San Diego's new luxury resort, the Grand Del Mar, opened in October. The resort has 249 guest rooms, including 31 suites. Golf is a main attraction, and the 18-hole, 7,160-yard, par-72 Grand Golf Club, opened in 1999, spans 380 acres. The course was recently renovated and added a water feature with an 18-foot waterfall; a practice area featuring a chipping green and sand bunkers; a second 4,200-square-foot putting green; and a 5,000-square-foot practice tee. Resort guests have exclusive access to the private club.

The resort also offers four swimming pools, tennis, and a 21,000-square-foot spa with 11 treatment rooms. Guest rooms have marble bathrooms with 13-inch, flat-screen televisions; pillow-top beds with goose-down pillows and Italian cotton linens; 40-inch, flat-screen TVs; and wireless, high-speed Internet access.

The Grand Del Mar offers more than 20,000 square feet of function and meeting space, including a 10,000-square-foot ballroom; an 8,400-square-foot outdoor event lawn; a 2,500-square-foot salon; three wine-themed meeting rooms with an adjacent private dining area in the wine cellar; and access to Yacht America, a replica of the vessel that won the 1851 America's Cup, available for groups of up to 85 people.

Venue News

Golf & Spa Update

Ocean Edge Resort & Club
Brewster, Mass.

The News: The $18.5 million Nicklaus Design remodel of the Cape Cod resort's 18-hole, par-72 golf course is almost complete. The clubhouse has also been redesigned. A $10 million expansion is adding 5,000 square feet of meeting and function space, including the new Bayside Ballroom (for up to 400 people) and a 2,500-square-foot pavilion.

Specs: 15,000 square feet of meeting space in 13 rooms; 334 guest accommodations — 90 in the 1912 Victorian-style Nickerson Mansion and 244 one-, two-, and three-bedroom villas; wireless Internet access throughout; tennis complex; fitness center; four restaurants

Timeline: Course grand opening June 2008, but it has been available for play since May 1. Bayside Ballroom to be complete in spring 2009.

La Quinta Resort & Club
La Quinta, Calif.

The News: All guest rooms were refreshed in 2007 with new bedding and flat-screen televisions. The Stadium Clubhouse at PGA West and the Mountain Clubhouse are getting a full makeover.

Specs: 66,000 square feet of meeting space, including two grand ballrooms and 39 multipurpose rooms; 800 casitas and suites; seven restaurants; 90 holes of golf on five golf courses; 23 tennis courts; a 23,000-square-foot spa; and 45 acres of gardens.

Timeline: Stadium Clubhouse makeover due for completion at end of 2008, or January 2009. Mountain Clubhouse project will be done next year.

Mount Washington Resort
Bretton Woods, N.H.

The News: A 25,000-square-foot spa with 13 treatment rooms is under construction, along with 30,000 square feet of meeting space. A $7 million renovation of the resort's two golf courses is under way. The 18-hole Mount Washington Course is being restored to its original Donald Ross design and is scheduled to open in August. A nine-hole expansion to the Mount Pleasant Course is set to open in 2011.

Time Frame: The spa and meeting center will debut in December.

News Makers:

• William Courtney Lowe has joined Bedford Springs Resort, Bedford, Pa., as director of sales and marketing. The resort completed a $120 million renovation, that included its A.W.Tillinghast/Donald Ross 18-hole golf course.

• The Resort at the Mountain, Welches, Ore., has appointed Chy Charles sales manager. The resort has a 27-hole golf course and is undergoing a $14 million renovation to be completed in late 2008.

A New Perspective

Want to “see” a course before you play? GolfFlyover LLC and V-Empower Inc. have partnered on www.GolfFlyover.com, where you can experience a free virtual tour of a golf course, as if you were riding in a helicopter. Selections are limited at this point, but GolfFlyover expects to complete virtual flyovers of 18,000 U.S. courses this year, and then expand to the rest of the world. Tours are powered through Google Earth, which can be downloaded by clicking a link on the GolfFlyover site.