Golf - Dominican "Style"

Debbie Fairvalley is the Director of Sales for Sterling Brownell. She is an avid golfer and has a lot to say about Punta Cana below!

Move over Pebble Beach there are new “links” to be discovered and they hail from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I have just returned from one of THE BEST golf outings I have ever experienced! I took a quick (3 hour) flight direct from Atlanta to Punta Cana and within minutes of arrival at the airport I was on the tee of a challenging seaside course that rivals the view from the Monterey Penisula.

Casa de Campo’s “Teeth of the Dog” course has a stellar reputation of providing the best golf in the Caribbean and I am delighted to say there is now an excuse to venture out to the east coast and experience Punta Cana. There are currently 2 signature courses one by Jack Nicklaus called Punta Espada, in Cap Cana, and a P.B. Dye course called La Cana. These two alone are worth a long weekend, but the real excitement is what is coming down the road within the next few months (opening is set for March). Corales a Tom Fazio design will be the ultra chic and very exclusive country club of such notable celebrities as Oscar de la Renta, Julio Iglesias, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. I had the privilege of riding the newly sod pristine fairways of this very long (over 7,500 yards from the tips) spectacular course and can’t wait to return in April with clubs in hand! This course is private and you must be an invited member or a guest of the Tortuga Bay resort to play it. Needless to say, there won’t be long waits at the tee or suffering through 5 hour rounds as on some resort courses. Nine of the holes on Corales feature breathtaking views of the turquoise blue ocean. Couple the views with the challenging layout, long yardage, gusty Caribbean winds, white sand fairway bunkers and you have an exciting round of great golf!

Punta Espada is a “must play” immaculately groomed links course that offers eight seaside holes – all of which are memorable. Keeping your mind on your game will be tough when every hole is a “post card”. The course plays 7,396 from the tips but there are four sets of tees that make it fun and challenging even for the high handicapper.

Caddies are mandatory and offer great insight into shot placement and getting the right read on the greens. Giamberto, my caddy, cut at least 8 strokes off my game and I later found out he is quite the player himself. After our round we experienced the beautiful new clubhouse and found the amenities as elegant as any of our US private country clubs –right down to the spacious locker rooms.

P.B. Dye’s La Cana course is also his home. He has a lovely view of the 7th hole from his balcony. This course features long fairway bunkers and waste areas and an interesting contrast to the Nicklaus design. The par threes feature multi-tiered greens and present an island green as well. The fairways are wide and forgiving and the whole course feels more like “playing at the beach” (rather than the cliffside views from Punta Espada). Caddies are also available (not mandatory) but I thoroughly enjoyed the humor and gentility of John, my caddy. He was well worth the $20 + tip!

By the end of the year a new road system will allow a 30 minute drive to have you playing any of the 4 glorious courses of Casa de Campo in the morning and the great new tracks at Punta Cana in the afternoon. For a die hard 36 holer – this will be “heaven”…..

If you want a rich golf experience, an opportunity to feel as though you are playing your own private course, spectacular views, and accommodations that are “over the top” luxury then you MUST put Punta Cana on your radar for your next golf outing!

To learn more about golf in the Dominican or around the world, contact Debbie Fairvalley by clicking here. To learn more about Sterling Brownell, click here.

Wonders of Ancient Egypt

Linda Terrill, a luxury travel advisor for Brownell, has just returned from an amazing adventure in Egypt. Read on for her fun review.

I am home from Egypt, where I accompanied a small group on Trafalgar’s “Wonders of Ancient Egypt” tour. My group wanted a moderately priced trip, but naturally wanted an exceptional experience with a good taste of Egypt. Trafalgar provided them with a banquet. The 13-day tour was offered at a very reasonable price. The accommodations, ship and services of our Egyptologist guide were exceptional, and cruising for 7 days on the Nile was bliss. The pre-tour hotel was the Le Meridien, located directly across from the Great Pyramids; the post-tour hotel was the Conrad Hilton on the Nile River, and our 7-day journey on the Nile River was spent on the MS Giselle. While the ship is fairly old, it was very clean and comfortable and the crew provided excellent service and good food. Best of all was our tour director. We all agreed that he had to be one of the most knowledgeable Egypt specialists in the country!

Note about riding a camel: It is harder than you think. I would not recommend it. I would not do it again. I wouldn’t give anything in the world for the incredible experience!! Now that’s was a true “Bucket List” adventure.

Whether you are looking for a moderately-priced tour or a more deluxe tour, I encourage you to consider this amazing destination. We felt completely safe the entire time, the people were extraordinarily friendly and the weather in November was ideal. It was truly a trip of a lifetime and exceeded everyone’s expectations.

To contact Linda or learn more about travel in Egypt, click here. To learn more about Brownell travel, click here.

Live from Egypt

Linda Terrill, a luxury travel advisor for Brownell, is currently with a small group touring Egypt. Read on for her adventures so far!










I’m sitting in a dirty little dive on the banks of the Nile River, but they have Internet access. When the river boat announced on our arrival that their internet access was out of order, I truly believed I need to be in a 12-step program for instant communications. Fortunately, Pam Peele is my wonderful back-up and is handling my pending business. Instead of fretting over my lack of internet access, I have focused my energies on everything Egypt. What an amazing place. We’ve visited the Great Pyramids and Sphinx, Alexandria and Luxor so far. Each site is more spectacular than the last.

Now that we’re on the Nile, our tours begin around 6 am (ugh) until 9:30 and then again in the afternoon when the sun begins to set. The heat is just too intense during the day.



















To describe Egypt in a word: WOW! I’ve taken hundreds of pictures and we’ve only been here 5 days! Of course, we know about the outcome of the elections; CNN on our TV on the riverboat. The people in Egypt are very excited about Senator O.

We have four armed guards on the back of the ship each day -- with mounted machine guns, and there were 6 guards with machine guns at the gangway in Luxor this afternoon. Always an armed guard on the tour buses. This is to keep the pirates away so they won’t overtake the ship or tour buses. Really! No joke. Who knew?
















Heading to Aswan tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll get internet access (or I’ll find another dive with a computer along the way). In the meantime, I’m back to everything Egypt.

To contact Linda or learn more about travel in Egypt, click here. To learn more about Brownell travel, click here.