WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – Florida leads the nation with over 1,300 public golf courses, and it also has something that many other states with serious golfers should consider – a trail that pays homage to its older layouts that have best withstood the tests of time.

The Trail hasn’t been heavily promoted but we have made it a must to visit some of its courses every year. There are about 50 of them spread across Florida. They come in varying states of conditioning and popularity but all have welcomed public golfers for at least 50 consecutive years.

These courses aren’t just fun. They reflect the history of the area in which they’re located, and few do that as well as West Palm Beach Municipal Golf Course, which will celebrate its 70th season in 2017.

West Palm was created in 1947 by Dick Wilson, a Florida architect of major stature, but its story really goes back much further than that – to 1921 when it was first known as the West Palm Beach Country Club.. As a private club it couldn’t survive for long, especially after a 1928 hurricane wrecked the place.

In 1929 the club’s owners donated it to the city of West Palm Beach with the understanding that it would be operated as a municipal course. It became the forerunner to what is now West Palm Beach Municipal Golf Course.

The federal government took possession of the original course during World War II and a decision was made to move the facility to its present location and rebuild the course. The result was one of Wilson’s first creations. Then a Delray Beach resident, he would later design or renovate about 60 courses, many in partnership with Joe Lee. The best known of those are Bay Hill and Pine Tree in Florida, LaCosta in California and the Dubsdread course at Cog Hill in the Chicago area.

Dubsdread opened in 1964 and would later host the PGA Tour’s Western Open and BMW Championship from 1991 to 2007. Wilson passed on in 1965 at the age of 61.

His West Palm Beach design was a novelty — a course with no water on it – and it was immediately well received. After a clubhouse was opened in 1951 West Palm was ready to host PGA Tour players and from 1956 through 1962 it was the site of an annual tournament, called either the West Palm Beach Open or the West Palm Beach Open Invitational.

The tourney’s highlight playing was in 1959 when Arnold Palmer was the champion. He was 7-under par after rounds of 72, 67, 66 and 76 after the regulation 72 holes and needed four more holes to beat Gay Brewer and Pete Cooper in a playoff to claim the $2,000 winner’s check. Palmer’ victory was the 13th of the 62 he would claim on the PGA Tour.

Cooper (1958) and Brewer (1961) were also winners of the tournament, which usually offered a $20,000 purse. Other champions were Al Balding (1957), Johnny Pott (1960) and Dave Ragan (1962). The tourney ended as a PGA Tour event after Ragan’s win but was revived under the title of West Palm Beach Open 10 years later when Wilf Homenuik won the title.

Though the tour players were gone West Palm remained popular with local players. The wear and tear of daily play, though, eventually took its toll. By 2009 it was due for some updating, and Mark McCumber, a PGA Tour veteran with 10 tour titles to his credit, directed a seven-month restoration project. When the work was done Palmer returned 50 years after his tournament victory on the old course to hit the celebratory first tee shot on the new version.

That came in 2009, and players returned in strong numbers. The absence of water hazards has never been a deterrent. Lots of waste areas and big, deep bunkers provide plenty of challenges and they keep your interest. The course gets better as you go along, and the big greens were in excellent condition for our round there. We played in the company of a couple from Ireland who were every bit as impressed as we were.

West Palm is definitely one of the best conditioned courses on the Florida Historic Golf Trail and an excellent golf value, historical significance notwithstanding.

With five sets of tee placements, West Palm can be played as long as 7,002 yards (rating is 73.0 and slope is 128 from the back tees). It’s 5,023 yards from the front markers. The facility also has a full grass driving range and a large practice area overlooking the course.

One thing that is notably missing, however, is a clubhouse. The old one was torn down three years ago when safety concerns surfaced. Since then the staff has operated out of very basic facilities — a small pro shop near the parking lot, which is beside a high school, and a snack shop between the No. 9 green and No. 10 tee.

That look could change in the near future. The board of commissioners that operates the course has studied the possibility of building a new clubhouse for over a year and a decision on whether to go ahead with that project is expected at a formal meeting on Jan. 9, 2017.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida — The year 2016 has been one of milestones for the PGA of America and its 28,000 members from all parts of the world.

The organization’s various centennial celebrations appropriately drew the bulk of the attention, but there was more to 2016 than that – particularly if you’re a fan of the facilities that are owned and operated by the PGA. Both Valhalla Golf Club, in Louisville, and PGA Golf Club, located here, reached milestones as well.

Valhalla, which opened in 1986, turned 30 years old in 2016. Already the site of two PGA Championships, two Senior PGA Championships, the 2002 PGA Professional National Championship and the 2008 Ryder Cup, Valhalla has long been in the spotlight for its tournament resume.

At PGA Golf Club, it’s a different story, yet a very important one for a wide range of golfers. With four 18-hole courses, the PGA’s flagship property is much bigger than Valhalla and the winter home for the PGA’s far-reaching membership. The general public has gotten to know and love the resort’s courses as well.

PGA Golf Club concludes its 20th season in 2016. Its story isn’t as high profile as that of the organization as a whole or even that of the younger Valhalla, but it is well worth telling. It reflects the overall dedication of the PGA membership, which had a big honor to celebrate this week when the club was among five named in the inaugural “Most Improved Courses of the Year’’ poll conducted by Golf Inc. magazine.

The award isn’t the first for PGA Golf Club, but it does serve as a reward for the work put in by its staff and the PGA as a whole over the last few years. A little historical perspective will be helpful.

PGA Golf Club opened its doors on Jan. 1, 1996. The first tee shot was struck on what was then called the North Course. Four months later the South Course was ready for play as well. Both were designed by Tom Fazio, who proved an excellent architectural choice. No designer has more credits on Golf Digest’s prestigious list of America’s Greatest Golf Courses than Fazio. He has designed more than 200 courses in a 40-plus year career.

Port St. Lucie, which is now a mecca for golfers, had a much different look when Fazio did his creative work on the PGA Golf Club’s first two courses. The nearest quality course was a private layout called The Reserve, which was co-designed by his uncle (former PGA Tour player George Fazio) and his older brother (Jim Fazio). The Reserve, now called The Legacy, opened on Jan. 1, 1984.

The area needed more courses at that time, and PGA Golf Club was created to fill that need.

“There wasn’t much over there then,’’ said Jeff Hartstine, who built the two courses that Tom Fazio designed. “It was a pretty standard construction endeavor – nothing unusual, no sink holes, no water problems.’’

Hartstine went on to build courses for Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman, then sold his sod farm in 2004 and bought a course, Placid Lakes, in Lake Placid, FL. He isn’t much involved in golf course construction now but did enjoy the “explosion’’ that came around the time the North and South courses opened.

Growth came fast — maybe too fast. Pete Dye designed a third course at PGA Golf Club that had a soft opening in 1999 and an official debut in 2000 and a Learning Center also opened in December of 1999. Another Jim Fazio design, a nearby private facility then called PGA Country Club that had opened in 1988, was also in the mix but the heart of PGA Golf Club remained its original pair of 18-holers.

After enduring 10 years of play both were due for updating and that went beyond work on the courses. Each got a name change as well in 2006. The North became the Ryder Course, in honor of Samuel Ryder – the namesake and founder of the premier team event in golf. The South became the Wanamaker Course, honoring businessman Rodman Wanamaker who was instrumental in the birth of the PGA of America a century ago.

Over the years the Ryder and Wanamaker hosted a wide variety of competitions in addition to public play. The Ryder got the reputation for being the more player-friendly, with its wide fairways and putting surfaces that didn’t have many severe breaks. The Wanamaker became recognized as one of the best – and most beautiful – courses in all of golf-rich Florida.

In a five-year period after the 2006 renovations both courses took a beating and that led to more soul-searching on the PGA’s part. Play was down and more work needed to be done.

“We saw the challenge we were facing,’’ Jimmy Terry, the club’s general manager, admitted earlier this fall. “We had a five-year plan and had the complete, absolute, ultimate support from the PGA of America on what we wanted to do. We started with a very simple thing. We wanted to make sure our courses were commensurate with what would make the PGA of America members proud to call it their winter home.’’

The five-year plan is more than half over now, and it has already impacted the Wanamaker. Last year that course got new fairways, a project engineered by director of agronomy Dick Gray. The results have been well received, and the Ryder was to be upgraded next.

“That was going to be the next step,’’ said Terry, “but — because we had a couple large events scheduled for this fall – we didn’t want to take a risk. We couldn’t risk that the golf course might not be prepared in time.’’

So, instead of closing the Ryder, the Dye Course got a renovation instead. Like the Wanamaker, it was similarly well received.

“Our final step will be to do the Ryder Course next year,’’ said Terry. “At the end of the five years we will have touched every golf course and clubhouse. The response from our members has been very positive. Our private club memberships have been the highest they’ve ever been and the rounds of golf are back to a level where we’re happy with them.’’

The judges in Golf Inc. magazine’s “Most Improved Course’’ poll were impressed. They appreciated a 10.5 percent membership increase and the multi-million dollar capital improvements required for the first two renovations. Also of note was the 150 percent participation increase in social and golf events at the Wanamaker.

Now the Ryder will get the attention it needs, and that could create changes in the course rankings.

Golfweek had the Wanamaker No. 16 and the Dye No. 27 in its latest rankings of Florida public courses and Golf Magazine had the Wanamaker No. 23 and the Dye No. 30. The Ryder wasn’t a factor in either poll, which surprised me after rounds at all three of those courses.

A round at the Wanamaker won’t be forgotten thanks to the backdrop of wetlands and palm trees that give the course its beauty. The Dye’s most creative design makes for a fun round and the Ryder has its charm, too.

Its No. 16 hole may be the most beautiful par-3 on the property. With its ample fairways, the Ryder offers a pleasant, relatively stress-free adventure that gets more interesting as the holes wind down. Nothing wrong with a round like that.

Even without the Ryder redo, we found the conditioning on all three courses excellent – a most noticeable improvement over our last visit to the area four years ago – and that carried over to the clubhouse atmosphere as well. The trophy display near the historic Taplow Pub underscores the better overall display of clubhouse memorabilia and isn’t to be missed.

SEBRING, Florida – Now is the time for a golf upsurge in central Florida. At least that’s how Jim Kurtzeborn — spokesman for the newly-created Citrus Golf Trail — sees it, and I agree with him.

The Citrus Trail is a collection of nine courses spread among the communities of Sebring, Avon Park and Lake Placid. They’re roughly 60 miles south of Disney World — Florida’s most popular tourist destination. The golf in the busy Orlando area near Disney is just fine, but the Sebring area may provide a better alternative.

Golf on the Citrus Trail is more than good. It’s also one of the most affordable golf areas in the country – not just in Florida — and for the real devotees of the sport (me, for instance) there’s the added lure of golf history tied in.

Affordable golf, a nice variety of courses within close proximity to each other and a taste of golf history — all a short drive from other vacation attractions. That’s just what golf needs. Ocean-front courses are nice, but hardly a requirement for golfing enjoyment.

I’ve always been reluctant to dwell on price when reporting on golf destinations, given that fees are in a constant state of flux. They don’t just change by season. They can change on an almost daily basis. An inkling of the costs on the Citrus Trail, though, is significantly revealing.

The Trail promotes itself as “one of the most affordable golf destinations anywhere in the country, even in peak season, where golfers can stay and play for as little as $99 per person per night including room, golf and complimentary breakfast.’’

One of the courses on the Trail – actually one of my favorites to boot – is Pinecrest Golf Club in Avon Park. Its general manager, Joe Staffieri, addressed the price issue in front of a media crowd in early December.

“There’s a lot of great options for golf here, and all at a great price,’’ said Staffieri “Ours (greens fee) is about $30 today and next month it’ll go up to about $38.’’

Not bad, considering Pinecrest has a Donald Ross-designed course with challenging, well-conditioned greens that are less than a year old.

Pinecrest has one big edge on the other Citrus Trail courses, and it’s not the price. If for no other reason, Pinecrest is worth a visit for historical reasons. It was the site of the first televised golf event. That was back in December of 1959 when Dr. Cary Middlecoff defeated Pete Cooper in the final of an eight-player match play competition that was broadcast by NBC. The tournament had a then-record $171,000 purse and Middlecoff’s prize was $37,500.

Ross, the legendary architect, was on site at least briefly in 1926 when Pinecrest was built. Now the course is 90 years old, and the area around it admittedly isn’t what it used to be. The facility included a big lakefront hotel until the 1950s when celebrities like Al Capone, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were among the visitors.

“It was a very happening place, and the railroad was responsible for that,’’ said Staffieri. “It brought people right from Chicago to central Florida.’’

In the 1960s that started to change, as golf destinations were being built in Florida’s coastal communities. The Pinecrest Hotel eventually struggled financially and was torn down 10 years ago. The course, though, was revived with a renovation last summer in which the greens and bunkers were restored to Ross’ design preferences. There are no homes or condos bordering its fairways, as the course winds through orange groves and natural wooded areas.

Pinecrest isn’t the only Citrus Trail course with a touch of history. Harder Hall, in Sebring proper, has hosted one of the world’s top amateur tournaments. The Harder Hall Women’s Invitational has been played annually since 1956 and its champions include such prominent names as Cristie Kerr, Natalie Gulbis, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, Stacy Lewis and Charley Hull. The 2017 version of the tournament will be played Jan. 4-6. Its chairman is Carol Semple Thompson, who was the champion three straight years (1990-92).

Two clubs on the Citrus Trail are 36-holers. The Highlands Ridge facility, in Avon Park, has its North and South courses. While both are championship courses, the South – which opened in 2012 — gives the Trail a taste of one of the current leading designers. Steve Smyers, a former president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, has a long resume of top layouts that include Isleworth in Florida, Lockenheath in Michgian and Olympia Fields South and Butterfield in the Chicago area.

The North course at Highlands Ridge was designed by Dave Harman, who patterned it after Kauri Cliffs in Zealand – Golf Digest’s Best New International Course in 2001.

Sun N’ Lake, in Sebring, also has two 18-holers – Deer Run and Turtle Run. Deer Run opened in 1976 and popular Florida architect Ron Garl – he’s worked on 100 courses in the Sunshine State and about 250 world-wide – supervised a renovation six years ago. Its rating (73,7) and slope (134) from the back tees have made it a challenging tournament venue.

Turtle Run, designed in 1999 by Charles Ankrom – also a Florida-based architect – provides a different challenge. It demands accuracy over distance. The courses taken together give Sun ‘N Lake a country club setting that pleases both club members and visitors as well.

Placid Lakes, which opened in 1966, looks much newer than that because it underwent a complete renovation after suffering major hurricane damage in 2004.

For lodging and dining there are a variety of options. Cowpokes Watering Hole will appeal to those looking for a nightclub-type atmosphere. Inn on the Lakes, in downtown Sebring, has a lakeside location near Harder Hall and offers gourmet dining at its Chicanes Restaurant.

Chateau Elan, located beside Sebring International Raceway, has even more. In addition to its Esperante Restaurant and Hairpin Lounge, the convention center offers its visitors the chance to see a variety of auto racing events on the 3.7-mile course from the comfort of their hotel rooms.

And yes, Chateau Elan also is offering golf packages. Where else could a visitor mix golf with a prestigious auto event like March’s 12 Hours of Sebring? That’s a combination that would be hard to beat anywhere.

FORT PIERCE, Florida – Golf courses tend to have their ups and downs. Many of those that are opened with extraordinary hoopla don’t stay in the spotlight for long. That’s what happened at a course known as Monte Carlo Country Club when it opened on Oct. 1, 1983.

Monte Carlo was one of the very first courses in what is now the Tournament Players Club Network – clubs that are licensed by the PGA Tour. Eighteen of the 30-plus that exist world-wide now are operated by PGA Tour Properties and many were awarded big tournaments quickly after opening for play.

That was the case when TPC Monte Carlo hosted three events on the fledgling Senior PGA Tour – now PGA Tour Champions – in the 1980s.

TPC courses — whether they’re private, resort or daily fee – are recognized as premier layouts. Florida has five of them, headed by TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, site of The Players Championship in March. Few TPC courses anywhere, however, have a history as interesting as that of what started out as TPC Monte Carlo.

Now known – for the second time – as Meadowood, this club got off to a rousing start when Hall of Famer Ray Floyd smashed the opening tee shot. Two months after that TPC Monte Carlo hosted the World Mixed Championship with Sam Snead and Joanne Carner winning the title.

Two years later the Senior PGA opened its 1985 season with an event called the Sunrise Senior Classic at TPC Monte Carlo. Miller Barber was its champion, beating Orville Moody in a February duel for one of his 24 victories on the 50-and-over circuit.

Prize money remained at $225,000 with $33,750 to the winner a year later but the tournament got a name change. It was the Treasure Coast Classic when Charlie Owens took the title in the second event of the 1986 Senior PGA Tour campaign. (Barber had won the first and Owens stayed hot enough to win again three weeks later).

That was the end of TPC Monte Carlo’s run as a major tournament site but hardly the end of its time in the limelight of golf. The legendary Snead moved to the area in 1988 and was the club’s resident pro emeritus until his death in 2002. The club, in fact, celebrated Snead’s 90th birthday just before Snead hit his last ceremonial first tee shot at that year’s Masters. He passed on shortly after that.

Snead wasn’t the only prominent golfer hanging out at TPC Monte Carlo. Bernhard Langer had a home near the 14th tee and was brought in to represent the club. Four Masters champions either lived or played there with one of them, Bob Goalby, also a particularly frequent visitor. Tennis great Bjorn Borg also spent time on the club’s tennis courts.

That was quite a start for a course created by Florida designer Charles Ankrom. Ankrom, from nearby Palm City, was a prominent course designer in the Sunshine state with over 23 layouts on his resume in addition to courses in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Japan. Ankrom passed on in 2009 at the age of 72. By then his most prominent creation had been renamed three times.

Ankrom created his course for a German group of investors out of what was a virgin pine forest and had it available for play two months before the clubhouse opened on Dec. 1, 1983.

After its run as a tournament venue the Hankins Group purchased the property in August, 1988 and renamed its Meadowood. A group of members took over the facility in 1992 and leased it to a development company in 1996. The name was changed to Panther Woods at that point and existed under that title for nearly 10 years.

In 2004, two years after Snead’s death, the club was devastated by two hurricanes. The course was closed for over two months and the clubhouse for over six months before members took over the property again in January of 2005. They benefitted from a rebuilt clubhouse following the hurricanes, ordered a major course renovation in 2006 and restored the Meadowood name in 2009.

Other than acknowledging Snead’s connection, the club doesn’t dwell much on its most notable past. There’s not need to do that. Meadowood is definitely one of the best options for golfers visiting south Florida. It remains comfortably distant from the busy areas of nearby Fort Pierce and Vero Beach in what is very much a private club-type gated community. The club, though, allows most affordable public play at certain times.

The course, in great condition when we played it, measures 6,773 yards from the back tees with a rating of 72.8 and slope of 136. With six sets of tee markers, it is suitable for all types of players. Most notably, the course becomes more of a fun challenge as it goes along and the last four holes create a most memorable home stretch.

Donald Trump’s rise to President of the United States has come amidst a variety of controversies. There’s no debate about him from the architect who built Trump’s first golf course, however.

“He was the best client I ever had in the United States,’’ declared Jim Fazio, the designer who created what is now Trump International in West Palm Beach, Fla. That course opened in 1999.

“It was just a piece of flat land,’’ recalled Fazio. “He leased it from the airport authority. The reasoning was, he never had built a golf course but he played and knew the game.’’

In other words, Trump wanted to learn before expanding his business involvement in golf. Trump Golf now has 18 properties around the world. Jim Fazio also designed Trump National Westchester in New York, which opened in 2002, and his designer-brother Tom has also been the architect for Trump courses.

Trump National, though, came first. Jim Fazio has designed and built over 20 courses in the United States and another 20-plus overseas. He’s done work for a variety of owners, including one in Japan who owns 15 courses. Fazio has worked for him for eight years and only seen him twice.

It wasn’t like that at Trump International.

“During the winter he’d stay at Mar-a-Lago (Trump’s private club in nearby Palm Beach) and he would see the course being built,’’ said Fazio. “Every week he’d come out and bring two-three friends. We moved over 3 ½ million cubic yards of dirt and he kept saying `We need more,’ and I kept saying `No, we don’t.’ Sometimes more is not good. We didn’t have any budget. We just kept building one hole after another.’’

Time wasn’t much of a consideration, either.

“Usually it takes six-nine months to build a golf course in Florida,’’ said Fazio. “This one took two years to the day.’’

A BRIDGE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: Vidanta Resorts, which include five courses in Mexico, just announced the opening of its Greg Norman Signature Course in Nuevo Vallarta. Three of the other courses are Jack Nicklaus designs, but they don’t have one thing that the Norman layout does.

The par-73 Norman design features the world’s longest golf cart suspension bridge. It covers the Ameca River from Nayarit to Jalisco, spanning 558 feet – or 1,444 feet including the ramps.

BIG CHANGES AT PINEHURST: A Gil Hanse redesign of the No. 4 course highlights a three-year improvement plan that will soon be underway at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

Hanse, who previously led restoration projects at The Country Club in Boston, Los Angeles Country Club, Merion in Philadelphia and Oakland Hills in Michigan and created the original design for the Olympic Course in Brazil, will also build a new short course that will impact two other Pinehurst courses.

The short course will consist of eight to 12 holes on land that is currently part of the Nos. 3 and 5 courses. No. 3 will close in December and re-open in the spring as a par-68 course. Work will also be done on Thistle Dhu, the popular putting course, and Maniac Hill, the country’s first driving range.

TOUR OPERATORS’ FAVORITE: Barefoot Resort, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., created a sensation in 2000 when it became the first American facility to open four courses simultaneously. The resort has courses designed by Norman, Tom Fazio, Davis Love III and Pete Dye.

Sixteen years later the International Association of Golf Tour Operators has selected Barefoot as the North American Golf Resort of the Year. Over 500 tour operators in 62 countries participated in the voting. Last year the winner was Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club, in Florida.

NICKLAUS NOSTALGIA: Jack Nicklaus was just 11 years old and playing golf with his father at Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club on a family vacation in 1951. The round was memorable because Nicklaus shot 37 and broke 40 for the first time. Now that course has become more than a walk down memory lane for the legendary Golden Bear.

Nicklaus, working with architect John Sanford, just completed a $9 million redesign of the course. The architects also added a 300-yard practice and teaching range as the latest in resort upgrades. The on-course project follows $50 million in renovations and other enhancements at the resort in recent years.

OMNI UPGRADES: Several Omni resorts have made significant improvements. A new clubhouse overlooking its Old Course has opened at Omni Bedford Springs in Pennsylvania. (The course opened in 1895 after Spencer Oldham created the original design. A.W. Tillinghast (1912) and Donald Ross (1923) also did significant work on the course).

A tree removal project also improved the Cascades course at Omni Homestead Resort in Virginia. That resort opened even earlier (1766) than Bedford Spring, and The International Course, — a Norman design, has re-opened at Omni Orlando in Florida after undergoing thes first renovation in its 16-year history. The companion National Course is scheduled for similar improvements in 2017.

BITS AND PIECES: KemperSports has announced the naming of two new general managers – Don Crowe at Bandon Dunes in Oregon and Vince Juarez at Deerpath, a public layout in Lake Forest, Ill.

The Donald Ross Course at Indiana’s French Lick Resort is planning for its 100th anniversary celebration. It hosted the 1924 PGA Championship, won by Walter Hagen; and two LPGA majors — 1959 and 1960 LPGA Championships, won by Betsy Rawls and Mickey Wright.

Harbor Shores, in Michigan, has announced plans for its seventh, and largest, waterfront development. Called Harbor Village, it’ll open to residents in the summer of 2017.

Hugh Royer, winner of the 1987 Western Amateur and son of the 1970 Western Open champion of the same name, has joined Tidewater, in Myrtle Beach, to lead the club’s instructional efforts.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida – The PGA Golf Club is the winter home of the PGA of America’s 28,000 members. It’s also one of just two facilities in America that the PGA operates, the other being Valhalla – the organization’s premier tournament venue in Louisville, Ky.

PGA Golf Club, with its four 18-hole courses plus a six-hole short course and elaborate learning center, is one of the nation’s top golf resorts. That’s why this week’s re-opening of its Dye Course will have an immediate impact on the game nation-wide. Visitors, both from all parts of the U.S. as well as other countries, will soon be arriving here with a new, most attractive playing option.

The Dye, created by legendary architect Pete Dye, was the third course built at PGA Golf Club. It opened in 2000, four years after two Tom Fazio designs – The Wanamaker and The Ryder. The Dye is the only course at the 20-year old resort not designed by a Fazio; Tom’s brother Jim designed the other, St. Lucie Trails.

Work on The Dye began in May and the re-opening was delayed two weeks after Hurricane Matthew visited the area. Director of agronomy Dick Gray said the course “isn’t perfect’’ yet but it’s more than ready to take players and Gray expects the last remnants of the hurricane will be gone in a month.

To be sure, The Dye needed work. Over years of play it had ceased to look like a Pete Dye-designed golf course. The greens had gotten smaller and some of the bunkers had disappeared, only to be re-discovered during the renovation in which Celebration Bermuda was used to re-grass the fairways and Tifeagle was used for the new putting surfaces. Dye, soon to turn 91 years old, was only minimally involved the restoration project.

“We don’t do anything without Pete taking a look at it first,’’ said Gray, a fellow Indiana native who has known the Hall of Fame designer for nearly 50 years. “We had him out in late April and he’s OK with everything we’ve done. Obviously he was a little distressed by the way it started, but Pete’s back in our corner.’’

Dye hasn’t seen the finished product yet but may visit next week when he’s being inducted into the Florida Golf Hall of Fame.

“It’s my guess he’ll be more than satisfied with the way the course now looks and feels,’’ said Gray.

That could well be the case, as the course will look much different than the last time Dye saw it.

“The greens are much bigger, with many more pin placements,’’ said Gray, “but with Pete’s courses it’s like going on a treasure hunt. You go out and find something you didn’t know was there. I couldn’t tell you how many peripheral bunkers we found. It was a restoration project, but it was a reclamation in places, too.’’

The digging most notably revealed six bunkers that had existed behind the No. 9 green, but there were more at Nos. 5, 10, 11 and 18 and Gray suspects more hidden bunkers are still out there.

Reviving The Dye was just the latest step in an upgrading of the resort that started after the number of rounds played fell to what general manager Jimmy Terry called “the lows of three-four years ago.’’

“We saw the challenge and we’re 3 ½ years into a five-year (improvement) plan,’’ said Terry. “We’ve had the absolute support from the PGA of America on what we wanted to do. We started simple, to make sure our golf courses are commensurate with the PGA of America so that its members will be proud to call it their winter home.’’

The first year of upgrades dealt with agronomy, with work done on the greens at St. Lucie Trail. That course, private when the upgrading began, took on its present name, was made semi-private and its pricing structure was changed.

In the second year the focus was on the clubhouse. Work was completed last year, but the tweaking continues. The facility was expanded and memorabilia added, most notably replicas of the trophies presented to the winners of the four major annual championships – the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. It makes for a nice photo opportunity.

The fairways and greens of The Wanamaker were upgraded last year and The Ryder was to get the same treatment right after that.

“Because we had a couple large events scheduled there this fall we didn’t want to take the risk,’’ said Terry. One of the tournaments, the PGA Senior Professional Championship, is on tap on that course this week.

So, work was started on The Dye instead but The Ryder is going to get a facelift, too.

“We’ll do The Ryder Course next year,’’ said Terry. “At the end of the five years we’ll have touched every golf course and the clubhouse. The response from our members has been very positive. Our private club memberships have the highest they’ve ever been and the rounds of golf are back to a level where we’re happy with them.’’

Davis Love III had barely finished savoring his team’s victory in the Ryder Cup when the U.S. captain had another event to celebrate. His Atlantic Dunes course was to open a day later at South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island. That opening, though, never happened.

Hurricane Matthew caused damage from Florida to South Carolina, but none were more adversely affected than the Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head. Many residents couldn’t return to their homes and some of those who could were still without power nearly a week after Matthew battered the Island with 88 mile-per-hour winds and a storm surge upwards of 12 feet.

The status of all the Hilton Head golf courses remained very much in limbo, with no dates set for their re-openings. The much-anticipated opening of Atlantic Dunes is also in doubt. Love’s design firm had completed a complete renovation of the Ocean Course — the first 18-holer built on Hilton Head.

When it’s available the re-design will provide a more seaside ambience to Sea Pines. Atlantic Dunes will also be a nice complement to Sea Pines’ other courses – the Harbour Town Golf Links, jointly designed by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus, and Dye’s Heron Point.

More on Matthew

While Hilton Head got hit the hardest by the hurricane, other courses were impacted to lesser degrees. The King & Bear and Slammer & Squire courses at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, FL. – to the south of Hilton Head – were “lucky,’’ according to general manager Jim Hahn. He reported fallen trees, flooding, damaged bunkers and debris but expects both courses to be re-open before the week is out.

Thirty-eight courses in Myrtle Beach, S.C., — to the north – were reported closed because of storm damage but 22 of those were scheduled to re-open on Wednesday, Oct. 12, and eight more set their re-openings for no more than six days after that.

Power outages were the main problem for the courses in Charleston, S.C. The course hit the hardest was The Links at Stono Ferry, which lost over 50 trees and was unable to determine a re-opening date. Wild Dunes, one of the bigger resorts in the area and one that had suffered badly in previous hurricanes, was back in operation in just a few days and another, Kiawah, planned to open on Friday.

Only one major competition was affected by Matthew. The Web.com Tour Championship at Atlantic Beach, FL., was cancelled.

Now it’s the `New Course’

The mood is more upbeat in the Pinehurst., N.C., area. Talamore is celebrating its 25th anniversary, but the course isn’t looking that old. Now, after a major summer re-do, it’s being billed as `The New Course.’’

The greens were converted from bentgrass to Champion Bermuda, a growing trend in that area, and most of the more than 75 bunkers were eliminated from Talamore’s original layout. They were replaced in part by 12 sod wall bunkers – the first to be built at Pinehurst.

.
Reynolds is going National

The National Club Cottages, adjacent to the Tom Fazio-designed National Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga., are now available.

They’re the latest addition to National Village, an ongoing $40 million investment in progress at the resort that features six courses. Each of the Cottages can accommodate eight people. They have four bedrooms, 4 ½ baths, a full kitchen, two open living space areas and an expansive porch area.

The clubhouse and golf shop at National Village had been renovated prior to the opening of the Cottages. National Tavern, the newest restaurant on the premises, has become the centerpiece of the area.

More in Michigan

Golf-rich Michigan again leads the Midwest with courses ranked in Golf Magazine’s Top 100. It has five – Forest Dunes, Arcadia Bluffs, Greywalls, Tullymore and Bay Harbor. Only five other states have more courses ranked in the Top 100.

Michigan will also have another candidate for top honors next year. Sloatin Brae has opened on a limited basis at the Scott family’s Gull Lake View Resort in Augusta, Mich. Sloatin Brae is the first on the premises not designed by members of the Scott family.

Renaissance Golf Design, Tom Doak’s firm in Traverse City, Mich., designed the new course (though Doak isn’t the architect of record). Sloatin Brae opened a 12-hole loop to provide a sneak preview of the full layout that will open in 2017.

Here and there

Old Kinderhook, in Camdenton, Mo., has scheduled its Golf Appreciation Stay & Play packages for Oct. 23-31.

The Glen Club, in Glenview, IL., will host the World Speedgolf Championship from Oct. 17-18.

Chicago’s Medinah Country Club will host the Bush Cup on Friday. It’s a college match pitting the men’s teams of Army and Northwestern.

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina – This city in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just over the Kentucky line, isn’t the first place that left me wanting to stay longer – just the latest one.

An interesting place, Asheville. It’s been called the “Hippie Hideaway of the South.’’ Its downtown hangouts reminded us of a miniature New Orleans – art galleries, street entertainers, restaurants with unusual but tasty cuisine and trendy but southern-style cooking.

The big tourist attraction, though, is the Biltmore Estate. It’s billed as the “World’s Largest House,’’ and I don’t know what else would come close. This creation of George W. Vanderbilt during a six-year period leading into its opening in 1895 has four acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces and three kitchens. By comparison, the Biltmore house is more than two times the size of William Randolph Heart’s San Simeon castle in California.

Supposedly designed as Vanderbilt’s bachelor pad, Vanderbilt created a place built for house guests – and there were a lot of them because the place had most everything on its 8,000 acres.

It required nearly two hours to complete a walking tour of the house, which was filled with artistic works and separate rooms for all types of entertainment pursuits. Frankly, though, I found it depressingly dark inside.

The outside was another story. The floral gardens were the highlight of the visit, but the estate also included a separate village a short drive away that featured a winery and array of shops. There was one thing it didn’t have, though – a golf course.

You’d think that, given all the land and financial support available, there would have been one on the grounds. There even were a few golf-related offerings in the shops, but no course. Naturally I had to ask about that.

There was once a nine-hole course but it kept getting flooded and was eventually abandoned, I was told by one of the tour guides. Still, there’s a golf story to tell regarding the Biltmore Estate.

Vanderbilt married in 1898, after the estate was up and running, and he died at the young age of 51 in 1914 after suffering complications from an appendectomy. His wife, Edith, took charge then. She sold off small parcels of the estate, and some of it went to people interested in building a country club.

Cornelia Vanderbilt, the only child of George and Edith, was born in 1900 and became the owner of Biltmore Forest Country Club. She hit the first ball on its Donald Ross-designed golf course in July of 1922. The course was eventually played by such luminaries as Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden, John D. Rockefeller, William Jennings Bryan, and U.S. presidents William Howard Taft and Calvin Coolidge.

The Biltmore Estate, meanwhile, was opened in 1930 to stimulate tourist activity in Asheville and to help maintain the vast facility. The Biltmore Forest course, now located on the outskirts of the Ashville city limits, was taken over by club members beginning in 1940 thanks to a lease agreement negotiated with the Biltmore Estate. An option to buy was exercised in 1948.

Over the years the course has undergone many changes, the most recent being a $6.4 million restoration of the golf course and a $1.8 million restoration of the clubhouse. Both were designed to take the club back to its 1922 splendor. Biltmore Forest remains a by-invitation member owned private club.

So, you’ve been lucky enough to wangle tickets to the 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine? Lucky you – and you might benefit still further by enjoying some of the courses on your way to and from Chaska, MN.

Chicago golfers have a couple options on how to drive to Hazeltine. You could drive along Lake Michigan, going through Kenosha and Milwaukee before heading west through the heart of Wisconsin. Or, you could journey through Illinois along Routes 90 and 94, going through Rockford and Madison. The golf options are better going through Rockford but, either way, there are good public-accessible courses along the way that comfortably affordable.

Here’s a guide to playing possibilities. Their proximity to the highways leading to Hazeltine were a high priority in their selection.

VIA KENOSHA AND MILWAUKEE

A good first stop could be Ives Grove, a 27-hole facility in Sturtevant, just over the Illinois line. It’s got an abundance of bunkers (110, to be exact), but walking is allowed and the course is affordable. Even at weekend prime time for riders the fee is under $50. And, if for some reason Ives Grove doesn’t work out, there’s nearby Browns Lake in Burlington, which has been around since 1921. Both are managed by H&H Fairways.
INFO: hhfairway.com, brownslakegc.com or ivesgrovegl.com.

The second stop was chosen for location more than anything else. Brookfield Hills, in Brookfield, is 15 miles west of Milwaukee and it couldn’t be any closer to I-94. The course touches the east-bound lanes of the interstate. This family-owned course has been open since 1971 but it’s not a full-length layout. A par 62, it measures only 4,926 yards but there’s still some challenging holes.
INFO: brookfieldhillsgolf.com.

A suggested third stop is much different than the first two. Lake Mills has been challenging golfers for 85 years. Located on Main Street in the town of the same name, Lake Mills is a 6,745-yard par-72 layout with a busy dining spot, Mulligan’s on the Green. It’s 28 miles from the golfing hotbed of Madison.
INFO: lakemillsgolfclub.com.

You can’t get through the Madison area without finding a good course close to your route. Lake Windsor, in Windsor, is a 6,390-yard, par-72 layout that opened in 1961 and has been famly-owned since 2005. It’s supplemented by an impressive clubhouse that provides full service dining.
INFO: lakewindsor.com.

As is the case while cruising through Madison, you won’t have any trouble finding a good course in the Wisconsin Dells area. Probably the best known is Trappers Turn, which is blessed with 27 holes (the Arbor, Canyon and Lake nines) all jointly designed by two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North and Roger Packard. It’s one of the top golf facilities in the Badger State.
INFO: TrappersTurn.com.

Stillwater, MN., just over the Wisconsin line, is a three-hour drive from the Dells and it features StoneRidge, one of the best public courses in Minnesota. It’s a links-style Bobby Weed design that opened to the public in 2000.
INFO: stoneridgegc.com.

VIA ROCKFORD AND MADISON.

You don’t even leave Illinois before hitting Aldeen, in Rockford. It’s one of the best public courses in the state and hosted the Illinois State Amateur in 2013. The course, designed by Dick Nugent, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Measuring 7,131 yards from the tips, it’s a real test for even the best players.
INFO: aldeengolfclub.com.

Barely an hour’s drive from Rockford along Rt. 90 is Madison, home to a wide range of quality layouts. None are better than University Ridge, which is on the edge of both Madison and the town of Verona. A Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that opened in 1991, it’s the home course for both the men’s and women’s teams of the University of Wisconsin and this year it became a Champions Tour site when host Steve Stricker brought the American Family Insurance Championship there in June.
INFO: universityridge.com.

On to the Wisconsin Dells and another great layout – Wild Rock. It’s connected to the Wilderness Resort, which means there’s some stay and play options available. Wild Rock was designed by Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, the same architectural team that designed another Wisconsin course, Erin Hills. That layout will host the U.S. Open in 2017.
INFO: wildrockgolf.com.

Golf options dwindle after leaving the Dells, but Routes 90 and 94 split at the town of Tomah, and that’s a good stop-off point because the Hiawatha Golf Club is locate there. It’s a good gathering place for the local golf enthusiasts with its 6,550-yard course, the front nine of which was built in 1959 and the back in 1994.
INFO: golfhiawatha.com.

Hudson is the last town in Wisconsin before you enter Minnesota and it has a course well worth checking out. Troy Burne is a Tom Lehman Signature Design. Lehman will be one of the assistants for U.S. captain Davis Love III at the Ryder Cup. Troy Burne features 120 bunkers and is known for its consistently fine conditioning.
INFO: troyburne.com.

Cross into Minnesota and more good courses are available. One of the best is Prestwick, in Woodbury. At 6,876 yards from the back tees with large undulating greens and many elevated tees, this layout is made for the serious player.
INFO: Prestwick.com.

These courses were chosen in large part because of their proximity to the route to Hazeltine. If you have time to stray a bit from that route there’s many great courses available to you – especially in Wisconsin. Among them are Brown Deer, in Milwaukee; Hawks Landing, Madison; Glen Erin, Janesville; Lawsonia, Green Lake; Morningstar, Waukesha; Sentry World, Stevens Point; Caste Course at Northern Bay, Arkdale; and Oaks, Cottage Grove.
INFO: Check out the Wisconsin Golf Trail, golfwisconsin.com.