Sprinkle a little Pixie Dust for the Perfect Romantic Golf Getaway in Bermuda

If your best squeeze has done something wicked, give him (or her) one more shot at redemption by taking you to a wildly seductive place where you can have your lovin’ and golf too. That is if you both love the game. The trick is, where?

I suggests Bermuda. There aren’t many islands left on the planet quite like it. Here pink is a macho color, shorts are worn with jackets and ties to the office and cricket is a national passion not a goofy bug.

Warm turquoise waters wash up onto coral-tinged sand cove beaches; a semi-tropical climate allows you to play golf year-round; and traffic moves at the astounding speed of 23 mph. Bougainvillea tumbles over limestone walls and precious candy-colored cottages are everywhere.

Bermuda has more courses for its size than any other country in the world. Several have undergone recent renovations and are better than ever.

Port Royal Golf Course, originally designed by Robert Trent Jones, recently reopened after a major facelift by the Roger Rulewich Group. The seaside holes are spectacular.

Belmont Hills Golf Club running along the top of a oceanside plateau used to be a rather ho hum layout. No longer. It has been redesigned by Algie M. Pulley Jr who literally moved mountains to create a challenging track with new tees, multi-tiered greens, and multiple water hazards.

And besides older tracks like the famed Mid Ocean Golf Club and Riddell’s Bay Golf & Country Club, the oldest golf course in Bermuda dating from 1922, the latest candy-coated feather on the island, the former Castle Harbour Hotel course, has morphed into a world class track, Tucker’s Point Golf Club, under the deft hand of Roger Rulewich.

Personally I prefer to stay in one of the cottage resorts like Cambridge Beaches or The Reefs which are right on the beach and unique to Bermuda. But if you’ll have an anxiety attack without all the services of a full-blown resort, book a room at the Fairmont Southampton Princess which delivers the Big Resort experience. with a fine spa, a neat par 3 course on site and a beach club.

Cambridge Beaches Coves and Cottage is set on a private 30-acre peninsula on Bermuda’s western coast, its 94 pink and white cottages and suites strung along the coastline. People checking in here can afford the ride from the airport (about $50) and cab transportation to and from the golf courses.

Besides golf, you can relax on four intimate cove beaches, the clothes-optional sun deck, the indoor or outdoor infinity pool or your own patio or balcony. Play croquet or work out in the fitness center or indulge in a massage at Ocean Spa.

In the evening dine on French-inspired cuisine in the Tamarisk Room or under a night sky in Breezes before having a nightcap. www.cambridgebeaches.com

At The Reefs, every room and suite has a balcony and view of the sea and many of the beds face out so you wake-up to a view of sun, sand and sea. There are just 65 rooms and one-bedroom cottages perched along the crest of a limestone cliff while the long pink-tinged beach, one of the best in Bermuda, stretches out below.

Rooms are not huge, but for the ultimate book, one of the three Point Suites with drop-dead views of the water and crashing waves below - and get this - a private hot tub on your balcony.

Food choices include the casual open-air beachside Coconuts, the more elegant Ocean Echo and the dinner-club style Royston’s. www.thereefs.com

Note: Ask about bunking in at The new Reefs Club adjacent to the hotel, where fractional ownerships are now being sold in 19 stunning two and three bedroom villas, all furnished with top-of-the-line decor and appliances. www.reefsclub.com;

You can’t rent a car in Bermuda, so you’ll need to take cabs which are expensive or risk life and limb renting a moped or scooter. With the shooter, you can balance your golf clubs on the floor as you go, but it’s nothing I’d recommend.

On the Reefs Club brochure, there is a saying from Mark Twain, “Bermuda was like being in Heaven.” The Reverend rebuking and rather pointedly advised him to make the most of it then.”

But then wasn’t it Twain who referred to golf as a “good walk spoiled?” What did he know? He might have changed his mind had he teed up at Mid Ocean or Port Royal.
www.visitbermuda.com