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.

SANTEE, South Carolina – Sure, South Carolina is one of the best states in the U.S. for golf. Myrtle Beach might well be the best single city in America for golfers, given the number and variety of its courses. The Kiawah Resort in Charleston is world famous, with its Ocean Course a popular site for the biggest tournaments, and nearby Wild Dunes will make some noise later this week with the re-launching of its Links Course.

Still, places like Santee – a charming little town located midway between the big cities of Charleston and Columbia off Interstate 26 – shouldn’t be taken lightly by any golfer. Its citizens take their golf seriously.

Santee has just 900 year-around residents, but it has more golf courses (three) than it has main streets (two). Many of the restaurants and businesses on those streets have “Welcome Golfers’’ messages on their marquees. You’ve got to like the enthusiasm, and it’s nice to be welcomed.

Water sports were once the main industry in this town, especially fishing. Striped bass, we were told, originated here. There are two world-class fishing lakes — Marion and Moultrie – plus two rivers and two canals in the area. But now, town leaders say, golf has supplanted fishing as the biggest thing going in Santee.

One reason golfers are coming is undoubtedly the cost. Because golf rates everywhere are constantly fluctuating we have steered away from giving price information in our reports. Still, it’s necessary to at least point out that Santee golf is a bargain. Golf packages were on sale for as little as $56, which included greens fee, cart, one night’s lodging on a substantial breakfast. As always, deals are seasonally based but they’re ongoing Santee since the sport can be played year-around.

The heart of everything here is Clark’s Restaurant and Inn, which celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2016. The rooms are comfortable and the restaurant is clearly upscale and it has a boutique shop like you’d find in a major resort. Oh, yes, Santee’s three golf courses are all within a mile of Clark’s and another 10 are within a 20-minute drive.

Bill Clark is the owner of the Inn and Restaurant while his brother Cholly owns one of the nearby courses – Santee National. Santee National opened in 1989 with Porter Gibson the architect of record and it underwent a renovation in 2005. Its trademark are five strategically situated lakes that frequently bring water into play.

It’s a more wide-open layout than he other two in-town layouts – Santee Cooper Country Club and Lake Marion Golf Club. They are part of the Santee-Cooper Resort, which is owned jointly by a group representing five families. Todd Miller, who migrated from Peoria, IL., is the general manager of both courses and has been at Santee-Cooper for 18 years.

Both courses are quite decent layouts, despite showing the effects of a horrendous storm six weeks ahead of our fall visit. Twenty inches of rain fell in a five-day period and ensuing flooding resulted in the closing of some of the roads for nearly a week.

Santee-Cooper Country Club, designed by George Cobb and opened in 1967, is the oldest of the three courses. It has two notable features right off the bat. The drive in is over a mile after you pass the entry gate and the first tee shot is over water, with players immediately warned that no mulligans will be allowed.

The rest of the course features lots of dogleg holes and the elevated greens make course seem longer than its listed 6,589 yards from the back tees. Most striking of the doglegs was at the short par-4 fourteenth.

Our favorite Santee course was Lake Marion, located beside Santee-Cooper. Architect Eddie Riccoboni designed the layout, which opened in 1978. It has tree=lined fairways border lakes and 47 bunkers – a beautiful layout that is both challenging and fun.

In addition to the economic benefits of playing golf in Santee, it’s also a big positive that everything is so close. While Clark’s is the center for both lodging and dining, Lake Marion has 24 villas available with 10 more under construction and there are motels in the heart of town as well.

Despite the coziness of the town, there are a wide variety of places to go once your round is done. The Fish Market and Grill at Palmetto Shores, just a 10-minute drive, is an excellent dining spot in Summerton. In addition to the usual chain restaurants, an excellent we found a most-friendly sports bar called Oasis. It’s not hard to miss, since it has a variety of recreational items (one’s a snowmobile) implanted on its roof.

We also found a quality seafood place (Captain’s Quarters) and Lone Star Barbecue and Mercantile also looked interesting for both its food and entertainment, though it has limited hours and was closed while we were there. In addition to the eating places in town another 17 are accessible by boat.

CARLSBAD, California – Little-promoted fact: one of golf’s iconic tournament venues celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015.

La Costa, the Southern California site for 35 PGA Tour events and two LPGA tourneys, reached that milestone with the admitted realization that “things ain’t what these used to be.’’

The Mercedes Championship, also known as the Tournament of Champions, put La Costa in the world golf spotlight from 1969 to 1998 before relocating to Hawaii.

In its La Costa years the tourney was played on nine holes of the resort’s Champions course and nine on the Legends course. It became one of the most popular events on the PGA Tour every year, with a great list of champions that included Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Lanny Wadkins, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.

La Costa wasn’t without a big event for long after the Mercedes left. A year later the World Golf Championship’s Accenture Match Play Championship moved in. It stayed until 2006 (with the exception of a visit to Australia in 2001). Then that event moved to Arizona.

Losing those big ones was a blow to owners of the resort, which was immediately well received after original architects Dick Wilson and Joe Lee completed their work in in time for the facility’s opening in 1965. Wilson and Lee, who also created Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course in the Chicago area during that time period, had a long run as successful designers but updating was clearly needed.

The courses were shut down for more than a year after the two PGA Tour events left. Architect Damian Pascuzzo, working with PGA Tour player and 1988 Tournament of Champions winner Steve Pate and consultant Jeff Brauer, eventually completed a major renovation in 2011.

Even before that renovation was completed La Costa had 18 holes ready for the debut of the LPGA’s Kia Classic. After being played at another California course, Industry Hills, in 2011, the Kia Classic was back in 2012 – but for the last three years it has been played at Aviara, another course in Carlsbad. Not only that, but the Women’s Tennis Association held one of its tournament at La Costa, but it’s gone now, too.

The biggest competition of the year at La Costa is a college tournament, hosted by the UCLA men’s team, but don’t be deceived by that. It may seem like La Costa’s days in the spotlight are over, but don’t believe it. I’m told a big tournament will be coming soon.

Things are happening behind the scenes.. That was evident during our visit. The shops, restaurants, tennis facilities and spa were busy and everyone – guests and staff – was in an upbeat mood. Interesting, lots of families – with children of all ages – were clearly having a good time. All that speaks well for La Costa’s future.

The return of a big tournament shouldn’t surprise anyone. The resort still has all the facilities necessary to take on such an event. In fact, it’s better equipped to hold a big one than some of the facilities hosting them now.

And, don’t ever forget that equipment giants TaylorMade, Titleist, Cobra and Callaway are all based in the area. That should play into the course selection process for big tournaments.

As for the courses, the Champions layout is more tournament appropriate. In the redesign the Pascuzzo-Pate team put in 78 bunkers. They’re very steep, with many having fingers that make them look even bigger than they are. And, at 7,172 yards from the back tees, Champions is about 200 yards longer than the still respectable Legends layout. Legends was cart path only when we played it, having been re-opened for only two weeks after being closed four weeks to facilitate an overseeding project.

La Costa’s membership appreciates the value of being a tournament site and the resort’s new owner, Omni, is taking an aggressive approach, too. The hotel chain assumed ownership two years ago. In October it announced a golf-for-free birthday promotion at its 11 golf destinations. In November it will bring in a new line of power carts that will have GPS capabilities at La Costa.

Dallas-based Omni has 60 hotels in the U.S., Canada and Mexico but all of its 360 golf holes are inside the U.S. border. California has another Omni golf facility,s at Rancho Las Palma. Florida also has two Omni golf resorts – Amelia Island Plantation and Orlando at Championsgate.

The others are Tucson National in Arizona, Grove Park Inn in North Carolina, Hilton Head Oceanfront in South Carolina, Interlocken Hotel in Colorado, Mount Washington in New Hampshire, Bedford Springs in Pennsylvania, Barton Creek in Texas and Homestead in Virginia.

Tournaments may have left La Costa for the time being, but golfers never did. It won’t be long before this long-popular resort is hosting the world’s best players again. Count on it.

DANA POINT, Calif. – Robert Trent Jones II has long been one of my favorite golf architects and our far-reaching tour of the Pacific Northwest already included rounds at two of his courses – Chambers Bay and Poppy Hills — that have been especially newsworthy lately.

For that reason I suspected a round at Monarch Beach Golf Links might be a letdown. After all, it was one of Jones’ first courses and came shortly after the annual fall overseeding program had begun.

There was no letdown, though. Jones has designed over 270 courses in over 40 countries and this early one – located roughly midway between Los Angeles and San Diego – is a testament to how well his courses have stood up over time.

Jones’ headquarters are in California (Palo Alto) and his design portfolio lists 31 courses created in his home state. Some are more decorated than Monarch Beach, but that shouldn’t detract from the longstanding popularity the course has attained.

Monarch Beach Golf Links is now part of the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort. The first nine holes of the course were built in 1983, the second in 1985. The resort didn’t open until 2001. After undergoing a $30 million renovation recently it’s certainly a luxury destination with its 400 rooms and assorted other amenities that are spread over 172 acres.

The course, though, is more than a major part of the resort. It’s a major part of the community as well. We played with two 30-somethings, both avid local players. They reported that — factoring in the cost, conditioning and other amenities — Monarch Beach may be the best golf value in Orange County.

Assistant golf professional Jackie Kazarian said about 45,000 rounds are played at Monarch Beach annually, and they’re about one-third resort guests, one-third members and one-third community and tournaments. Only notable shortcoming is the absence of a practice range (there are some hitting bays with nets next to the putting green).

Jones’ task was to build an oceanfront course in the mid-1980s and he succeeded in creating what is now one of just 11 oceanfront courses on the West Coast. The dogleg left par-4 third hole provides the best view of the water, and that’s underscored by the fact that the course operators have posted a sign to encourage selfie picture-taking.

The par-70 layout is a bit on the quirky side, with back-to-back par-3s on the front nine and three par-3s coming after the third and last par-5 on the back side. The course is unofficially broken down into three segments. Holes 1-5 comprise the Ocean Loop, Nos. 6-9 are the Canyon area and Nos. 10-18 are the Home Stretch.

Golfers must contend with about strategically-placed 105 bunkers with lots of doglegs and elevation changes. Residential homes looming high above the course don’t come into play but do create a pleasant setting. Hiking trails intertwine with the cart paths in a few spots, but aren’t a distraction to the golfers.

Monarch Beach has had its moments in the spotlight. It hosted the Hyundai Team Matches in 2001 and 2002 and The Golf Channel’s Matt Ginella declared Monarch Beach “Best Ladies Golf Destination’’ in 2013. It was also listed among the Top 50 Women Friendly Courses, but don’t get the idea this is a layout that caters just to the ladies.

At 6,645 yards (with a rating of 72.5 and slope of 135) from the tips it’s not a long course, but it presents a fun challenge for players of all ability levels. There are four tee placements, the shortest being at 5,050 yards.

The third may be the prettiest (and no doubt the signature hole), but the seventh – a par-5 that stretches to 612 yards from the back tees – is a true No. 1 handicap hole. Not only is this dogleg left the longest hole on the course, it’s a strategic and mental challenge as well.

Best of the five quite good par-3s is the shortest one. No. 13, ranging from 90 to 155 yards, has water guarding the front, back and right side of the green.

CARMEL, Calif. – This was going to be just a short trip triggered by a relatively new development in a legendary golf area with, perhaps, a little nostalgia mixed in. Instead it turned out a lot more than that.

The Pebble Beach-Carmel area is well known in golf circles. Pebble Beach Golf Links may be the nation’s most famous course, thanks to its being the site of Bing Crosby’s longstanding pro-am – a fixture on the PGA Tour schedule. I was there twice to report on U.S. Opens, the last of which in 2010 was the last assignment in my most satisfying 41-year career covering sports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

But my visits in the past didn’t compare to this one, when the plan was largely to check out the renovation at Poppy Hills, one of the many golf options in the Pebble Beach area. The course – within a short distance of Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Cypress Point and Spanish Bay on the spectacular 17-Mile Drive along the coast of the Pacific Ocean – had been closed for over a year to accommodate an extensive renovation supervised by course designer Robert Trent Jones II.

Poppy Hills, though not as well known outside of California as its golfing neighbors, deserves its own recognition. It was the first course owned and operated by a golf association in the U.S. when it opened in 1986. The Northern California Golf Association is headquartered there and uses Poppy Hills as its home tournament course.

Jones designed the course and it’s been a staple of golf in that area ever since. In pre-renovation times it co-hosted the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from 1991-2009. Now it’s a site for the Nature Valley First Tee Open on the Champions Tour.

While the Jones 13-month renovation project centered on water conservation and improving irrigation and drainage, the finished product was a completely different course than what it had been. The present version is more wide-open with no rough. The rating and slope have also gone down (from 74.4 to 73.5 and from 140 to 135 from the back tees). Such reductions are a rarity in a renovation. Usually the numbers go up.

In this one, though, Jones created a firm, fast, fun course with great greens. We found it a delightful playing experience.

The renovation was significant but didn’t turn out the overwhelming focus of this visit. We didn’t opt for a golf-focused lodging destination, and what a smart move that was!

Staying off-course on road trips isn’t unusual for any golf aficionado. There are usually other options around the popular golf destinations, but the Carmel area offers so much more than other places.

In Carmel we opted for a bed-and-breakfast, and the Carmel Country Inn was a charming place with a most helpful staff. We learned about the best restaurants (here it was the Flying Fish Grill and Grasing’s), the wine-tastings (there were many options in a package deal), the shopping options, the art galleries, the beach and the other attractions.

In addition to Poppy Hills and all the downtown shops we made visits to Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch and the nearby Carmel Mission that has artifacts dating to the 1700s.
In a three-day stay, that isn’t usually possible. It was here, though.

Carmel is unusual with its Cotswold style of architecture. This community has a lot to offer in a very condensed area . We walked almost everywhere. Mission Ranch was about a 10-minute drive and Poppy Hills about 15-20-minutes from the bed and breakfast.

The 17-Mile Drive is also an auto jaunt always worth taking. You get the beautiful views enjoyed by so many for so long with the golf connection still prevalent.

Make no mistake, though. Golf is important here. That became immediately evident as soon as we checked in at Poppy Hills. We couldn’t get an earlier tee time because a big outing had been previously scheduled. No problem. We teed off at 2:10 p.m. with the understanding that getting in all 18 holes might be a problem.

We got through 16 holes with plenty of daylight. No. 17 was a par-3, so that wasn’t much of a problem, either. No. 18 – a par-5 – was another matter but by this time there was no option. The course was good enough where we had to finish it all. We did, sort of. It was hard to find our balls on around the No. 18 green, but we did get in. And then the restaurant stayed open until 8 p.m. – another big plus – and the service was friendly and the food good – another plus.

Staying off course on a golf trip isn’t always a good idea – and we rarely do it – but at this location it was exactly the right thing to do. Very, very few destinations offer as much golf as the Pebble Beach-Carmel area, but you can get much more than golf there as well.

BANDON, Oregon – There’s definitely a lot to say about Bandon Dunes, the very unique multi-course facility on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. In short, though, it has most everything.

There’s four quality walking-only 18-holers, a 55-acre practice range, the 100,000-square foot Punchbowl putting course, a 13-hole par-3 layout called Bandon Preserve that was chosen as Best U.S. Short Course by Golf Digest magazine, one of the biggest caddie programs in the United States, dining at six restaurants and lounges, a variety of comfortable lodging and – one of the many factors that separates Bandon Dunes from other American resorts – everything is so close together.

You could easily drive your car from one place to another (as we did), but if you don’t want to do that there’s a shuttle system that works just fine.

Bandon Dunes was created by Chicago’s Mike Keiser, who took it on after his unique but much more modest Dunes Club in Michigan emerged a success. Now Keiser is planning another Bandon-type facility, Sand Valley in Wisconsin, but that’s a topic for another day.

For now we’ll delve into Bandon and its variety of offerings. This resort is well-conceived, well-run, well-presented and well-received. In fact, none may do it better. The resort’s logo — “Golf As It Was Meant To Be’’ – fits to a tee.

There’s one touchy subject for those who run the place, though. They shy away from citing one of its courses as better than another. Most such multi-course facilities have a designated championship course and then one (or a few) others.

Bandon considers its four courses as equals, and prices them that way. The equality contention was underscored when the U.S. Golf Association recently awarded the resort the 2020 U.S. Amateur. The resort got the prestigious tournament – its sixth USGA championship — but the two 18-holers necessary to its staging have yet to be designated. Any of the four could be chosen, since they’ve all hosted at least one previous USGA event.

Maybe favoritism should be avoided, but golfers aren’t that way. They don’t see all courses as equal, and one of the fun parts of the game is discussing the strong points and shortcomings of each one. I’d be remiss to not do that here, after a five-night four-course fall visit.

I don’t give much credibility to the various course rankings put out annually by the golf industry publications, but many do. So, for the record, here’s what happened in 2014:

Golf Magazine had all four Bandon courses ranked in its top 49 U.S. courses. Golf Digest had all four in the top 74 of its Top 100 in the U.S. and all in the top 14 of its Top 100 U.S. Public Courses. Golfweek had all four in the top 22 of its Best Modern Courses. Pacific Dunes was the top-ranked Bandon course in all those polls.

I’m entitled to my opinion as well, and I’ll give it to you – but you’ll have to wait. Here’s my thoughts on the courses – given in the order in which they were played.

PACIFIC DUNES: Our first tee time was on what we were told was the best, most beautiful and toughest of the layouts. We caught it on an extremely windy day, but it was certainly playable and lots of fun. The views of the Pacific were plentiful and stunning.

One thing that set this round apart from all others that we’ve played was that we were told it was permissible to use your push/pull carts on the greens – something that can be done on all the Bandon courses. We didn’t really feel comfortable doing that at first, but the greens were hard and we couldn’t discern any damage being done to the putting surfaces. It was also certainly a convenience in getting around the courses.

The layout, designed by Tom Doak and opened in 2001 as the resort’s second course, was unusual in that there were four par-3s on the back nine. (The layout is still a par-71). Interestingly, the most memorable of the short holes on the course didn’t offer an ocean view. On No. 17 you hit towards a stunning background of gold wildflowers.

BANDON TRAILS: The creation by the design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw opened in 2005 – a par-71 that measures only 6,765 yards from the back tees. It’s much different than Pacific Dunes in that there are no striking ocean views. The most notable features are the liberal use of manzanita, particularly at the par-3 fifth hole, and the abundance of elevated tees. They gave lots of holes a special look from the outset.

Bandon Preserve, the par-3 course, adjoins this layout and offers the best opportunity to play extra holes on the same day.

Most notable spot on the course, though, is the long passageway to the No. 14 tee. Behind the back tee on that hole is a bench where Keiser got his first dramatic view of the property that would become the Bandon Dunes Resort. It was also the spot where Keiser had his epiphany: this would be where he’d build his next golf facility. Given developments of subsequent years, this spot should be looked on as hallowed ground in the golf world.

BANDON DUNES: This was the first course built on the property, in 1999. Scotland’s David McLay Kidd, still shy of his 30th birthday, was the architect, and our first thought was that it didn’t quite measure up to the first two layouts we played. Then again, we really didn’t see it all because fog had set in just before teeoff and we had trouble seeing the holes we were playing for quite awhile.

Anyway, this one had its charms. There was more animal interaction on this layout than the others. Three deer greeted us at No. 3, getting close enough to startle us. They weren’t afraid of golfers, that’s for sure. Later a squirrel seemed on the brink of jumping on my shoe.

A couple footnotes: No. 12 – a par-3 – was the first hole built on the property and No. 13 is the only hole on any of the courses without a bunker. And No. 16, a short par-4 requiring a tee shot over a ravine and an uphill approach with one of the best ocean views, wound up my most memorable hole of the 72 we played.

And then there was “the Whammer.’’ The caddie in our group alerted me that a “secret’’ hole had been dug long ago near a tree to the right of the No. 10 fairway. Though it was covered, it stirred my curiosity. So, over I went, lifted the cover and found an assortment of odds and ends including a bottle of scotch. Some Bandon devotees apparently created the hole during an early outing and it has grown into the stuff of legends.

OLD MACDONALD: The resort’s newest course – Old MacDonald opened in 2010 – is much different than the others. It came off a joint design effort by Doak and Jim Urbina and the name came from Charles Blair MacDonald, creator of America’s first 18-hole course at the Chicago Golf Club in 1892. MacDonald was the first man to describe himself as a golf course architect, and he did plenty of other courses.

Old MacDonald is no replica of any of his other courses but more a tribute to his design work overall. The fairways are huge and so are the greens. In fact, at 250,000 square feet, Old MacDonald has the largest greens complex in the world.

Funny thing about Old MacDonald – or maybe it’s just me. I had easily my best shot-making round on this layout, but also had my highest score on the four Bandon layouts.

The greens are the thing here. Sometimes it feels like you’re too much at the mercy of the fickle slopes that are all over the course. That’s when things aren’t going your way. When the ball is bouncing right you get the most exhilarating feeling possible on any of the four layouts.

Experienced caddies are a nice amenity most anywhere but they are a borderline necessity here for first-time players. We didn’t use them, and they would have definitely come in handy in determining the proper target lines – especially on some of the blind shots that were more prevalent on this course than on any of the others.

FINALLY, OUR RANKINGS: No. 1 – Pacific Dunes, because you can’t beat the views; No. 2 – Old MacDonald, because it was so different (though I’m no fan of the blind shots presented there); No. 3 – Bandon Trails, at least in part because there were more holes to play at this stop with the adjoining par-3 also available; and No. 4 – Bandon Dunes, because it’s hard to judge something you can’t see. Fog ruled the day when we played there.

Does it really matter if one course is “better’’ than another? Certainly not if you’re at Bandon Dunes. This resort has an abundance of riches.