Today's Featured Article

Portofino Guests Invited to Experience New Emerald Coast Golf Trail for Free

Pensacola Beach, FL (PRWEB) July 24, 2008 -- Those seeking to get away from it all to the Gulf Coast's white-sugar shores have an added incentive to do so. Vacationing guests at the Portofino Resort & Spa in Pensacola Beach, Florida will play the panhandle's new Emerald Coast Golf Trail as a complimentary part of their stay.

The Premier Island Management Group, which oversees the operations of the 700+ unit development on the Gulf, recently partnered with Destin, Florida-based Amenity Services, Inc. to provide Portofino guests with daily complimentary golf rounds at the Trail. This program will allow guests to experience the Trail in a way that represents significant value to the vacationing golfer. "Portofino understands that amenities are critical to a satisfying vacation experience. We recognize what the advent of this new entity means to our guests. It will provide them with access to four diverse courses -- courses that are iconic within their communities. Bringing our guests superior value is what we are charged with and I believe this program delivers that value enormously," says Portofino General Manager, Robert Babcock.

The new trail is presented by the Meadowbrook Golf Group, a national full-service golf management and development company. It is comprised of Shalimar Pointe in Shalimar, Hidden Creek in Navarre, Tiger Point in Gulf Breeze and Scenic Hills in Pensacola. Each course has the virtue of being a short 15 to 50 minute drive from the other, and with fuel a consideration as it never has been before, this adds considerably to the value of this new offering.

While each of the courses featured on the Emerald Coast Golf Trail is distinctive in its own right -- Shalimar Pointe was awarded Golf Digest's Four Star Award Winner in 2001 and is one of Golf Week's Top 50 Southeast Development Courses; Hidden Creek serves as a host site for the US Open Qualifying Rounds; and Scenic Hills' 18-hole course was designed by Jerry Pate -- its crown jewel may well be Tiger Point. The course features some very clever and demanding holes and is roughly 7,000 yards from the back tees. The course (also designed by Jerry Pate) plays along the majestic Santa Rosa Sound and was formerly a host site for PGA Tour events.

Meadowbrook additionally seeks to market the Pensacola area as a premier golf destination and has compiled a web site, www.EmeraldCoastGolfTrail.com, to highlight the remarkable features of the Trail. "The Emerald Coast Golf Trail is a collection of four uniquely different golf properties under one owner, Meadowbrook Golf. It combines great golf with friendly, year-round weather and some of the finest beaches in the world," says Gregg Gagliardi, formerly of Meadowbrook Golf. "The all around Emerald Coast experience is world-class and provides guests with very competitive prices for lodging, golf and dining."

The Portofino Island Resort & Spa in Pensacola Beach provides a host of other complimentary amenities for guests vacationing at the property, including daily beach set up, beach towels, water taxi service (to ferry guests to the Portofino Island Boardwalk), unlimited DVD rentals and access to their state-of-the-art fitness facility.

For resort reservations, please visit Portofino Island Resort & Spa. Guests interested in further information regarding the Emerald Coast Golf Trail may visit www.EmeraldCoastGolfTrail.com.

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