Designer Ron Garl's work in Nigeria, marrying golf and wine, Gear Guru on golfing politicians, and Sorenstam's lackluster 2006

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When people think great golf destinations, Nigeria is not the first country to pop into mind. But that may be changing. In this week’s podcast, host Dave Berner talks to golf course architect Ron Garl, who is building a course in Lagos, Nigeria.

“It’s an oil rich country … obviously that’s created new money, it’s created new technology, and they’re getting excited about golf there,” Garl says. “We’ve got a project that’s near Lagos. It has beautiful beaches. We’re right on the Atlantic Ocean. It’s beautiful. It reminds me of the white sand Florida beaches.”

Golf is finding a good partner in wine, with many high-end resorts increasing their wine selections. West Coast Bureau Chief Chris Baldwin explains the trend.

“A lot of it comes from the wine side. I think the people selling wine, people who have wine bars, think the markets are sort of carry over,” Baldwin says. “One of them told me it’s the healthy lifestyle of both.”

Is there a connection between a politician’s golf game and his or her success as a lawmaker? Golf equipment podcaster Bruce Stasch has been doing some research on the subject.

“I went back and I noticed a top 200 list that Golf Digest had done. It was a list of lobbyists, people from the White House, and Congress people who played golf,” Stasch says. “And it indexed them based on their handicap. Looking back you can kind of speculate, ‘Ok, do you think the people who had really low handicaps, were they spending too much time golfing and not enough time passing laws?’”

Plus, Chris Baldwin muses on why nobody paid attention to http://www.worldgolf.com/blogs/golf-for-beginners/2006/03/16/annika_sorenstam_tunes_up_at_safeway_on">Annika Sorenstam in 2006, in this week’s TravelGolf.com On Course commentary.

“Can you imagine if Tiger saw a five-pete player of the year run end?” Baldwin asks. “The words ‘Tiger slump’ would be flying around so quick, his head would be spinning.”

This podcast is supported by Pioneer Golf and Florida Golf Travel.