LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – The date was October 1, 1971. The world of travel changed a lot that day. It’s when Disney World opened its gates.

The popular tourist destination has welcomed visitors from all ages, backgrounds and countries for 50 years now – and that huge contingent also includes golfers.  Opening Day for the Magic Kingdom was the day that two of its golf courses – the Magnolia and Palm – also opened.

Joe Lee designed both of those courses, and they’re still going strong. So is Oak Trail, the nine-holer that uses the same pro shop as the two original layouts, and nearby Lake Buena Vista, the third 18-holer that opened 10 years after the Magnolia and Palm. Lake Buena Vista is also a Lee design.

The story of how these courses came into being, and the events held there, merits a recalling as the resort is in the midst of a year-long “World’s Most Magical Celebration’’ and the golf arm is proclaiming itself “the Happiest Place on Turf.’’

Alex Forsyth, the director of sales and marketing for Walt Disney World Golf, said the 50-year celebrations will carry all the way through 2022 and even into the start of 2023 but a big part of the golf festivities will come over the next few weeks when he says “a major announcement about future development’’ will be made.

Forsyth wouldn’t go into details about that but did admit that “there are no plans at present to get back on the PGA Tour.’’

Been there, done that.

The Disney courses hosted events on the PGA Tour for 42 consecutive years, from 1971 to 2012. Most were at the tail end of a year and drew the top players and big crowds. Then the FedEx Cup Playoffs were incorporated into the PGA Tour schedule, creating a big climax to each season, and the Disney tournament became an early event in the following year’s schedule.

“In the first events of a new season there were not big names,’’ said Forsyth, “and without big names there weren’t big crowds. We relinquished our spot on the PGA Tour calendar, and that’s worked out well for us.’’

The resort’s attention shifted from big money tournaments to recreational players, and that has proved a good thing for all concerned.  The glory days of tournament play, though, are fondly remembered.

Golf very much remains a part of the Disney experience, as does its golf history. Credit the late Arnold Palmer for much of that. Palmer’s role in the development of Disney World Golf started before the first tee shots were hit on the Magnolia and Palm courses and evolved into his firm, Arnold Palmer Golf Management, operating the Disney golf properties long after his death. The resort and APGM signed a 20-year agreement in 2011.

Palmer and Disney World arrived in the Orlando area at roughly the same time.  Palmer was making plans to purchase  the Bay Hill Club the same year that Disney World opened. Palmer, who didn’t complete the purchase until 1975, had big plans of his own for Bay Hill, but he was willing to meet with Sandy Quinn , the resort’s director of marketing prior to the grand opening.  Quinn was assigned the task of getting a PGA Tour event on the new courses, and Palmer was willing to help.

His interest in the resort didn’t start with golf, though.  It started with a ride on the Monorail, but he brought some friends together and the World Disney World Golf Classic was held for the first time in December of 1971. Jack Nicklaus won the tournament the first three years. The format was switched to a team event from 1974-81 and then reverted back to its original format until its farewell in 2012.

The tournament grew with the times, changing sponsors and titles along the way.  Nicklaus’ winning prize was $30,000 in 1971, and Charlie Beljan – the winner of the final tournament in 2012 — earned $846,000. Tiger Woods won titles in 1996 and 1999.  Other champions included Larry Nelson, Payne Stewart, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh  David Duval, Lanny Wadkins, Ben Crenshaw and Luke Donald.

Magnolia, longest of the Disney courses at 7,516 yards from the tips with 97 bunkers and water on 11 of its 18 holes, was the layout most in the spotlight when the PGA Tour visited simply because the final round was always played there.  TV coverage was basically a weekend thing back then, so the cameras weren’t at Palm, which was also used for early rounds in all 42 stagings of the tournament, and Lake Buena Vista, which was used 17 times.

The tournament’s rich history is chronicled at the Champions Pavilion beside the first tee of the Magnolia. That course was also used for the Senior PGA Championship, and it had some well-known winners, too. Charlie Sifford, Pete Cooper, Julius Boros, Joe Jimenez and Jack Fleck won at Magnolia from 1975-79.

When the PGA Tour stop completed its 42-year run it was the longest-running tournament on the circuit’s calendar. Lake Buena Vista also has a notable historic reference; it was the site of the HealthSouth Classic from 1996-97 and that tournament was the first event on the Ladies PGA Tour to be broadcast live on The Golf Channel. Karrie Webb and Michelle McGann won those tournaments at Lake Buena Vista. Pat Bradley won her title at Eagle Pines, a Pete Dye design that closed in 2007.

Back to Palmer.  He competed many times in Disney’s PGA Tour stop but never won. Even with the PGA Tour event established at Disney World, he wanted an event at Bay Hill and convinced the circuit to move the Florida Citrus Classic from another Orlando course, Rio Pinar, to Bay Hill in 1979. Now called the Arnold Palmer Invitational, It’s had been held 44 consecutive years there.

Palmer’s design company also renovated Disney’s Palm Course, a six-month project in 2013 climaxed by the course winning Renovation of the Year honors that year.

Disney World’s fourth course, and only nine-holer, has an interesting history as well.  It started as a six-hole course in 1982, called Wee Links. The course was built in conjunction with the PGA Tour as a base for affordable junior golf. The course had artificial tees and greens, a unique concept at that time.

Wee Links consisted of the present holes 1-4 and 8-9.  It expanded to nine holes when Florida-based designer Ron Garl built three holes, all much stronger than the other six, in 1991.

 

ORLANDO, FL. – The PGA Tour’s annual Florida Swing reached the midway point on Sunday with the circuit rarely seeing tounaments unfold the way they did last two weeks.

Daniel Berger appeared a wire-to-wire winner at last week’s Honda Classic until a surprise storm hampered play in the last three holes. Berger blew a five-stroke lead and Straka became the first Austrian to win on the PGA Tour.

Sunday’s second stop in the Sunshine State, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, was much more unusual than that.   University of Florida product Billy Horschel and Talor Gooch started the final round at Bay Hill tied for the lead at 7-under-par. Still, Scottie Scheffler’s 5-under 283 was good enough to win.

In summary, the scoring wasn’t good and the players were largely critical of the course setup, but the crowds were bigger than ever — though somewhat unruly in the final hours of play.

It makes you wonder what the second half of the Florida Swing will offer the next two weeks.  The Players Championship tees off on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra with some notable players missing and the Valspar Championship follows the next week on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbour.

One thing is certain: the Valspar — thanks to its connection to a paint manufacturer — will remain the most colorful tournament on the PGA Tour. That probably won’t brighten how the players felt about Bay Hill in the aftermath of the API.

“The course was set up harder today (Sunday) that it was yesterday.  That surprised me a little,’’ said Scheffler, who called the course “a total break-down.’’

And he was the guy who won.

“It was so challenging, a real grind. I like to challenge hard golf courses,’’  said Scheffler.

Apparently so does his 86-year old grandmother.  She walked all 18 holes with Scheffler on Sunday. The victory boosted Scheffler to No. 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings and he now tops the FedEx Cup standings as well. The API was his second win of the year.  He also won the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

The key to the Bay Hill win was two great scrambling pars at Nos. 15 and 16.

“It was not a comfortable position, having to hit to 50 feet and try to two-putt,’’ said Scheffler. “I trusted myself and played conservative the last two holes, and pars were good enough.’’

Even with beautiful weather all week Bay Hill proved a monster with thicker-than-usual rough and slicker-than-usual greens for the API field.  The lead got away from Horschel and Gooch in a hurry. Horschel shot 40 on the front nine and Gooch was worse, making  two double bogeys and four bogeys en route to a 43.

Even after his early blowup Horschel still had a chance to win.  Had he made birdie on his final hole he would have forced a playoff with Scheffler. Others had a chance, too. England’s Tyrrell Hatton, who won the tournament in 2020 despite a 73-74 weekend finish, was on the brink of bouncing back from a third-round 78 this time.  He was the clubhouse leader much of the day after posting a 68 on Sunday.

Hatton wound up in a tie for second with Horschel and Norway’s Viktor Hovland. They were one stroke behind Scheffler, whose par 72 on Sunday wasn’t exactly spectacular.

Most disappointed of all the near-missers was former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland. He took sole possession of the lead after rolling in a 40-foot eagle putt at No. 16.  Then he left a shot in a bunker, leading to a double bogey at the par-3 seventeenth and made bogey at No. 18 when he needed a birdie to get into a playoff.

As if the drama wasn’t enough, there was a strange situation off the course.  Bryson DeChambeau, the defending champion who has been battling injuries, made a late entry to the field and then promptly withdrew the same day.  Jason Day, another former API champion, was also a late withdrawal after his mother passed away following a long battle with cancer.

This week’s Players Championship will have some highly noticeable absentees as well.  Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, both exempt into the field, won’t play. It’ll be the first time since 1994 that both will miss the same tournament. DeChambeau decided to take another week off and Rickie Fowler, the popular past champion, didn’t qualify.  He’ll miss The Players for the first time since 2009.

 

 

 

If you’re a golfer you’ve got to envy Tom Coyne. Lots of author types – me included to some extent – have been more than willing to write about their golf travels in some form or another. Coyne has done it much better than most. He’s a globe-trotting golfer with lots of stories to tell.

Coyne wrote two books based on his visits to hundreds of courses overseas.  There were called “A Course Called Ireland’’ and “A Course Called Scotland.’’ An Philadelphia-based writer, I found it odd  that he attacked courses overseas before exploring the great American golf scene closer to home, but he made up for that with his just-released “A Course Called America’’ (Avid Reader Press).

This is the most readable in-depth book on golf travel that I’ve ever encountered.   Coyne’s passion for golf is obvious, and he’s gone the extra mile – or many miles – to do the job right.

His plan was to play courses in all 50 states, and he did that over a series of trips that took him to 295 courses.  He played 5,182 holes over 301 rounds and covered (mostly walking) 1,748,777 yards.  In every stop he provides historical tidbits while mixing in his own encounters with a wide range of people along the way. It’s by no means limited to an analysis of the courses he visited. That approach has been tried by many golf fanatics before him and doesn’t make for very interesting reading.

Coyne tells his stories in 383 pages and then wraps it up by listing all the courses he played and naming his top 10 in several categories. Naturally I want to take issue with him on some of that, though I’ve played only 19 of the 80 he cited for special mention. Coyne’s a better golfer than I ever was, but resort golf is my thing, too, so I’m happy to note that I played seven of his top 10 in that category. His favorite resort destination was Gamble Sands, in Washington.  I’ll have to find a way to get to that one.

We did agree on Nos. 2-4 – Oregon’s Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails and Wisconsin’s Mammoth Dunes. We also both liked Florida’s Streamsong Red, Michigan’s Black course on The Loop layout and Arcadia Bluffs and Mississippi’s Old Waverly.

We’re both fans of short courses, and he had a surprise third pick in that category – Evanston’s Canal Shores. We shared enthusiasm for The Cradle, in North Carolina; Palm Beach Par Three, in Florida; and Top of the Rock, in Missouri.

As far as Best Golf States are concerned, we have big differences.  Coyne doesn’t include Florida or Illinois in his top 10.  New York is Coyne’s No. 1 – really??? – and Minnesota is No. 10 – he’s got to be kidding!

Anyway, a fun read that is full of interesting background information. It’ll challenge the knowledge of even the most avid golf historians.

 

 

 

THE VILLAGES, Florida – Golf is huge in The Villages, a fast-growing vibrant over-55 adult community in Central Florida.  That’s obvious.  Golf carts are everywhere, and not just at the courses.

Golf carts of all sizes and colors fill the area’s parking lots as well as those at the 12 championship and 40 executive courses and the three golf academies. Not all the golf carts are driven by golfers, either, but they are entrenched in The Villages’ lifestyle.

This year, though, the most significant offering for golfers might not involve the courses or the golf carts.  The Aviv Golf Performance Program was introduced four months ago, and it involves much more than hitting quality golf shots. It’s for people who are very serious about their long-range health as well as their golf improvement.

The program’s time requirements are demanding, and its $56,500 price for a 12-week program includes a personalized medical team and sophisticated equipment but doesn’t include lodging or meals.  You need to be on site because the program is built around Aviv’s proprietary hyperbaric oxygen therapy protocol, and its treatments run two hours a day, five days a week. More than anything the therapy treatments set the Aviv program apart from other golf performance offerings, but there’s more to it than that.

Aviv Clinics also include a personal protocol of neuro-cognitive therapy, physiological training and nutritional coaching in addition to golf coaching.  As far as the U.S. goes, the Aviv program is offered only in The Villages. The program, based off 12 years of research done by Dr. Shai Efrati in Israel, was taken to Dubai just after its arrival in Florida. That’s where golf specific instruction was incorporated.

More facilities are scheduled to be added in 2023, but the golf component at those has not been determined.

“Our target population is healthy individuals in the 40-45 range who started seeing a slip in their golf games,’’ said Aaron Tribby, Aviv’s head of physical performance in Florida.  “But we see a lot of other clients who have other problems.  The youngest we’ve had here is 20, the oldest 95.’’

Victims of strokes and brain injuries have benefitted from the hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments, and they’re also designed to reverse biological aging. Dave Globig, the chief executive officer of the Aviv Clinics in The Villages, and physician Mohammed Elamir both thought the program sounded too good to be true when they were invited to see it in operation in Israel but they became believers.

“At first I was very skeptical,’’ said Globig, who had worked in the health care industry for 25 years. “But I was intrigued.  Our program is still very cutting edge, and taking it is almost a full-time job. Most of our clients are battling the aging process.  They’re afraid of dementia, of losing their physical capacity.  That’s why they come to us. For aging people, what’s their No. 1 sport? Golf.’’

Elamir, the son of a neurologist, was a general practitioner looking for new opportunities.  He found the Aviv program a help in his father’s recovery from a small stroke and now oversees the oxygen therapy aspect.

Smokers are not allowed in that program, and the inclusion of golf was not taken lightly.

Aviv made a major commitment to the sport as sponsor of November’s Aviv Dubai Championships, which concluded the season for what is now called the DP World Tour. (That’s the rebranded name for what had been the European PGA Tour). DP World had been Aviv’s business partner in Dubai and got Aviv its first title sponsorship in golf.

Aviv’s golf program begins with a week of testing that includes blood work, nutrition, a cognitive and genetic evaluation, brain scan and physiology and strength exams. Then the hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions begin for each client, and they’re supplemented by appointments with 50-60 staffers specializing in other areas of need.

Each client has a personalized treatment program. Golf sessions are included in that, and the golf professionals meet with Aviv staffers on a regular basis to analyze the needs and progress of each client.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and many of the other treatment programs, are conducted at the Central Florida Aviv clinic – a floor in the Center for Advanced Healthcare, It’s a complex that includes the Brownwood Hotel & Spa, a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and offices for other  providers in the healthcare field.

The oxygen therapy is administered in “dives’’ – rooms that have chambers (also called suites) for about 12 clients.  In the two-hour sessions the clients receive oxygen for 20 minutes, then are off for five minutes, and that routine is repeated until the two hours are up.  Clients wear oxygen masks (not the masks worn by so many to combat Covid in these pandemic times)  and they engage in cognitive exercises on a tablet during the process. Elamir says they only experience a popping of the ears for the first 10 minutes. Then he likens the experience to taking a ride in a small airplane.

The reward is stem cell, blood vessel and neurological growth that optimizes brain performance and improves overall health. Aviv’s leadership claims that – in conjunction with the other treatments and coaching – will translate into better golf scores as well as better overall health.

Cognitive benefits are said to be improved hand/eye coordination, increased focus and attention and better mental clarity and patience. Physical benefits are enhanced swing quality, faster recovery after a round and improved strength, mobility and stability.

“One of the biggest challenges we have in health care is that it’s so fragmented,’’ said Globig.  “Can you find a similar program (for golf development)? I’m sure you could, but they won’t have the clinical elements involved, and the foundation to go with it.’’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was part of my tournament coverage routine at a PGA Tour events to walk at least nine holes in the first two rounds with a player just to get a handle on the course.  At that stage of a tournament it wasn’t necessary to be caught up in what players were in contention.  That could wait for the weekend.

During those early tournaments rounds there was no player I’d rather walk with than Bubba Watson. Sure, over most of those years he was one of the PGA Tour’s top players but that wasn’t why I’d spend time with him. I did it because he was fascinating to watch.  His creative shot-making skills were obvious, whether he was playing good or bad. He would try to bend shots right or left, over or around trees or hazards.  That was his style.

There’s a lot more to Bubba Watson than his shot-making skills, though.  I learned that in detail in reading a book, “Up &^ Down: Victories and Struggles with the Course of Life,’’  that he wrote largely during the pandemic stoppage of the PGA Tour season with the help of Don Jaeger (W Publishing Group).

In our frequent travels we passed through the small town of Bagdad, FL., many times and found it unusual that a town of less than 4,000 near the Alabama line could spawn three PGA Tour players – Watson (the best of them), Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley.  Watson still lives there and is active in the Pensacola area community in a variety of ways,  not the least of which is his part-ownership of a minor league baseball team known as the Blue Wahoos..

A few things that make Bubba interesting: his wife Angie was a star basketball player, they have two adopted children and — oh, yes –Watson – as you might remember – won the Masters twice.

And, there’s a lot more to Bubba Watson than that.  In “Up & Down’’ he candidly reveals his struggles on and off the course, his growing religious faith, his battles with anxiety and his ongoing efforts to make himself a better person. In short the book reveals what makes Bubba tick. It’s a most interesting, thoughtfully-written book, and I heartily recommend reading it.

The 2021 Chicago golf season should be remembered for much more than pandemic-related issues.  Some extraordinary building was going on at clubs across the Chicago area, and it wasn’t all done on golf courses.

Golf course renovations are commonplace annually, but this year the most noteworthy upgrading related to clubhouses. Two facilities – The Preserve at Oak Meadows, in Addison, and Heritage Oaks, in Northbrook — opened brand new clubhouses and a third — Fox Run, in Elk Grove, will unveil its new one any day now.

And, two other facilities – Settler’s Hill, in Geneva, and Heritage Oaks, in Channahon – are well underway with clubhouse developments.  Theirs will open in 2022.

Here’s how these massive clubhouse projects look as this season winds down:

THE PRESERVE AT OAK MEADOWS: The Preserve’s clubhouse was the first to open, in early August, and it also took the longest to complete. The course, which began in 1923 as Elmhurst Country Club, was without a clubhouse since lightning destroyed the previous one in 2009.

Building a new clubhouse wasn’t as high on the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s priority list as getting the golf course up to par. It had long been beset by flooding issues.  They were solved as part of a $16 million renovation but it took three more years for the new $12.6 million clubhouse to be up and running.

The new one, measuring slightly under 14,000 square feet, was designed by Dan Wohfeil, who had previously created the much bigger clubhouse for Mistwood, in Romeoville. Nineteen architects submitted proposals before Wohfeil was selected.

Ed Stevenson was a focal point throughout the lengthy course and clubhouse projects.  Long the director of golf at the Preserve, Stevenson also served as executive director of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County during critical times when the work was going on.

The new clubhouse looks much different than the old, more stately one.  Construction began on Sept. 17 of 2019. Wohfeil’s version offers the Greenway Restaurant,  a most pleasant sports bar, great views of the golf course and also includes a pro shop.  The old one was closed in the final days before completion of the clubhouse.  It’ll be converted into to a base for indoor golf activities.

 

HERITAGE OAKS: The Northbrook Park District completely revamped what had been Sportsman’s Country Club. The facility started as Sky Harbor Golf Club when the course opened in 1931 and was a 54-hole facility at one time.

It was long known as Sportsman’s Country Club, with 27 holes, prior to its re-opening in late August. The change in name to Heritage Oaks Golf Club was in keeping with the complete upheaval involved in the construction process.

“It was almost like opening a brand-new facility,’’ said general manager Greg Baron.  “The Sportsman’s name  didn’t suggest we were a very inclusive facility, but 30 to 40 percent of our play is women, and we’ve never been a country club.  We’re a golf club.’’

Unlike the Preserve at Oak Meadows, the course and clubhouse creations were handled simultaneously and the facility was closed for the  entire 2021 season.  The clubhouse, the 18-hole and 9-hole courses and the practice range all opened together.

Libertyville architect Rick Jacobson supervised work on the courses and range and  RATIO Architects of Indianapolis handled the clubhouse.  The renovations of the property was a $12.75 millions property with the clubhouse costing $6 million.

The 10,000-square foot clubhouse includes the full-service Acorn Grill, a bar that seats 20 and an area set aside for two golf simulators. The restaurant can seat 80 inside and 48 more on the terrace.  There’s a window wall that opens to the outside. In the Sportsman’s days there was no bar.  “It was just a glorified walkup window,’’ said Baron.

 

FOX RUN: The 18-hole course in Elk Grove wasn’t touched while an $8.5 million clubhouse was under construction.  The construction work was expected to be completed in mid-October and general manager Tom Klaas anticipated  completion of the project would come in late November or early December.

Klaas and his staff have operated out of a trailer this season, and it was taken down on Oct. 15. Williams Architects of Itasca designed the new building.

“We designed away from the traditional pro shop,’’ said Klaas.  “Our planning started with the maintenance building, which was built in 1984 and was the oldest on (Elk Grove) Park District property.’’

Eventually the decision was made to combine the maintenance facility with a new clubhouse.  The old one was demolished after Labor Day in 2020.

“We’ll be a 12-month facility now,’’ said Klaas.  “We wanted to keep our players engaged in the winter.  We’ll have a sports bar opened all winter with a kitchen and lots of TVs.  We’ll also have three Full Swing screen simulators and we do have our slots room, too.’’

 

AND STILL COMING:  New clubhouse construction was barely underway at Settler’s Hill and Heritage Bluffs as the 2021 season was fading away.

Settler’s Hill was closed all season for work on the course, but that all was dictated by plans for a new clubhouse. The old course had no practice range with neither of the nines returning to the existing clubhouse. That’ll be corrected with the building of a new, more centrally located clubhouse.  The old one will remain as a banquet facility. Target date for completion is mid-July of 2022.

Heritage Bluffs, owned by the Channahon Park District, is a well-established, well-received course that opened in 1993.  The Park District board approved a design for a new clubhouse in January, the  most notable feature being an indoor-outdoor bar area. Construction began in June and the old clubhouse was demolished in July. The new clubhouse is also slated for an opening some time in 2022.