This Week at TravelGolf.com: Sept. 6, 2007

New York City shows that great cities can be horrible golf vacation destinations

Watching Tiger Woods hit trick shots off the fifth deck of Chelsea Piers' driving range, you're reminded just what New York City lacks:

Good public golf within easy range of Manhattan.

Chelsea Piers' driving range is nice enough. It's just not real golf. Even if you're sending balls soaring toward the Hudson River - and in Tiger's case clear over the eight-story tall net and into the water - you're still stuck on a driving range.

And that's pretty much how it'd go on a New York City area golf trip. Unless you're willing to camp out overnight in a parking lot to get a tee time on Bethpage Black, there are no great golf experiences awaiting the common man.

This highlights why some great cities can be absolutely horrific golf destinations. If you're looking for somewhere to take a vacation, there are few better spots in the the world than New York. If you're looking to play a lot of golf - memorable golf - there are few worse.

It can be argued that New York area does not need the good golf for tourists with the Broadway Shows, the best collection of restaurants in America and the unique shopping scene. Still, it'd be nice if the dedicated duffer could find worthwhile golf within an easy drive of the asphalt island for the rare time his wife let him get away with not standing in line for elusive tickets to the fairytale play "Wicked."

Tiger himself, Phil Mickelson, Donald Trump and other barons in New York would laugh at this assessment. There's tons of to-die-for golf around the city from Winged Foot to Trump Bedminster to the new on-the-water jewel Liberty National Golf Club, they'd cry.

Mickelson, the great self-promoted man of the people, touted New York golf during the recent Barclays, FedEx Cup tournament. Of course, every golf course he mentioned is about as open to the general public as Dick Cheney's bunker.

This is where even Boston and Philadelphia blow away the city that Lady Liberty lords over.

So how's a New Yorker with a golf jones bigger than any Yankees love supposed to cope?

"I just go golf in Myrtle Beach a few times a year," local Ron Parker told me. "Tiger doesn't even play here."

And regular New Yorkers have an excuse that someone besides Tim Finchem would believe.

As always, TravelGolf.com welcomes your comments.

Summer golf in northern Michigan: Great climate and even better golf courses

While scorching late summer temperatures are keeping golfers away from sunbelt destinations like Scottsdale, another destination equally rich in golf is just starting to heat up: Northern Michigan. The area is saturated with excellent golf, yet few out-of-staters play there, so it's still something of a hidden gem. Bay Harbor Golf Club is one example of the excellent golf courses that make northern Michigan more than worth the price of the ticket for golf travelers.

Also: Gaylord remains the Midwest's top golf mecca

Ranking Florida's top golf resorts

Florida resorts offer some of the best golf vacation options in the world. Tim McDonald ranks the cream of the crop, led by Doral in Miami, the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, the Innisbrook near Tampa, the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, and Amelia Island Plantation.

Review: The Cypress golf course at the Grand Club near Jacksonville

Ryder Cup host Celtic Manor highlights Wales' emergence as a golf hotspot

The Ryder Cup may go down as the fuse that lit Wales' emergence into a golf hotspot, but the southern coast of this tiny country has been host to some of the Isles' most treasured links since the 19th century. Wales is small enough to experience golf in each corner in a week, but those not willing to travel so much will find their best option for a jam-packed itinerary on the south coast.

Photo gallery: Ashburnham Golf Club in Wales