ENGLAND:
New Spa near London
Tatler Magazine says the Stoke Park Club spa is one of the Top 10 British Spas, while Harpers Bazaar added it to their list of Top 100 Spas in the World. Just 30 minutes by train or taxi from Paddington Station, the 350-acre estate was the first country club in Britain in 1908. A Palladian mansion with 21 sumptuous guest rooms and 27 holes of parkland golf anchors the resort, making it a popular weekenders' destination. The newly built Spa, Health, and Racquet Pavilion sports a spacious indoor pool, a private atrium with a tropical aquarium, and a spa menu packed with sports-oriented treatments. The Sports and Remedial Massage promises to boost circulation and relieve aches and pains, and the De-stress Muscle Hydrotherapy Bath is a relaxing underwater massage that releases tension and tones the body. The SPC Men's Tonic Facial cleans, exfoliates, clears and invigorates men's skin with plant extracts and essential oils, followed by hot towel compresses, a facial massage, and ayurvedic scalp and foot massage.
 HILTON HEAD:
New Westin Spa
The first Heavenly Spa by Westin in the continental United States recently opened at the 4-diamond Westin Resort Hilton Head Island, within Port Royal Plantation on the northeastern tip of the island. The sleek, contemporary design facility comprises 9 treatment rooms, a full-service salon, mens' and ladies' lounges with steam and sauna, and a co-ed lounge. Before treatments, arriving guests receive a warm herbal pack to relax their shoulders. "Burden baskets" are stationed at each treatment room, where guests are welcome to symbolically leave their troubles (and the memory of their bogies) before starting their spa sessions. Related to the Westin's Heavenly Bed concept, the Heavenly Spa Massage features a face cradle overlooking a bowl of aromatic white flowers, and plush linens. Among golfers' favorite treatments, the Rollersage uses heated crystalline spheres to soothe tired muscles. Among two dozen golf courses on the island are three at Port Royal Plantation: Robber's Row, Planter's Row and the Barony Course. The Heaven and Heritage package includes a guest room, and a round of golf and spa treatment daily.
 SCOTTSDALE:
Hot Golf Balls?
Involving warmed Titleist golf balls, the Golfer's Massage at the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North may sound like a gimmick. In fact, it's a deeply relaxing, reviving remedy for hyper-exerted muscles. The warmth and the pressure of the warm golf balls, and the therapist's elbows, hands and upper arms kneading and stretching in long, soothing, smoothing motions--a version of "table Thai"--result in the ultimate in relaxation and pain relief. Guys go for the Gentlemen's Fitness Facial, too, which calms and hydrates skin irritated by shaving, pollution, desert dryness and the effects of the sun. Much of the 5-diamond resort has been recently renovated, and, little more than a long iron away, the spectacular Monument and Pinnacle courses at Troon North Golf Club have been significantly changed and reborn (see Golf Resort News).
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 NEW ZEALAND:
Play-and-Stay near Queenstown
The relaxed New Zealand country lifestyle is the order of the day at Queenstown's only five-star resort, the Millbrook, in a stunning alpine setting surrounded by snowy mountains. The original (Sir) Bob Charles-designed course has been refurbished and a new practice venue was added; an additional 9 holes will soon open. In the full-service spa, a stress and ache remover, The Impact, involves aromatic steam, massage and a heated thermal mask applied to golf-muscle areas, while the Golfers' Reviver combines a hydrotherapy Swiss shower to stimulate and detoxify, and a full-body massage. Accommodations are in guest rooms, studios, French provincial-style villas, cottages and homes, all with access to the indoor and outdoor swimming pools and tennis. Millbrook is adjacent to The Hills Golf Club, site of the New Zealand Open.
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 SANTA BARBARA:
Hilltop Shangri-La
At the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, which recently reopened after a $90 million renovation and expansion, golfers go for the Lillian Terry Massage, involving homeopathic remedies and essential oils to target the back, shoulders and neck. Also, the Deep Tissue Massage works to relieve muscular tension from overuse due to sports. Unique at this world-famous, 31,000-square-foot Mediterranean village themed spa are the Artist's Cottage and Apothecary, penthouse spa suites, mind/body and fitness evaluations, body composition testing, and personal instruction in yoga, meditation, T'ai Chi, Pilates, weight training, hiking, and more. Only here can you and your friends, together, participate in the Kuyam (Koo-Yahm), which combines the therapeutic effects of cleansing mud, dry heat, inhalation therapy and guided meditation. The short course entitled "Golf: The Name of the Game" is for new players, helping them get comfortable with etiquette and basic elements such as how to use a caddie, when to take a penalty stroke, what to do about a lost ball--basically, eliminating the intimidation factor. #40 on the 2006 Conde Nast Traveler Top 100 Golf Resorts Reader's Poll, the course at this 5-diamond resort is one of the Top 100 Women-Friendly U.S. Courses, according to Golf For Women.
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 DUBAI:
Monty's Masterpiece
Spa therapists trained at the acclaimed Banyan Tree Spa Academy in Thailand are on call at Angsana Spa at The Montgomerie, Dubai. Popular with golfers and travelers, the treatment, Muscle Ease, uses deep pressure of the thumb and palm to painlessly target trigger points, relieving strain on the upper and lower back and shoulders. Balinese, Indian, Thai, Hawaiian and other Asian-inspired techniques are used in various treatments, including Dreams, created specially for tired people with jet lag, a calming experience involving long, firm palm strokes that soothe tensed muscles and induce complete relaxation. The golf course designer, Euro-star Colin Montgomerie, integrated 81 bunkers, 14 lakes and the largest single green in the world into links-land style, palm-fringed fairways; the club is managed by Troon Golf. 21 contemporary-sleek guest rooms and suites are elegant retreats.
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 CALIFORNIA:
Southern California Golfers' Mecca
In a private indoor/outdoor suite at the Four Seasons Resort Aviara North San Diego, the "Golfer's Spa Suite Experience" features an oversized whirlpool, chaises in front of a fireplace and a practice putting green. The adventure begins with an exfoliating hand scrub and massage, focusing on the muscle groups used to grip the club. The full-body massage incorporates stretches and muscle manipulation of high tension areas, especially the back, shoulders and neck. Finally, a paraffin dip of the golfer's hands penetrates, hydrates and smoothes the skin. A premium cigar and an "Arnold Palmer" beverage are the finishing touches. A 5-diamond resort, Aviara has an award-winning Arnold Palmer course laid along the saltwater estuary of Batiquitos lagoon, running through verdant, tropically-landscaped coastal valleys. The massive, Spanish Colonial clubhouse is among the most elegant in the world of golf.
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 IRELAND:
Seve's Place Near Dublin
In the quaint village of Killenard an hour from Dublin, the new 5-star Heritage Golf and Spa Resort has already earned 5 stars, thanks to the 7,300-yard Seve Ballesteros and Jeff Howes-designed golf course and the Ballesteros Natural Golf School, plus a 9-hole academy course; sumptuous accommodations, and fine dining in the Arlington Room and the Sol Orien steakhouse. 20 therapy rooms are calm oases where golfers retire for Target Massage on the back, neck and shoulders; sports-specific full-body massage; and organic mud application with hamam Turkish bath. For 4 hours of pure pleasure and recovery, sign in for the Sporting Break, which combines the Heritage Spa Experience (sauna, steam, the tepiderium, the caldarium, hydro-pools, foot baths, multi-sensory showers) with the Total Back Ritual, a hand and foot massage and facial.
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 BAJA, MEXICO:
South of the Border
A 34,000 square-foot spa in contemporary Mexican hacienda-style, at the newly developed Las Palomas Beach and Golf Resort at Puerto Penasco, opens in early 2008. Twenty treatment rooms, in-treatment room jacuzzis, sauna, steam, a Janzu water massage room, relaxation pools, and a salon are under construction. Just 63 miles from the border of Arizona, with direct flights from LAX, the development already includes ocean-view accommodations with gourmet kitchens; an elaborate, beachfront swimming pool complex, restaurants and The Links golf course, a Forrest Richardson/Arthur Jack Snyder layout that careens over natural sand dunes, winding down toward the town of Puerto Penasco through hillocks and lagoons. A convention center and a shopping village are planned for this new vacation destination laid along the white-sand fringes of the Sea of Cortez.
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