PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – If there is anything that holds true during this extremely strange year of 2020, it’s that golfers are playing more golf … and looking for new drive-to destinations to fill their expanded leisure schedules.
The historic town of Winchester – nestled in the spectacularly scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia – is the perfect remedy.
For one thing, it is located within a four-hour drive of more than 60 million Americans. Also, it possesses some interesting and challenging golf courses – at extremely affordable prices. Finally, it is surrounded by some of the most famous American history sites … from both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. In short, it is a bucket list piece of Americana.
For all of these reasons, Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley will be featured, across the country, as the August episode of the award-winning Traveling Golfer television show.
“I have been promoting this area for many years,” said Nick Ciattei, owner of Mid-Atlantic Golf Getaways, a golf promotion and packaging company. “It has always been the type of destination that people stumble across, then return for a number of years. Now, especially for this Fall, new people are coming to the Shenandoah Valley because they easily can drive to the area and feel safer than in some of the other areas that are really struggling with the pandemic.”
According to the National Golf Foundation, golfers are hitting the road in record numbers throughout the last few months and that trend should last through the Fall.
“The Shenandoah Valley has been a favorite road trip destination of mine for years,” explains Tony Leodora, Traveling Golf host. “Whether you are looking down at the valley from the Blue Ridge Mountains and its famous Skyline Drive, or playing golf at the bottom and looking up at the scenery, every minute of the trip presents a picture postcard.”
Although there are a large number of golf courses throughout the Shenandoah Valley, the selection of courses for this show features three of the most popular … plus a quick look at two of the older properties, Sly Fox and Bowling Green. Rock Harbor is a modern 36-hole facility, designed by Denny Perry. Shenandoah Valley Golf Club is a 27-hole layout that features some of the most scenic views of the surrounding Blue Ridge and Massanutten Mountains. Blue Ridge Shadows was designed by acclaimed Mid-Atlantic based architect Tom Clark and, with seven sets of tees, can accommodate players of just about any level.
To make the trip even more interesting, there is the historic George Washington hotel in downtown Winchester and within walking distance to the many shops and restaurants on the Loudon Street Mall.
Full information on golf trips to the Shenandoah Valley can be found on the website at www.midatlanticgolfgetaways.com.
The August episode of the Traveling Golfer airs as a scheduled weekly feature show on NBC Sports and NBC Sports + throughout four markets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. NBC Sports airings are 10:30 a.m. on Sundays, 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and 11 a.m. on Thursdays. NBC Sports + airs the show at 8 p.m. Mondays and Fridays. In addition, the show airs nationally, three times every day, on the new Fun Roads Network (funroads.tv/schedule) – in the San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Wichita and Detroit markets. It also will air a number of times in the Month of July on “Rivertalk” on HTC-4 in Myrtle Beach.
The show also airs on the Traveling Golfer network of websites … including The Golf Director Network and The Myrtle Beach Golf Channel (see full list of sites on travelinggolfervideo.com).
As part of every Traveling Golfer show there is the additional feature, “Tech Talk”, hosted by Tour Edge Golf experts, such as President Dave Glod. With years of experience as a club maker, Glod presents an inside look at the research and development of high-quality golf equipment.
Responding to golfers’ never-ending demands to learn more about interesting golf courses and golf resorts across the country and around the world, well-traveled host Tony Leodora created the Traveling Golfer so he could take viewers on video trips to some of the most exciting golf locations. For the fourth time in five years, the show was honored as the No. 1 Golf Television Show in America in the prestigious International Network of Golf awards, presented at the PGA Merchandise Show in January of 2020.
The Traveling Golfer is a series of monthly shows hosted by Leodora, who has 19 years of experience in televised golf. The featured destination stays on the website for one month, before being replaced by a new show. Alternate shows also air in a two-month rotation. All old shows are archived for continued viewing on the YouTube Network and on the home website, www.travelinggolfervideo.com.
For more information about the Traveling Golfer, or to find out how a property can be featured on the show, call TL Golf Services at (610) 721-8186.
