An Enjoyable Time at the Golf Course

Golf is game of leisure. When most other sports turn out to have nail-biting finishes and edge-of-the-seat final moments, Golf is a gentleman's game with no such frills and frivolities. It is remarkable that so many people choose this game to while away their time. Golf is indeed the game if you want to relax!

It is a good exercise to keep oneself fit as a fiddle. An eighteen-hole golf course will ensure that the golfers spend a few hours breathing fresh air and basking in the sun. Golf is a good option for people who do not have the scope to exercise due to work constraints. It is indeed an interesting sport that allows you some pleasant time outdoors!

Hardcore golfers do make it to the golf courses just for the love of the game. They simply enjoy the challenge it throws on them. Golfing indirectly helps you to meet the challenges faced in life just as you negotiate the swing in the golf course. Other than the sheer love for this sport, golf also offers various other advantages and let us check them out:

Did you know that golfing could get you in touch with other businessmen and professionals? Golf courses have always acted as a medium to forge business deals and contracts. Apart from this, it is a way to develop your social contacts too. Too many golfers have benefited by gaining clients and business proposals at the golf club. Treating your clients at a golf course will ensure that your business reaches a new height because a happy client means more business.

In the personal front too, golf plays a pivotal role. Having a troubled relationship with your spouse? Why not take a break to the golf course, try a hand on the game and enjoy the scenic beauty there? This is sure to have a soothing effect on the couples and things would certainly work out in the domestic front.

Schedule a meeting with friends at a golf course every now and then. This ensures that you are in touch with them despite your busy schedules and also helps in strengthening the bond.

If you are looking to spend your time leisurely with no worries, head to a golf course right away. It is the place that offers you relaxation and tranquility. Charge yourself up emotionally after a great game of golf and spread the message to your buddies too!

Where to Buy Golf Equipments in Florida

Florida is one of the hotspots of the golf sport where gorgeous vistas of golf courses can be found. But the beautiful courses are not the only thing you can find in Florida. If you have decided recently to visit the State to play golf yet wondering where you could possibly buy some items to help you in your eighteen holes play, here are a couple golf store recommendations in Florida.

Edwin Watts Golf

Edwin Watts Golf Shops, LLC is one of the world's premier specialty golf retailers headquartered in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. They have been in the business for over 44 years now, earning them the tag as America's Golf Club. They offer a wide variety of golf products, including clubs, apparel, shoes, balls, bags and carts, GPS and Rangefinders, accessories, training aids and even personalized items. They have several price drop offers, including discounts in Taylormade, Nike, Callaways and Adam's clubs. Edwin Watts Golf is available in 32 different locations in Florida.

Alf's Golf Shop

Alf's Golf Shop sells new and used equipment, and accepts trade-ins. They continue to satisfy the needs of the patrons who come their way for over 20 years now. They have clubs, balls, shoes, bags and accessories available in store for golf enthusiasts. They have gift certificates available as well as E-Certificates that you can purchase as a gift to your golfing buddies. Your buddies then can redeem the items at their physical retail stores using GC or online using EC. Alf's Golf Shop is available in three different locations in Florida. They have two retails stores in Miami, and the other one is located in Coral Gables.

Dick's Sporting Goods

Dick's Sporting Goods started from a hard-earned $300 savings. From there, it has evolved tremendously to over 450 stores operated by Dick's family, offering the finest quality products, including golf equipments. They have in store golf clubs, apparel, shoes, electronics, bags, carts, gloves and accessories. They are currently offering Callaway GC wherein you get up to $50 worth of free goods on purchase of Callaway items. Another promotion they offer is a saving on purchase of complete golf sets. And for those looking for golf memorabilia, they have a clearance sale on golf shoes, apparel and accessories. In Florida, they are accessible in 18 different store locations.

Golf Galaxy

Golf Galaxy just started its first store in 1997, but the enormous demands in golf-related products lead them to expand rapidly and to become the world's first and only interactive golf store providing world-class selection of branded golf items. They have lines of authentic golf equipment, apparel, shoes and accessories. They also offer custom club fitting, full service club repair, lessons and club trade-ins. They provide different advantages to patrons, including the Advantage Club, flat-rate shipping, price guarantee and free returns. Golf Galaxy is available in Fort Myers, Orlando and Pembroke Pines in Florida.

North Wales James Braid Golf Trail: Bangor St Deiniol Golf Club

Famous Scottish golf course architect James Braid (1870-1950) is remembered for his work in designing many well-known golf courses during his lifetime, including work at Gleneagles and Carnoustie. He also won the Open Championship five times, so he was as celebrated a player as he was a designer.

Braid designed a number of excellent golf courses throughout North Wales, and in 2012 these have been linked together as the North Wales James Braid Golf Trail, which comprises ten of Braid's golf courses in the North Wales area.

While all of Braid's courses were different in layout and design, they shared several common features. For instance, the 'lie of the land' was an integral part of each course's design, with natural features and obstacles being incorporated into the course to provide satisfying rewards for accurate play. And while at a typical James Braid golf course each hole varies in length and character, dog legs are a common feature - a shape which encourages playing for position.

Bangor St Deiniol Golf Course was opened in 1906 and re-designed by James Braid in 1909, and has been extended several times since. The mature 18-hole course covers 120 acres of grassland overlooking the city of Bangor, and boasts outstanding views of Snowdonia from almost every hole.

With the rise and fall of the land at Bangor St Deiniol, forget about brute force - it's control and course management that you'll need here. With so much greenery, gorse and woodland at Bangor St Deiniol, it's a course that is best suited to golfers that can exercise control. Most fairways offer risks and there are blind holes to provide some very satisfying challenges.

Despite advances in golf technology, with Bangor St Deiniol's tight fairways, hidden greens and strategic hazards good ball placement is essential. Although today's equipment provides extra length, this is no substitute for accurate play!

Only snow stops play at Bangor St Deiniol, where the course is playable virtually all year round. The course dries very quickly after rainfall, and winter greens are unheard of.
Notable holes

Bangor St Deiniol's signature hole is the third, which boasts several typical James Braid course features such as slopes, gorse bushes, a dog leg and a narrow fairway - and an elevated green to challenge players even further. This hole plays tough against the prevailing westerly wind, and when you take on the elevated green you'll need to be into or through the gap; if you're short of the gap, you risk taking on the bank 70 yards short of the green.

The view from the 16th tee is fantastic; it looks out to Llandudno, with Puffin Island and the Great Orme prominent. This par 4 hole is the easiest at Bangor St Deiniol, but it still offers both risk and reward, and a shot that slips down the back of the green will leave a difficult recovery.

The 12th is a firm favourite - all downhill, with a blind tee shot and gorse to both left and right, a large oak tree guarding the green, and a grass bunker.

The par 5 14th has two bunkers short of the green, but these don't draw the ball in. The shot from the top of the bank provides a good challenge, and the views are excellent too - this is the highest point in Bangor, offering a great view of Bangor Cathedral.

Bangor St Deiniol also has six par 3 holes, at least one in each direction - north, south, east and west - requiring the golfer to play downwind, upwind, and in both side winds.

Facts and figures

Size: 18 Holes - 5652 yards par 68

Address: Pen y Bryn, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 1PX
Tel: +44 (0) 1248 353098
Fax: +44 (0) 1248 370792

In the area

Bangor St Deiniol Golf Club is on the outskirts of the historic cathedral city of Bangor. On days when you're not golfing - or if there are members of your party that prefer not to play golf - there is plenty to see and do in the area. Bangor has an excellent high street shopping centre and there are several retail parks nearby. Bangor is within easy reach of other Snowdonia towns and villages such as Llanberis and Caernarfon, where there are many excellent attractions and activities to be enjoyed.