...golf tours combined with visits to the classical sites of Greece...
Golf is a game in which a ball is struck with a club from a prepared area, known as the "teeing ground" - the starting place for the hole, defined by two tee-markers - across fairway and roughly to a second prepared area, which has a hole in it, known as the "putting green". The object of the game is to complete what is known as a hole by playing a ball from the teeing ground into the hole on the putting green in the fewest possible number of strokes. A "round of golf" consists of playing 9 or 18 such successive holes.
There are basically two forms of play, one which is decided by holes won and lost (match play) and the other which is decided by the total number of strokes taken to complete the round (stroke play).
"Match play" is a competition format in which the round is played with the purpose of winning individual holes. Scoring is kept by comparing the holes won by each player.
"Stroke play" refers to a round of golf in which the score is kept by adding the cumulative total of strokes taken throughout the round. The competitor who plays the stipulated round or rounds in the fewest strokes is the winner.
Greece has not yet developed a comprehensive golf culture, but there are still some courses to allow the visitor to explore a different kind of "Classic" in Greece. However, Greece is a country with a mild Mediterranean climate and an average temperature in winter months that render it an ideal golf location in autumn, winter and spring.
Golf enthusiasts or merely vacationers that wish to try out this sport can choose from one of the country's five greatest locations: the Glyfada Golf Course, a well established, pine-studded course near Athens; the Porto Carras Golf and Country Club in Northern Greece, at Chalkidiki, the famous three-finger peninsula; the Afandou Golf on sun-kissed Rhodes, where an International Championship Cup is organized twice a year; the Corfu Golf Club on enchanting Corfu; and last but not least, the Crete Golf Club at Chersonissos, an ultramodern 18-hole course open year-round. Besides, very close to the Crete Golf Club lie the MARIS HOTELS [www.maris.gr] (Creta Maris, Silva Maris, Bella Maris, Candia Maris, Terra Maris, Villas Arhanes and Avdou Villas), and golfers may choose the one that suits them best.
A number of tour agencies offer several golf tours combined with visits to the classical sites of Greece and the Greek islands.
The Hellenic Golf Federation lists about 1200 members throughout Greece. There is a P.G.A. office in Greece, located at the Glyfada course.