This Week at TravelGolf.com: July 2, 2009

Golf in France's Rhone-Alps region is worth sinking your teeth into

If the golf doesn't get your attention in France, one of your dishes at dinner certainly will.

The Rhone-Alps region of France is the country's second highest golfing region by number of golfers and courses, and its largest city, Lyon, is often considered the nation's gastronomic capital thanks to its numerous celebrity chefs and casual bouchons with its outdoor, shoulder-to-shoulder seating.

Nearby Grenoble, on the other hand, is the gateway to some of the country's best mountain scenery, and a handful of golf courses, such as Grenoble International (a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design) and Correncon de Vercors, a sometimes quirky, yet always drop dead gorgeous design at more than 1,000 meters above sea level.

Golf in this region is the backdrop for a leisurely day of eating, drinking and simply relaxing. The pace of life seems unhurried here and the courses are always quiet, usually with no real estate in sight (unless you count neighboring farms), and the land is fertile at every turn. Upon walking off the green at St. Etienne Golf Club, we stopped a minute to pick sweet berries from a tree. And while I was looking for my balls in the rough, our French playing partner was collecting mushrooms (apparently around here France's best are grown).

I've seen better golf courses than the four I played last week in France, but I've never seen such imaginative plate presentations at restaurants, from dishes served on flat pieces of slate, to out of clear jam jars, to glassware so funky and modern I could hardly figure out how it didn't topple over.

Down in Lyon, which has a dozen neighboring courses in the surrounding, wide-open countryside, the easily walkable city center is far less intimidating, a few degrees warmer, and a bit easier on the wallet than Paris. And Lyon boasts a culinary reputation that's unmatched in France.

Once a hotbed for the silk industry and Italian bankers, when you walk these cobbled roads on a summer evening, you get the hunch 95 percent of today's economy is cafe based.

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Golf in the Pays de La Loire region of France: C'est magnifique

Sitting hard by the Atlantic, just south of Brittany and Normandy, the Pays de La Loire region of France boasts picturesque chateaux - and numerous golf courses including La Bretesche, Barriere La Baule and Golf de Pornic.

Blog: Walking off those French desserts

Scottsdale's Westin Kierland Resort: It's (almost) all about the golf

The Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. boasts 27 excellent resort-style holes, plus a cornucopia of golf-related amenities, from Segway carts to a world-class instruction center. Kierland's not all about golf, though. There's a spa for Mom and Dad, and a "director of fun" whose sole job it is to keep kids entertained, and loads more.

Also: Plan your Scottsdale golf trip

GolfTexas.com: Golfers heading to Houston have lots of options

There's no denying the nation's fourth largest city has plenty to offer in terms of entertainment, restaurants and golf. In addition to three pro sports teams, thriving downtown theater and museum districts, loads of shopping and warm weather year-round, the Houston area boasts about 150 courses, the majority of which are public.

Also: Texas-sized golf package deals

Tip: Improve your body position, improve your golf swing

So many golfers get their bodies out of position, either before the swing starts or in the backswing, that it makes it virtually impossible for them to get into a proper impact position and compress the golf ball. Here are four keys to work on to help get that good "squeeze" on the ball ...

Also: Swing tips at GolfInstruction.com