might be more appropriatefor one or two rather more dubious decisionstaken during the development process.

Firstly, inevitably sub-contracted out to savemoney, one supposes, the front seats just aren’tgood enough. They’re too flat, unwelcoming andlacking in lateral support. There’s little point inhaving electrical hugging adjustment to the seatside bolsters if all they do when activated ismerely push you forward out of the seat in themanner of an orange pip squeezed between fin-

gertips. I know Jaguar is eager to shed the gentle-man’s club image of yore, but a comfy chair isjust a comfy chair, wherever you find it.

Evidence of cost-cutting also surfaces on firstcontact with the 8” centre console touch screen.I must confess to far preferring touch screensystems to the distracting, knob-operated alter-native which the German manufacturers havenow all aped BMW in adopting. But not if the re-ality is a screen so inelegant and insensitive tothe touch that serious digit bruising is the out-come of loading in a particularly lengthy desti-nation address.

But the most unfortunate new-age addition,and that from which there’s no escape, is the re-placement of analogue dials in the driver’s instru-ment binnacle with, er, virtual analogue dials.Sorry, Jag’, they may allow you to force-feed thedriver all manner of ancillary information but,lacking the visual crispness and quality of the realthing, they just don’t cut the ocular mustard. Yetanother automotive solution to a problem whichdoesn’t exist, I can only assume this tone-loweringdevice must somehow constitute either a time orcost saving somewhere along the line…

A pity, because these niggles aside (and the factthat you’ll have to plump for a long wheelbaseversion to gain overmuch rear legroom on the sib-ling XF), the new XJ is something of a character inthis increasingly anodyne class. It has immenseappeal and, compared to the does-exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin 5 Series, is a far more engaging,entertaining drive. Given the choice, I’d opt for theJaguar every time. Which makes it all the morebaffling to just know the majority wont.


Establishing the high-speed loafing, loungelizard credentialsyou’d expect of aJaguar is one thing,but what really standsout here is just howengaging this big caris to throw around...

While the rear view may appear at firstto be gently out of proportion, viewedas a whole the XJ is a sleek machinewith bulges in all the right places. Thethree litre V6 Turbodiesel is good for271 bhp, with more than enough gruntto entertain, while the speed sensitivepower steering keeps the driver fully intouch with the road

Golf International Lifestyle - Issue 99

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