Executive Golf Magazine

Spa and golf breaks have taken off in a big way over recent years, as evidenced by the number of resorts offering special combo packages – and, indeed, by the number of people taking them up. What’s more, it’s less and less the case that the spa simply provides a distraction for a non-golfer while their partner is on the course. An invigorating sports massage before a round, or a relaxing body wrap after it, can serve as the ideal complement to a morning or afternoon on the golf course.

The UK is well served for spa resorts with their own courses, or with ones situated near to them. An established favourite is Pennyhill Park. Situated in Bagshot, Surrey, it’s a stone’s throw from Wentworth and Sunningdale – and there’s a nine-hole course within the grounds. Pennyhill Park is also ideally placed for other forms of sporting action at Ascot and Twickenham, and walks in Windsor Great Park.

The hotel has 123 luxury bedrooms, each individually designed; and there are two dining options. The flagship Latymer Restaurant offers contemporary cuisine in a smart setting, while a more informal dining experience is on offer in the Brasserie and Oyster Bar, with a bistro-style menu using ingredients sourced from around the British Isles.

The adults-only spa – voted best in the UK at this year’s World Travel Market – has 21 therapy rooms, and in recent years has been frequented by the England rugby team in their run-up to matches at Twickers. The range of treatments and activities on offer is vast: from indulgent pampering treatments such as full-body clay wraps and massages and a full range of beauty therapies, through to alternative and holistic therapies such as reflexology, reiki and acupuncture.

Golf screening sessions are available, helping you to “assess and modify the biomechanics needed for a consistent swing technique”. In addition, there’s a menu of treatments specifically for men – many of them based on ancient Australian Aboriginal therapies. The spa has its own restaurant, Cafe Thermis, offering an organic, healthy menu that’s mercifully low in the rabbit-food stakes. See the website for special rates currently in operation on residential spa breaks at Pennyhill Park.

The adults-only spa – voted best in the UK at this year’s World Travel Market – has 21 therapy rooms, and in recent years has been frequented by the England rugby team in their run-up to matches at Twickers.

Also in the first rank of Britain’s country-house hotels is The Grove at Chandlers Cross in Hertfordshire. Upon visiting, it’s difficult to believe that the estate is barely two miles from the M25, and just half an hour from central London. Once home to the earls of Clarendon, it has now become a magnet for the great and good: Tony Blair, Hugh Grant and Victoria Beckham have all been known to drop in.

The Grove’s course is not short of celebrity visitors, either, thanks to its hosting of this year’s American Express Championship event: the first time a World Golf Championships event has been held on British soil. The Sequoia spa – last year voted best UK spa retreat by Conde Nast Traveller magazine – offers a full range of E’Spa treatments, as well as a fine open-air swimming pool in the Walled Garden area. One-night Golfer’s Ritual packages cost £645 for two, and include one night’s accommodation, dinner, access to the spa and a round of golf.

Other notable spa and golf resorts in the UK include the Celtic Manor in Newport, South Wales – which has good-value packages to suit couples with one golfing and one spa-bound partner. Then there’s the Westin Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire, with its spectacular Cairngorm setting, and the ultra-plush Bovey Castle in Devon.

If you’re planning to venture beyond British borders, the options become almost endless. The Republic of Ireland is deservedly popular as a golfing destination, but has been slow to gain truly world-class spas; fortunately, this has been addressed in recent years. The K Club at Straffan, County Kildare – venue for the Ryder Cup in September – boasts one of the country’s best. Many of the treatments in the state-of-the-art wellness suite make use of herbs from the resort’s own garden, and there’s a Pilates and yoga studio for the regular group classes.

When couples take advantage of the K Club’s residential golf packages, non-golfing partners can exchange their course allocation for spa treatments. Special Ryder Cup venue packages are available in November and December, from £375pp for a two-night stay with two rounds of golf per person.

Further afield, one of Switzerland’s established golf and wellness meccas is the Grand Hotels Bad Ragaz. Located in the spa town of Bad Ragaz, Canton St Gallen – about an hour east of Zurich – the site includes both four and five-star hotels, with an 18-hole championship and nine-hole executive golf course. The former has been lauded by many as one of Europe’s most picturesque, with its mountainous panorama, natural water obstacles and ancient wooded glades; and each year it’s the venue for the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open.

Carmen Heinrich, marketing manager at Grand Hotels Bad Ragaz, says: “The championship course is 50 years-old, and we’re the only spa resort in Switzerland that owns its own course. The first and 18th holes are less than 200 metres from the hotel door.”

The To B. health club is a massive spa complex – some 3,000sq m in all – composed of many different sections. There’s the Helenabad pool which resembles a Roman temple with its yards of polished marble; several other pools, kept at a range of temperatures; aromatherapy and massage cabins; and a Kneipp circuit (a series of hot and cold herbal water treatments). Three-night spa breaks start at £430 per person, based on two sharing.

“Zala Springs is a resort community consisting of a residential neighborhood surrounding a village centre complete with clubhouse, lodge, spa, country store and sports and recreation facilities,”

“The resort has its own centuries-old thermal spring,” Heinrich says, “which serves all five of our mineral pools. And next to the wellness facilities is our medical centre which employs 20 doctors and 30 therapists. So, after going to a golf clinic or having a lesson with a pro on the course, you can take a golf check-up at the medical centre. We’ll check out your joints and muscles and advise you on how to improve your physical condition for the game.”

Eastern Europe is a major growth area these days and the renowned designer Robert Trent Jones II is the creator of the course that winds its way through the Zala Springs Resort which is a new residential development located in western Hungary. It is built around a thermal spring on an old farm two hours from Budapest but, significantly, just 15 minutes from the new airport of Fly Balaton.. “Zala Springs is a resort community consisting of a residential neighborhood surrounding a village centre complete with clubhouse, lodge, spa, country store and sports and recreation facilities,” says Andrew Lewis manager, property sales, Zala Springs. “The Hot Spring Spa and Wellness Centre is the cornerstone of the development. The luxury villas and cottages spread out from there, making Zala Springs one of the first master-planned developments in this part of the world.”

He adds: “We are also at the heart of a wine-making region and the Zala Wine Club will create wine from the vineyards dotted around the 500-acre estate.”

Lewis says negotiations are underway for the new course to host a professional tournament in the next two years. He says: “We have held preliminary talks with the PGA about holding a Seniors tour event in September 2008 which, on signing, will put Zala Springs on the world golfing map.”

Contact information:
Pennyhill Park - 01276 471774, www.exclusivehotels.co.uk
The Grove - 01923 807807, www.thegrove.co.uk
Celtic Manor in Newport - 01633 413000, www.celticmanorresort.com
Westin Turnberry Resort - 01655 333991, www.turnberry.co.uk
Bovey - 01647 445006, www.boveycastle.com
K-club - 00 353 1 601 7200, www.kclub.ie
Bad Ragaz - 00 41 81 303 3030, www.resortragaz.ch

Membership to the Executive Golf club is free. Simply click here and become a member of Executive Golf

Membership to Executive Golf is free. Please click here to apply to become an Executive Golf member.

« Return to previous page