A popular national golf magazine recently predicted that 2007 might be the best year ever for Natalie Gulbis. The native of Sacramento, California, Gulbis has earned more than two million dollars in prize winnings during her five-year professional career but is still chasing the elusive first tournament win. The 24-year-old is one of the most popular players on the LPGA with a calendar, a Web site and at least half-dozen product endorsements.

This spring, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday and Golf Channel have teamed up to reward a golfer and three friends with the opportunity to play a round of golf with Gulbis on one of the Grand Strand’s “Top 100” courses.

The “Ultimate Buddy Trip” Sweepstakes will reward one lucky golfer with four round trip airfares to Myrtle Beach where the group will enjoy four rounds of golf at premier Grand Strand courses, four nights’ accommodations, a $250 gift certificate to PGA TOUR Superstore, a daily breakfast buffet and car rental.

Golfers can register for the “Play a Round with Natalie Gulbis” sweepstakes on Golf Channel’s Web site, TheGolfChannel.com. The registration runs through May 31 and the trip will be fulfilled in the fall of 2007.

“We’re excited to partner with Golf Channel to reward one lucky golfer with a five-day and four-night “Ultimate Buddy Trip” to Myrtle Beach,” said Bill Golden, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday’s vice president and director of marketing. “Gulbis is one of the rising stars on the LPGA Tour and we’re happy to provide four golfers with the exclusive opportunity of playing a round with her. By winning the contest, the golfer will automatically become the most popular member of his golf circle with four all-expense paid trips to Myrtle Beach for three of his friends.”

To celebrate their 40th anniversary this year, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday recently debuted the inaugural 2007 Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday Magazine which will serve as the ultimate source for both golfers new to the Grand Strand area and longtime guests.

Keeping information about Myrtle Beach golf courses, golf package providers and golf schools formerly found in the Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday Planning Guide, the size of the Magazine increased significantly as 10 golf and travel writers contributed an additional 28 pages of articles on golf tips, golf etiquette, area events and tournaments, area restaurants and attractions to enjoy and the history of Myrtle Beach. In 2007, 34 photographs of Grand Strand area courses were also added to help golfers picture the site of their next round. For the first time, market advertisers appear in the Magazine to reach Myrtle Beach’s avid golf audience.

“Golf Holiday is considered the predominant golf destination marketer in the world but we can’t be satisfied with our accomplishments. Almost four million rounds of golf are recorded along the Grand Strand each year and we are constantly striving for more effective methods to reach more golfers. With an unparallel nine “Top 100” golf courses located along the Grand Strand, no other golf destination in the United States can match the quality of golf found in Myrtle Beach.”

Golf Holiday was founded in 1967 and published its first guide that year with eight golf courses and 10 hotels featured and a distribution list of 20,000 golfers. Forty years later, the 2007 Magazine has grown to 128 pages with 77 golf courses and 72 golf package providers featured and 250,000 copies to be mailed to golfers around the world.”

To order your copy today, click here .

Located along the Intracoastal Waterway in beautiful Grande Dunes, a 2200-acre community stretching from the ocean to beyond the Waterway, the extraordinary 230-grande guestroom and suite Marina Inn, marina and championship golf resort, is now home to an entirely new level of hospitality in Myrtle Beach.

From its classic and timeless Mediterranean-style architecture to exceptional amenities and European-style service, everything at this new member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World reflects a commitment to the highest standards of quality.

Enjoy two world-class golf courses designed by Nick Price and Roger Rulewich, tennis center, a variety of signature restaurants and lounges, fitness center, grande poolscape with outdoor hot tub, along with indoor pool that features two jet system swim-in-place stations, resort transportation to a private beach cabana and much, much more.

From elegant social events to conferences, Marina Inn is perfect for any event. More than 15,000 square feet of lavish function space features a 5,100-sq.-ft. Grande Ballroom. Eight flexible meeting rooms include two well-appointed conference rooms and an executive boardroom. A spacious pre-function area with a loggia, adjacent to the Inns Grande Lawn, creates an incomparable indoor/outdoor environment overlooking the Waterway. Stay and play soon at Marina Inn when only grande will do! To learn more click here.

The newest Big Cat to premier at Ocean Ridge Plantation® is Leopard’s Chase Golf Club. The course is scheduled to open to the public February 15, 2007.

The newest addition to the Ocean Ridge Plantation “Big Cat” Family, Leopard’s Chase Golf Club will open for play on February 15, 2007, just in time for the spring golf season. The third Tim Cate course in the 72-hole Ocean Ridge Plantation community, Leopard’s Chase is the first Grand Strand public golf course to open in six years, since Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club, Farmstead Golf Links, Grande Dunes Resort Course and Crown Park Golf Club debuted in 2001.

Located just minutes from North Myrtle Beach in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, Leopard’s Chase complements the area’s natural coastal beauty with subtle elevation changes, undulating fairways and greens, undisturbed wetlands areas and native vegetation. The par 72, 7,200-yard layout is spread out among 220 acres and features TifSport Bermudagrass fairways and bentgrass greens. One of the many distinguishing features of Leopard’s Chase is the significant number of holes which require short carries over both water and wetlands and the numerous bunkers strategically placed throughout the 18 holes.

"Leopard’s Chase Golf Club is an exciting and highly-anticipated new addition to the family of Big-Cat courses,” stated Becky Noble, president of Ocean Ridge Golf. “It is another dazzling Tim Cate design which will contribute to the perfect golf experience here at Ocean Ridge Plantation.”

For tee times, call 800.233.1801 or visit the website at big-cats.com.

Believe it or not, three or more consecutive days of golf can be a shock to your body if it is accustomed to spending more time on the couch than on the course. Before you make your annual golf sojourn to Myrtle Beach, spend 10 minutes each day before the trip to prepare your body for the toil and stress of 36 holes a day.

Studies show that golfers who stretch and exercise certain areas of the body two weeks before their golf trip have better results on the course and don’t suffer from soreness or pain after the round.

My Hip Power and Posture exercises will help increase strength in the core muscles supporting the hips, challenge the golfer’s ability to maintain proper posture while executing the exercises and ensure that the average armchair golfer is ready for the best golf week of his or her life.

Hip Power and Posture
The following yoga poses will increase the strength in the muscles supporting the hips and will also challenge your ability to maintain proper posture while executing the exercises. When we work with amateur and professional golfers, I perform a 22 - point assessment program. During the assessment process we uncover mobility, stability, posture and coordination issues. The quality of the movement, the ability to maintain proper posture and core stability is often an indicator of the golfer’s ability to maintain posture during the dynamic phase of the golf swing.

While you practice this series of hip-strengthening poses, focus on your core stabilization and maintaining proper posture. Regarding posture, the shoulder blades should be moving together and “down the back,” shoulders are moving down and away from the ears and the mid-back (thoracic spine) is not rounded.

Standing Crescent Lunges with Arms over the Head
Begin by standing tall and engaging the navel towards the spine and lifting the ribcage off the waist. Lift the arms over the head, but do not “scrunch” the shoulders towards the ears. Inhale and lunge the right leg forward (maintain a 90-degree angle in the right knee). Hold this position and pulse the right leg up and down for a count of 10. Return to the starting position and switch sides. Repeat three times on each side.

Power Chair Pose
I demonstrate this pose using a balance ball, but feel free to incorporate a chair. The purpose of this pose is to activate the gluts, core and maintain your posture. Inhale and engage the core as you move the gluts towards the ball as if you were sitting in a chair. Do not allow the gluts to touch the ball. Hold for a count of five and repeat five to 10 times.

Locust Pose on the Ball or on the Floor
Place the ball under your hips or place your body on the floor. Draw the navel towards your spine and squeeze the gluts as tight as possible. On the exhalation slowly lift the legs off the floor. Hold for a count of three and repeat five times.

If you want to increase the intensity continue to lift the legs higher. Focus on the gluts and the lumbar spine.

About Katherine Roberts
Katherine Roberts is founder and president of Katherine Roberts Yoga for Golfers, a 10-year-old publishing and fitness consulting company based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

As a fitness expert and a regular contributor to The Golf Channel, she has appeared on The Big Break, Makeover Challenge, Your Game Night and the PGA Merchandising Show Recap. Katherine is the producer of nine DVDs and author of the ground-breaking book “Yoga for Golfers” (McGraw-Hill). Roberts’ unique approach to golf conditioning is a hybrid of western biomechanical research and eastern mind/body conditioning for performance and has been profiled by USA TODAY, Pebble Beach Magazine, Golf for Women and GOLF Magazine. “Yoga for Golfers” is dedicated to helping people achieve balanced performance both on and off the course.