Instead of plunking down several million dollars for a waterfront villa in Hawaii, for example, you can purchase nearly one month’s worth of use in an island vacation home for a fraction of the cost. As a Club member, you and your guests will appreciate the comforts of home while being treated to the legendary services and lavish amenities that Ritz-Carlton hotel guests enjoy.

Among the locations—and more on the way—are some delightful golf prop­erties. Now open, The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa (Jupiter, Fla.) boasts an im­peccably manicured Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course and Addison Mizner-inspired architecture. Available for occupancy in the next few years, ad­ditional locations will offer a variety of golf experiences. Five consecutive ocean­front holes will inspire players at The Ritz- Carlton Club, Kauai lagoons (Hawaii). Golfers will also be enchanted by The Ritz-Carlton Club, Kapalua Bay (Hawaii), located in the famed Kapalua Resort, which has set the standard of sophistication on Maui.

Each location serves up unique activities with a local flair, along with all the extravagances Ritz-Carlton fans have come to expect: rejuvenating spa services, palate-tantalizing cuisine, attentive staff and elegant decor. Floor plans range from one to four bedrooms, and all residences are well appointed with fully equipped kitchens, appliances and plush interiors. As an added benefit, members may explore other Ritz-Carlton Club residences through reciprocal-used privileges.

Fractional ownership with The Ritz-Carlton Club is changing the future of vacation-home ownership.

But Americans got off to a fast start in 2007, winning five of the first nine tour­naments. Creamer, 20, set the tone at the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay when she grabbed her third tour victory, but the first since 2005. Pressel’s first-ever victory was the Kraft Nabisco Championship, making her, at 18, the youngest player to win an LPGA Tour major. The duo was joined in the winner’s circle by Stacy Prammanasudh (age 27), Meaghan Francella (24) and Brittany Lincicome (21). At the Kraft Nabisco, Pressel, Lincicome, Prammanasudh and Creamer all finished in the top 15. The Americans’ fast start spoke well of the health of the tour, even as its marquee athlete, Annika Sorenstam, 36, was sidelined with a ruptured disk in her neck and surrendered her No. 1 world ranking to Lorena Ochoa, 25, the darling of Mexico.

As the future of women’s golf begins to sort itself out, the remaining question mark is Wie. Only 17, she has battled wrist problems and must decide whether to commit to the LPGA Tour. At presstime,  Wie was scheduled to play her first LPGA Tour tournament of 2007, the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika, in late May, but was noncommittal about which men’s events she would enter (sources close to Wie say she’ll play the John Deere Classic in July). Remarks by her swing coach, David Leadbetter, about her intention to focus on LPGA Tour tournaments proved premature, but his prediction that she could win “eight or nine tournaments a year” on the women’s tour could still come to pass. Only time, and her competition, will tell.