Elite Traveler January-February 2019

GOLD MEDALS AND GRAND ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AMERICA When golf returned to the Summer Olympics lineup in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the world witnessed a compelling competition for the gold medal on a new Gil Hanse–designed course built specifically for the Summer Games. According to Kalos Golf vice president Casey Oliver, the allure of that championship layout served as the catalyst for the company’s new 13-day journey, which includes world-class golf in Brazil, Argentina and Chile. “The Olympic Course was the driving force for people to want to go on the trip,” says Oliver, who notes that travelers on this journey enjoy a post-round helicopter tour of Rio de Janeiro. “But there are really good golf courses throughout South America. People just haven’t explored farther afield than Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro.” This trip assures that exploration. Tee up at Hacienda Chicureo, a course just north of downtown Santiago, Chile, that looks as if it were transported fromArizona; the Gavea Golf and Country Club, which features a course that meanders through tropical rainforest outside of Rio de Janeiro; and Chapelco Golf and Resort, which is home to a Jack Nicklaus–designed course surrounded by a national park, set on the edge of the Andes Mountains in Argentina. The most adventurous round of golf on the trip is played at Llao Llao Golf Resort, a Patagonia estate surrounded by Lake Nahuel Huapi in southwestern Argentina. According to guide Penny Polson, “around almost every turn on the back nine you get a view of the magnificent Andes Mountains and the crystal-clear lake.” From $16,475 per person, contact Casey Oliver, vice president of marketing, coliver@kalosgolf.com, +1 919 942 3464, kalosgolf.com

L INKS TO THE PAST AND THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS For more than 30 years, Belmond’s Royal Scotsman has transported discerning travelers along the rails, whisking them from Edinburgh to the most scenic destinations along Scotland’s west coast and throughout the Highlands. Equipped with two restaurant cars, an observation car —where nightly entertainment is paired with cocktails and drams of whisky — a two-treatment-room spa car and 22 cabins, the luxuriously appointed train also transports guests back to a time when the rails represented the pinnacle of upscale travel. The Royal Scotsman has offered four-night golf journeys in the past, but the ultimate rail-and-links getaway awaits those who opt to charter the entire train privately. A seven-night, private golf journey aboard The Royal Scotsman can include as many as six rounds of golf at some of Scotland most prestigious golf clubs, including Royal Dornoch— the Highlands course where revered course architect Donald Ross learned the game fromOld TomMorris — and Cruden Bay, a unique links layout that offers views of the North Sea and the ruins of Slains Castle, a 16th-century baronial estate that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula . Closer to Edinburgh, you can play Kingsbarns, a young course that opened for play in 2000 and is set on a plot of land that saw its first golf holes built during the late 18th century. You can also visit Gleneagles for a round at the King’s Course, a layout designed by James Braid that opened in 1919 and in 1921 hosted the inaugural Ryder Cup match between British and American golf professionals. From$365,000 for private train charter, contact Lara Newell, group sales director, lara.newell@belmond.com, +44 203 1171 391, belmond.com

From top Chapelco Golf Course, Argentina; Royal Dornoch, Scotland