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CNN Live Saturday

Guide to Caribbean Golf Courses

Aired November 22, 2003 - 12:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, ANCHOR: With good weather hanging on here in the south and other parts of the country, there is still plenty of time to play golf. But soon, very soon, frigid temperatures will have golfers dreaming of places like, well, the Caribbean?
Ty Wenger is the senior editor of "Travel and Leisure Golf" magazine. He is joining us from New York today with some ideas on some great destinations.

Ty, thanks for being with us today.

TY WENGER, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE GOLF" EDITOR: No problem. Thank you, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: I enjoyed looking through your magazine and dreaming of going to one of these courses. And boy, have you brought some beauties with you today.

Let's talk about some of those beautiful courses. I know the first one is in the Bahamas.

WENGER: Yes. In the Bahamas, what we're dealing with there is we're dealing with the Ocean Club.

CALLAWAY: Right.

WENGER: And that is...

CALLAWAY: Look at that.

WENGER: That was bought by a South African entrepreneur, and he completely revitalized the place about two years ago, hired Tom Weiskaupf (ph) to build a new course. It's a splendid resort. Actually, Michael Jordan owns not one, but two ocean front lots there. So you know that's got to be good.

CALLAWAY: It looks like you can see the ocean from every hole.

WENGER: Yes. Yes. Tremendous ocean views. And Tom Weiskaupf (ph) is a great course designer. He built a real gem there.

CALLAWAY: I like this one because they give you strawberries and champagne every day.

All right. Let's go to the Four Seasons resort, Nevis, is that right?

WENGER: Yes. Nevis.

CALLAWAY: Tell me about this one. It's got to be good if it's Four Seasons, right?

WENGER: Well, absolutely. And one of the things, actually that makes this resort really special is that the mountain itself on the island is where the golf court is routed. It runs up and then back down the side of the mountain.

CALLAWAY: Look at that.

WENGER: And it's a true jungle golf experience. In fact, it's not uncommon to see birds and monkeys and dwarf goats grazing in the fairways. It's a really unique golf experience.

CALLAWAY: I would say so. You don't often see goats in the rough.

WENGER: Yes.

CALLAWAY: All right. Let's go to Barbados and Sandy Lane.

WENGER: Yes. Sandy Lane is, I mean -- if these resorts we're talking about are luxury, Sandy Lane I guess you'd have to call, like, super luxury.

Rooms there start at $800 a night and -- but you get what you pay for. And Sandy Lane actually has a very exciting new course called the Green Monkey, which isn't opening until next month. But we got a sneak preview of it. And it's a Tom Fazio designed course. It could very well be the best course in the Caribbean, one of the best courses in the world.

CALLAWAY: Now wait a minute. Is this the one that was actually carved into a quarry? Or out of a quarry?

WENGER: That's -- that's it. And you've got 90-foot rock walls that you actually have to hit over and above and around. It's a tremendous golf course.

CALLAWAY: Yes, $15,000 a day, it ought to be.

And the last one is the Ritz-Carlton in Jamaica.

WENGER: Yes. Ritz-Carlton, Rose Hall (ph). The course is named The White Witch, actually, after the mistress Annie Palmer, who supposedly killed three of her husbands. They're trying to scare you a little bit with the name, but they try and soften things up a little bit with the Ritz-Carlton program called golf concierge program.

What these are basically, they're like caddies on steroids, essentially, and they handle your every stated request on the golf course. That is their job. So Ritz-Carlton is taking care of you, both in the resort and on the course.

CALLAWAY: So are these places affordable? This -- $15,000 a day does not sound affordable.

WENGER: Well, no, that's Sandy Lane. That's a 7,000-foot villa, if you want to do that.

But actually, this is the time of the year to hit the Caribbean, because between the holidays is when they're trying to get folks down there, right before their peak season. So if you're going to get discounts in golf packages, this is the time to do it.

CALLAWAY: And you might shop around and find one. All right, Ty. Ty Wenger, thank you for being with us today.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 22, 2003 - 12:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, ANCHOR: With good weather hanging on here in the south and other parts of the country, there is still plenty of time to play golf. But soon, very soon, frigid temperatures will have golfers dreaming of places like, well, the Caribbean?
Ty Wenger is the senior editor of "Travel and Leisure Golf" magazine. He is joining us from New York today with some ideas on some great destinations.

Ty, thanks for being with us today.

TY WENGER, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE GOLF" EDITOR: No problem. Thank you, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: I enjoyed looking through your magazine and dreaming of going to one of these courses. And boy, have you brought some beauties with you today.

Let's talk about some of those beautiful courses. I know the first one is in the Bahamas.

WENGER: Yes. In the Bahamas, what we're dealing with there is we're dealing with the Ocean Club.

CALLAWAY: Right.

WENGER: And that is...

CALLAWAY: Look at that.

WENGER: That was bought by a South African entrepreneur, and he completely revitalized the place about two years ago, hired Tom Weiskaupf (ph) to build a new course. It's a splendid resort. Actually, Michael Jordan owns not one, but two ocean front lots there. So you know that's got to be good.

CALLAWAY: It looks like you can see the ocean from every hole.

WENGER: Yes. Yes. Tremendous ocean views. And Tom Weiskaupf (ph) is a great course designer. He built a real gem there.

CALLAWAY: I like this one because they give you strawberries and champagne every day.

All right. Let's go to the Four Seasons resort, Nevis, is that right?

WENGER: Yes. Nevis.

CALLAWAY: Tell me about this one. It's got to be good if it's Four Seasons, right?

WENGER: Well, absolutely. And one of the things, actually that makes this resort really special is that the mountain itself on the island is where the golf court is routed. It runs up and then back down the side of the mountain.

CALLAWAY: Look at that.

WENGER: And it's a true jungle golf experience. In fact, it's not uncommon to see birds and monkeys and dwarf goats grazing in the fairways. It's a really unique golf experience.

CALLAWAY: I would say so. You don't often see goats in the rough.

WENGER: Yes.

CALLAWAY: All right. Let's go to Barbados and Sandy Lane.

WENGER: Yes. Sandy Lane is, I mean -- if these resorts we're talking about are luxury, Sandy Lane I guess you'd have to call, like, super luxury.

Rooms there start at $800 a night and -- but you get what you pay for. And Sandy Lane actually has a very exciting new course called the Green Monkey, which isn't opening until next month. But we got a sneak preview of it. And it's a Tom Fazio designed course. It could very well be the best course in the Caribbean, one of the best courses in the world.

CALLAWAY: Now wait a minute. Is this the one that was actually carved into a quarry? Or out of a quarry?

WENGER: That's -- that's it. And you've got 90-foot rock walls that you actually have to hit over and above and around. It's a tremendous golf course.

CALLAWAY: Yes, $15,000 a day, it ought to be.

And the last one is the Ritz-Carlton in Jamaica.

WENGER: Yes. Ritz-Carlton, Rose Hall (ph). The course is named The White Witch, actually, after the mistress Annie Palmer, who supposedly killed three of her husbands. They're trying to scare you a little bit with the name, but they try and soften things up a little bit with the Ritz-Carlton program called golf concierge program.

What these are basically, they're like caddies on steroids, essentially, and they handle your every stated request on the golf course. That is their job. So Ritz-Carlton is taking care of you, both in the resort and on the course.

CALLAWAY: So are these places affordable? This -- $15,000 a day does not sound affordable.

WENGER: Well, no, that's Sandy Lane. That's a 7,000-foot villa, if you want to do that.

But actually, this is the time of the year to hit the Caribbean, because between the holidays is when they're trying to get folks down there, right before their peak season. So if you're going to get discounts in golf packages, this is the time to do it.

CALLAWAY: And you might shop around and find one. All right, Ty. Ty Wenger, thank you for being with us today.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com