Entries Tagged 'Golf' ↓

There is a very good reason why Mick Jagger’s preferred second residence is in the Loire Valley where he purchased a 16th century chateau called “La Fourchette” near Amboise for 2 million francs (200,000 pounds ignoring inflation) almost twenty-six years ago.

It is impossible even for the most jaded globetrotter not to be impressed by the royalty since the 16th century and a haven for tourists in-the-know in more recent times.

Famous for its the relics of royal days gone by, its sumptuous castles, the majestic valley of the Loire is rich in both architecture and history. Like the River Loire the longest and last wild river of Europe, this vast area runs through the very heart of French life.

The lush Val de Loire is supremely regal and romantic. It captures the quintessence of french country life with vineyards rolling through copses of trees beside regal chateaux. It is wonderful wine and food, sophisticated cities, luxuriant landscapes and it all adds up to a bourgeois paradise.

The valley of the Loire is famous for its gastronomy, its wine, its chateauxand is one of the most beautiful areas in France. The Loire Valley is perhaps best known for its crisp white wines including Vouvray, Sancerre, and Pouilly-Fume, often served at bistros and restaurants in the area. You can also enjoy a variety of local game from the deep forests of nearby Sologne, and trout or salmon from the region’s rivers.

Everyone knows French cuisine is one of the best in the world if not the best. France is famous for sea food, fish and good meat, more than 365 cheeses, thousands different wine producers, specialties like snails, frogs’ legs, pot au feu, bouillabaisse, and boeuf bourguignon and foie gras.

Amongst wine cellars, son et lumiere (laser fireworks shows), food specialities are a selection of reputed golf courses: “Les Bordes” Europe’s number 1 course and a must play, “Touraine”, “Ganay”, “Les Aisses”, “Sully-sur-Loire”, “Limere”, “Ardree”, “Chateau Sept Tours”, “Cheverny”, “Orleans Donnery”.

France has become increasingly popular with the travelling golfer. The combination of easy, cost effective travel, great golf courses and the lure of France itself, make France a great country in which to play golf.

Industrialist Baron Marcel Bich (creator of the Bic pen empire) and businessman Yoshiaki Sokurai sat down, as friends and undertook to build a new golf getaway in the Val de la Loire. Their joint vision was richness of experience in all of its interpretation to attract travellers from all over the world.

Where Bich once hunted for sport, the course winds its way through ancient, elegant forest, and this same atmosphere pervades the entire complex.

The peacefulness and scenery here in the Loire Valley make a golfing vacation a truly relaxing experience. You can add to the delight of your holiday exploring the legendary Loire Valley by renting one or more of the romantic chateaux available.

We run Chateau du Guerinet a luxury french golf castle in the Loire Valley near Blois, for up to fifteen people perfect for a golf chateau vacation with family and friends and for touring historic castles and vineyards and unwinding. The chateau is perfect for a fairytale french wedding, party or any event. You can rent the whole chateau exclusively or hire one of the luxury six suites individually. A golf chateau vacation is great for the family. We are well placed for visiting the best Loire Valley golf courses.

The scenery and peaceful here in the Loire Valley make a golfing holiday a truly relaxing experience. You can add to the delight of your holiday exploring the legendary Loire Valley by staying at one or more of the romantic castles available.

We operate a luxury chateau in the Loire Valley, ideal for a castle golf vacation playing golf at these courses and for touring vineyards, Loire Valley chateaux and relaxing. Come and spoil yourself with a castle golf holiday with friends and family.

Famous the world over, the Loire Valley with its magnificent royal chateaux is the third most visited area in France, just after Paris and the Cote d’Azur. Tours is now only one hour from Paris by high-speed TGV.

This valley of the Kings route has been plied for centuries along the wildest river in France, the Loire River which remains the last of the wild rivers in Europe. The French Kings castles hopped from one castle to another along the banks of the Loire River.

France, the size of Texas,is the largest country in Western Europe. Its cultural and geographical diversity is a tourism magnet that calls to be explored time and time again. The Loire Valley offers such a variety of outstanding sites where reputed golf courses are set alongside some forty historical castles and historical sites.

The capetians established their dynasty here over 400 years ago before selecting Paris as their capital. Blois in La Beuce country, was once the favourite residence of French Kings. The city of Tours in the middle of Touraine Region is known to be where French is best spoken and has cuisine of the highest reputation.

Here history combined with cultural and spiritual ways of life have combined to produce the great Loire Royal Valley. The Loire is a superb area for a quality golfing holiday – just three hours drive from Calais and other northern ports.

Royal chateaux spot the hillsides. Vineyards roll through copses of trees. French gastronomy is a veritable paradise. One which you should try at least once in your lifetime. Amongst wine cellars, food specialities, sound and light (laser fireworks shows) are a selection of reputed golf courses including chateau golf courses: Les Bordes, Chateau Sept Tours, Ardree & Touraine, Cheverny, Orleans Donnery, Les Aisses, Sully-sur-Loire, Limere, Ganay.

The Les Bordes Resort not far from Chateau Chambord is unquestionably the most impressive of all the resorts in terms of exclusivity and quality challenging golf – designed by Robert Von Hagge see Seignosse. Les Bordes is consistently ranked amongst the top 100 courses in Europe and one of France’s top 5. Water features on 12 of the 18 holes on this course and it really is a challenge even for low handicappers. Expect to enjoy this stunning course, but scoring well may prove to be more difficult.

To begin with the way to a proper full golf swing is a lot of practice both mentally and physically. To begin with, your feet must be about shoulder width apart your knees slightly bent, you’re back straight at about an eighty degree angle.

When holding the club (for right hand-handed people, left-handed do just the opposite) you want to make sure that the grip is placed in the palm of your hands and be sure not to over-grip the club. Next, place your pinky of your right hand in between the index and middle fingers of your left.

The position of the pinky is not absolutely necessary but recommended. Practice this grip until it feels comfortable and remember you only need to grip the club enough so that it doesn’t go flying out of your hand when executing a full golf swing.

The Back Swing

For most people, the golf backswing is the most difficult maneuver in a full golf swing. If you have ever watched the PGA on television occasionally you can catch a PGA Pro on the side practicing his back swing.

The first thing you should know is that the elbows should be kept close to your side the entire time. Try to keep your left arm straight as possible, some bending will occur but try to keep it straight.

The rotation of the shoulders and not the waist, imagine that you are ringing out a wet rag. You want to twist at the upper body and shoulders not at the waist. While doing this your lower body should not move and your head should remain looking at the ball. This movement will give the club what is known as the swing arc and is should be about forty-five to fifty degrees in respect to the vertical.

At the top of the swing arc your club should be pointing at the target (the ball) this is done by turning the wrist.

The Down Swing

Most would say this is the most important part of the new golf swing but if you don’t get the upswing right you’re most certainly not going to get the down swing right. Your body is twisted like a spring now it’s time to let the spring fling in a controlled manner.

On the down swing you want to pull with the left arm and just let the right arm follow, do not let the right push because it will push the club off target.

Keep your head pointed down, keeping your eyes on the ball.

Twist the wrist so the club face is square with the ball.

Follow though with the swing.

The head should be the last thing to move when finished with the full golf swing the chest should be pointing at the target.

I’ve actually been a tennis player all my life, but just recently turned my attentions to golf! Being a tennis player already, it does make golf a lot easier to pick up. However, it has really been the swing that is most difficult to perfect. Although I have the feel for the ball on the shorter chips onto the green, it is the tee shots that my technique breaks down on. I have now started using some golf swing teaching aids to try to improve these areas and they are really helping greatly! Hopefully after a few weeks using these golf swing aids, I will have improved the technique of my swing by a long way. I’ll be hitting those greens in no time!

The easiest way to lower your golf score is to improve your putting. Most golfers can get on the green in at least one to three shots, but it’s the putting that takes the skill of golf to a new level and where an average golfer can become a great golfer, regardless of the golf course on which you play. The difference between the two is typically the shortest of shots during a round of golf.

To learn some great putting tips that can improve your score, keep reading.

Use the Right Putter

Any of your golfing equipment should be used to full advantage. Though it may seem elementary, there are a lot of golfers using putters that are too small, not heavy enough, too heavy or too big. While you don’t have to buy the most expensive putter on the market, you should own a quality putter that fits your body type and actually feels good in your hands.

Some golfers carry two putters, a lighter one for fast greens and a heavier one for slower greens. Typically though, you want a putter with good weight on it and a length that lets you properly control your shot.

Grip Your Putter Well

While you want to grip your putter comfortably, you also want to grip it well. Wearing your gloves, keep your thumbs pointed downwards and on the flat surface of the putter grip. You want to grip your putter softly, but consistently. So, once you’ve settled on a grip, keep it and don’t let up until you’ve followed through with the shot.

Keep Yourself Stable

If you want to get better at putting, you need to focus on keeping your body steady and stable, especially your lower half. Keep your feet and legs grounded and steady and use your upper body to swing the putter while keeping the lower body as still as possible.

Cure Your Yips

A yip is when you miss an easy or short putt. The thing is, it happens to everybody. The best cure is to regain confidence and develop a putting routine. If you’ve ever watched a pro basketball player before he makes a foul shot, he often goes through a routine of movements before making his shot. Watch professional golfers before a put and you’ll see they have a pattern of shaking out their gloves, stretching their arms or tapping the putter handle.

These small sets of movements can not only help relax you for your next putt, but also create a rhythm for your shot and keep the yips at bay.

As you develop your skills, focus your primary attention to the details that help to improve your golf scores and leave the awards and gifts for later.

By Robert Green

Has your friends or even yourself ever purchased a golf swing teaching aid? You may well get on the course a few times a year or a few times a week, my bet is you or someone you know has bought a type of golf teaching aid. It may have been the latest book, DVD, or teaching aid equipment such as the hinged golf club. You may know that these are not very cheap, and it’s important for you to know that no piece of equipment you buy can teach you to swing correctly.

The golf teaching aid equipment usually only aims towards a certain skill level of golfer. If your looking at correcting your swing and you’re a beginner you should know that the equipment can only confirm to you that you do have a flaw in your swing. If you’re looking to improve on it then you will need to look at something that provides you with a lot more information and advice, something like the Pure Point Golf Apprentice Program is widely renowned as the very best golf instructional program.

Also, the very latest in golf teaching aids technology is getting increasingly expensive, as some are approaching a thousand dollars. Trust me when I say, you won’t be alone if you have spent a considerable amount of money on one of these golf swing teaching aids and seen no improvement whatsoever.

Some of these golf swing teaching aids are talked about below:

The Weighted Golf Club

This golf improvement equipment is often included as standard on many beginner clubs. The inclusion of weights in the bottom of the club heads increase the golfers awareness of where the club head is at all times. promotes more control in the swing and it also creates a better contact with the ball and a more forgiving impact, resulting in longer straighter shots for the beginner. This type of aid is not recommended to cure slice or hook, a proper overall golf instruction program is needed instead.

The Hinged Golf Club

The hinged golf club is well recognized and is regarded by people as being a great improvement tool.The hinged golf club will spot any problem with your swing and any problem within your swing, the clubs hinge will break and fly out. Now that’s all well and good, but if your not used to your swing and the mechanics of it then pinpointing your actual swing problem is very difficult. The hinged club is very good at confirming there is a problem with your swing, but it’s not made to pinpoint a problem with your swing or how to correct it. You will need an all round golf instructional program for this, to not only improve your swing, but your overall game too.

The Freddy Connect

Now this golf teaching aid equipment uses lights as a visual marker of there being a problem in your swing. As you begin your swing, two lights will appear, if your swing is off line the two lights will remain lit. If your swing is straight only one light will remain alight. The two lights staying alight will tell you that you have either sliced or hooked the ball. Again, this is only a confirmation that your swing is not straight and not how you can improve it.

The ideal way to learn how to correct your swing is from the advice and material supplied by professionals. You can access these materials and resources through a complete golf instructional program. Getting the right information will do wonders for the whole aspect of your game. In my opinion the very best golf instruction program is the one by pure point golf, the content and one on one coaching aspect produced by the leading pro at pure point (Bobby Eldridge) isn’t found anywhere else online.

Check out some reviews of the very best golf swing teaching aids at golfingvalley.com for you to look at.

To be an expert golf player, as in any pastime, requires more than just gift. In reality there are those who would dispute that gift at golf is unimportant to having a strong will and the gift to focus attention on each and every shot we perform. I am sure we can all recall one of the many intense moments when the ultimate round of the British Open or the US Masters has been determined by a player softly a putt about two yards from the hole.

A putt that would have been done 99 times out of a 100. Taking into consideration that the player who took the putt might have been performing for a major cash prize and sponsorship running into millions of dollars, with TV cameras from all over the World focused upon them. An event that the enthusiastic trainee is unlikely to go through when playing a round of golf with three buddies over a weekend.

In spite of the fact, gold and the art of concentration go hand in hand in every single situation. If a player is easily diverted, if they take the faults that they completed on the last green, to the tee of the subsequent hole, then their golf swing aids certainly will suffer.

Focus for a golfer involves every shot. In golf, as in life, there are no free lunches. If a player’s mentality is elsewhere when he drives or putts, the score will invariably end in a poor shot and go a long way to making a poor round of golf putting. There are lots of golfers who have a restricted ability to focus, and anything can put them off.

The secret is to totally focus your concentration on the shot, and ensure you are using the right golf equipment. If the conditions do not permit this, then wait till they do. There are golfers whose game and their satisfaction of golf have really suffered due to their ability to concentrate on a shot, specifically a stressful one. The best advice you can give a golfer who shows these characteristics is “If you have to, center on what can go satisfactory with this shot, not what can go wrong.”

To get the highest pleasure out of a round of golf, the secret must be in locating an effective grip on your golf club. Lacking this talent, golfers will simply not be fit for constantly improve their game and lessen their handicap. And there is no circumstance of positioning the cart ahead of the horse. The uncomplicated truth for golfers is that they need to be knowledgeable about the right way to grasp a golf club to “address: or in uncomplicated language hit your golf ball right and with the suitable degree of power.

Golfers are inclined to take into consideration that once they have mastered their golf swing, it remains with them indefinitely. The biggest error that a golfer will make is letting complacency to become established. They should never permit themselves to ignore that every proper Golf swing is distinctive in some form or other and each shot has its specific challenges and should be addressed accordingly.

The essential reason why so many golfers fail to achieve consistent power and accuracy levels in their golf swings is because they are susceptible grip their golf club as opposed to between their fingers, in the palm of their hands. By gripping the club between their fingers, they achieve a sort of hinge action giving more control and in turn, more power and accuracy to the shot.

An expert golfer will take the time to not only alter their stance but also their grip on the golf club, and vary it according to the form of shot they need to hit, either middle or long distance. It is commonly established that there are three ways to grasp a golf club. The club should always be gripped with both hands, with the lead hand always positioned in exactly the same spot. This is the “bread and butter” of learning an effective grip on your golf club whether its for swinging or for golf putting green. The moment the basic understanding of the importanceof holding the club accurately has been added to the golfer’s range their pleasure of the game will go up as rapidly as their handicap will go down.

The best ladies golf clubs for any female golfer are the clubs that suit her style and power the best. Therefore it always pays to find out the correct criteria for choosing a golf club.

This applies to every woman golf player, whether amateur or professional. Make sure you know what you need to look for when you are selecting every one of the clubs in your golf club set.

Always get good advice when choosing ladies golf clubs and ensure that you fully understand the reasons behind your selection.

If possible you should always try before you buy because every golf club is different and even specific designs for women will not all be the same.

Although they may be purpose built for women they are still a compromise and may not be the best fit for you.

Planning a golf trip as a short vacation with some friends is the avid golfers idea of heaven. It is always fun to prove your skills on a golf course other than your regular course. Each year, more and more choice courses are being built around the United States and the world. It is your opportunity as a golfer to journey to some of the choice courses to challenge your golf skills.

Learn How To Play Golf

Be sure that whoever you travel with on your golf vacation has the same gusto for golf as you do. If you schedule to be most of each day playing a golf course, it is not a good idea to have someone along who wants to stop after eighteen holes. Also make sure to clearly chart out your destinations before you start on your trip. Line up each golf course and your tee times beforehand and harmonize on how much golf you will play each particular day. Find out the fees you will be paying and make sure each individual on your golf trip can afford it.

Another large consideration is everyone’s handicaps. Golfing a challenging course with a three handicap will be much dissimilar than golfing it with a fifteen handicap. As a three handicap, you may find the course challenging and invigorating. But the fifteen handicap may find the same course as too difficult and infuriating .

Play Golf Now Store

Understand that almost all golf resorts are very [spin]costly |
expensive[/spin]. If finances are a concern, pick the courses you would like to golf at first and then attempt to find inexpensive accommodations in the vicinity. If you are planning to spend most of your time playing golf anyway, residing at an inexpensive motel won’t be a big deal anyway. Of course, if you can afford it, a golf resort is a plush way to spend your time off the golf course.

When you are on your golf vacation, be sure to properly warm up at the beginning each round. Since you will be participating in much more golf than your body is used to, you may want to bring along some sports creams for sore muscles and the like. It would also be nice to have a whirlpool accessible to relax in after each round of golf.

One place that has many great golf courses is Alabama. Robert Trent Jones, probably the greatest golf course architects in the world, designed over 500 golf courses there. The Robert Trent Jones golf trail is offered in Alabama which consists of eleven different golf courses throughout the state.

Learn How To Play Golf

Another great state for golf is Georgia. Augusta is home to the Augusta National Golf Club where the Master’s is played each year. You will get to play on a course where many of the great golf players in history have played some of their golf .