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Golf Hotels Tee time No matter where business takes you, always make time From Amman to Athens; San Francisco to Colombo, a round at these exquisite courses is worth the airfare alone. Roderick Easdale offers a guide to golf’s hidden gems amman The 31-storey Le Royal Hotel Amman is the tallest building in Jordan’s capital. Built this century, the hotel has 281 rooms and 13 restaurants and its business and conference facilities include the Ishtar ballroom, the city’s largest venue which can accommodate 1,800 guests. A side of this ballroom opens on to a hydraulic lift that can transport a car from the underground parking lot straight to the ballroom. There is only one golf course in the Jordan, Bisharat Golf Club, about 10 miles south of Amman, on the road to Queen Alia International Airport. It has nine holes but a different set of tees for the second nine provides for a par-67 layout. The clubhouse is built into a natural cave. 80 Upward Curve January-March 2012 Where to stay Le Royal T: +962 6 460 3030 W: leroyalamman.com Where to play Bisharat T: +962 79 552 0334 E: [email protected] Athens Hotel Grande Bretagne is ideally situated across from Constitution Square, the House of Parliament and the National Gardens, and within short walking distance of the business district. There are a dozen meeting rooms, the largest seating 600 people. The GB Roof Garden has Mediterranean gourmet cuisine and offers Right: Hotel at Half Moon Bay Golf Hotels Garden Court is part of 53,000 square feet of meeting space which includes three ballrooms and four boardrooms. The 552-room hotel is within walking distance of Union Square, the financial district and the Moscone Convention Center. But if you prefer to be within walking distance of the first tee instead, head 25 miles south to the Ritz-Carlton and Half Moon Bay, with its two 18-hole courses. The inland, parkland Old Course has a stunning cliff-top par-4 18th played downhill from the tee across a creek and then uphill to an elevated green alongside the terrace of the hotel. The shorter Ocean Course is a links offering with an American twist. views of the Acropolis – if you also fancy this view from your accommodation, request a room at the front of the hotel. The Glyfada Golf Club of Athens opened in 1966 and is Greece’s oldest club. Greece has precious few courses, and this is the only one in Athens, in the seaside town of Glyfada, a suburb of the capital. It was the venue for the World Cup of 1979, and the club now hosts the Faldo Series and the Greek Senior Open. Laid out between coast and mountains, there are 13,000 pines fringing the narrow fairways. The course is publicly owned and the conditioning can let it down, especially in summer, due to a lack of funds. 82 Upward Curve January-March 2012 Where to stay Hotel Grande Bretagne T: +30 210 333 0000 W: grandebretagne.gr Where to play The Glyfada Golf Club of Athens T: +30 210 894 6459 W: glyfadagolfclub.gr San Francisco Palace Hotel’s Garden Court’s stained-glass dome has looked down on many historic events, including the official banquet honouring the opening session of the United Nations in 1945, and there are thrice-weekly historic tours of the hotel building. The Where to stay Palace Hotel T: +1 415 512 1111 W: sfpalace.com Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay T: +1 650 712 7000 W: ritzcarlton.com/hmb Where to play Half Moon Bay T: +1 650 726 1800 W: halfmoonbaygolf.com Colombo Taj Samudra is set within 11 acres of landscaped gardens in Colombo’s business district and has views of the Indian Ocean. Conference facilities include the Samudra Ballroom which overlooks the Ocean, and the On Golden Pond which opens out to its own private water garden. There are seven banqueting halls in total catering for 50 to 400 people and two lawns can accommodate up to 2,500 guests. The hotel has a swimming pool, a gymnasium and tennis and squash courts. Founded more than 130 years ago, Royal Colombo is the second oldest Royal Golf Club outside the United Kingdom, reflected in its display of golf memorabilia in the clubhouse. The parkland layout in the centre of the city features many water hazards and, on the 6th, the Kelani Valley railway. The abundance of water attracts many water birds, with the 13th hole reckoned best for those golfers seeking birdies of the feathered type. Where to stay Taj Samudra T: +94 11 244 6622 W: tajhotels.com Where to play Royal Colombo T: +94 11 269 5431 W: rcgcsl.com Above: California’s superb Half Moon Bay course Below: The sublime Taj Samudra in Colombo