http://bobcullengolf.com Great Golf and Travel Writing Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:35:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Contemplating golf in Costa Rica, I think of the Law of Comparative Advantage. Perhaps you remember it from Economics 101. Put simply, it suggests that things be done in the place where they are done best. You could, perhaps, grow rubber trees in Alaska if you were willing to invest enough in greenhouses and heating oil. But why would you? There are tropical countries much better suited to growing rubber trees. Similarly, you can play golf on a Costa Rican vacation. But ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/1078/comparative-advantage-and-golf-in-costa-rica I have long loved finding a good golf course that's out-of-the way and little known--a hidden gem. I still get a warm feeling when I think about courses like Strathlene, in Scotland, or Ardglass in Northern Ireland. So I was eager to like the Papagayo Golf and Country Club in the little town of Libertad, Costa Rica. It qualifies as obscure. It will forever be overshadowed by the Four Seasons Resort at Papagayo, a neighbor in the northwestern ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/1033/golf-in-costa-rica-papagayo-golf-and-country-club The first thing to know about Costa Rica's Reserva Conchal Golf Club is that it's hard to play there. Not that the course is exceptionally difficult. It's just an ordeal to get on. Call for a tee time and you'll be informed that Reserva Conchal is a private club and allows non-members to play only if there is space available. There's a pause and then--why, Heavens to Betsy--you're in luck. You may be able to play. And at just ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/1013/golf-in-costa-rica-reserva-conchal A golfer at Costa Rica's Hacienda Pinilla should expect surprises. There might be a howler monkey bellowing in a big tree overhanging the 9th tee. There might be cowboys rounding up cattle in a bit of ranchland between the 12th green and the 13th tee. But the biggest surprise is likely to be the wind. For some reason, Hacienda Pinilla is one of the windiest courses I've seen outside of Scotland or Ireland. The wind made its presence ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/994/golf-in-costa-rica-hacienda-pinilla Playing golf on the La Iguana course in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica is like listening to a violin recital by a five-year-old. Close your eyes and you're not going to mistake the kid for Jascha Heifetz. But with your eyes open, you've got to admit that it's remarkable someone that size can even lift a violin, much less produce music on it. That's the nature of golf in the tropics, and of La Iguana. No one's ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/975/golf-in-costa-rica-la-iguana There was a time when a golfer visiting Washington needed one thing above all: a friend who belonged to a country club. Playing public golf in the nation's capital was like watching a congressional committee mark up a tax bill. The process was crowded, slow and not very attractive. But while Congress has, against all odds, gotten worse recently,  things have changed for the better on the Washington golf scene. Indeed, for a golfer visiting Washington, this is a ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/947/the-top-five-plays-in-washington If someone were reviewing me, I certainly wouldn’t want him to see me as I am early on some misbegotten Sunday mornings—rumpled and bleary-eyed, dressed in a ratty bathrobe, buried in the newspaper and grumpy until the second cup of coffee kicks in. So I am a bit reluctant to judge Old Trail Golf Club in Crozet, Virginia after playing it on a chilly, windy, November day, not long after the greens had been aerated. The ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/932/old-trail-waste-of-a-good-pasture The way I’ve been playing golf lately, you’d think the last thing I’d want to see during a round would be a graveyard. The symbolism is too obvious. The final resting place of my single digit handicap. The ultimate destination of my hopes for a score in the 70s. The retirement address I edge closer to with every yard that drops off my average drive. So you’d think that I’d have little use for a golf ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/910/westfields-whistling-past-the-graveyard From 1916 to 2001, spending time in Lorton was not good for a Washingtonian’s reputation. That was when the District of Columbia’s penitentiary was located in Lorton, about 20 miles south of the capital at a railroad crossing in Virginia farm country. But all that has changed. Back in 2001, the penitentiary closed. It and 1,000 surrounding acres were returned to Fairfax County for public use. A high school was built. Parkland ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/895/laurel-hill-jailbreak No president, as far as I know, has teed it up at Maryland’s Lake Presidential since it opened in 2008, despite the invitation inherent in the name. But the president, who can play pretty much wherever he wants, would find it a worthy challenge. Lake Presidential is one of the best daily fee courses in the Washington area. The story behind Lake Presidential is a long one. Years ago, Greg Norman did a routing for the ... ]]> http://bobcullengolf.com/golf/golf/882/lake-presidential-one-of-washingtons-best