This Week at TravelGolf.com: March 19, 2009

Fixing your game on a golf vacation

Often when a fellow traveler learns what I do for a living, the reaction is predictable: "I wish I got paid to play golf."

Yeah, me too.

So let's get this straight: I'm paid to report, review, take photos and write. But yes, playing golf is one of the cool fringe benefits of the job and an enjoyable necessary task - except when you're really stinking it up on the course.

(And no, a bad day on the golf course is not better than a good day in the office. And the decent approach I hit on 18 is not the shot that will bring me back. Arrghh!)

So when you're on the second day of a week-long golf vacation and you're hitting more provisionals than putts, what do you do? Cry? Just hope it gets better as you're getting shut out in skins and losing three Nassaus - plus presses?

Or do you find the golf pro at the resort and take a quick lesson?

Well, it really depends on how bad it's going, said one of our resident instruction experts, PGA Professional Charlie King, author of the recently released e-book, "The New Rules of Golf Instruction."

If your game is a disaster, there's very little harm you can do to it by taking a quick lesson, said King, director of instruction at the Reynolds Golf Academy at Reynolds Plantation on Greensboro, Ga. So go for it.

But if you're playing okay and are hoping a couple golf lessons will get you over the top, going to a pro you don't know could be a big mistake, King said. It's likely you could get worse.

In any event, it's important to find an instructor who will prioritize one or two things that may be derailing you. Giving you a laundry list of fixes in the middle of a golf vacation probably won't send you home feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

King outlines seven essential golf skills in his ebook and says it's important to find the one that will help you the most, especially if you're looking for immediate improvement. And on a golf trip, that's exactly what you want.

As always, TravelGolf.com welcomes your comments.

A three-step plan for curing your slice

To get rid of your slice, try these three tips and do not be afraid to over-do the corrections in the beginning. If your golf ball starts to hook, you can adjust from there. A strong grip, good shoulder rotation and forearm release will help you to hit the ball more squarely and farther, PGA Professional Kellie Stenzel writes.

Also: More golf tips from Kellie Stenzel

Follow the PGA's Florida Swing to PGA National, Innisbrook, Doral and Bay Hill

The PGA Tour really begins to ramp it up each spring when they roll into Florida for the annual four-week "Florida Swing" leading up to the Masters. It's the most publicly accessible stretch of schedule the tour plays all year long. Here's a look at following the path of the pros - where you won't need a sponsor's exemption to create your own Florida Swing.

Also: Top-rated Tampa golf vacation deals

At Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach, Tom Fazio delivers another golf knockout

All the trimmings of a vintage Tom Fazio design are on display at the Barefoot Resort's Fazio Course, one of four gems at the star-studded Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Fazio had a massive palette to work with, and the result is few parallel holes, quiet confines and little residential development.

Also: Readers review Barefoot Resort's Fazio Course

Journey at Pechanga in Temecula, Calif.: Tribe's golf course embraces history

With the Journey at Pechanga near San Diego, the Pechanga Band of the Luiseņo Indians and the Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest design team joined forces to create a gem that does more than pay lip service to preserving the band's tribal culture.

Also: Planning a San Diego golf trip?