Staying in one place for very long isn’t easy for a golf touring pro. Carlos Sainz Jr. was able to do it from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, when he spent most of the holiday season with family and friends in Elgin. Now, however, the PGA Tour rookie is on the road again and looking forward to the opportunities immediately ahead.
Though he’s calling Ponte Vedra, FL., his home base now – it’s where the PGA Tour headquarters are located – Sainz made a stopover to visit his brother Michael in Phoenix this week before heading to what he expects will be his first tournament of 2015, the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Michael, at 25 four years younger than Carlos, also has tour aspirations. He’s playing on the Arizona mini-tours now. Carlos knows all about that. The Larkin High School graduate succeeded in the small pro tournaments after finishing college at Mississippi State, then moved through the smaller tours to make it to golf’s big time. But he still isn’t able to play every week.
“For me it’s all about being ready to play whenever I get in a tournament so that I can establish a schedule for the rest of year,’’ said Sainz. “I’m trying to do my job, like everyone else. I’m young, working hard, looking forward to what I do and cherishing it.’’
Sainz has a history of playing good at the right times. He finished out 2013 with a win in on the Canadian PGA Tour, a runner-up finish in the Illinois Open and a victory in the Chicago Open. Those events led to him earning playing privileges on the PGA’s Web.com Tour.
In 2014 he had just one top-10 finish on the PGA Tour’s satellite circuit, but finished strong in the Web.com Playoffs to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2014-15 season.
Under its new split-season schedule the PGA circuit started with six events prior to the New Year. With limited playing status Sainz got into only three of them and missed the cut in two. But he had one strong showing, a tie for ninth in the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi, that earned him $100,000 – more than he had earned in the entire Web.com season. That one good tournament boosted his playing position from No. 49 at the start of the PGA Tour season to No. 35 on the PGA Tour’s eligibility list.
New players are subject to re-shuffling of their tournament eligibility based on their immediate play, and the big jump in status means Sainz can get his PGA Tour career off to a fast start.. He will be in the field at the Sony Open in Hawaii, which tees off on Thursday, and will get into the first three events of the circuit’s California swing – the Humana Challenge, Farmers Insurance Open and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
He’s also pushing to get into the fourth and final stop in California, the Northern Trust Open, via a sponsor’s exemption. He hopes that the Chicago-based tourney sponsor will look kindly on a Chicago player when invitations are handed out. The second re-shuffle of new players will be made after the Northern Trust Open.
The PGA’s top players usually fill the field at Phoenix (Waste Management Open in February) and then turn out in big numbers for the Florida tournaments in March. Sainz may find it difficult to get into those events.
“I’m not sure which tournaments I’ll get into by then,’’ said Sainz. But he knows he’ll get into plenty of them if he plays well the next two months, and there’s another, more long-range incentive to consider. It’s not unrealistic to think he could compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil when golf returns to the Games.
Sainz’ parents are from the Philippines and Bolivia. As “a token of respect’’ he acquired dual citizenship in the Philippines when he played in a tournament there and he plans to apply for similar status in Bolivia. That would make Sainz eligible to play for those countries, neither of which is rich in golf touring pros.
WINDERMERE, FL. – Tiger Woods’ return to competitive golf figured to be the most noteworthy event in the sport last week. Now, maybe it wasn’t.
Woods played hurt, and tied for last in his Hero World Challenge at Isleworth. Just an hour away his niece, Cheyenne Woods, earned her playing privileges on the LPGA Tour in the Qualifying School’s 90-hole elimination in Daytona Beach. She’ll be a focal point on the women’s circuit at times next season.
And that’s not all that may have overshadowed the Tiger return. Jordan Spieth’s victory at Isleworth was astounding — a 10-shot win on the heels of his six-shot victory in last week’s Australian Open.
And that still wasn’t all. John Daly announced his engagement, then won his first tournament in 10 years at the Beko Classic in Turkey. Padraig Harrington, whose world ranking had dropped to No. 385, won his first tournament since the 2008 PGA Championship by taking the Bank BRI Indonesia Open and English golfer Danny Willett overtook Luke Donald in the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.
Still, that was a great showing by Donald — on his 37th birthday after his world ranking had dropped to No. 37. Donald shot 63 in the third round and was the 54-hole leader before struggling to a 73 in the final round. His strong showing came shortly after he announced he’s working again with Pat Goss, his college coach at Northwestern.
As for Woods, at least he’s playing again — and healthy. That suggests he’ll be a factor during the rest of the 2014-15 season.
When Woods hosted his World Challenge in 2013 he was the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world. A lot has changed since then for the player whose success, many claim, is critical to the growth of the game.
Woods lost the title of his own charity tournament in a playoff with Zach Johnson a year ago, when the event was played in California, and his year went downhill from there. This year the main storyline of the World Challenge figured to be Woods more than the competition. Could he come back again after all that happened?
Unfortunately, no definitive answer came from the Hero World Challenge. He was understandably rusty (as underscored by nine chunked chip shots during the course of the 72 holes), but Wood was also sick during most of the tournament — so sick, in fact, that he experienced vomiting and nausea on the course.
Still, he finished at even par and in a tie with Hunter Mahan for 17th in the star-studded 18-player field. If a sick Tiger can do that, what can a healthy one do down the road? Time will tell.
At least Woods wasn’t deflated by the slow start in his first tournament back.
“I made some progress. I hadn’t played in four months, and I’m in absolutely no pain,” said Woods. “That’s nice.”
What was even nicer Spieth’s record 26-under-par 262 performance. The score was a tournament record, and Spieth became the first wire-to-wire winner of Woods’ charity event.
“The best I’ve ever played, which is what I said in the Media Center in Sydney (after his win in the Australian Open),” said Spieth. “I played better this week.”
The flu-like symptoms that Woods experienced at Isleworth didn’t compare to what he went through since the World Challenge of 2013. He had back surgery on March 31 and tried to salvage the 2013-14 PGA Tour season but his attempt was futile. He was in too much pain.
During the season he played in only eight tournaments world-wide, and his best finish was a tie for 25th place. That’s why he entered this week’s newly-named Hero World Challenge with just a No. 24 world ranking. A motorcyle manufacturer based in India, has taken over sponsorship of Tiger Woods’ charity event.
Still, hopes were high for the game’s long-time No. 1 player who turns 39 on Dec. 30. The Challenge was his first competitive event since he limped off the Valhalla course in Louisville after missing the cut in the PGA Championship in August.
Since then Woods underwent extensive rehab on his back, rarely touching a golf club until the last few weeks. He dropped swing coach Sean Foley and named Chris Como his“swing consultant.’’ Together they’ve begun work on a swing change to accommodate his potentially vulnerable back.
There’s been one big positive for Woods recently, too. He landed his biggest endorsement contract since his fall from grace in the aftermath of the car crash in the Isleworth community here five years ago. Hero Moto Corp, a motorcycle manufacturer based in India, will pay Woods upwards of $6 million per year for the next four years as part of his latest endorsement deal.
Woods has never ridden a motorcycle, and said he doesn’t intend to, but he was photographed sitting on his new sponsor’s products this week. Hero will continue sponsorship of Woods’ World Challenge, which will be played in the Bahamas the next three years. Next year’s Challenge will be played at the luxury resort Albany, which is jointly owned by Woods, Ernie Els and the Tavistock Group — the developer of Isleworth. Els designed the course at Albany.
All looked good in the world of Tiger before the first ball was struck on the long, challenging Isleworth layout on Thursday. Woods looked lean and strong, suggesting he had lost weight during the rehab. He was in good spirits. The back, he said, felt fine. He said he had regained his explosiveness and just needed to hit more balls. Tiger Woods was closely followed on Isleworth’s jumbotron, but the real Hero has been Jordan Spieth.
That became obvious as soon as it was time to compete. His first tee shot on Thursday went out of bounds. He made bogeys on his first two holes and added another on a par-5. That put him in a hole early and he never got out of it, shooting 77 in his first round back.
Patrick Reed and Woods were the first twosome off the tee in Round 2 and their games couldn’t have been much different. Reed was 8-under-par after 10 holes and envisioned shooting in the 50s. He settled for a course-record 63 and didn’t considered the disparity in scores — Woods improved to a 70 — as a cause for concern for his playing partner.
“His game seemed fine,” said Reed. “Of course he didn’t like the score he had. He had a couple loose shots out there, but he knows what he’s doing.”
Tiger Woods used to be Isleworth’s premier golf-playing resident. Now it might be Bubba Watson, who owns Tigers’ former home.
Woods did admit that his latest swing change hasn’t fully kicked in yet.
“The good news is, I know the process,’’ said Woods. “I’ve
made changes before in my game, and it takes time.’’
Steve Stricker, like Woods, had been on rehab duty and was in his first competition in three months. He had 67 in the first round but struggled after that and was paired with Woods in the third round.
The hip that had troubled Stricker most of the 2013-14 season turned out to be a herniated disc in his back. He could sympathize with Woods’ plight.
“There’s a comfort level with this game, and if you don’t have that comfort it’s difficult to play,’’ said Stricker. “So, it’ll take some time, I’m sure…It’ll be a challenge for Tiger, but he’ll be fine.’’
Woods finished the third round with three straight birdies while posting a 69 — his best round of the week. On Sunday he avoided solo ownership of last place by shooting a 72 that pulled him into a tie with Mahan.
So, while there were some positives, Woods may not be seen in competition for awhile now. Without giving specifics he said his schedule for 2015 will be a bit different than in previous years and that he expected to be very busy beginning in the middle of the year. Tiger Woods and his rivals had to deal with lots of challenging holes at Isleworth, but none was more striking than the bunker-filled sixth hole, a 411-yard par-4 that has been dubbed The Ledge.
Given the economic climate of the last few years it’s understandable that golf course owners might be reluctant to take on expensive projects. That hasn’t been the case at Mistwood in Romeoville, however.
In the last three years owner Jim McWethy brought back Michigan architect Ray Hearn for a renovation of a course that he designed in 1998. The upgrading included a major remodeling of the practice range and the installation of 21 sod wall bunkers on the course.
And that wasn’t all.
While the course renovation necessitated the closing of the course for parts of 2012 and 2013 McWethy also ordered the building of a spiffy Performance Center. Like the work on the course, it didn’t come cheap.
And that wasn’t all.
Mistwood’s original clubhouse was dismantled in September and a new one is expected to be ready by next June. It’ll be a two-building structure – a restaurant and banquet facility in one building and pro shop, staff offices and men’s and women’s lockerrooms in the other. The two will be connected by a common basement that’ll be used as a storage area for carts and other essentials.
And, even that’s not all.
In the midst of the above work being done McWethy purchased the 10-year old Ditka Dome in nearby Bolingbrook. It had been an indoor practice range with a bar-restaurant. Now it’s much more than that, and more work is in progress there.
Throughout it all McWethy has politely declined to reveal the costs involved.
“I don’t want to give a number, but obviously it’s very significant,’’ he said.
That begs the question: why was McWethy willing to take on all these projects when the golf industry was – to put it mildly – not experiencing the best of times?
“The economy is not good and golf is an activity that is being challenged,’’ McWethy admitted. “It goes back to my fundamental belief that if you do a good job with every aspect of it, there’s still enough business out there. There’s still a lot of people playing golf.’’
But there’s some trepidation, too.
“Is this the best possible investment right now? No. Is it a good investment now? Yes. We can look either real smart or real dumb,’’ summed up McWethy. “We don’t know yet.’’
A true visionary who just turned 70, McWethy grew up in Palos Heights and has been a long-time resident of Downers Grove. He was involved in the Berry Bearing Co., which was started by his paternal grandfather and manufactured bearings and related products in Lyons until the family sold the company in 1992.
Almost immediately after the sale McWethy had an opportunity to get involved in golf and he took it.
While growing up he played, caddied and sold balls at the Navajo Hills course, which was eventually taken over by developers. His grandfather was both a president and club champion at Aurora Country Club but McWethy was never that good a player – though he did play on his high school and college teams. A member at both the Dunes Club in Michigan and Chicago Golf Club now, his handicap once reached six, but now he says it’s twice that.
“Golf was something I loved to do,’’ he said, and his inroad into the business side of the game developed when the owner of the headquarters building used by Berry Bearings, invited him to invest in a family-owned Michigan public course named Mistwood.
A year later that investment was expanded to include another Mistwood, the one in Romeoville that was soon to be built. McWethy became a seven percent investor in both courses and in 2003 he took over ownership of the Romeoville version, and that included hosting the Illinois Women’s Open. Both the course and tournament have blossomed under McWethy’s ownership and the extraordinary recent upgrades suggest that will continue.
“I love the game and take pride in doing things right,’’ he said. “That produces a tremendous feeling of satisfaction. Another twist to it is that it’s nice to be doing something by yourself. It makes you stand out in that respect.’’
The cost notwithstanding, McWethy admits to being “a little bit of a perfectionist’’ and believes the money spent will pay off in the long run.
“If you want something new, there’s not many places to go,’’ he said. “Every other course is kind of the same as it was 10, 15, 20 years ago. I see a little opportunity there. Our course is very popular now, and the people playing it are more serious golfers and come from greater distances to play it.’’
He envisions Mistwood becoming a golf destination (though he has no plans to add lodging to his to-do list) and he wants to host more significant competitions. His biggest concern now is “getting the word out.’’ To accomplish that he’s taken out ads on The Golf Channel and is also using billboard advertising.
“A lot of people still don’t know that there’s a treasure of a golf course sitting right here,’’ said McWethy, “but there’s still a lot of personal pride in doing something as well as it can be done. We wanted to build a great golf course, which we’ve done that. We have a Performance Center without peer and we’re building a clubhouse – the third piece of the puzzle. I don’t want to sound cocky, but we’ll have one of the finest golf facilities in the Chicago area.’’
And then what? Family considerations might play a part in what comes next, and neither his wife, son nor daughter is much into golf yet. McWethy says “we don’t anticipate buying another golf course,’’ but time will tell.
Chicago has never been rich in PGA Tour players over at least the last three decades, but there’ll be a new one on golf’s premier circuit in the 2014-15 season. Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr. earned his PGA Tour card by virtue of his play on the Web.com Tour this year.
Sainz, 28, barely made it through the complicated qualifying procedure that went into effect barely a year ago. First he had to make it into the top 75 money-winners in the Web.com’s regular season. Thanks largely to one strong tournament he finished in the No. 74 position.
That put him in the Web.com Finals, a four-tournament series that also included players ranked from 125-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings. The Web.com Tour offered PGA Tour cards to the top 25 on the regular season money list and the top 25 in the playoffs. Of the 50 who advanced Sainz ranked No. 49.
Between the regular season and playoff series in his rookie season on the Web.com Tour Sainz had but one top-10 finish and made only 11 cuts in 24 tournaments, yet he still earned playing privileges on the PGA Tour.
“You can look at it different ways,’’ said Sainz. “Getting there with just one top-10 is pretty amazing. Everyone judges you by the number of cuts you make, but really it’s all about how the tour is structured. It’s so top heavy with its money structure. There’s a huge disparity between finishing No. 1 and No. 75. That gives a guy like myself a chance to get to the next level.’’
Sainz’ road to the PGA Tour was a difficult one. He started dreaming about getting there while playing in Illinois Junior Golf Assn. tournaments when he was 15 years old. The dream seemed possible after his graduation from Elgin Larkin High School and a four-year college career at Mississippi State.
He turned pro after that and spent three seasons on the Canadian PGA Tour before surviving qualifying school for the Web.com Tour in the fall of 2013.
“It’s been a crazy learning experience for me,’’ he said. “I had the Canadian Tour to fall back on, but the travel was so different in the Web.com. It was a different culture, playing on different grasses. I was just trying to learn.’’
That wasn’t easy. His first tournaments were in Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Panama and Mexico before the schedule shifted to U.S. courses. His breakthrough came at the Price Cutter Charity Classic in Springfield, Mo., where he tied for second and won $44,550. That represented most of his regular season winnings.
The $67,897 that he earned in the regular season allowed him to keep playing in the postseason events, and his game came together while he was completing a grueling stretch of 14 tournaments in as many weeks. He had a tie for 19th and a tie for 12th in the first two tournaments in the Finals, then missed the cut by one stroke in the third.
With his card in serious jeopardy, Sainz got through the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship in a tie for 31st place. He had to sweat out a bogey on the last hole, but that finish was just good enough to move him to golf’s next level.
While making it to the PGA Tour is a giant step forward, keeping his card will be just as difficult. He’ll have to finish among the top 125 money winners and won’t have many tournaments to do it.
“My priority will get me into between 15 and 20 events,’’ he said. “It comes down to me being ready to play when I do get in. I have enough events, in my eyes, to make it. It might be harder for me, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.’’
He couldn’t get into the first tournament of the PGA Tour’s new season, the Frys.com Open, but that enabled him to get a much-needed rest. He didn’t play for 12 days before defending his title in the Chicago Open at Cantigny. Sainz didn’t win but finished in a strong tie for third as Andy Ruthkoski of Muskegon, Mich., won the title.
Still, the fall has been kind to Sainz in the past, and he expected to get into both the last two November tournaments — Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico — before the PGA Tour goes on its December break. Good showings in those events would get his PGA career off to a good start and would be reminiscent of how he got to the Web.com Tour just a year ago.
In a torrid late-season stretch in 2013 Sainz won a Canadian PGA Tour event, lost the Illinois Open title the next week in a playoff, won his Chicago Open and then survived the first Web.com qualifying school.
“I get better as the year goes on,’’ he said. “The fall is a great time to catch fire.’’
Given the brutal winter of 2014, no doubt plenty of Chicago golfers will want out in search of warmer climates within the next few months. Many will likely head for Arizona. After all, in addition to the sunshine there are lots of good courses in that state and – for another diversion – the Cubs and White Sox will both conduct spring training there before the winter weather departs Chicago.
Those who opt for Arizona, however, don’t have to wait to cross the state line to play some interesting golf courses. The likely route to the Arizona line would be Interstate 80 out of the Chicago area through Iowa and Nebraska, then Interstate 76 to Denver and Interstate 25 to Albuquerque, N.M.
From there it’s a straight shot for about four hours on Interstate 40 to Winslow, Ariz. –- the town made (somewhat) famous by the Eagles’ song, “Take It Easy’’ – and it’s not much further to more typical Arizona destinations like Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.
Before reaching Arizona, though, consider these golf options, most all of them within an hour of the main highways on the route:
AMANA
First state out of Illinois is Iowa. The Harvester Golf Club – the best-known public course in Iowa – is a little further down Interstate 80 near Des Moines, but I’d suggest a stop about an hour before that — in the Amana Colonies on the outskirts of Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.
Amana’s hilly course, designed by William Spear and opened in 1989, may have a few too many blind shots, but the elevation changes create some great views and interesting, fun challenges. The restaurants and shops in the Colonies are also worth a visit. The Colonies – there’s seven of them that date back to 1855 – have been designated a National Historic Landmark.
After leaving the Amana Colonies it’s only barely an hour’s drive to Rhodes, which is 25 northeast of DesMoines and the home of The Harvester. It’s a well-received Keith Foster design that opened in 2003.
INFO: amanagolfcourse.com, harvestergolf.co
TIBURON
After leaving Iowa the logical next stop would be in Omaha, the first big city in Nebraska. There’s plenty of courses in the area (16 in the city itself), but two stand out. Tiburon is the best. It has 27 holes, a definite plus, with its Hammerhead,, Great White and Mako nines.
I’m also intrigued by the city-run Johnny Goodman Course. This 18-holer honors arguably Nebraska’s most famous golfer. Johnny Goodman is the last amateur to win the U.S. Open, having captured the 1933 championship at North Shore in Glenview. Greens fees at both courses are most reasonable, but Goodman is generally a busier place.
It’s always nice to find “hidden gems,’’ and this one might be the best one in Nebraska. It’s located in Gothenburg, 35 miles from the bigger town of North Platte. Wild Horse has an interesting history. Its designers are Dan Proctor and Dave Axland, who have a small architectural firm called Bunker Hill Golf Inc. Within the golf industry, though, they’re better known as the lead construction and shaping specialists for the much better known architectural duo of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore.
Crenshaw and Coore handled the renovation of Pinehurst No. 2 for last summer’s U.S. Open. They also created a well-received Nebraska course, Sand Hills. Proctor and Axland worked for them on that projected.
We’ve strived to keep our golf stops reasonably close to the main highways, but another Nebraska possibility — the upscale Prairie Club in Valentine – should get some consideration. It has three courses, all created by well-known designers – Tom Lehman (Dunes Course), Graham Marsh (Pines) and Gil Hanse (Horse).
Prairie Club, about 300 miles from both Omaha and Denver, is managed by Chicago’s well-respected KemperSports. Visiting the Prairie Club requires a significant departure from our designated route to Arizona, but the stop is well worth it if you have the time.
INFO: playwildhorse.com, theprairieclub.com.
FOSSIL TRACE
This one is owned by the city of Golden, a suburb one mile outside the Denver limits and the home since 1873 of the beer manufacturer Coors. One of my favorite architects, Jim Engh, designed the Fossil Trace course, which opened in 2003.
Fossil Trace is reasonably priced and fun, though some might think it on the gimmicky side. Engh’s signature hole, No. 12, has fossil rock formations in the middle of the fairway. The other holes range from a 100-yard par-3 to a 659-yard par-5.
This course is the closest to a must-play layout on our road to Arizona. It’s adjacent to the foothills of the Rocky Mountain Front Range and 15 minutes from downtown Denver. Golf Digest also rates it among its Top 50 Courses in America for Women.
INFO: fossiltrace.com. (RICH, FYI: PHOTO OF NO. 12 SEEMS IDEAL TO SUPPLEMENT THIS PIECE).
PAA-KO RIDGE
Some say this is the best course in New Mexico, and it’s certainly one of the longest – 7,667 yards from the tips. It’s located 17 miles from Albuquerque in the town of Sandia Park.
Paa-Ko Ridge has 27 holes with extreme elevation changes. It’s very scenic thanks to its mountainous location and probably the most challenging course on our road to Arizona. Golf Digest named it the Best New Course in America for 2000.
The University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, also has one of the better college layouts in the country. It’s also one of the oldest, having opened in 1966. This course is known for its extremely quick, tricky greens and unusual location. It’s next to an airport, which means incoming and outgoing aircraft might present a distraction.
PINEHURST, N.C. – Sometimes even big events can get lost in the shuffle. That’s certainly what happened when the Pinehurst resort added a Jack Nicklaus design to its portfolio. This sign will come down soon. Jack Nicklaus’ design is now called Pinehurst No. 9.
Adding a Nicklaus course is a big deal anywhere golf is played, but Pinehurst’s acquisition announcement wasn’t greeted with much fanfare — and for good reason. Negotiations were completed just eight days before the start of the men’s U.S. Open last June. Inevitably the focus was on the tournament at that time, and it wasn’t your ordinary U.S. Open, either.
Not only would Pinehurst host the men’s Open, it would also be the site of the U.S. Women’s Open the following week – the first time the biggest men’s and women’s tournaments in American golf were played back-to-back on the same course. Both those competitions were played on Pinehurst’s No. 2 course, a layout that Nicklaus himself had called one of his all-time favorites. Pinehurst No. 9 has huge greens, but none may be bigger than the one on the ninth hole with the clubhouse looming in the background.
Nicklaus, though, hadn’t been idle in North Carolina’s Sandhills area. He designed Pinehurst’s National Golf Club, which opened in 1989 as a private facility owned by the Robinette family. It had always been considered one of the best courses in North Carolina, and that won’t change now that it has undergone a name change.
National Golf Club is now Pinehurst No. 9.
Resort guests started playing No. 9 in July, and that naturally boosted play on the layout. The acquisition also broadened some membership options offered by the resort. More than anything, though, it added to the variety of golf options available under the Pinehurst umbrella.
A little history is appropriate here. Pinehurst No. 1 was designed by Pinehurst resident Donald Ross in 1901. Ross was, arguably at least, the leading course architect of his era and his reputation hasn’t diminished over the years. He also designed No. 2 in 1907 and No. 3 in 1910.
Ross designed a fourth course in 1919, but it was re-designed as a tribute to him by Tom Fazio in 2000.
Ellis Maples created Pinehurst No. 5 in 1961 and George and Tom Fazio put together Pinehurst No. 6 in 1979. No. 7 was a Rees Jones design. It opened in 1986 on land used for a long-abandoned employees’ course that Ross had built.
Tom Fazio was back to create No. 8 in 1996 as a celebration of Pinehurst’s first 100 years. The fairways may be wide, but Pinehurst No. 9 is a great second shot course.
And now Nicklaus is in the designer mix as well. His design has generous fairways throughout and also features huge, undulating greens, which is more of a Nicklaus trademark. The fun in playing this one also comes in negotiating the numerous bunkers and fairway contours that protect the putting surfaces. Nicklaus did some re-design and renovation work on the course in 2012, notably softening the greens.
No. 9 has five sets of tees, with the course playing 4,935 yards from the front markers to 7,122 from the tips, where the rating is 75.5 and the slope 138.
Along with the course, Pinehurst acquired a 30,000 square foot clubhouse, five tennis courts, a pool, banquet facilities and a restaurant. The acquisition announcement included plans for “enhanced maintenance practices’’ for the course and plans for a renovation and expansion of the clubhouse. The entrance to The Pit is overgrown now, but who knows for how long?
And there could be a Pinehurst No. 10 in the not too distance future as well. Pinehurst owner Robert Dedman Jr. purchased a course called The Pit in February, 2011. Already closed at the time of purchase, this one was designed by Dan Maples, son of Pinehurst No. 5 architect Ellis Maples. Though The Pit had its loyal followers, it’s remained closed for several years.
Officially Pinehurst has no plans to renovate that course or build a new one on the property, but people in the know tell me that the design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have visited and done some preliminary work on what could be done with it. Stay tuned. Coore and Crenshaw did a well-received renovation of Pinehurst No. 2 in preparation for the two 2014 U.S. Opens.
What’s most obvious about the No. 9 scenario is that the unprecedented staging of those two U.S. Opens won’t be an end-all at the storied resort. Shortly before the acquisition of No. 9 Pinehurst completed a $4 million clubhouse renovation and revealed plans for a multi-million dollar aquatics facility. Who knows what will be coming to this golf-rich area down the road? This clubhouse is what’s left of The Pit, a Pinehurst public layout that opened in 1985 and was closed prior to its sale in 2011.
ORLANDO, FL. – Roy Schindele, director of sales and marketing for Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge, stresses one thing before taking you on a tour of the facilities.
“This is not a resort. It’s a country club,’’ said Schindele, and that’s an important distinction to make from the outset if you’re lucky enough to visit this place.
There’s a different, very nice feeling about Bay Hill – and why wouldn’t there be? After all, it’s been at least a winter home for perhaps the most charismatic athlete of all time for nearly 50 years.
Based on our visit, Bay Hill has become more than just a winter retreat for Palmer, who spends considerable time in the summer months in Latrobe, Pa., the town where he grew up. He’s 85 now, and health issues have basically relegated him to hitting practice balls on the Bay Hill range these days. I’m told he rarely gets on the course.
Yet, Palmer has an apartment behind the tennis courts and is a frequent visitor to all the club’s facilities. Guests see him playing cards, dining with a group of friends or riding around in his golf cart. While he remains one of the most accommodating of all public figures, Palmer doesn’t spend much of his time posing for pictures or signing autographs for guests. Bay Hill is just where he enjoys life.
He operates his golf course design business from an office at Bay Hill. The two hospitals that bear his family name – the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies – are within 15 minutes. So are The Golf Channel studios. And, of course, the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard, an annual PGA Tour stop in March, has been played at Bay Hill since 1979. You can expect a warm welcome when you arrive at Bay Hill.
Palmer’s history with Bay Hill goes back to 1965 – three years after the course opened. The original 18 holes were designed by Dick Wilson, known in Chicago circles as the co-designer (with Joe Lee) of the Dubsdread course at Cog Hill.
Bay Hill was a modest resort then, owned by a group of Tennessee investors. Many of the roads around it were dirt and the land that now shows an area of tasteful homes was then dominated by orange trees. The course opened in 1962 and Palmer saw it for the first time on Feb. 28, 1965, when he was invited to play in an exhibition with Jack Nicklaus, a local PGA Tour player named Dave Ragan and Don Cherry, the singer who was a good enough golfer to make frequent appearances on the PGA Tour.
Palmer shot 6-under-par 66 that day, and none of the other members of the foursome could break par. For Palmer the course was love at first site, and when he called wife Winnie that evening he declared Bay Hill “the best course in Florida, and I want to own it.’’ The umbrella logo is evident, even in the floral displays at Bay Hill.
It took awhile, but he eventually did. Since 1976 it’s been officially Arnold Palmer’s club and it has blossomed because of it. His family members have taken an active interest in the private, non-equity club’s operation. The staff is friendly, the 70 rooms in the lodge are tastefully decorated and the food in the three restaurants is good. In short, it’s a comfortable place.
Bay Hill also has six tennis courts, a junior Olympic-size swimming pool, a fitness center, a marina, a salon and a spa. All are top notch without being glitzy. The Palmer touch is everywhere – from the trademark umbrella logs on the napkins and coffee cups and some of the wine bottles to the captivating movie of Palmer’s life that’s available on the television sets in the lodge rooms. The memorabilia and pictures throughout the club also stir all kinds of good memories.
And then, of course, there’s the golf. Bay Hill was an 18-hole facility when Palmer came on the scene. It now has an additional nine-holer, called The Charger, which is pretty much on par with the championship 18 (officially the Championship and Challenger nines) that is used for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The main layout was a Wilson design, but Palmer has tweaked it many times over the years and it’s now labeled as an Arnold Palmer Signature Course. I’ve played at least 20 courses that have hosted PGA Tour events, and Bay Hill is easily the most fun for the serious recreational player who tees it up from the proper tees.
That’s not to say Bay Hill is easy pickings for the PGA Tour crowd. It’s not. From the tips it’s a 7,381-yard layout, but there are six sets of tees. The 17th hole, a par-3 blocked by a pond front right of the green, is considered Bay Hill’s signature hole but I didn’t see it as an overwhelming choice. It’s hard to imagine Bay Hill experiencing a more spectacular shot than the one pulled off by Robert Gamez.
No. 18 has a special, historical touch – a plaque in the fairway commemorating one of the most memorable shots in golf’s recent era of tournaments. Robert Gamez holed out from there for eagle with a 7-iron from 176 yards out to beat Greg Normal in the 1990 Nestle Invitational. That was one of the PGA Tour stop’s title over the years (it was also called the Bay Hill Citrus Classic, Bay Hill Classic, Hertz Bay Hill Classic and Bay Hill Invitational before Palmer’s name was most appropriately included in the title).
The course is spread over 270 acres along the shores of the Butler Chain of Lakes and all the other club facilities are just a very short walk from it, creating a warm, cozy feeling.
Getting to play Bay Hill isn’t easy. You have to either be a member (there are about 800 of them, half living within a 50-mile radius of the club), be a guest of a member or stay at the lodge. The latter option, coupled with its 9,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, has made Bay Hill a popular place for corporate retreats and weddings.
You’re not a resort guest when you stay at the Bay Hill lodge. You’re in effect a member during your stay and you can take part in all that Ball Hill has to offer. The atmosphere’s the thing here. In nearly 50 years covering all aspects of golf I haven’t experienced anything quite like it.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Now I know why so many golfers call Hilton Head their favorite get-away destination. It could easily become mine, as well. Sea Pines’ Plantation Club just got a new clubhouse…. …and this clubhouse at Harbour Town, under construction here, opened in late March.
Prior to the early 1960s Hilton Head was basically a stop for hunters and fishermen. Then, in 1962, the Ocean Course was built at the Sea Pines Resort. That opened the gates for a series of rapid-fire developments on the island that now has 38,000 residents and attracts 2.5 million visitors annually.
They don’t come just for the golf. Hilton Head also has 13 miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches and eight beach parks, 51 miles of paths for hiking and biking, an extraordinary array of tennis facilities and over 300 restaurants and entertainment venues. The dining isn’t just a load of chain restaurants, either. There are a wide variety of dining options.
Golf, though, is what Hilton Head is really all about. The island’s golf guide lists 31 courses, and there are packages to accommodate about any kind of get-away you could imagine.
During our stay we experienced a good cross section of Hilton Head golf. The premier layout, of course, is Harbour Town Golf Links at Sea Pines – the site of the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Classic since 1969. It had an interesting beginning, with then-fledgling course architect Jack Nicklaus learning on the job from the veteran Pete Dye in what turned out a joint creation by the two of them. We found the lone hole with an ocean view at Palmetto Dunes. It’s behind the No. 10 green.
That course has its landmark lighthouse behind the 18th green, a popular visual for golf viewers annually when the Heritage Classic is in the golf spotlight worldwide. We found that there’s a lot more golf in Hilton Head than what’s played at Harbour Town, however, and there’s even a lighthouse that has a much more interesting history than Harbour Town’s — which isn’t a functioning lighthouse anyway.
Palmetto Dunes’ Arthur Hills Course has its Leamington Lighthouse, known officially as the Hilton Head Rear-Range Lighthouse. Built in 1879, it doesn’t come into play but is worth more than a glance. It’s haunted, or so the story goes.
An 1893 hurricane made a direct hit on Hilton Head and water around that lighthouse was reported to be three feet deep. Adam Fripp, the lighthouse keeper, and his daughter Caroline worked through the night trying to keep the lanterns burning during the storm. Fripp collapsed and died the next day and Caroline succumbed a few weeks later from exhaustion and the loss off her father.
Caroline became known as the Blue Lady, and local lore believes she still haunts that lighthouse wearing her blue dress from that stormy night. Anyway, few golf courses can claim such an unusual feature. The alligator fountain is the lone remnant left from the old clubhouse at Plantation Club.
Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort, which has three courses, has been a Hilton Head fixture almost from the beginning and it’s still going strong — though its name, along with that of its first course, is a bit misleading. The Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront Course, opened in 1969 and rebuilt in 1993, has but one hole with an ocean view.
That’s the only ocean view on any of Palmetto’s three courses, and – like the Leamington Lighthouse – the water doesn’t come into play there, either. (The ocean, however, does come very much into play at the resort’s popular beach club).
The three Palmetto courses (the others are the Arthur Hills and Fazio) are all a bit different. The Fazio, designed by George Fazio (uncle of Tom) in 1974, is a demanding par-70. The Hills layout – my choice as the best of the three – is also the newest, having made its debut in 1986.
Palmetto has a broad following. Its visitors include many who return year after year, and such longevity is reflected by director of golf Clark Sinclair. He’s been on the Palmetto staff since 1983 and is a huge supporter of the Hilton Head lifestyle.
While Palmetto has its charms, it’s at Sea Pines — on the southernmost portion of the island — where the action really is. While all the Hilton Head resorts and golf facilities have been regularly updated – over $200 million has been invested in new construction and renovations in the last few years – Sea Pines has been the clear-cut leader in that regard. That’s in keeping with the style of owner Riverstone Group of Richmond, Va. Pete Dye again made good use of railroad ties around the 18th green at Heron Point.
Riverstone also owns another premier South Carolina resort, The Sanctuary at Kiawah island. One of that resort’s courses, Osprey Point, just opened after a renovation and Riverstone’s other golf facility unveiled its own spectacular new course in September. Full Cry, at Keswick Hall in Virginia, is the legendary Dye’s latest creation.
The upgrades At Sea Pines are more far-reaching, and the cost of three recent major ones hit $55 million. The Plantation Golf Club received a spiffy new 23,000 square-foot clubhouse that opened in April and its Live Oaks restaurant is considered one of the best on the island. That was a $17 million project, and the new Sea Pines Beach Club priced out at $13 million.
Plantation’s Heron Point course, designed by Dye over what had been the Sea Marsh layout, opened but seven years. Still, it was closed for eight months in 2014 for renovation work before being re-opened in September. Davis Love III will re-design Plantation’s other 18-holer, the Ocean course. That layout will be closed next October and is scheduled to re-open in September of 2016. Even in mid-November there was plenty of bright flowering at Palmetto Dunes.
Harbour Town, though, is getting the most expensive upgrade – a $25 million clubhouse that was built where the old one had stood. The new clubhouse, which opened well in time for the 2015 Heritage Classic (to be played April 16-19), is a 26,000 square foot structure that has 4,000 square feet for lockerroom space.
Shortly after the new clubhouse is up and running the Harbour Town course will close. It’ll be shut down in May, shortly after the next Heritage Classic, to allow for a summer-long renovation in which the fairways will be re-grassed, the greens re-seeded and the irrigation system replaced.
These costly projects have kept Hilton Head at the forefront of American golf facilities, but that’s not to say it has everything. There are too many round-abouts for my taste and a few more streetlights would be nice, too. But learning to handle all the turns and cope with the extreme darkness in the nighttime hours is just part of the Hilton Head experience. They’re no big deal, and you get used to it.
That doesn’t take long, and then the place really has you hooked.
KESWICK, Va. – Pete Dye is in his late eighties now, but the most innovative golf course architect of this generation shows no signs of slowing down. His latest creation, Full Cry, is proof of that. Virginia’s stately Keswick Hall is now enhanced by Pete Dye’s latest golf course creation.
Full Cry opened informally in September at the Keswick Golf Club with the formal opening on Oct. 10. It’s been well received, but the acclaim will only grow in the coming months.
Dye has designed over 300 courses world-wide, and not all are as user-friendly and fun as Full Cry, the name derived from a fox-hunting term. The name hasn’t really made the rounds yet – it’s not even on the course’s scorecard – but it will once the staff at Keswick order the next wave of merchandise.
The course is actually the third version on the same property, 600 acres on the outskirts of Charlottesville, that has roots to a private estate built there in 1912. The estate was converted into a country club in 1948 when the late Fred Fraley, a Virginia architect, designed a nine-hole course.
Fraley added a second nine in the mid-1950s and Arnold Palmer’s design group renovated that course in 1992. Full Cry is nothing like what the other courses had been.
“It’s 100 percent Pete Dye,’’ said Eric McGraw, the club’s head professional for the last 15 years. “He had to tear everything up. Watching the earth-moving was a treat. It was like watching an artist.’’
Building Full Cry took awhile – 19 months to be exact. The finished product has all the Dye trademarks, especially the green complexes. It also has railroad ties in some places – around a pond and tee boxes — and materials from the course’s previous cart path were salvaged for similar purposes.
“A wonderful use of old material and beautiful to look at,’’ said McGraw – an accurate description. Full Cry’s 17th is called the “Railroad Hole” thanks to this bridge to the tee box, created from a flatbed railroad car.
The more pronounced eye-catcher, though, is the bridge leading to the tee boxes at No. 17. It’s a converted flatbed railroad car.
While a signature hole hasn’t been designated yet, the stretch between Nos. 3 and 7 has been dubbed The Gauntlet and they include two really good par-3s at Nos. 4 and 7.
McGraw’s favorite hole is the 18th, a great visual off the tee with water on the left. It’s not mine, however. I prefer the seventh. The green at the par-3 is surrounded by white sand, creating in effect an island green without any water. A really neat hole, though first-time players may better recall the 17th when their round is done simply because of the presence of the “railroad’’ bridge.
Dye installed six sets of tees at Full Cry, the shortest creating a 4,809-yard course and the layout measuring 7,134 from the tips. It’s not the challenge that his more famous courses – TPC Sawgrass in Florida, the Ocean Course at Kiawah in South Carolina or Whistling Straits in Wisconsin – present but it can be a serious test the further you move back in the tee box. As is the case with any well-designed layout, full enjoyment comes when you use the appropriate tee markers — and that’s especially true of Dye designs, including this one. My favorite hole, the par-3 seventh, features the Dye trademark railroad ties.
Keswick Hall and Golf Club was acquired about three years ago by Riverstone Group, which is based in Richmond, Va. It also includes the well-known Kiawah and Sea Pines golf resorts and two hotels – Hermitage in Nashville, Tenn., and Jefferson in Richmond. Riverstone is a family business that was founded by Bill Goodwin. His daughter and son-in-law live in Charlottesville.
While the focus here is on the golf, there’s much more to the Full Cry experience. Keswick Hall is a full-fledged retreat for golfers with its pleasantly elegant 48-room hotel, and accompanying recreational and dining opportunities. Just a few months after the Full Cry opening Keswick Hall was honored with the coveted Forbes Five-Star Award in recognition of its exceptional level of luxury and service.
The view of the course from the hotel is awesome, and it’s just a short walk from the hotel to the pro shop.
You need to be either a resort guest or the guest of one of Keswick’s 150 members to tee off at Full Cry. The plan is to increase the membership and lodging opportunities eventually and that shouldn’t be difficult once the popularity of Full Cry is in full force.
In February Keswick announced an exclusive partnership with famed sports psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella. He lives in the area and is now Keswick’s Mental Golf Coach.
While the central Virginia town of Keswick is small, the options around it aren’t. Monticello, the historically inspiring home of Thomas Jefferson, is just a few minutes away and two other presidential retreats from the country’s early years – the homes of James Madison and James Monroe – are also in the Charlottesville area.
They provide an ample look at the area’s rich past, while Full Cry is an indication of the good things coming down the road. Panoramic views of the Full Cry course abound from the Keswick Hall balcony.
HOT SPRINGS, Va. – I don’t think I’ve ever been to a place quite like The Homestead. This resort – officially The Omni Homestead since July of 2013 — is about so much more than golf. The Homestead garden provides a celebration of the resort’s rich history
Located just 39 miles over windy two-lane roads from the West Virginia state line, The Homestead also offers such things as falconry, state-of-the-art snowmaking for skiers and snowmobilers, and a new Shooting Club House and Pavilion. There’s also a two-acre water park, a new spa, an equestrian center, clay courts for tennis buffs, a miniature golf course and elaborate trails for hikers, cross country skiers and mountain bikers. The Homestead’s traditions include movies every night, afternoon tea in the hotel’s Great Hall and ornamental gazebos around the naturally-heated springs, all chemically unique.
In fact, you might suspect that golf is being downsized, given that one of Homestead’s three 18-holers – Lower Cascades – was closed two years ago. The nation’s oldest first tee in continuous operation gives Homestead’s Old Course something special.
More than anything, though, The Homestead is all about history. Twenty-two U.S. presidents have visited the charmingly elegant hotel since the resort opened in 1766 – that’s 10 years before the United States declared its independence — and the golf played there is a prominent part of that history.
Golf was why we were there, and our two-day early November visit fell in less-than-ideal weather. Half of our round on the well-decorated Cascades Course was played in rainy weather and our tour of the Old Course was played in 37-degree temperatures and 50 mile per hour winds that knocked many of the pins out of the cups. Still, all was good.
Being a golf history buff, we were particularly intrigued by the Old Course. No course has quite the history this one does.
You’re informed before the round that the No. 1 tee is the nation’s oldest first tee in continuous use. The first tee shot was struck there in 1892 and head professional Mark Fry said 18-hole rounds were played almost from the outset. That suggested an historical controversy could be in the works, since Chicago Golf Club has long claimed to be the nation’s first 18-hole course. It also opened in 1892. Homestead’s majestic hotel looms above the Old Course pro shop.
Fry, though, informed me that only six holes were available when the Old Course opened and that players covered 18 holes by playing it in three loops. So, Chicago Golf Club’s claim remained intact. The Old Course didn’t have 18 different holes until 1901. (By then Chicago Golf Club was six years into playing its second 18-holer. The original, in Belmont (now Downers Grove), is now down to a sporty, heavily-played nine-holer run by the Downers Grove Park District).
Donald Ross designed the Old Course and well-respected later architects William S. Flynn and Rees Jones eventually updated it, but the Old Course is still only 6,099 yards from the tips with well-contoured fairways that leave you side hill, uphill and downhill lies to relatively small greens.
The course is a bit quirky, too. I’ve never heard of a first hole being declared No. 1 handicap hole (but I don’t quibble with that choice here). The Old Course also is unusual in that it has back-to-back par-5s on both nines and a par-3 finishing hole.
All that is noteworthy, but – again – history is what really sets the Old Course apart. Not only does No. 1 have the nation’s oldest first tee in continuous use, it also is the place where the first sitting President of the United States played golf. William McKinley smacked his first tee shot there in 1901. He didn’t really take to the game, but William Howard Taft was an avid golfer and the Old Course may have been the course he played the most during his Presidency.
Cascades, once known as Upper Cascades, opened in 1923 and has a modern-day feature with a waterfall (above) beside the 17th green. Cascades has its history, too. The first head professional there was the legendary Sam Snead, who was born in Hot Springs and began his working life as a caddie at The Homestead when he was 17.
Snead eventually made hickory-shaft clubs in the Casino, the name given to the Old Course pro shop and tennis center, and worked on the construction crew that built Cascades.
In 1934 Snead and was named the Cascades’ head pro. Among his duties was giving lessons there, at a cost of $3. Naturally, he also played there frequently and had a best score of 61 that included nine consecutive threes on the back nine.
Snead passed on three days before his 90th birthday but his name, and family, remain prominent in the area. The road leading through Hot Springs is Sam Snead Highway and his son, Sam Snead Jr. (called Jackie) owns Sam Snead’s Tavern – a local hotspot.
It’s the first of 19 restaurants nationwide that bear Snead’s name, but the only one that is still owned by Sam Snead Jr. He has leased it to The Homestead but is a frequent visitor and was there the night we visited. Sam Snead’s Tavern is a most friendly dinner place with lots of great Snead memorabilia and good food. Jackie Snead – in an unsolicited but very nice gesture – sent us an autographed copy of the menu that includes some helpful historical data.
Cascades is considered one of the nation’s best mountain courses. It was designed by Flynn and has been ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses by Golf Digest. The Allegheny Mountains provide a breathtaking backdrop for the golfers. It’s never been a PGA Tour site, but has hosted seven U.S. Golf Assn. national championship ranging from the 1928 U.S. Women’s Amateur to the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur of 2009.
Probably the biggest USGA event played at the Cascades was the 1967 U.S.Women’s Open, an event that resulted in Catherine Lacoste of France winning the title.
