Argentina Golf - IAGTO Superfam 2007

Argentina Super Fam Golf Trip –
Sponsered by Argentina’s Tourism Board and IAGTO

Myself and 19 other International Golf Tour Operators arrived in Buenos Aires to warm sunny skies on Sunday October 21 to experience a once-in-a-lifetime golf trip in Argentina… we were not to be disappointed…
The group was comprised of Operators from Denmark, the UK, German, Scotland, South Africa, USA, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Canada, France and Portugal. All had come to Argentina for the first time, to experience the hospitality, and of course the golf courses of Argentina

Our itinerary, provided by the Tourism Board of Argentina, was packed full of sights, sounds, and golf for 7 action-packed days.

I was hosted for the first 2 nights along with about half of the group at the elegant Loi Suites Recoleta Hotel, located in the very lively Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. (next to the cemetery where the infamous Evita is buried). On a Sunday, this area of the city is extremely vibrant, with large street markets and a feeling of festivity in the air. Following a tour of the city, exploring all of the different neighbourhoods of the city, I felt that I was in a combination of Barcelona, Paris, Naples and Mexico City!

So many sights and sounds – it would take weeks to discover all of what Buenos Aires has to offer, but we did our best to experience the most possible in a few short days.

The first evening we were hosted by the Alvear Palace Hotel – a truly elegant 5 star Hotel in the heart of Buenos Aires. After a fantastic private Tango show, we had a wonderful dinner and got a tour of this luxurious property with incredibly high standards of service.

Next morning at 6:30am, we were on a bus headed to one of Buenos Aires’ most prestigious golf courses, Olivos Golf Club. The members of the IAGTO fam trip were fortunate enough to be the only public players on the course this day, as the following day the Argentine Masters Tournament was taking place. The course is characterized by having a vast expanse of land with rolling topography and many old first-growh trees, (many of which I seemed to hit during the course of the round!)

Shelley and Valdamir Bandolowski at Pilar Golf Club

The ‘Torneo de Maistros’ 2007 was won on October 27th for the 4th time in 5 tries by Angel Cabrera, who defeated former European Tour champion Ricardo Gonzalez in a playoff hole.

The afternoon round was played at Pilar Golf Club, also home to past Argentine Open Tournaments. Pilar is made up of 27 holes with many lakes and lagoons, surrounded by different landscapes with colours of nature all year round.

After our golf, we set off to visit a couple more of the prestigious golf courses in and around Buenos Aires, namely the Buenos Aires Golf Club (ranked the top course in Argentina by Golf Digest), and the Jockey Club, designed by Allister McKenzie - both ‘must play’ courses for any foreign visitor. (these courses must be booked through a golf Tour Operator as they are not traditionally open to the public).

Finally, at the end of the day, we set out for another great meal hosted by the Sheraton Buenos Aires Park Tower, a glorious high-rise hotel close to the newly re-developed port area of the city.


More to come...

Photo Evidence - Night Golf at Big Sky Golf and Country Club

Here is the photo evidence from yesterday's post. Golf was a blast and we did finish in the dark! I guess you can tell it was also a little wet on the course as well!

We had a fantastic time out there. Greg was playing some really good golf and I picked my game up a little on the back nine.

One strange thing happened though. Somehow each of us lost something. Greg lost a fancy pair of shades and I lost a hat. Weird!

However, since we played until dark, you have a pretty good idea of how much fun we were having!

The season in almost finished in Whistler. The snow is creeping down the hill and skis are coming out of closets.

Nicklaus North Golf Course Overview

If a picture is worth a thousand words what is a heli-flyover video worth? Check out this video of Nicklaus North Golf Course.

Nicklaus North is a great course to play for a variety of reasons. If you have my golf ability - I'm no Tiger Woods - you will love the wide drop zones of this course. If you like to tee it up from the championship tees the par 71 championship course is 6908 yds.

And for the gourmet, try a golf and dine special.