"I must come back and enjoy this golf course!" my colleague sighed as we stood beside Xanada, the golf club's clubhouse and Cuba's only 18-hole golf course. He went on, "Imagine we can combine a holiday by everyday romping on this beautiful beach with its talcum sand and relaxing waters then play [playing] a game of golf. It will be a perfect vacation for golfers seeking a fulfilling holiday." My colleague had a point. For vacationers enamoured with golf, Varadero's Golf Club located in Cuba's resort-filled charming Hicacos Peninsula is the place to play the game.

A world-class championship golf course, the Varadero Golf Club opened its doors in 1998 on what once was the estate of the US based Dupont family with the their former elegant 1930s home as the 'clubhouse'.

Owned and operated by Rumbos of Cuba, it was designed by Les Furber, President of the Canadian Co, Golf Design Services, hailing from Alberta, Canada. It is an eye-catching 18-hole, par 72, 6,896-yard course, constructed to meet the highest possible specifications. The course has 4 km (2.7 mi) cart path bordered by 5.7 ha (14 ac) of natural saltwater ponds, feeding directly from the sea.

Its location, amid modern luxury hotels on one of the most inviting beaches in the world gives it an appealing setting. Varadero's beach, a stretch of 20 km (12.5 mi) of tourist enticement offers mile after mile of talcum, sugary-white sand, so fine that it glides like silk across the feet and, as well, the edging clear-blue waters are unsurpassed in the whole of the Western Hemisphere. For me, Varadero has always been a perfect spot in the sun and I never tire of its tourist attributes. Each time its sands seem to be more luring than the last. Set in this aura, the Varadero Golf Club, possesses the best course and facilities for the practise of golf in Cuba - for golfers a holiday Mecca.

The extensive mowed grass extending for a mile seems to be in harmony with the various shades of blue emitted from the shore waters lapping the white sands. This gives the course a conception of a paradisiacal spot where salt, sea, sand, grass and trees create an aura of a relaxed and soothing atmosphere.

The golf course can be split into two distinct areas: one taking in the holes 1 to 9, considered an easy challenge; and the second, 10 to 18, has some holes more complex and demanding. Each hole has a minimum of 4 tee areas, which allow golfers of whatever ability to test their skills alike, for the low handicap or the professional golfer.

Besides tree-lined fairways and huge open greens, the course also features a 300 m (984 ft) long game practice area, offering a driving range and a fairway bunker with both shallow and steep faces. Golf experts consider the Varadero Golf Club to be one of the best well planned courses in the Caribbean area.

In 1999 and 2000 it hosted two European Challenge Tour Grand Finals. A number of golfers have indicated that it is a golf course that will leave its mark in the world of golfing. In the words of Fuber, its architect, 'Varadero Golf Club is a combination of bogy easy and difficult par'.

Set amid majestic palms and other greenery the panorama of the course delights the onlooker. With well-tended sparkling green fairways complemented by the glimmering blue sea, the golf course serenades the senses and gives one a feeling of exhilaration.

The clubhouse, the former luxurious Dupont mansion, has an excellent French restaurant offering a French-style menu, apparently in keeping with its former owners who were of French origin. Located on an elevated coral outcropping overlooking the white beach sands, gently washed by a clear emerald sea, the clubhouse also offers visitors a large pro-shop and caddie house with a bar, plus caddies and electric carts-readily at hand.

Once considered a no-no in Cuba since it was considered a bourgeois sport, golf today, as Varadero Golf Club testifies, is taking hold. In the near future, this only 18-hole golf course in the country will be joined by at least 10 others with golf resort projects now in the pipeline.

As for us this day, as we sat in the open air terrace at the 19th hole restaurant overlooking the 18th green and we sipped on our Cuba Libre in an aura of beauty and contentment, I thought of the many enchanted places that I had visited in my long writing career. Surveying the scene, I easily placed the Varadero Golf Club among the best.

IF YOU GO

Facts to Know About Cuba and the Varadero Golf Club:

For Further Information, Contact:

• Varadero Golf Club: Tel: 53 45 668482. Fax: 53 45 668481. E-mail: info@varaderogolfclub.com Website: http://www.varaderogolfclub.com/en/home.asp; or
• Cuba Tourist Board, Toronto: 1200 Bay Street. Suite 305. Toronto. ON. M5R 2A5. Tel: (416) 362-0700. Toll Free: 1-866-404 CUBA (2822). Fax: (416) 362-6799 e-mail: info@gocuba.ca; or Montreal: 2075, rue University, Bureau 460 Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2L1 Tel: (514) 875-8004 Fax: (514) 875-8006 e-mail: montreal@gocuba.ca Website: http://www.gocuba.ca/en/index.asp

Habeeb Salloum is a freelance writer, author and member of Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) residing in Toronto, Canada, who has travelled extensively to most parts of the world and has written comprehensively about topical items, tourism and the cuisines of the countries through which he has journeyed.

Salloum has hundreds of articles published about various types of travel destinations, entertainment, food, literature and topical and cultural subjects. In addition, he has five books and 18 chapters in books published, relating to these subjects.