ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Want to take on a real golf challenge? Try to complete what I’m now declaring the Salamander Slam.

The Salamander Golf Collection includes nine courses in Florida plus another in the company’s home base of Middleburg, Va. Sheila C. Johnson — former Chicago resident, University of Illinois alum and founder and chief executive officer for the Salamander group – has 180 holes under her jurisdiction. Play them all and you’ve completed the Salamander Slam.

Playing them all – and I’m only halfway done – will also expose you to the architectural efforts of three of golf’s legendary players as well as that of the late Larry Packard, who designed four of the courses including the most famous one.

Salamander is the largest independent golf course operator in Florida, and playing all nine of its courses there won’t be easy since you can’t come in off the street at any of them. Only members and resort guests at the various locations can get on the courses, but the experience will be well worth it. Not only will you enjoy a quality golf atmosphere but you’ll also get a sampling of what Florida is all about because the courses are spread throughout the state.

Johnson created her Salamander Hotels and Resorts company in 2005. The nine Salamander courses in Florida range from the four at the Innisbrook Resort on the western edge of the state to the two at Hammock Beach Resort on the eastern side. Innisbrook is located in Tarpon Springs, near Tampa, and Hammock Beach is roughly between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach

Packard’s Copperhead course at Innisbrook is easily the best known of the Salamander courses. Arguably the best course in Florida, it has long been a PGA Tour site for what is now called the Valspar Championship. Jordan Spieth will defend his title in that event in March.

Just as the courses all have their unique qualities, so do the resorts where they’re based. Other than offering great golf, there’s been only a minimal effort to make the locations similar.

My suggestion for a starting point on a Salamander Slam would be in the middle – at Reunion, which is in Orlando on the edge of Kissimmee. Though Innisbrook has more courses (four) than Reunion (three), Reunion is the biggest property in the group. It’s built on 2,300 acres and features a 96-suite main hotel topped off by Eleven, a fine dining steakhouse on the top floor. There’s also a water park, boutique and spa, tennis, biking and walking trails and a meeting and conference facility on the premises within a few minutes of DisneyWorld and the other Orlando tourist attractions.

Its place in golf is secure if for no other reason than Reunion is the only location in the world with designs by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson. Those greats of the game parlayed their success as players into successful careers as architects as well.

Not only that, but Reunion is also the home of the Annika Academy, a unique instruction facility organized by another legendary golfer – Annika Sorenstam. Her Academy incorporates fitness and nutrition into the golf instruction.

As for the Reunion courses, Nicklaus’ The Tradition is the longest at 7,240 yards and – with its small greens, narrow fairways and water, which comes into play on nine of the holes – the most difficult as well. It’s probably the best layout there as well, though it has an interesting history. Nicklaus had to create two new holes after a property dispute surfaced, and the course has no clubhouse. A tent has served as an alternative until a clubhouse is built.

Watson’s Independence course was the first Watson design in Florida. It has lots of elevation changes but no water and is probably the easiest of the three layouts.

I’ve played many Palmer courses over the years, but none are as challenging as his Legacy course – at 6.916 yards the shortest of the three Reunion layouts. It’s filled with sand traps and waste bunkers and the elevation changes are not what you’d see at most Florida courses.

Get through those courses and you can decide whether you want to proceed to the west — where the recently-renovated Copperhead layout is joined by the Packard-designed Island, North and South layouts – or go east and test Hammock Beach, another Nicklaus creation, or The Conservatory, which was designed by Watson. Next to Copperhead, The Conservatory is my second favorite of the Salamander courses played so far.

Nicklaus also designed Creighton Farms, the Virginia course that has a connection to the nearby Salamander Resort & Spa.

ST. CLOUD, FLORIDA – The story of the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links started ominously. Its grand opening came two days before the horrendous 9-11 terrorist attack in 2001.

The 18-hole course was known as the St. Cloud Golf Club then, and the designer was Chip Powell. That’s where facility’s connection with Illinois began. Powell was a product of both Danville Community College and Illinois State University before starting his golf architectural business in Florida beginning in the early 1980s.

Powell created the course for St. Cloud’s original owners, who sold it two years later. Then the Illinois influence became much stronger and the outlook for this layout – a 25-minute drive from DisneyWorld – steadily improved until now it’s one of the busiest courses in the Orlando area if not all of Florida.

Royal St. Cloud’s general manager Bill Filson. He grew up in LaGrange, the son of the long-time superintendent at Illinois Masonic Children’s Home. Filson learned his golf from the late Tom Byrd, the head professional at Timber Trails, and – after 4 ½ frustrating years trying to be a competitive playing pro – he joined Trey Van Dyke’s staff at Oak Brook Golf Club.

Filson quickly went from assistant pro to teaching professional and one of his students was Hinsdale resident and successful Chicago businessman Tom Butler. They decided to buy the St. Cloud course, and Filson ended an 11-year stint at Oak Brook to move to Florida and become the face of the then renamed Royal St. Cloud Golf Links.

A PGA professional for 24 years, Filson’s role is much broader than that of the usual GM. First order of business when he arrived at the facility was rebuilding the original 18 holes. Filson did that while working with Powell.

Next came the addition of a new clubhouse, which opened in November of 2008 with its popular Stone Bridge Tavern & Grill. Blessed with plenty of open space for expansion, Butler and Filson didn’t see the need for a second 18-hole course but opted for a third nine. Filson, again working with Powell, designed it and they had it up and running in 2009.

The original 18 was then marketed as the White and Blue nines and the new one became the Red nine. It’s clearly the most challenging. The White is generally regarded as the easiest, but all three nines are comparable and the mixture leads to a nice variety of playing options.

Just the fact that it has a links feel sets Royal St. Cloud apart from the other courses in the area, and having the luxury of three nines adds to that.

Each of the nines is a par-36 and only 43 yards separates the shortest (on the White course) from the longest (on the Blue). The fairways are generous throughout but there are special touches. Each hole has a name, some examples being Wake Up, Mouse Trap, Nesse’s Back, Brent’s Bridge, Hookenfacher’s Nose, Gauntlet of Palms and Oliver’s Field. Their stories are told on unique signs, which provide reading material throughout the course.

Then there’s the Deli Tele – authentic British shiny red phone booths that golfers can use to contact the clubhouse to place food orders. A member named Tom, who became a most pleasant playing partner, said the food is great. We didn’t have time to find out on this visit.

Special touches aside, it’s not hard to see why golfers like Royal St. Cloud. For one thing the price is right. (The highest 18-hole fee is $35 in this first month of the winter tourist season, cart included).

We played on an overcast Saturday, waited on most every shot and had no reason to complain. Tom said a packed course is commonplace, whether it be on weekdays or weekends. The course design kept your attention, the conditioning was good and the service friendly.

“We believe in making our course second to none in the (Florida) public market,’’ said Filson. “We give prices that are significantly better than fair and we treat everybody exactly the same. The condition is always extremely good and we’re real friendly people.’’

Filson reported Royal St. Cloud had 77,000 paid rounds in 2015 and that impressive number was up by a full 11,500 from the previous year. Membership plans are available, but Royal St. Cloud is a stand alone golf facility. Unlike many of Florida’s better courses, it’s not part of a housing complex.

“This course was built by a golfer for golfers,’’ said Filson, who is turned off by reports of his sport’s struggles in recent years.

“There are 28 million people still playing our game,’’ he said.

Chances are there wouldn’t be many negative industry reports if there were more Royal St. Cloud Golf Links out there.

“We’re a success story in the golf business,’’ said Filson. “Every year we get better. We’re growing the game.’’

HAINES CITY, Florida – Though I’ve belong to a Chicago area private club for about 30 years I still consider myself more of an avid public course player. Wherever I go, I’d rather play a wide variety of courses rather than a select few.

When away from Chicago the ideal combination is in an area where the courses are well-designed, the greens fees are affordable and the tee times plentiful. That’s certainly the case in this town about 30 miles south of Orlando. There’s a catch, though, when you visit Grenelefe Golf and Tennis Resort here.

The golf may be a good deal, but you can’t make a visit here without wondering what the place was like in its heyday in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Grenelefe was once one of the premier destinations in Florida, if not the entire United States – and not just for golfers. Tennis was big, too. Present-day greats Venus and Serena Williams trained on the Grenelefe courts in their early years.

For golfers Grenelefe had three 18-hole courses and another, independently owned Diamondback, was across the street. All four had quality designers. The architect for the East Course at Grenelefe was Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay Design. For the South Course it was a joint effort by Andy Bean, a former Western Open champion, and prolific Florida architect Ron Garl.

The architect for the West Course, said to be the best of the trio and a former Top 100 Course in the Golf Digest rankings, is somewhat of a mystery. It was apparently Robert Trent Jones Sr., though Grenelefe doesn’t list an architect for that one and its not listed in the late Jones’ course portfolio, either. All three Grenelefe course opened in the late 1970s.

As for Diamondback, it was a creation of Joe Lee – the same architect who designed the Dubsdread course at Chicago’s Cog Hill.

Now those four courses are down to two. Grenelefe’s West Course, which was the site for the PGA Tour Qualifying School Finals four times, faded away in the late 1990s, a victim of changing economic times. It wasn’t in use when present owner Westgate Resorts of Orlando took over Grenelefe in 2002 after its Japanese owners had filed for bankruptcy. The purchase price was $12.75 million.

Diamondback, which had a course that measured 6,684 yards from the back tees, was in operation for 19 years before closing on May 27, 2014. The property is overgrown now and up for sale. It’s not a pretty site, and its future is very much in doubt.

Much to Westgate’s credit, the South and East courses at Grenelefe are in operation and said to be improving after some down times. We played both. The greens on both were just fine, but the overall conditioning was much better on the East than it was on the South.

What was good, from a traveling golfer’s perspective, was the fees – in the $30 range, cart included. We never found courses of this quality in that price range in our previous five winters in Florida. Also appealing is the fact that Grenelefe is away from the busier courses in the immediate Orlando area. You can actually play a casual round here in the heart of the winter tourist season.

Our rounds came in 80-degree weather on weekdays at the brink of Florida’s tourist season. We played basically alone on the South Course. We finished our round at 5 p.m. and ours was the only cart in the parking lot. On the East we teed off behind a threesome of regulars and ahead of a foursome. The threesome was out of sight after the front nine and we never saw the foursome. In essence, we felt like we were playing alone again.

Grenelefe has plenty other amenities on its 1,273 acres – a big clubhouse, a conference center, a fitness facility, marina, tennis courts, a spacious practice range and an inviting pool area. The homes and lodging around the course created a pleasant atmosphere, as well. Given all that, this is a place that merits consideration as a place worth re-discovering.

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Florida – Its name may not suggest that of a full-fledged golf destination, and neither does the town in which it’s located, either.

Make no mistake, though. Mission Inn Resort & Club, located in central Florida 35 miles southwest of Orlando, is all you could want in a golf resort. It has two well-decorated 18-hole courses and the Gary Gilchrist Teaching Academy plus a lot more.

The 1,100-acre resort has 176 guest rooms and suites, four restaurants, two lounges and a poolside cabana bar, a 54-slip marina, eight tennis courts, a fitness center and a spa. You name it, and Mission Inn probably has it. The golf, though, is special because the courses come from two very different eras.

El Campeon, built in 1917, is believed to be the fifth-oldest course in Florida and was named the state’s Course of the Year in 2009 by the National Golf Course Owners Association. Based on our visits around the state over the last five years it’s also the premier course of the 52 listed on the Florida Historic Golf Trail, a list that all traveling golfers would be wise to check out. Don’t let its age fool you, El Campeon is still very much relevant for any level of golfer.

The other course at Mission Inn, Las Colinas, is in its 23rd season and – like El Campeon — has been consistently listed among Florida’s Top 25 in the various polls. That’s saying something, since Florida is rich in golf courses with well over 1,000 in operation.

A nominee for Best New Resort Course by Golf Digest magazine in its early years, Las Colinas was designed by Gary Koch, a veteran PGA Tour player, in 1992 and renovated by the respected Ron Garl in 2007. The Beucher family, which has operated Mission Inn for over 50 years, is particularly proud of the many collegiate events that have been played there.

This whole town of Howie-in-the-Hills is steeped in history, starting in 1916 when Illinois resident William Howey purchased 60,000 acres with the intent of creating the largest horticultural empire in the world. A year after the purchase the 75-room Hotel Floridian was built on the southern border of the Howey plantation and George O’Neil, a Chicago golf course architect, was hired to build the first golf course.

Golf course architecture was a budding profession in those days. O’Neil’s creation was first known as Howey Golf Club, then Chain O’Lakes, Bougainvillea and Floridian before becoming El Campeon (Spanish for The Champion). A Scottish architect, Charles Clarke, updated it after 10 years of use but O’Neil remains the architect of record. More on the course design updates over the years later.

While background information on O’Neil’s career is sketchy, he has been connected to some top level courses. O’Neil is also listed as the designer of Green Acres, a private club in the Chicago area, and South Bend Country Club, in Indiana. He also did some work at Pasadena Golf Club in California and one of the courses at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. O’Neil also spent some time as a golf professional, having worked in that capacity at Beverly Country Club – a premier private club in Chicago.

Fast forward to 1936, when another Illinoisan –Nick Beucher from the Chicago suburb of Wilmette – began his sales career with the Morton Salt Company. Beucher was a successful salesman with a strong spirit for adventure. In 1939 Beucher – then just 22 years old — and a friend, Tex Bunteen, spent 39 days riding 1,400 miles on horseback from Del Rio, Texas, to Mexico City to fulfill a life-long dream.

Eventually Beucher married and started a family that would include six children. One, son Bob, joined him when his spirit of adventure took him from the Chicago suburbs to Howey-in-the-Hills. Nick Beucher decided to buy Hotel Floridian in 1964 and revive its badly neglected golf course.

In 1969 the decision was made to create a Spanish colonial resort, and Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort was born. The name was slightly altered over the years as Beucher brought in an array of other family members to operate the resort. Nick Beucher passed away in 2005 at age 88. Bob Beucher served as president of Mission Inn and, though now retired, maintains that title. His brother Bud handles the day-to-day operation now.

All of Nick Beucher’s six children have worked in some capacity at Mission Inn. Of those six siblings, three of four brothers-in-law and one of two sisters-in-law are also involved in the operation, as are 16 of Beucher’s grandchildren.

El Campeon (which means The Champion) doesn’t look like a typical Florida course. With 85 feet of elevation changes it offers a most memorable golfing adventure thanks in large part to major design tweaking over the years supervised by Bob Beucher. Some of the original holes were eliminated, others created. Its hardly the course that O’Neil created, but then again few courses built that long ago have survived with their original design.

Now El Campeon has an island green, at the par-4 16th, and the signature hole is No. 17 – a tricky par-5 with a tree in the center of the fairway and a pond fronting the green. Measuring 556 yards from the back tees, it’s the longest hole on the course and been dubbed Devil’s Delight. There are better holes on this layout, though.

The elevation changes and the strategic use of water – it comes into play on 14 holes – makes for a day of interesting challenges. While O’Neil is listed as the architect of record, the revisions made since the Beucher family took over the operation make El Campeon the special course that it is today.

If a serious golfer can play only one course at Mission Inn, it should be El Campeon. Las Colinas (Spanish for “The Hills’’) is a more typical Florida resort layout. It has wide fairways and isn’t quite the challenge that El Campeon can be. Cited by Golf for Women for its Top Fairways award, Las Colinas is player-friendly but still interesting throughout. Its signature hole is No. 12 – a very tight tree-lined par-5 that has been dubbed Alligator Alley.

Every effort should be made to play both courses when you visit Mission Inn, however. The courses are similar in that both are par-72 layouts with one par-5 on front nine and three on the back. Two of long holes on Las Colinas are back-to-back (Nos. 12 and 13). The last par-3, No. 16, was my favorite hole. This tight driving hole is no breather and is a great fit for its place in the rotation.

With two quality courses, Mission Inn has certainly withstood the tests of time. The Beuchers marked the family’s 50th anniversary as owners in 2014 and El Campeon will mark its centennial in 2017.

PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA – Black Friday may be the biggest day of the year for shoppers, but it won’t mean as much to the golfers at Innisbrook Resort in this suburb of Tampa.

The day after Thanksgiving to them means the re-opening of Innisbrook’s famed Copperhead Course, annual site of the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship. The course was closed on May 1 for a $4 million-plus restoration that included the installation of a new irrigation system, the rebuilding of all the greens and tees and the re-grassing of the entire layout with all new state-of-the-art turf grasses. A new chipping area was also created for PGA Tour visitors and the driving range was converted to a two-tier facility.

Announcement of the planned closing of the course was announced during the 2015 Valspar Championship and was immediately applauded by tour veterans Luke Donald and Stewart Cink. The course has always been a favorite with PGA Tour players, and it’s even more beautiful now. They’ll be delighted to see the new look when they return for the $6.1 million event that’s run from March 10-13 as part of the circuit’s four-week Florida swing.

Only the club’s members will be allowed to play on Black Friday and that policy will remain in effect through Dec. 8, when a grand re-opening event will trigger the return of public and resort play. Even then all play will be cart-path only until the end of the Valspar Championship.

I’ve always had a warm feeling for Innisbrook and not just because of its rich history in tournament golf. It has hosted professional tournaments for 25 years and during one recent four-year stretch the resort was the only facility in the U.S. to host events on both the men’s and women’s pro tours. In addition to the Valspar the resort also hosted the LPGA’s Legends Tour on its Island Course.

The Legends event isn’t on the calendar anymore, but the Valspar will be an even bigger deal this year with Jordan Spieth poised to defend the championship he won in a sudden death playoff with Patrick Reid and Sean O’Hair in 2015. His win at Copperhead made Spieth only the fourth player since 1940 two win twice on the PGA Tour before his 22nd birthday.

That dramatic win also triggered a huge year for Spieth, who went on to win the Masters, U.S. Open, John Deere Classic, Tour Championship and FedEx Cup and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the world rankings.

In addition to its golf history Innisbrook is personally appealing because of its extraordinary ties to the Chicago area. Sheila Johnson, the owner since 2005, is a Chicago native and University of Illinois graduate.

Larry Packard, designer of all four Innisbrook courses, and Brent Wadsworth, the builder of all of them, have deep Chicago area roots. So do two of Valspar’s past champions, Donald and Kevin Streelman. The Innisbrook staff is also filled with former Chicago area residents, headed by director of regional sales Doug Schmidt. The Chicago area is also well-represented among the resort’s members and guests.

Packard, who passed away last year at the age of 101, started it all. He was president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects when his first Innisbrook design, the Island Course, opened in 1970.

During his architectural career he designed over 600 courses world-wide and he lived at Innisbrook for more than 40 years. Copperhead followed as a 27-hole layout. Nine of those holes were eventually taken when he created the North Course and Packard also designed a fourth 18-holer, the South Course, on the property. The resort’s highly-upscale steakhouse – one of four dining spots on the premises– also bears his name.

It’s important to note that the just-completed work on Copperhead wasn’t a renovation. It was a restoration that owner Sheila Johnson – the founder and chief executive officer of Salamander Hotels and Resorts and long-time member of the U.S. Golf Association’s executive committee – said was done “to respect and protect the vision of Larry Packard and his signature design.’’

The first course at Innisbrook, the Island, is still the favorite for regulars and not just for golf. The many fishing enthusiasts who come to Innisbrook like to catch the trophy bass in its ponds. In addition to the LPGA Legends the Island has also hosted NCAA Championships and many USGA qualifiers.

Copperhead, which has emerged as the main championship course, was built in 1972 as a tree-lined layout with rolling terrain and holes that bear Packard’s trademark double dogleg design. No. 14, a par-5, is one such hole and has been declared Copperhead’s signature hole.

A more higher profile aspect of the course, though, is the Snake Pit. It comprises holes 16, 17 and 18 and is – at least arguably – the toughest finishing stretch on the PGA Tour. The veteran Ernie Els once declared Copperhead “the best golf course in Florida,’’ and that’s saying something given that the PGA Tour also visits Bay Hills (Arnold Palmer Invitational), Doral Trump National (WGC-Cadillac Championship) the TPC Sawgrass (Players Championship).

WEST POINT, Mississippi – Right now all that’s in operation is the practice facility – albeit a very nice one – used by the men’s and women’s teams at Mississippi State University.

Within a year, though, that will change as this town of about 12,000 residents can boast of having one of the premier golf destinations in the United States. Old Waverly Golf Club, which opened in 1988, already has a fine course — one jointly designed by Jerry Pate and Bob Cupp that was good enough to host the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open, the 2014 LPGA Legends’ Handa Cup matches and the 2015 Southern Amateur among other big events.

Old Waverly, however, will soon have a companion course across the street. Gil Hanse, the architect for the Brazil course that will host the first golf competition in the Olympic Games since 1904, has designed Mossy Oak as the companion course for Old Waverly. Its scheduled grand opening is Sept. 2, 2016 – a few weeks after Hanse’s Olympic venue gets world-wide exposure.

George Bryan, owner of Old Waverly, already has eight present or former tour players – among them Nancy Lopez and Larry Mize – lined up for the grand opening.

“We wanted to be more of a destination, and not just a single (course) club,’’ said Bryan, who was born in West Point, attended Mississippi State and returned to make the town his home after a long-successful career in the food business. “We were doing fine as a single club but felt this would be better long-term. We have everything here; it’s a matter of bringing in more revenue.’’

The creation of Mossy Oak started in 2012 when a donor, who has remained anonymous so far, donated $800,000 to the golf program at Mississippi State. The campus is 16 miles from Old Waverly and its golf teams have been frequent visitors, even to the extent of hosting tournaments there.

Though the school has its own course in Starkville, Bryan was invited to enhance the school program at his club and one thing led to another.

“You don’t want collegiate golfers wearing your course out, but we thought by building a new course we could do it,’’ said Bryan.

Hanse wasn’t as high-profile a designer then as he is now. He’s designing the third course at Streamsong, in Florida, and the next layout at Bandon Dunes, in Oregon, while finishing up his work at Mossy Oak.

Streamsong and Bandon Dunes are plum projects, but Mossy Oak came first. Hanse lives in Malvern, Pa., but has a close friend from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who is an Old Waverly member. Hanse was asked to take a look at 180 acres across from that course before the club had even acquired the land. He liked what he saw, and the financial issues were resolved in short order as well. It seems like lots of people wanted to be a part of this project.

“The Mississippi State facility is a $2.5 to $3 million project,’’ said Bryan “It was all raised with donors. There was no university or state money involved.’’

Bryan expects the Mossy Oak project to wind up in the $10 to $12 million range. It started after 76 founding members, some from as far away as Utah and California, each put up $100,000. Among the founders is TV personality Steve Harvey and Bus Cook, the agent for retired football star and long-time Mississippi resident Bret Favre. Another NFL legend, Jerry Rice, is an Old Waverly member. All figure to play some sort of a role in getting Mossy Oak launched with a bang.

The course will be something special. That was obvious after a tour with Bryan in late fall, a week before work on the layout would be halted for a three-month winter break.

Prior to the acquisition the property comprised the Knob Hill Dairy Farm. There were 10 knobs on it, and that’s what caught Hanse’s attention. The old barn that had been there was taken down, but a picture of it is on the wall in the Mississippi State practice facility.

Construction on the course started in the fall of 2014. Hanse worked around the concept of “Nature’s Golf.’’ That’s in deference to Mossy Oak – the prominent outdoor brand for which the course was named. The “Nature’s Golf ‘’ concept means that the course design “leaves a gentle footprint on the local habitat while delivering a world-class golf experience.’’

Hanse started with some 150-year old oak trees, which will be protected, and two lakes, the bigger of which is seven acres and very deep. It’ll eventually be stocked with trophy bass. There was also an old grain bin, which was covered with hand-molded brick and will become a symbol of the course. Eventually it’ll be covered with moss.

With those starting points Hanse created a course that will measure 7,500 yards and have five sets of tees and 95 bunkers. The sand for them was taken from a river six miles away. The layout will have two par-5 holes that measure over 600 yards from the back tees and the shortest of the par-3s will play at 169. A focal point on the course will be the No. 7 tee, from which every hole on the course can come into view.

A concrete path will encircle the course for servicing purposes, and the paths inside will be of crushed stone. Native wildflowers will be evident throughout the course.

For now the Mississippi State practice facility is the only sign of golf being practiced on the premises. Old Waverly’s two well-regarded veteran instructors, brothers-in-law V.J. Trolio and Tim Yelverton, work with the collegians as well as the members. The college players have the benefit of five practice greens, one of which measures 16,000 square-feet, and a 6,400 square-foot already well-decorated clubhouse.

The double-ended range, about 400 yards deep, will eventually be shared with Mossy Oak players. Old Waverly members will pay a greens fee to play at Mossy Oak, and revenue there will also come from both public play and resort guests. Bryan expects the two courses to draw about 35,000 rounds per year but the layouts will be much different.

“Mossy Oak will be like (New York historic venues) National Golf Links and Shinnecock Hills – very wide open with a lot of movement,’’ said Bryan.

Eventually Mossy Oak will have its own two-story clubhouse with a rustic contemporary look and a cutting edge spa nearby. The Hanse Cottage on the course will provide 3,000 square feet for resort guests in its four bedrooms and big common area. Another six cottages along Magnolia Drive will provide more lodging options in addition to those already available at Old Waverly.

With that kind of facility upgrade Old Waverly and Mossy Oak could attract big tournaments again.

“We’d like another event here,’’ said Bryan. “We’ve been talking to the USGA and PGA to get something on the books.’’

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana – Given the economic difficulties golf has experienced across the country the last few years, it was refreshing to see what’s been happening in this tourist-driven town just 30 miles over the Texas line in southwestern Louisiana.

Lake Charles has almost as many casinos (four) as it has golf courses (six). Two of those casinos have golf courses, and they’re good ones. L’Auberge has its Contraband Bayou, designed by the estimable Tom Fazio. The Golden Nugget Resort, next door, has its Country Club at the Golden Nugget which – like the resort – isn’t even one year old yet. The course had a soft opening in May and a formal one in October of 2015 and in February, 2016, was named among the Top 10 New Courses by Golf Digest.

In fact, nothing is really old in Lake Charles. L’Auberge is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. When you drive into this casino area you feel like you’re approaching a mini-Las Vegas. The hotels are stunning and — just as important from this perspective – their golf courses fit right into the swing of things. This is a great place for buddy trips — be it men, women or couples – because there’s something for everyone and the attractions are so close together.

We’ve visited several casino resorts with golf courses over the years, but none match up to what we found in Lake Charles. This community of 74,000 draws its visitors heavily from Texas, a state that has largely steered clear of the casino world. Houston, just two hours away, brings loads of visitors to Lake Charles and New Orleans is about three hours away in the opposite direction.

People come for the gambling, of course, but the hotels and their accompanying array of shops, spas, pools and restaurants are also enticing. So are the golf courses.

Contraband Bayou shows its longest hole – No. 1 is 611 yards from the tips down to 500 from the forward tees – right off the bat. It’s a par-71 layout that fits the mold of a perfect resort course. The fairways are wide and the layout isn’t very penal even with its eight lakes and unusually deep bunkers factoring in. The course is challenging, interesting and – most important – fun.

The golf publications were quick to recognize Contraband Bayou, with its most significant accolades coming from Golfweek Magazine, which listed it among its Best Casino Courses in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 and among its Best Places to Stay in 2014 and 2015.

Not only that, but the course smells good with its gardenia fragrances in some spots and No. 13 is a particularly pretty par-3 – our favorite from the viewing standpoint.

I’m not overly impressed by any of the course rating systems, but I suspect the Golden Nugget course will also be in for its share of attention in the next few years. The first sign of recognition came a day after we left when Golf Digest magazine included it in its Top 10 Best New Courses for 2015.

Golden Nugget’s course was designed by up-and-coming California-based architect Todd Eckenrode and Origins Golf Designs. This course is much different than Contraband Bayou. In fact, it has a generally refreshing look – especially on the back nine where holes 13 through 16 form a four-stretch of exceedingly good short holes. Eckenrode alternates par-4s of 329 and 357 yards with par-3s of 170 and 169 yards (all measurements taken from the back tees). All are fun holes with unique, memorable challenges. They’re not just a stretch of holes where you figure to score well on.

Like Contraband Bayou, Golden Nugget is designed for resort play. Its fairways are extraordinarily wide and its greens are huge – and much quicker than the surfaces on the older layout. For a course still in its infant stages Golden Nugget was in excellent condition just a month after its formal opening.

One thing that sets the Country Club at Golden Nugget apart from the other resort courses is its stylish 4,000-square foot clubhouse and the food served in it. The place was hopping when we were there on a mid-week visit and the diners weren’t all golfers by any means. The restaurant stands alone on its quality, even with the golf courses and casinos within walking distance.

Golf may have blossomed in Lake Charles because of the casino influence but there are other layouts in the area worth visiting. Heading that list is one with the fancy name of The National Golf Club of Louisiana. Dave Bennett, the veteran Texas architect, designed this layout for the city of Westlake, which is just across one of the area’s many long bridges leading into Lake Charles.

The National, as it’s known to its staffers and players, was built in 2009 as the cornerstone for a still developing residential community at a cost of $9.6 million. Bennett’s design includes 14 lakes and 80 bunkers. What can’t be missed, though, is the takeoff on its name. While it’s no Augusta National (home of the Masters tournament) and doesn’t pretend to be, the Louisiana National has flags that closely resemble the Augusta National logo.

Lake Charles has three other courses in its immediate area that enhance the experience for visiting golfers. If you want a longstanding favorite there’s Frasch Park in Sulphur, a 6, 267-yard public course completed in 1966.

If you want another award-winner there’s Gray Plantation, which was in Golf Digest’s Top 100 Courses from 2001 to 2006, and it also has a state-of-the-art Sports Club. And, if you want try a municipal course that hosts more than its share of local competitions there’s Mallard Cove. It’s been city-owned since 1976 and added a new clubhouse in 2009 after Hurricane Rita destroyed the old one.

ISLE OF PALMS, South Carolina – For Wild Dunes it was a long time coming.

“It was a long process,’’ said director of golf Jeff Minton. “We’d talked about renovating for about 10 years (Minton himself has been at the resort on the outskirts of Charleston for only eight years), but we finally closed the golf course.’’

Wild Dunes has been one of the most popular U.S. golf destinations for 37 years, and the closing of it Links Course last May was long overdue. “The course was built in 1980 and we still had our original irrigation system,’’ said Minton. “It needed to be replaced.’’

And that wasn’t all. The Links Course isn’t just another resort course. It commands a bit of historical significance as the first course that Tom Fazio – one of the game’s premier architects – designed solo. Fazio started work on the layout in 1979. Now 70, he has more courses ranked in the Top 100 in the various polls than any other architect.

In 1990 the Links Course got a mild tuneup as part of its recovery from the damage done by Hurricane Hugo, but that was the only major work done on the layout until May, 2015. The irrigation system wasn’t the only thing touched by Fazio’s design firm, which is based in Hendsonville, N.C. The greens were re-constructed, too.

“We replaced all the greens with new Champions Bermuda grass,’’ said Minton. “They have a more moderate feeling now.’’

And that’s not all. The old putting surfaces measured about 60,000 square feet. Now they’re almost double that – and with good reason.

“A modern course has 90,000 square feet,’’ said Bryan Bowers, a 16-year Fazio employee who oversaw the renovation work. The new green complexes total about 160,000 square feet.

“This resort gets about 30,000 rounds a year and needed more setup options,’’ said Bowers. “With the small greens we had maybe two-three options (cup placements per green). We were able to expand the greens, and now we have four or five options.’’

And the surfaces aren’t just bigger now; they’re different, too. Course superintendent Scott Ferguson noticed it the first time he played the “new’’ course, which re-opened after six months of renovation work with a soft opening in October and a formal re-launching in mid-November.

“They look like they have a lot of slopes, but they were really putt-able,’’ said Ferguson. “They were nothing crazy. They were just a lot of fun.’’

Most of the first players on the renovated course felt the same way but there was something much more noticeable. The old 18th green was gone.

“The last several years we’ve struggled with beach erosion,’’ said Minton. “We had lost that hole twice.’’

A temporary green on the finishing hole wasn’t a good idea, so Bowers oversaw the construction of a new green that resulted in the Links Course becoming one of the few high-level U.S. courses with a par-3 finishing hole. It had been a par-5. Personally I liked the new hole just fine, but it may not be a permanent thing.

“We built a beautiful par-3 with ocean views and hope that some day soon we can bring that par-5 back,’’ said Minton.

Some famous courses, most notably Congressional – the former U.S. Open site in the Washington D.C. area – has done just fine with a short finishing hole. Medinah’ No. 1 course in Chicago area, which was also recently renovated, had a par-3 home hole both before and after its renovation.

While the new No. 18 at Wild Dunes is the biggest eye-catcher, Minton, Bowers, Ferguson and their Wild Dunes teammates believe there is much more to consider when judging the renovation.

Despite reducing the course from a par-72 to a par-70 about 300 yards were added to the course’s playing yardage through the renovation. Six miles of cement cart paths were also installed and all the home stretch holes – not just No. 18 – look much different. They’re the course’s ocean holes, but you couldn’t tell that previously.

“Years ago, when the course was built, there was so much beach that you could barely see the ocean from the hole,’’ said Bowers. “Other than No. 18, most of the course was pretty well protected.’’

The ocean views on Nos. 15-17 were disappearing as the areas surrounding them had experienced some overgrowth over the years. That changed in the renovation. Overgrowth on the left side of the No. 15 fairway was taken down, so now you can see how it leads out to the ocean. Similar work was done on the next two holes and, of course, No. 18 always presented a stunning view of the water, whether played as a par-5 or a par-3.

“Those last four are dramatic holes,’’ said Ferguson. All now have corridors that create great views of the ocean.

Fazio himself never was on site for the renovation, but he studied plans for it. Bowers got the greens changed despite a tight eight-week schedule during which the old greens were broken down and the new ones constructed. A new 4,500-square foot putting green was also built near the clubhouse, and that facility is also in the process of a major renovation. It’ll soon have a new restaurant, called Huey’s South Eats.

But that’s a story for another day. For now Wild Dunes has a second 18-hole course back in play to supplement its Harbor Course, also a Fazio design that dates back to 1985. Wild Dunes’ veterans will find the Links Course a refreshing change from what it had been and a fine example of what a resort course should be.