Gulf Shores, Ala. – The Gulf Shores Golf Association, with 10 signature golf courses and 32 miles of beaches, announced that the area’s golf courses, beaches and other attractions, including myriad lodging options, have made tremendous strides through the renewal program since Hurricane Ivan made landfall last fall. Hence, the area is ready to welcome back the visitors it receives each spring and summer.
“It’s been an incredible journey the past six months after the challenges Mother Nature gave us, but we’re excited for people to see that Alabama’s Gulf Coast is not only born anew, we’re in many ways better than ever,” says Bebe Gauntt, public relations manager for the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In addition to the area’s golf courses being in good shape, accommodations, restaurants, charter-boat fishing, parks and other attractions are prepared for the influx of visitors each spring and summer brings the area.
It is expected that nearly 95 percent of all lodging units will be open when peak season arrives by June – many brand new or newly refinished.
GSGA members include Timbercreek, Rock Creek, Glenlakes, Woodlands, Lost Key, Cotton Creek, Peninsula, Soldiers Creek, Cypress Bend and Kiva Dunes.
Indicative of the quality of the GSGA member courses, Kiva Dunes, designed by former U.S. Open Champion and Alabama native Jerry Pate, is rated No. 58 in Golf Digest’s “100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” in the United States.
Two of the courses, Woodlands at Craft Farms and Lost Key Golf Club, were named among the Southeast U.S. region’s five “best deals” according to GOLF Magazine’s “Bang for the Buck” rating system, as published in the March 2005 issue.
A third, Rock Creek Golf Club, was honored by the National Golf Foundation as the overall winner for the 2004 Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction Program Awards in the daily fee category. The annual awards are based on surveys fielded by the NGF throughout 2004.
For more information about the Alabama Gulf Coast, contact the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-745-7263 or www.gulfshores.com. For more information about the Gulf Shores Golf Association and its golf vacation planning, visit www.golfgulfshores.com or by calling 1-888-815-1902.
Ivan's gone, golf returns to Gulf
The Gulf Shores Golf Association announced that the area’s golf courses have made tremendous strides through the renewal program since Hurricane Ivan.