There is something to be said for making a savvy investment, and that goes for "gifting" as well as receiving. Your near-and-dear, golfing dad has probably gone through several umbrellas, which are required to bear up under — not only wind and downpours — but occasional mistreatment by a carrier who has just missed a par-saving putt. Not necessarily your Dad, but it does happen! When it comes to golf umbrellas, there is probably no better way to go than Davek. They have been touted all over the industry and the quality is backed by a lifetime guarantee. You receive a loss protection card with the umbrella that allows you to replace it at half-price (provided, of course, that you hang onto said card, which has a 16-digit code keyed to your umbrella). The Davek umbrella feels noticeably sturdy, and that impression is backed by testing. Its design vents the wind through flaps, and it has been tested at an MIT aeronautics lab to withstand gusts of 60 miles an hour. We’ve seen too many breeze-buffeted umbrellas scamper away from their owners while a shot was being addressed, so the clincher for us is the anchor spike. The conventional handle can be unscrewed and flipped over to expose a spike that can be pushed into the ground to keep your umbrella in place. A smart player can also prop an extra club or two against the inner canopy of the umbrella to keep their grips dry while the current shot is played. The golf umbrella is $79 and comes in five color combinations — actually, to paraphrase a quote attributed to Henry Ford, you can have any color you like as long as it’s black. The colors are all-black, black-yellow, black-red, black-green, and black-blue. Go here to order or to find a store near you.

Marriott is offering active, reserve, and military personnel a deal at 26 Marriott golf courses across the country. With Fairway Furloughs, members of the armed forces with a valid military ID card get discounted green fees/carts, ranging from $29-$69 after 3 p.m. any day of the week, year round. Tee times can be made up to three days in advance.

"In this country, we have hundreds of thousands of active, reserve, and retired military personnel who play golf, and we can't think of a better way to reward their unmatched dedication,'' said Bill Nault, vice president, Marriott Golf.

The complete list of participating courses includes: Camelback Golf Club, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Desert Springs Golf Resort, Palm Desert, Calif.; Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Miami, Fla.; Grande Pines Golf Club, Orlando, Fla.; Grande Vista Golf Club, Orlando, Fla.; Hawk's Landing Golf Club, Orlando, Fla.; Renaissance Vinoy Resort, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Shadow Ridge Golf Club, Palm Desert, Calif.; Starr Pass Golf Club, Tucson, Ariz.; The Rookery at Marco, Naples, Fla.; Wildfire Golf Club, Phoenix, Ariz.; Cattails Golf Club, Kingsport, Tenn.; Griffin Gate Golf Club, Lexington, Ky.; Kauai Lagoons Golf Club, Lihue, Hawaii; Stone Mountain Golf Club, Stone Mountain, Ga.; Crane's Landing Golf Club, Lincolnshire, Ill.; Westfields Golf Club, Clifton, Va.; and Willow Crest Golf Club, Oak Brook, Ill.

For more information on the program, visit here.

The Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina is home to one of the revered courses in the United States, Pinehurst No. 2, which legendary architect Donald Ross tweaked and prodded for decades after he first built it in 1907. The course hosted US Opens in 1999 and 2005, and the event will return in 2014. But Pinehurst’s roster of courses is numbered 1 through 8, the largest collection of holes at any resort in the country, and much golf history has been written there, including Ben Hogan’s first win as a professional and Payne Stewart’s victorious putt in 1999. It has also topped the annual Travel + Leisure Golf magazine reader poll as the best golf resort in the country three of the past four years. Where better, then, to gorge oneself on an unlimited golf package? Pinehurst, located in the Sandhills region of the Carolinas, is offering as much golf as you can play for $515 per day, per person, double-occupancy, the typical daily rate for 18 holes. The package requires a minimum two-night stay and includes breakfast and dinner (including on the evening of arrival), unlimited play with cart, a sleeve of golf balls, club storage, and use of the practice range, beach club, and fitness center. The special runs through May 30, and visitors who book the package for Sunday through Wednesday receive a $300 gift card per room for use anywhere on the property. The No. 2 Course requires a $175 upgrade fee, and the unlimited golf offer is subject to availability. In addition, golfers can enter a spring sweepstakes to win unlimited golf at Pinehurst for an entire year. Register here for the opportunity to play unlimited golf with a friend between June 1 and May 31, 2010, on any and all of the eight on-site courses, four of which were originally designed by Ross, with other layouts crafted by Rees Jones, Tom Fazio, and Ellis Maples. Pinehurst is just under a two-hour drive from the Greensboro and Raleigh/Durham airports, and just over two hours from Charlotte. For more information, call 800-487-4653, or go to www.pinehurst.com.
Pinehurst Resort photo

When will Tiger Woods return to the PGA Tour? There’s no doubt that both fans and Tour sponsors are eagerly awaiting his comeback from leg surgery, even as Woods and his wife Elin rejoice in the birth of their second child, son Charlie, over the weekend. But what if Tiger had never picked up a club? We as sports fans would have lost out on the chance to see some of the most dominant and thrilling feats in the sport’s history. Tonight at 9 on Golf Channel, an hour-long documentary called “Uneven Fairways” debuts. The film chronicles an era when honor and fair play took a backseat to segregation, and discusses the African-Americans who struggled not only against their opponents but against a prejudiced society to play the sport they loved. Samuel L. Jackson narrates, and weaves a tale of pioneers such as John Shippen, recognized as the first African-American pro golfer, who competed in five US Opens, the first in 1896. Bill Spiller, one of the top African-American golfers of the 1940s and ’50s, was instrumental in the PGA overturning its “Caucasian Only” clause in 1961. Ted Rhodes, who with Spiller initiated litigation against the PGA's clause, won an estimated 150 tournaments on the United Golf Association, which many liken to the Negro Leagues in baseball. Woods himself calls Charlie Sifford (above with Tiger), the first African-American member of the PGA Tour in 1962, “the Jackie Robinson of our sport.” When asked about meeting baseball pioneer Robinson, Sifford recalled, “He [Robinson] asked me if I was a quitter, and I told him no. He said, ‘All right, if you are not a quitter, go ahead and take up the game, but you are going to run into some obstacles that you are going to wish you hadn’t.’ But I never did quit.” In paying tribute to the pioneers, Woods said, “If it wasn’t for their focus and dedication to the game of golf, my father probably wouldn’t have played because he wouldn’t have had access to the game…so, in essence, I owe my entire career to them and their pioneering efforts.” That puts all golf fans in their debt. To learn more, go to www.GolfChannel.com/uneven-fairways. The show will air several more times this month.

If your idea of “rolling the dice” has less to do with a casino getaway and is more likely to involve taking a chance on decent golf weather, we present an opportunity in the Myrtle Beach area. The just-opened Towers on the Grove resort in the Cherry Grove section of “The Beach” is offering a three-round package with a trio of the most popular courses in the Grand Strand. The “chance” card involves the weather – the current 10-day forecast lists daytime high temperatures ranging from 48 to 62, with most days topping out in the high 50s. That certainly beats the heck out of our wintry mix, and the package prices reflect that it’s the chilly season in coastal Carolina. Through Feb. 25, a group of four golfers can stay at this oceanfront, Art Deco-themed resort in a three-bedroom condo with breakfast daily and a round of golf with carts for $104 a day each (if you can get there quickly, the rate is just $94 a day through Feb. 11). The courses for the package (three-round minimum) are Leopard’s Chase, Tiger’s Eye, and River’s Edge.
Collectively known as the “River Cats,” they are all located just over the border in North Carolina. River’s Edge, an Arnold Palmer design that plays along the Shallotte River, is No. 62 on Golf Digest’s list of the top 100 public courses in the US. Tiger’s Eye, which ranks 73rd on that same list, boasts 60-foot elevation changes and an island par-3. Both it and Leopard’s Chase were designed by Tim Cate and are part of the Ocean Ridge Plantation in Sunset Beach, N.C. A deposit of $100 per person is required, and holiday and weekend rates may be higher. With luck, the temperatures will be higher, too. Call 888-905-3001 or go here for more information or to book the package.

Planning to spend Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas? Obviously, you’ll have the opportunity to lay down a legal bet on the NFL’s big game (the Pittsburgh Steelers are currently favored over the Arizona Cardinals by 7 points). And why settle for a lame square pool where you can’t even control which numbers you receive? In Vegas, you can make esoteric wagers such as whether the game’s longest field goal will be over or under 43½ yards, or whether there will be at least one scoreless quarter (the odds slightly favor scoring in every quarter). The Vegas oddsmakers had our Patriots, the Colts, and the Cowboys as preseason favorites to make Super Bowl XLIII, and well, that didn’t turn out so well for the teams or those who went with the chalk. If you’re going to be in Vegas, Walters Golf has a nice proposition for football fans who play golf. Tee it up at two of their three local courses in any combination over Super Bowl weekend (Jan. 30-Feb. 1), and you will be entered in a raffle to win one of two signed team helmets (one Steelers, one Cardinals). If you’re bringing your clubs anyway, play at Bali Hai Golf Club, Royal Links Golf Club (which features holes inspired by 11 British Open courses), and/or Desert Pines Golf Club, and you’ve got a shot at owning one of these two helmets (they’re valued at $3,500 apiece). And hey, if you’re a Patriots fan who isn’t particularly fond of either team, you can sell the helmet or just paint it over. Kidding, kidding.

As another snowstorm hovers over New England, we take a look in Sunday's Explore New England section on ways you can hone -- and even improve -- your skills in a few summer sports. Golfers and softball and baseball players need not wait until the grass is visible to take some swings and stretch out sport-specific muscles.We were reminded at one point during our interviews of how fiercely loyal players and coaches can be to their sport. It brought back high school memories of hockey players derisively calling us basketball players "roundballers," and questioning our toughness.
Frank Niles of the South Shore Baseball Club in Hingham has been involved in baseball for decades, and he talked of teaching youngsters the fundamentals by sometimes "tricking them into good habits." It wasn't important, he said, "to know which neurons in the brain were firing. We just stress that they stand on the balls of their feet and be ready when the ball is hit to them. Almost anybody can get better," he said, "and know that they are getting better.'' He paused. "If not, we can always send you to a soccer clinic."
Ouch.

Discount air service Direct Air, which will give Greater Boston travelers a taste of Virgin America service, is offering $140 roundtrip fares to two Florida and one South Carolina cities to mark the launch of its service from Worcester Nov. 22.
The sale will begins Friday Nov. 14 on the company’s website and will run through Nov. 21. Travel must be completed by Oct. 31, 2009, and the fare certificates are transferable. Customers will be limited to 20 certificates.
Direct limits baggage to two pieces per passenger and there is a prepaid fee of $20 per bag per direction, $25 if paid at the airport.
Ed Warneck, president of Direct, said yesterday the air service will reserve 10 percent of seats on flights for the special fares, ‘‘and will obviously let more in if we have available seats on planes.’’
Direct, based in Myrtle Beach, S.C., will fly on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays into and out of Worcester Regional Airport, which hasn’t had regular commercial service since Allegiant Air, a discount airline and charter company based in Las Vegas, pulled out in 2006. The schedule calls for one arrival and one departure daily to its Florida destinations: Punta Gorda, near Fort Myers, and Sanford, outside of Orlando. Service to Myrtle Beach will take place on Thursdays and Sundays. Flight are nonstops.
Direct is an air service, which means it doesn’t own planes but leases them. For its Worcester service, it plans to use Virgin planes and flight crews for its Florida flights at least through spring of 2010 and USA Jet Airlines for trips to Myrtle Beach.
This will give local travelers who have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Virgin an opportunity to sneak a peek at the airline, which has garnered attention for its luxury approach to lower-fare travel, with its leather seats, satellite TV, on-demand movies, streaming radio, and selection of MP3 music files.

We're not talking a long a funky 581-yard par-5 with a dog-leg to the left but if you happen to be in the Apple and are jonesing to get a club in your hand this may get you though the night.
The Crowne Plaza in Times Square, which has just undergone an $85 million renovation, says 18 rooms will be tricked out with mini-putting greens by the middle of this month. Rates will start at $349, and includes putters, balls and, of course, green fees.
Overall, the joint is pretty luxe with one butler floor (pretty much as it sounds) and five concierge floors. There is 24-hour brasserie service, a 29,000-square-foot health club, and a 50-foot indoor lap pool.
I mention all this only so you can be confident there will be other things to do in between rounds.

We’ve heard rumblings about temperatures falling into the 40s over the next few nights, and that doesn’t bode well for those hoping to maximize their golf activities. The Carolinas are sufficiently south of here that the game is playable well into late fall, and a couple of South Carolina resorts are offering deals specifically for women foursomes.
Wild Dunes Resort is 20 minutes from downtown Charleston, a lovely city worthy of a standalone trip. The resort itself is on the Isle of Palms and has two standout golf courses. Its “Putt and Pamper” package includes three nights’ accommodations, one round of golf on each of the Links and Harbor courses, breakfast daily, a 50-minute massage per person, and a Burt’s Bees gift basket for $164 per person per night, based on four people staying. Visit the Wild Dunes website or call 843-886-2255 to learn more about other custom packages such as golf and fishing, unlimited golf, golf/tennis, and the “Dudes on the Dunes” guys’ getaway, which includes the obligatory post-golf poker, beer, and snacks.
The Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort on Hilton Head Island, near Savannah, Ga., is offering the Girlfriends’ Golf Getaway package, which includes four days and three nights for four in a resort villa, two rounds of golf at your choice of three championship courses, court time at the Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center, a massage, and a one-day bike rental to explore the beach and resort. The package starts at $189 per person per night and is valid through November. Go to the resort website or call 800-827-3006 for more information.

Wanna get away -- and play some golf?
There are deals to be had over the next several weeks, particularly in places where late summer qualifies as the “low season.” The LaQuinta Golf Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, Calif., has two noteworthy courses designed by Pete Dye, and through Sept. 18, the golf vacation provider Worldwide Golf Vacations is offering an outstanding three-day deal for $489 per person, double-occupancy. The package includes three nights in a resort casita, a $50 dining credit per room per night, three days of unlimited golf on-site, a shared cart and pre-booked tee times, plus a three-day rental of a midsize car with unlimited mileage. The aforementioned courses include the Mountain Course, ranked among Golf Magazine’s “Top 100 You Can Play.” This scenic layout is carved into the Santa Rosa Mountains, and it has hosted the Senior Skins Game and golf’s World Cup competition. The resort’s Dunes Course (above) has a Scottish flair and demands accuracy off the tee. It has hosted the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying six times, and is on Golf Digest’s “Top 75 Resort Courses” in the US.
Another deal is a bit less expensive and closer to home, but requires you to move a little more quickly. Kingston Plantation in Myrtle Beach, S.C., is offering a three-day package at $439 per person through Aug. 31, based on quad occupancy. The deal includes three nights in a two-bedroom villa, three rounds of golf, carts and pre-booked tee times, and a three-day minivan rental with unlimited mileage. For more information on these deals, and to view other available packages, go to the Worldwide Golf Vacations website, or call them at 800-946-5318.

Can you stand the heat the past few days? Well, it is probably comparable to what you would run across in Florida this summer... my point being that a famed PGA Tour course in the Sunshine State is offering a series of deals to play its hallowed ground this summer at greatly reduced rates. Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, the home of a World Golf Championship event won by Geoff Ogilvy and Tiger Woods the past two years, has three events planned that will likely leave most players begging Doral’s famed Blue Monster course for mercy. The first is the Summer Solstice Slam on Wednesday, June 18, the longest day of the year. From dawn to dusk, golfers can play 54 holes on Doral’s Blue Monster and Great White courses with food and beverage provided (think hydration!!) for $175 per person. That is a savings of more than 50 percent over regular greens fees on those courses. OK, so maybe a three-round day on demanding courses isn’t your idea of fun. Doral will also host the Blue/White Aggregate Tournament on Thursday, Aug. 28, where players can take on the Blue Monster and the Great White in one day for $150, including continental breakfast and lunch, a savings of 60 percent over regular rates. Prizes awarded at this event will include a three-day/two-night Doral golf package for two, complimentary tee times for four on the Blue Monster and Great White courses, and gift certificates for closest to the pin, longest drive, and most improved score. Finally, on Blue Monster Day, Monday, Sept. 29, golfers will have the chance to play the tournament course from the pro tees, with a chance to “Beat the Pro” on the 9th hole, a 169-yard par 3 over water, of course (why do you think they call it the Blue Monster?). When you play No. 18, a 467-yard par 4 (shown above), you will be tackling what has ranked statistically as the toughest hole on the PGA Tour two of the past four years. Might be a good idea to bring your “A” game. Room rates start at $149 per night. For more information, go here or call (800) 71-DORAL.

The LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort in Naples, Fla., bills itself as rivaling Miami’s South Beach in ambience, and it has landed on Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers Choice list of golf resorts three years running. It offers a testing golf course along with a private white-sand beach resort, an elegant day spa, and fine seafood dining. And from May 26 through Sept. 30, the resort is offering its “Golf Away the Summer Days” unlimited play package to sweeten the deal. Rates start at $229 a night ($299 on weekend nights) and include accommodations, complimentary valet parking, resort fees, fitness center access, and unlimited golf for two. The Robert Cupp-designed, par-72 course is set up to offer a firm, fast playing surface similar to a true links layout, and 14 of the holes play around or over water. Rates do not include taxes and gratuities, and note that the golf course is closed on Mondays. For more information, call 800-237-6883 or visit laplayaresort.com.

If you're a golfer and planning on traveling in southwestern Ireland on May 14, here's an opportunity. County Limerick's five-star castle hotel, Adare Manor, is hosting the Irish Open May 15-18, and Irish golfer Padraig Harrington is returning to defend his title on the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed parkland course. Purchase a ticket to the event online prior to May 10, and you're automatically entered into a draw to play alongside Harrington in the Irish Open Pro-Am on Wednesday, May 14. Fine print: Men must have a certified GUI handicap of 24 or below; women 36 or below. Tickets for the event begin at 25 Euros; ages 15 and younger are free when accompanied by an adult.

If playing this course is too rich for your blood, consider the adjacent, but independent (despite its name) and far less expensive Adare Manor Golf Club, which wraps around ruins of a 13th-century castle, 15th-century Franciscan priory and church cemetery and provides views of another priory-turned-school and Adare Manor itself. Not too shabby.

How refreshing to find a hotel "deal" that is actually a bargain! Shell Vacations Hospitality is offering family-friendly summer deals at some of its resorts in the US and Canada. Included are a $15 gas card (OK, that's not even half a tank these days, but at least it's something), room rates ranging from $68-$189 for guests staying four nights or more, and a gift pack of beach games for the kids. Packages are valid from June 2 until Sept. 5 and can only be booked online through Shell's website. Shell's resorts include:
Peacock Suites, Anaheim
Orange Tree Golf Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Legacy Golf Resort, Phoenix
Starr Pass Golf Suites, Tucson
Desert Rose Resort, Las Vegas
Carriage Ridge Resort, Horseshoe Valley, Ontario
Mountainside Lodge, Whistler, British Columbia
Waikiki Marina Resort, Oahu
Kauai Coast Resort, Kauai

We have heard great things about San Antonio, but it remains on the list of "places we'd really like to get to someday." The Alamo is a major lure, and the city also boasts a growing reputation for superb wine and cuisine. Plus there's the River Walk, with hotels, restaurants, shopping, and historic landmarks along two miles of paths that border the San Antonio River. The latest incentive -- for us, anyway -- is the local twilight golf program. Several area courses have joined forces to offer reduced greens fees in the afternoon and evening on some outstanding courses. An ambitious player might even squeeze in 36 holes in the p.m., since some of the specials begin at 1 o'clock, and darkness doesn't typically descend until 8:30 or so between May and July. Dozens of award-winning courses are offering specials that include carts, and there are even discounts off the reduced rates for golfers 55 and older. Courses range from historic municipal layouts to championship venues and world-class resorts. Pecan Valley Golf Club hosted the 1968 PGA Championship, won by Julius Boros by one shot over Arnold Palmer and Bob Charles, and the classic J. Press Maxwell design received a $5.5 million renovation 10 years ago (the 152-yard 3rd hole is pictured). Another highlight is the Westin LaCantera Resort, nestled in the Texas Hill Country just north of the city. Its two courses (the Resort and Palmer) offer gorgeous views of the city, waterfalls, and dramatic limestone outcroppings, and the Resort Course is the longtime host course for the PGA Tour's Valero Texas Open. Not to worry: there are five sets of tees, so you won't have to play it from the same lengths as Justin Leonard did when he took the title for the third time last fall. To find out more about golf around San Antonio, go here.

We just went to the forecast and found that the temperature is expected to range between 59 degrees and 72 degrees over the next week in Bermuda. Combine those conditions with the “Ultimate Tee Time Package” and you have a nice re-entry into golf after a dormant winter. Perhaps we’ll see 70 degrees once or twice around here next month, if we’re lucky!
The tee awaits at two Fairmont properties on the island, the Fairmont Southampton and the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, and there are two comfortable ocean-view courses on which to ease into the swing of things. The Southampton course is a challenging par-3 layout, with 18 holes ranging from 110 yards to 216 yards. The Riddell’s Bay Golf and Country Club, the oldest private course on the island and a short ride away, is open to hotel guests and plays 5,800 yards to a par 70. If the muscles ache, the adjacent Willow Stream Spa is right on site with options that include a golf facial, the “up to par" body experience, and the golf performance treatment massage. This treatment, which is designed to improve balance and swing rotation, is endorsed by instructor to the stars David Leadbetter and PGA Tour star Charles Howell III, though I don’t suspect anyone is guaranteeing you’ll hit the ball like Howell after your massage. The package starts at $476 per day, double occupancy, and includes unlimited play on the par-3 course or one round daily at Riddell’s Bay, one night’s stay, plus taxes, tip, and resort fee. A two-night stay is required, and guests must be over 18. The package is available through December 31, 2008. For reservations or more information, call 800-441-1414 or visit fairmont.com.

Why settle for a mug of green beer and shouted conversation over “The Wild Rover” on St. Patrick’s Day, when you can experience the patron saint of Ireland’s birthday on the Olde Sod itself? Better yet, take advantage of this Fairways to Heaven offer and you’ll enjoy a round at the acclaimed Doonbeg Golf Club, in the shadow of the Cliffs of Moher, no less. Get yourself to Shannon International Airport, and the rest of the three-day, two-night package is taken care of (OK, truth in advertising -- you’re going to have to swing your own clubs). From Shannon, you are whisked to the Lodge at Doonbeg, where you have the choice of an afternoon spa treatment or a golf biomechanics session. Hmmm, that’s a tough call. You’ll also meet with Doonbeg’s pro Brian Shaw, where you’ll receive tips on playing the cliffside, Greg Norman-designed course in what is billed as a “B.S. session” -- those are the host pro's initials, OK??? Dinner and a whiskey-tasting follow, along with the obligatory craic. Make sure to plan the next morning’s wake-up call in time to have your Irish breakfast; you’ll need to be well-fortified to tackle Doonbeg, which features 100-foot dunes and ocean views from 16 holes. The next day, you'll be whisked home... er, to Shannon, actually. Whether you head straight home from there is your call. The package is $365 per person, double-occupancy. Go here for more information.

OK, it pains us to mention the place at the moment, but there is good reason to head for Arizona, and it has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with football (promise!!). The Patriots' desert downer notwithstanding, there is a place to get away from it all with golf, spa, nature, horseback, and family packages, all at the Rancho de los Caballeros in Wickenburg, Ariz., about an hour northwest of Phoenix in the high Sonoran Desert. Who knows? Bill Belichick may be there now, licking his wounds and plotting another assault on 19-0. Among the options at the Rancho are getaway weekends for men (one of which is titled Guys, Guns & Golf) and for women (Giddy-Up Gals and Divot Divas Diversion, the latter for women who want to work on their golf games in a relaxed setting). Weekend packages include two nights lodging and three meals a day and a variety of activities, depending on the package.
The Rancho de los Caballeros is a historic guest ranch and golf club that is celebrating 60 years as a family-owned resort, and they like to think they have the mix just right: WiFi in Western boots, cocktails by the campfire, and pedicures after team penning (for you tenderfoots, that's an Western riding pastime). Accommodations range from ranch doubles to suites with spectacular Bradshaw Mountain and desert views, and rates start at $462 a night, double occupancy, and include three meals daily and use of ranch facilities. Children 4 and under stay free. Call 800-684-5030 or go here for more information and to check on availability.

Wanna get away? Quickly?!?!?
Well, there's this airline, see, and it is offering a great fare to Myrtle Beach, where it is 60 degrees right now and the forecast is for 67 this Saturday. Word is that there are something on the order of 100 golf courses in the vicinity, by the way, most of which are offering their lowest greens fees of the year. The fare, including all taxes and fees, is as low as $124.50 round-trip, on a direct flight from Boston to "The Beach" on Spirit Airlines. But you have to move quickly, since this $40 off a round trip rate expires at midnight tonight -- that's Tuesday, Jan. 22.
Go here, and then dust off the clubs.

The Playa-Azul Resort in Cozumel, Mexico, has an excellent ongoing offer that includes an ocean-view room, daily breakfast buffet, wireless Internet access, and unlimited golf at the nearby Cozumel Country Club (cart fees extra). The course is a Nicklaus Design Group layout that weaves through the Mayan jungle and the native mangrove trees. It is owned and managed by ClubCorp, and features four sets of tees ranging from
4,481 yards to 6,734 yards. By going to playa-azul.com, we were able to secure a three-night stay in late January for two adults double-occupancy with golf for $612, including taxes. That works out to about $100 a day per person. The rate increases to about $120 per person per day in February and March, and then drops to about $90 per person per day on March 31. A second option for booking a Playa Azul stay would be to go through Worldwide Golf Vacations, which is in Reading. They provide a similar package from Jan. 27-April 1 starting at $389 per person for three days, but they also include pre-booked tee times, airport transfers, and cart fees in their package. Call 800-946-5318 for more details. Fodor's has called the Playa-Azul a "romantic boutique hotel with bright and airy rooms facing the ocean or the gardens." If you get golfed-out, there are lounge chairs on the beach, and you can arrange snorkeling and diving trips at the hotel's own dock.

Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge is offering a sweet deal for golfers who might already have a visit to Orlando planned in December, or for those who just want to treat themselves, no theme park required!
Orange County National boasts a pair of strong courses which will provide the venue for the PGA Tour's final qualifying stage Nov. 28-Dec. 3. It is the third time the complex has hosted the tournament, which will finalize the roster for the 2008 PGA Tour season. Starting Dec. 11, the package includes two nights' lodging, three rounds of golf (one each of three days) on either the Crooked Cat or Panther Lake course, daily breakfast, practice balls, free play on the resort's 9-hole short course, club storage, and bag tag. From Sunday through Thursday, the cost is $222 per person, Friday to Sunday the rate is $252. The special, which ends on Christmas Day, is per person based on double occupancy and it does not include taxes. Additional nights and golf are available at a special rate. Go to www.ocngolf.com or call 888-727-3672.

As we peruse the 10-day weather forecast for mid-November, we find what can only be described as ‘‘bonus days.’’ It’s going to hit 60 degrees a few times over the next week and a half, and that translates to comfortable golf weather as the calendar slips toward Thanksgiving. Bonus days.
There’s something about golf in the fall that makes one savor the opportunity more, makes one more cognizant of the surroundings. We bask in any warmth that can be wrung from the sun, we welcome the breeze that clears the fairway of leaves, exposing our ball so we can strike it again. We worry less about the result of the shot, and relish the feedback from the club as it sends the ball ... somewhere, forward, to be struck again.
Most courses drop their daily greens fees around Nov. 1, in deference to the less pristine conditions the player is likely to find. The greens may be a bit ragged, the rough heavier with moisture, the lies a bit more uneven than we’d find in midsummer. But that’s really OK, as is the presence of the windbreaker that restricts our swing a bit. We swing too hard, anyway.
We remember caddying for members at our local 9-hole course as kids, lugging the bags and wondering exactly how late in the season they’d continue to play, how they could find it fun as the wind grew more biting and the greens got bumpier. We don’t wonder anymore.
Go to mgalinks.org and click on member clubs, then search by region and club type (public, municipal, semi-private) for a course in your area. Most courses have websites with phone numbers and seasonal greens fee rates.
RON DRISCOLL