Become an informed consumer while still on vacation! Check out Jaunted's newest series of the Best Factory Tours the world over, and let us know if we missed any.

Ever heard the urban legend about how peeling the top layer of a golf ball will cause it to explode? Us too! We expect a tour of Karsten Manufacturing, maker of Ping golf balls, to clear this mystery up for us.

Karsten Manufacturing founder Karsten Solheim got into golf as a young engineer when his coworkers at General Electric strong-armed him into joining their foursome; the putter he subsequently designed first made a big splash when a winner at a Phoenix PGA tournament used it. At Karsten in Phoenix, you can watch club heads being molded in a machine and later, real-life orders personalized for golfers around the world. ]]> egw 2009-09-03T16:29:45-05:00 33.5849080 -112.10447 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/6/85847/06482

You know how some people consider golf as just a nice walk? Down Under they're talking the walk to an extreme with the Nullarbor Links golf course, and you might not want to spend the day strolling along this course, with or without your clubs: it's 848 miles long.

That's more than just a pretty long hunk of green; in fact it's the world's longest golf course.

Granted that all distances are big in the Australian outback, where the Nullarbor Links is located, but perhaps this is taking things a little (literally too far). Stretching from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia across the desert to Ceduna in South Australia, the idea is that you purchase your score card at one end or the other, and play each of the 18 holes as you drive across the desert. They suggest the game will take you about four days to play.]]> amandak 2009-08-06T09:07:22-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/19/193511/706

Clearly, he learned nothing on the set of "Caddyshack": Actor and amateur sportsman Bill Murray hit a woman this weekend while golfing in the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am with a nasty hook shot, yet continued to play.

Course-side resident Gayle DiMaggio was taken to the hospital to get stitches on her forehead after she was hit while watching the game in her backyard Friday. Murray did come over to check on her, but finished out the tournament to take seventh despite forcing course staff to wear hard hats -- while DiMaggio, unluckiest woman alive, was almost nailed by another shot Saturday, this one off the club of former Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks. ]]> egw 2009-04-20T09:17:11-05:00 28.1551220 -82.528632 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/2/17751/70055

Tiger Woods put golf on hold after he won the US Open early this summer, taking off for knee surgery. But he put all that free time to use: Wife Elin Nordegren and Tiger are expecting a second child sometime this winter.

But rather than sit around in Orlando picking out paint for the nursery, Tiger made some time to travel, too: After a trip to Dubai to check on a super-swanky new course of his own design, he also stopped in to see Conan O'Brien in New York. Maybe he passed the "Late Night" host an invite to The Cliffs at High Carolina?

Related Stories:
· Tiger Woods' Wife Expecting [AP, via Google]
· Tiger Woods Expecting Second Child [Reuters]
· Does Dubai Need the New Tiger Woods Course? [Jaunted]
· Mapping Tiger Woods' New Course [Jaunted]

[Photo: Gossip Girls]]]> pbb 2008-09-02T17:15:21-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/25/234349/612

Maybe it's because we don't play much golf ourselves, but we're just not sure why Dubai needs so many golf courses--especially since it's in the middle of the desert. But Tiger Woods and his design company have just unveiled the whole big plan for The Tiger Woods Dubai which will be a hotel, residential estate and golf course all in one.

For all you golf travel lovers, the new 18 hole course at the Al Ruwaya club will be a 7,800 yard par 72. Along with the clubhouse, there'll be a golf academy and a spa, and it should all be finished by next year.

The complex will be part of Dubailand, the $64 billion dollar extravaganza that won't be finished until 2025. You might have to wait that long to get a membership to Al Ruwaya: They're already billing it as one of the most exclusive in the world. Make friends with Tiger now!

Related Stories:
· The Tiger Woods Dubai [Official Site]
· Tiger Woods Unveils His Dubai Golf Course [AFP, via Google]
· Golf Travel: Mapping Tiger Wood's New Golf Course [Jaunted]

[Plan of golf course: Tiger Woods Dubai]]]> amandak 2008-08-26T09:33:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/27/15583/9057

The Walker Art Center now has two mini-golf courses, and we couldn't come up with a better description than the curators did:

In the mockumentary film "This Is Spinal Tap," bassist Derek Smalls suggests that the difference between miniature golf and regular golf is the size of the ball. While the ball remains the same, virtually everything else about mini golf grows--at least on the course of Walker on the Green: Artist-Designed Mini Golf.

For $8 you can play through one of the seven-hole courses, which were designed by local artists. What should you expect? You'll find a pachinko-style hole, a "Water Hazard" hole, pictured, that employs empty bottles as obstacles and even the "Big Kahuna," a sort of frozen-in-place wave. The fun continues until September 7.

Related Stories:
· Walker on the Green: Artist-Designed Mini Golf [Jaunted]
· Highbrow Mini Golf and Public Art [PSFK]
· Golf coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Aaron Landry]]]> pbb 2008-06-27T16:30:06-05:00 44.967668 -93.289280 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/26/104638/378

Golf is often called a lifelong sport, the kind of athletic activity players can enjoy from 4 to 94. We prefer mini-golf ourselves, but we're sure the kids competing in a junior golf tourney on Monday at the Eagle Trace Golf Club were some sharp shooters. But the 7- to 12-year-olds were a little puzzled when ladies wearing definitely-not-course-friendly attire piled out of limousines and onto their greens.

The women were caddying for a charity tournament held by Denver strip club Shotgun Willie's, which is why they weren't wearing polo shirts and matching madras shorts. Unfortunately, they had started drinking at 8 am and, as one caddy admitted, weren't aware enough of their audience to keep things G-rated.

Course manager Evelyn Koch gave perhaps the best guarantee in history:

I cannot tell you the girls didn't flash out there but it wasn't a free-for-all.

Makes televised golf seem all the more boring, doesn't it?

Related Stories
· Eagle Trace Golf Club [Official Site]
· Youth Golfers Get Blindsided By Boob-Infested Golf Outing [Deadspin]
· Golf coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of Eagle Trace sans strippers: petercipollone]]]> egw 2008-06-26T12:35:06-05:00 39.933836 -105.06804 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/