Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group announced today that it has signed a long-term agreement to manage a luxury resort currently under development in Marrakech, Morocco.

Food, wine, golf and spa lovers can escape on a winter family getaway at Casa Badiola, a hidden gem in the heart of southern Tuscany's Maremma region. Set in the 500 hectares of La Badiola Estate, a few miles from the seaside town of Castiglione della Pescaia, this hideaway is situated at the foot of lush green hills and lined with olive groves.

Estonian Golf & Country Club was one of the big movers in the latest edition of the influential Continental Europe's Top 100 Courses rankings, published by Golf World. The highly acclaimed Sea Course - located just 20 minutes outside the country's stunning capital city Tallinn - has moved up 11 places from 95 to 84, capping a fantastic year for the European Tour Course which staged the Omega Mission Hills World Cup European Qualifier for a second time.

Abante Golf, the market leaders in hosting golfers in the Czech Republic, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and has announced the launch of the 2011 Czech Golf Festival to mark the achievement.

For more than a decade, whilst those lucky enough to make it to The Masters were enjoying Augusta, there has been another professional tournament taking place, the Madeira Islands Open. Its only moved last year, 2010, to a new home on Porto Santos, so what is Madeira's oldest golf club and course, its previous home, like?

Italian golf has hit the headlines over the last 12 months with the exploits of the Molinari brothers and top amateur Matteo Manassero and momentum is set to build further in 2010 with a new government initiative aimed at promoting the game in Italy to UK golfers.

Not so long ago it would have been impossible to imagine that one would be flying to the Czech Republic to visit Prague and to travel the countryside playing golf. What would be more unbelievable will be the history of some of the fascinating courses that were visited on the trip.