GRAND BAHAMA GOLFING Freeport is a golfer’s paradise with four and soon to be more golf courses. The Lucayan Country Club course, built by Dick Wilson, was ranked #1 in the Bahamas and #3 in the Caribbean by Golfweek Magazine. With high-rimmed bunkers, severe doglegs and pristine fairways, this well-maintained 6,824-yard track presents a challenge rarely equalled in the Caribbean. Getting around Grand Bahama is easy, with plenty of taxis located at airport and at all the major hotels and town locations. The public buses shuttle between both Port Lucaya Marketplace and the International Bazaar to the downtown area and from downtown to the outlying areas of West End and East End. Rental cars are also readily available at the airport. 1) Ruby Golf Course With trade winds always blowing, seemingly in your face on every hole, coupled with a challenging new Fazio re-design, the Ruby provides an excellent golf experience. The Fazio Design Group’s reshaping of fairways, bunkers and greens has taken this Joe Lee design to a new level of playability. Numerous sugar white bunkers gives the eye a pleasing contrast against the emerald colored fairways and greens but steer clear of these steep lipped traps or the results may not be sweet. Length of Course: 7,000 yards Number of holes: 18 Par/Slope/Rating: 72/122/72.4 2) Fortune Hills Fortune Hills is the centerpiece of a luxurious golf and country club community setting. The 17-acre course, built in 1971, is a Championship 9-hole golf course designed by Dick Wilson and Joe Lee. It offers challenging holes on some of the most expansive elevated greens in The Islands of The Bahamas. The number one handicap hole is the par 4 third, a 400-yard layout. It is the only water hole on the nine-hole course and has the smallest green. Greens fees are: 18 holes, $51; 9 holes, $35 (both include cart). Club rental: 18 holes, $15; 9 holes, $10. There is a 5% discount for green fees with condo rental. 3) Emerald The Emerald is cut through thick and beautiful vegetation but has wide fairways and landing areas. The greens are well protected with numerous bunkers and sand comes in play on several of your drives. This course allows you to pull the "Big Dawg" out on all of the par 4’s and 5’s and from the back tees a couple of the par 3’s might need the driver. The Fazio Design Group has turned this course into a challenge for all levels of play. Length of Course: 6,679 yards Number of holes: 18 Par/Slope/Rating: 72/121/72.3 4) Lucayan Course This 6,824 yard course, designed by Dick Wilson in 1962, places a premium on accuracy. Well-bunkered greens and generous fairways wander through pine tree stands and dense tropical underbrush. A sense of privacy prevails; foursomes rarely see each other during a round. Constant upgrades of the golf course and its facilities ensure the highest standards of golf. Tif dwarf grass -- a superior Bermuda grass, creates a faster truer putting surface.