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"Swing Through San Diego
By Gail Paparian

 With all due respect to Neil Diamond, "…Everywhere around the world, they’re coming to… San Diego. Under Spanish sail, Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived in what he named San Miguel harbor in 1542. In the late 1760’s, Junipero Serra, a Franciscan priest landed in what is now called San Diego and established missions all the way north to San Francisco. These missions provided safe haven for travelers and encouraged further exploration. From architecture to cuisine, Spanish influence is evident throughout California.   

Today, planes, boats, trains, automobiles, buses, and bicycles deliver year round visitors to San Diego, America’s sixth largest city. With near perfect weather year round (70something is usual), San Diego has become the destination of choice for people who enjoy outdoor and indoor lifestyles. For those on a lifelong quest to shoot their age or match the local temperature, San Diego is paradise.

From downtown to East County and north up the coast, there is something for everybody. If it’s animals you want to see, many of them are in residence at the world-class San Diego Zoo. There is also the Wild Animal Park and Sea World. If it’s water you crave, there is the Pacific Ocean, Mission Bay, lagoons, rivers, and lakes. You can cruise the San Diego harbor, take the ferry to Coronado. For the kid in all of us, there is Legoland.

Avid spectators can look to the Padres for baseball and the Chargers for football. The horse-loving set, seasonal meets are put on by the Thoroughbred Club, "where the surf meets the turf" in Del Mar. Polo matches have become the sport de jour around Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch. The best in competitive women’s tennis comes to La Costa for the Acura tournament. If you want to watch golf, there’s the Buick Open at Torrey Pines and the Accenture World Match Play tournament at La Costa.

 With nearly 200,000 rounds a year being played at the municipal Torrey Pines golf courses, you may instead opt for the hang gliding off the cliffs, or an inspiring walk through the magnificent Torrey Pines State Reserve. Balboa Park, located in the heart of San Diego, has sometime for everybody.

Golf? San Diego boasts of over 90 courses from- the ocean front, the mountain, or the desert, each striving to achieve visual mastery as well as providing its own unique golfing challenge. Many facilities feature packages that could include golf, sleeping accommodations, spa and dining. Expect reasonable to seriously steep daily green fees.

Public, private and resort courses have become more "women friendly" - from multiple ratings, tastefully stocked pro shops, to locker room facilities and related amenities. The Red tee markers are now being replaced by other names or colors thus allowing women and men the option of playing forward tees. The focus on women golfers has become more predominant, giving them a choice of golf schools, clinics and classes, special resort and spa packages and discount pricing. While traveling the San Diego area, be sure to visit these outstanding courses.

While many think of only coastal San Diego, one of the newest courses, designed by Johnny Miller and Robert Muir Graves is Maderas and it’s a gem. Located about twenty minutes north of downtown San Diego in Poway, the Maderas course snakes its way through inland cliffs, rock outcroppings, creeks, forests, and acres of native wildflowers.

The course provides challenge and reward from any of the six sets of tees, with two different course ratings specifically for women; The Jade at 5100 yards plays to a 70.0/128 slope. The Copper sets up at 75.0 and a 142 slope and extends 6,057yards. Each hole has its own distinctive trouble, but also provides areas of safe play.

There are no forced carries from the front tees, allowing shorter hitters equal opportunities to enjoy this meticulously designed and maintained course The course rises and falls nearly 200 vertical feet from the first tee box to the last. Allow enough time to avail yourself of the excellent practice facilities before you set out on what will be a distinctive golf adventure.

Maderas is a member of Troon Golf which has over 90 golf facilities in 17 American states, Scotland, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan and the Bahamas. Troon’s Maderas is locatec at 17750 Old Coach Road, Poway, CA 92064. For information about discounts, rates and tee times, contact the course at 858-726-4653. www.maderasgolf.com.

San Diego’s only AAA Five-Diamond Resort, The Four Seasons Resort Aviara, sits perched above the city of Carlsbad. Travel and Leisure 2000 rated it the #12 Hotel in the Continental U.S. and Canada.

Brilliantly landscaped. the facilities cover 200 acres, surrounded by gardens, fairways with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, private residences, and the Batiquitos Lagoon.

Four taste-tempting restaurants are prepared to serve your every culinary wish. If your schedule permits, partake of the Afternoon Tea in the Lobby Lounge.

There is a tennis center, two swimming pools, fitness center, and spa. A new addition is the Tranquility Pool- an area reserved just for relaxation and uncompromising panoramic views. Numerous packages are available.

Thanks to Arnold Palmer, Aviara is a masterpiece 18-hole championship course that has something for golfers of every level. Tees are designated front, middle, and back and each set of tees is rated for women. The course has won numerous awards for being woman sensitive, right down to the full-size locker rooms stocked with amenities.

If you are traveling alone and need a tee time, the accommodating staff will do its best to pair you a golfer of compatible skill.

While playing the course, golfers are treated to views of natural vegetation, native flowers, waterfalls and streams.. The adjacent Batiquitos Lagoon is home to more than 130 species of shorebirds and waterfowl.

Aviara offers enough challenge and reward to satisfy the needs of high and lower handicappers. Variety abounds, so take all of your clubs. Make sure you bring a camera to celebrate your visit to a most appealing golf course.

For those with the desire, time, and money, there is the Aviara Golf Academy which offers a range of curriculum choices and tuition fees. Students receive professional instruction that includes on-course play and take-home video of their individual lessons. A variety of packages are available throughout the year. Located at 7100 Four Seasons Point, Carlsbad, CA 92009. Call 800/332-3442. www.fourseasons.com

JC Golf Resorts offers 108 golf holes played over 5 courses.

1 The Rancho Bernardo Inn Resort Course has hosted PGA and LPGA events. The El Bizcocho restaurant is the recipient of multiple dining awards. Located at 17550 Bernardo Oaks Drive, San Diego, CA 92128. Call 858-675-8470.

    2 Temecula Creek Inn, located in Southern California’s wine country, offers 27 holes of play, in a one-of-a-kind picturesque setting. Located at 44501 Rainbow Canyon Rd., Temecula, CA 92951. Call 909-676-2405.

3. 18 holes are played at Twin Oaks in San Marcos. The course is adjacent to a protected wildlife habitat. Located at 1425 N. Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos, CA 92069. Call 760-591-4700.
4. Oaks North Executive course in San Diego provides 3 distinctive nines on an executive course providing 3 distinctive nines on an executive course providing a challenge for any level player. Located at 12602 Oaks North Drive, San Diego, CA 92128. Call 858-487-3021.
5. Encinitas Ranch Golf Course, open since 1998 has rapidly become a local favorite. Stiff ocean breezes can play havoc with your club selection. If you are hitting against the wind, do yourself a favor and go for at least one longer club.

   The expansive fairways are mercifully forgiving. For the most part, the greens are undulating, but play true. A good rule of thumb on this course, is keep the ball below the hole. The course is rated numerically, giving a suggested handicap range for each set of tees. These guidelines provide more options for all golfers. Located at 1275 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas, CA 92024. Call 760-944-1936

   If you are planning to play five rounds or be back in the area during the year, an option is the JC Player card. Purchase of the card, $259 for a weekday book and $329 for the weekend book, provides a variety of benefits, including free rounds of golf and other substantial discounts. Information: 800/-62-6439, www.jcgolf.com.

   MEADOWS DEL MAR

   Strategically located between the seaside towns of Del Mar and La Jolla lies the Tom Fazio masterpiece, Meadows Del Mar. With the impeccable personal service upon your arrival to the final sip of a day’s end beverage, prepare for an incomparable visual and golfing experience.

                            

   While there is little water on the course, holes 12 and 17 are ready to capture errant shots. The native vegetation and wildflowers make for wonderful scenery as you traverse the course. The forward tees make the course a reasonable 4,929 yards with a 68.3 rating and a 116 slope.

   Playing from the front tees considerably shortens many forces and makes the tee shot less threatening. Good golf course management is rewarded. To further enhance the golfing experience, cart paths are hidden from view.

   Meadows Del Mar designates Monday and Wednesday as Women’s Days and Tuesday and Thursday as Senior Citizens Days. Located at 5300 Meadows Del Mar, San Diego, CA 92130. Call 877-530-0636 or www.meadowsdelmar.com

   L’AUBERGE- Del Mar

   North of La Jolla is the upscale, quaint seaside village of Del Mar. Long known as a celebrity playground, Del Mar offers an eclectic mixture of shops, boutiques, restaurants and unparalleled beaches and ocean views. For accommodations, the discriminating traveler need look no further than L’Auberge Hotel and Spa.

   After a full day of activities, be it business, golf or shopping, plan to make reservations at the L’Auberge spa. Select from a variety of treatments designed to rejuvenate body and spirit. Your choices include massages, facials and nail and foot care.

            

   The boutique-like resort offers guests personalized services and privacy. A mere stones throw away are some of the prettiest beaches in the area. For those who appreciate an unspoiled wilderness, there is the nearby Torrey Pines Reserve. Here, one can enjoy hiking trails, sandstone formations, and fragile cliffs created by nature. and observe the migration of gray whales and dolphins.

   For an outstanding dining experience conveniently located within the hotel, make certain to secure a reservation at J.Taylor’s Restaurant. The enticing menu matches the superb service. Do yourself a favor and allow enough time to dine leisurely. If you want to be pampered, visit L’Auberge.

   Located at 1540 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar, CA 92014. Call 800-553-1336, www.laubergedelmar.com.

    

   (Gail Paparian is a freelance writer/consultant.  She has written numerous articles and her column, "…in the real world…" for newspapers and magazines. A veteran of television production and merchandising, she focuses on business writing and consulting. Contact Paparian at www.writingsolutions.com.)