Article Directory :: Sports & Recreation Articles

Guatemala now a Golf Destination as well as world class fishing !

By Kevin Styles

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 12Nov2009 Word count: 669 Viewed: 304 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

When you are thinking of golf destinations, Guatemala may not be the first that comes to mind.

For a population of about 14 million living in a country roughly the size of Tennessee, golf remains largely an elitist sport, but that is starting to change.

The country is home to five courses and to date has comfortably accommodated the country's two thousand or so active players. The most recent addition to this stable of International courses is La Reunion located just 11 miles outside the old capital and world heritage site of Antigua.

The course is based within the 1380—acres of a former coffee plantation and in the shadows of four towering volcanoes—Agua, Fuego, Acatenango, and Pacaya. It has been appropriately named "Fuego Maya" or Mayan Fire - and was designed by renowned course architect Pete Dye.

The course is relatively long, although even an average golfer should be able to complete the round in under 4 hours.

The avergae golfer enjpys almost perfect conditions almost every round that he plays here.

The air temperature is comfortably warm from early in the morning until sunset - and then becomes refreshingly cool later in the evening.

A perfect end to a great round is to sip a cool glass of Gallo at the nineteenth hole and debate about the shot that got away and what could or shuld have been.

Maybe next time.

Although lacking the links (excuse pun) to the Royal & Ancient, there are indigenous links to the ancient Mayan calendar, which consists of 20 months of 18 days each. The final 5 days of the lunar calendar are then consumed by "Wayeb" which is held as a sacred time for relaxation and contemplation for the coming journey or the following calendar - much as the golfers' consider their return to the challenges of the course or their next tee time.

Despite its only now emerging golfing population, Guatemala is starting to display its talents on the International golf scene - the country recently qualifying for the first time ever in an International event with the success of two budding stars Pablo Acuña and Alejandro Villavicencio who will represent the country at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup to be held in China November 27-30 which has a prize of $5.5 million.

If you want to try your hand on this remarkable course perhaps as an "off" day from fishing in Guatemala, The GreatSailfishing Company is pleased to arrange tee times for you - and even has a selection of golf sets for you to choose from (it can be difficult to rent clubs in Guatemala), just ask a nd we will be happy to accommodate you !

The fishing this past week has ranged from outstanding to tough - as has the weather !

The storm that is now approaching the Gulf Coast has been busy pushing fronts across all of Central America - and Guatemala was quick to catch a cold !

Early in this past week we have been seeing days where 20-30 billfish raised was the norm - but as soon as the front and the weather came in, the seas built and unfortunately the fishing slowed. The Netland group saw decent fishing their first day, with a half dozen sailfish and a good sized Blue Marlin that took over two hours to bring to the boat for release.

Following days however brought ever increasing seas, and most boats stayed closer to shore - either splitting the day with some inshore fishing, or searching for Dorado and sailfish at about 25 miles.

The weather has now passed, and with the calmer seas the bait is now concentration again - so we are hopeful to see consistent fishing more on a par to the early part of last week than the latter days.

The winter almanac is forecasting the coldest winter in North Anerica in a decade - so this is a great year to book in for a fishing trip to the calm waters and sunshine of Guatemala while we still have dates available !

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here

More articles by Kevin Styles

Free Report!
Ten Essential Secrets Of Article Marketing ... Grab Your Free
Copy Now:

Need Content?
Regular Top Quality Content for your Blog, Ezine or Website ...
Delivered Direct,
For Free!
Click For Details