Golf Exclusives E-Newsletter - July 1, 2006

Summer in the City
How is your summer going? Here in Chicago, the weather is great, the courses are busy, and the Cubs are losing. Oh well, two out of three isn’t bad. I hope the golf where you are is great too. If you want to get away, I recommend: Garland Resort in Michigan, Chicago or SanDiego. Plus, we are always ready to help you customize a trip to your favorite location. Just contact us. We are ready to assist.

4-Man Scramble: When one man forgets his Gas –X.

Welcome to the Golf Exclusives Hole in One Club
We have a reader with a hole in one to report this issue He is Mel Reid. Mel got his hole in one on April Fools Day in Texas at the Mustang Creek Country Club on a 168 yard hole. Congratulation, Mel, your Gift Certificate is on the way.

If you or another member of your group has a hole in one, send us the information. It will be included in the next issue of our Newsletter. The golfer will receive a $25 Gift Certificate from Golf Exclusives, which can be used for future golf travel with us.

Ryder Cup Preview

I thought we could all use a preview to whet our appetite:

The Venue: From the moment you walk through the doors of Ireland’s K Club, you are met with the highest standards of gracious living in a 5 star hotel just 40 minutes from Dublin. Opulent, classical surroundings reflecting some of Ireland’s history but with the warmest, most discretely helpful people you have ever met. Two championship golf courses and a luxury spa complete the picture – the perfect setting for a vacation, or golfing holiday in Ireland.

The Players: Captain Tom Lehman has not announced the team yet, but here are the player rankings as of June 18, 2006:

Tiger Woods Phil Mickelson Jim Furyk Chad Campbell David Toms Zach Johnson

Brett Wetterich Vaughn Taylor Lucas Glover Davis Love III Fred Couples Tim Herron

Where did all the well-known US golfers go?

The summer of 1996 witnessed Tom Lehman winning The Open Championship and Tiger Woods turning professional. Ten years later at The K Club in Ireland, the United States will have Lehman as their Ryder Cup Captain, with Woods teeing it up in his fifth match against Europe.

Woods, of course, has dominated world golf in those 10 years, but being a student of the game, he knows that in those months leading up to his first professional appearance on the PGA Tour in Milwaukee that the dominant force in golf that summer was Thomas Edward Lehman.

For not only did Lehman win The 125th Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s with a breathtaking performance, including a brilliant third round of 64, but he also came within a whisker of capturing the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills in Michigan, where he finished only one shot behind Steve Jones. Moreover, he tied for 18th at the Masters and tied for 14th at the PGA Championship and, for good measure, led from start to finish winning the season-ending Tour Championship in Tulsa by six shots. He was No. 1 on the PGA Tour money list, won the PGA Tour Player of the Year and, momentarily, claimed the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Team Europe is led by the following ten players as of 6/18/06:

David Howell Jose Maria Olazabal Henrik Stenson Colin Montgomerie Luke Donald

Sergio Garcia Paul Casey Carl Petterson Paul Broadhurst Padraig Harrington

The Course: The Original Arnold Palmer course at the K Club is the site. This is Irelands first Ryder Cup.

You may have been forewarned that the K Club is no ordinary golf course, and that it is widely acknowledged as the country's most challenging inland layout, but still you will be unprepared for the ensuing drama.

The Palmer Course is, quite simply, one of Europe's most spectacular courses. It charms, it entices and invariably, brings out the very best in your game. The par 4, 16th is the best hole. At 387 yards it requires an accurate drive to avoid the Liffey River, and a precise second shot to clear the water that fronts the undulating green. Other holes that will pique your interest are the massive par 5, seventh at nearly 600 yards, the par 3, 17th with the river in play again, and the reachable 18th with its bunkers at the corner of the corner of the right hand dogleg.

Before or after the matches: If you are going, and are interested in some other Irish courses to play while you are there:

A breathtaking challenge awaits the golfers at Ballybunion, the glorious links course as one of the best in the world. A magnificent test of golf which meanders menacingly through massive dunes on the shores of the Atlantic, Ballybunion actually boasts two separate courses, the Old Course and the Cashen Course which was created by the famous Robert Trent Jones Sr. The Old Course, consistently ranked as one of the world's top ten courses. The Old Course is rated #8 of "The 100 greatest courses in the British Isles". Even on a less windy day walking is not easy here. If the wind is blowing strongly you will be happy to have survived. Close by, the Cashen Course, with its succession of formidable par fives and breathtaking beauty, amply qualifies as one of the world's masterpieces. The Cashen Course is rated #77 of "The 100 greatest courses in the British Isles".

Dooks is a testing eighteen-hole links situated of the most picturesque corners of the Ring of Kerry. A truly traditional experience awaits the visitors in Dooks. The golf course is laid out on one of three stretches of sand-dunes at the head of Dingle Bay. The first hole of some 400 yards is far from a gentle opening with a sloping fairway combining with a tightly guarded green. Number 13 best illustrates the charm and magic of Dooks. It is a throw back hole to the time when golf began. Greens lay where they fell and were the better for it. They are not very large but are well-protected and accuracy is required. The course, not very long but sometimes very narrow gets tougher when the wind is blowing.

Set in the scenic countryside in County Wicklow, Druids Glen is not only a privilege but a delight. Words hardly do justice to its beauty and when the sun shines, there is more than a casual resemblance to Augusta in the look of some of the holes. Indeed, while Augusta has its Amen Corner, Druids Glen can boast a stretch covering the 8th, 12th and 13th where some feel they only survive on a wing and a prayer. But a few quick words at the Druids Altar, a stone-pre-Christian place of worship, which overlooks the 12th green, may help. Druids Glen is the work of Irish designer Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock. Landscaping played a major role in the designers' creation. A small stream that meandered through the site has been dammed to form lakes and waterfalls in the lower part of the layout. Following in the footsteps of Mount Juliet, Druids Glen is already one of Ireland's great inland courses, it is rated #2 of "The Top 10 New Courses" in the British Isles".

Let me know if I can help select some of Ireland’s best courses for you to play.

• 5 nights accommodation: at Bewley's Hotel (Dublin)
• 5 Full Breakfasts
• Ryder Cup Celebration Evening including dinner and entertainment roundtrip shuttle coach transfers each day to the Ryder Cup matches including the final practice session
• 4 day entry tickets which allow access onto the course for 3 days of competition plus opening and closing ceremonies

• 7 nights accommodation: at Clarion IFSC (Dublin)
• 7 Full Breakfasts
• Ryder Cup Celebration Evening including dinner and entertainment roundtrip shuttle coach transfers each day to the Ryder Cup matches including all practice sessions
• 6 day entry tickets which allow access onto the course for 3 days of competition, 3 practice sessions plus opening and closing ceremonies

• 3 Nights Standard Accommodation in Carolina Room
• Daily Breakfast & Dinner
• 3 Rounds of Golf on-site
• Pre-booked Tee Times & Shared Golf Cart
• Unlimited Use of Range, Club Cleaning & Storage
• Resort Tax & Service Charges Included
• 3 Days Hertz Mid-size Car with Unlimited Mileage

• 3 Nights Standard Accommodation
• 3 Rounds of Golf - ASU Karsten, Lookout Mtn & Foothills
• Pre-booked Tee Times & Shared Golf Cart
• Club Cleaning & Storage
• 3 Days Hertz Mid-size Car with Unlimited Mileage

• 6 Nights standard double accommodations for 2 golfers at the 4* Killarney Avenue Hotel in Killarney
• 5 Rounds for 2 players 1 round at each of the following: Dooks , Killarney Lodge ( Killeen Course), Dingle, Ring of Kerry & Ballybunion New
• Local taxes on pre-paid items
• Rental car (Class A) automatic with CDW insurance, VAT and 2000 mile limit
• Full Irish Breakfast Daily
• 3 Days Hertz Mid-size Car with Unlimited Mileage