GULF SHORES, Alabama – Dec. 17, 2004 – The Gulf Shores Golf Association with 10 signature golf courses and 32 miles of sugar-white-sand beaches has announced that Golfweek magazine has ranked the GSGA-member and world-renowned Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Club as one of the nation’s best in its “America’s Best Resort Courses” for December 2004.

Golfweek employed a team of 350 raters to scour the U.S. while rating the nation’s 100 best resort courses. Kiva Dunes rated No. 44 on the esteemed list and is the only golf resort on the Gulf Coast so honored. Golfweek raters submitted their votes based on a set of course and design quality evaluation criteria including variety, memorability, natural setting, overall land plan, conditioning, feature shaping, and greens complexes.

“The one unifying theme of America’s Best Golf Resorts is that all the resorts acquire greatness by their intimate sense of surroundings. The best resorts envelope you in local culture,” stated Golfweek in its article accompanying the America’s Best Golf Resorts ratings.

This is the latest national acclaim for Kiva Dunes, designed by Alabama native and former PGA Tour multiple major championship winner Jerry Pate. Kiva Dunes was recently ranked No. 56 in “The Sublime 75: The Best Golf Resorts in North America” by Golf Digest magazine (November 2004) and No. 58 in Golf Digest’s “100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” in the United States.

“We’re thrilled that Golfweek’s raters found Kiva Dunes to be one of America’s best golf resorts,” says Mark Stillings, Kiva Dunes Director of Golf and President of the Gulf Shores Golf Association (www.golfgulfshores.com). “Golfers say that the excellent quality of our group of 10 member courses is the equal to virtually any golf destination in the country, and Golfweek's raters validated this elite status and high praise.”

Kiva Dunes Golf & Beach Club is a resort-residential community that offers both private condominiums and rental lodging opportunities, including at the Kiva Lodge Clubhouse and Condominium. The resort also offers meeting facilities, fitness area, three swimming pools, 3,000 feet of private gulf beach, and on-site rental management of luxurious condominiums and beach homes.

For more information about Kiva Dunes, call (866) 540-7100 or visit www.kivadunes.com. For more information about the Alabama Gulf Coast, please contact the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau at 800-745-SAND (7263) or www.gulfshores.com. For more information about the Gulf Shores Golf Association and its easy golf vacation planning, visit www.golfgulfshores.com or by call 1-888-815-1902.

About Gulf Shores Golf Association

The Gulf Shores Golf Association is comprised of 10 exceptional signature golf courses that offer 198 holes of variety and beauty and which challenge serious golfers from the championship tees while delighting fun-loving resort golfers of all skill levels. Gulf Shores Golf Association-member courses have joined forces with numerous hotel and resort accommodations to offer very affordable, yet truly unforgettable “stay-and-play” experiences.

Gulf Shores Golf Association’s lodging partners offer a broad selection of accommodations, from a world-class resort and beachfront condominiums, to on-site golf villas and affordable national-chain hotels. In addition to superb golf, the area has clean, safe beaches, thousands of acres of nature preserves, historic sites, deep-sea fishing, great shopping, and fine restaurants. Whether it’s an annual trip with the guys, a romantic getaway weekend for two, or a week with the entire family, the Gulf Shores Golf Association offers easy golf vacation planning at www.golfgulfshores.com or by calling 1-888-815-1902.