COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — The Floating Green is a gimmicky thing, but it brought the desired attention to Lake Coeur d’Alene Resort.

It was envisioned by Duane Hagadone in 1991, when the first ball was struck toward this movable putting surface. The 6,803-yard course was designed by Scott Miller but No. 14 is the hole that put the course on the global map.

The tee doesn’t move – there are five tee placements, allowing the hole to play anywhere from 95 to 218 yards –but the green does. It’s a man-made, 15,000-square foot island green that changes location. It gets further from the tee as the season goes on because the depth of the water changes. The “putter’’ boat takes golfers from the tee to the green and back. Wish I could have played this famous hole, but time constraints prevented that.

Still, checking it out was well worth the visit. Arguably the most unusual hole in all of golf will celebrate its 25th year in 2016 by getting a re-grassing. The course had its conditioning problems recently, with a staff member informing me that six of the greens were lost during the season. He said that No. 14 is likely the best on the course, but all 18 will be re-grassed shortly after the course is closed on Oct. 17 – two weeks earlier than usual.

It’s hard to look past the Floating Green – after all, the road leading past the gate house to the clubhouse is Floating Green Drive – but the course has more attractions than that. It has lake views on every hole and 1,500 wild flowers also spice up the viewing experience.

VALENTINE, Neb. – The first thing you notice as you approach the Prairie Club in the sandhills of Nebraska is what’s not there.

You cruise through the “big’’ town of Valentine (population 2,830) and 17 miles later you see the first indication that a big-time golf resort is nearby. It’s just a small sign saying the entrance is a half-mile away.

Then you hit the entrance – just a small sign as well – and face a two-mile drive down a winding dirt road to the clubhouse that, most notably, takes you by some mean-looking cattle. Then the fun begins.

At the Prairie Club the accommodations are more than comfortable. The décor has a rustic elegance that includes leopard carpeting on the stairs. The food is good, the atmosphere memorable, the staff extremely friendly and helpful. But at the Prairie Club it’s all about golf . You can have your fun on its two 18-hole courses as well as its unique 10-hole Horse Course, a par-3 layout that has no tee markers.

An interesting place, this Prairie Club. There’s not many golf options around it, but plenty inside its ample borders. This place is pure golf, just what founder Paul Schock wanted when he got the place up and running on June 11, 2010.

“We want our guests to have fun. That’s the object of our Horse Course,’’ said head professional Loudan Steffes. “It gives you as many options, and as many players in a group, as you like. And a round there doesn’t take four-five hours.’’

The Horse Course is unique. Gil Hanse, now famous as the designer of the Brazil course that will host next year’s first Olympics golf competition since 1904, created it. You play the Horse Course like you would play that popular game in backyard basketball, hence the name. The Horse Course spurs creativity as well as fun competition. Too bad more golf facilities don’t offer such a course. Golf, as played on the Horse Course, would bring more players into the game.

But I digress. The Prairie Club is a lot more than the Horse Course. The Dunes Course, designed by former British Open champion Tom Lehman with guidance from Chris Brand, is long – a par-73 that can play at over 8,000 yards from the very back tees. This is one of those courses where it’s imperative you play from the right set of tees. If you don’t you could well be in for a long day.

The length shouldn’t dissuade you, though. Neither should all the weird-shaped bunkers, some of which have “blowouts’’ in them and some of which feature what look like Pete Dye railroad ties placed in a much-less-random order. They’re more like fence posts.

“Those are posts, for aesthetic purposes, just to give a different look,’’ explained Steffes. “You don’t see them everywhere.’’

No, you don’t, and if you get behind one you’re dead.

The “blowouts,’’ native to the sandhills so prevalent in the area, are featured in the wide area of waste bunkers throughout the layout. You never know what you’re going to get when you go into those bunkers.

“The wind creates them, and they’re constantly changing over time as well,’’ said Steffes. “The wind changes the shape of the sand.’’

The other 18, called the Pines, is also a par-73 but much different than the Dunes. The Australian star, Graham Marsh, designed that 18, which is more playable for the average player and perhaps easier than the Dunes — even though the greens are more severe. Regardless of how you compare the courses, the views of the Snake River Canyon offered on the Pines are stunning from the Points of Solitude viewing spot behind the No. 16 green.

There’s one thing about the Prairie Club that’s historically amazing. It was built in just over five months. That seems astounding, given the time it takes to build or renovate courses everywhere else these days.

Prairie Club was spawned as the third big-time course in the sandhills. Shock had been a member of one, the 18-hole Sand Hills Country Club, designed by the noted design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The other, Dismal River, has 36 holes. Both of those are private clubs while at Prairie Club play is about half and half between its members (about 400 of them) and the public.

The two private clubs had closed for the season by early October, when we visited Prairie Club. Nebraska has a surprisingly short golf season thanks to the unpredictability of fall weather. The sandhills area has been known to have snow in October, so the Prairie Club will close for golf on Oct. 18 and won’t re-open until next May 13. There will, however, be some winter activities there, primarily to accommodate hunters and weddings.

NIOBRARA, Neb. – Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen much anymore. New courses are rare, and most of those are created as renovations. They’re not really built from scratch; they’re built over existing golf courses.

It’s great that there are more renovations now than there were the last few, economically difficult, years. Some are good-looking courses, like Tom Doak’s creation of a new No. 1 Course at Medinah Country Club.

Tatanka Golf Club, is no renovation, though. It opened in mid-September after nearly three years in the construction process on land that had most recently been a homestead. Michigan architect Paul Albanese created a full-fledged, championship golf course — priced in the $5 million range – on fresh land in northeastern Nebraska, which is hardly a hotbed for golf courses.

What exists golf-wise in a 20-mile radius of Tatanka are only about five community-owned nine-hole courses. No disrespect intended, but Tatanka is certainly not one of those.

“It’s not just some little golf development, but a dramatic 18-hole championship course,’’ said Brian Bursheim, the facility’s general manager. “This will be something you can’t find for miles. You give people a real nice layout, and they will travel.’’

At least that’s what the Santee Sioux Nation is counting on when it decided to add a golf course to its Ohiya Casino and turn it into a resort on the outskirts of a town with just 375 residents.

Ohiya, which opened 17 years ago, is the oldest casino in Nebraska. It’s now in its third location and has an accompanying 48-room hotel. Though still small, it’s growing and the golf course figures to keep the momentum going among the residents of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and even Minnesota. They can all benefit from having a new upscale golf course nearby.

Albanese created the course on 300 acres, but there’s about 700 available around the casino. The course won’t hold its grand opening until next May, but golfers are already discovering the place. Several came three times from Omaha in the first month the course was open.

The layout has barely a flat spot. It’s surrounded by stunning, all-natural views and has some special touches. Albanese included two double-greens in his design (on holes 3 and 16 and No. 9 and 18). He also made it possible for buffalo to factor into the rounds played there. Tatanka is the Indian word for buffalo.

The buffalo are fenced in, but clearly evident – especially off the 13th hole. Given the mood of the herd, buffalo can get as close to 10-15 yards of the golfers.

“Nothing is forced,’’ said Albanese. “Nature has been respected in the design process, which is very important to the Sioux and appreciated.’’

For example, the land for the course was purchased from a family that had a burial ground on it. The family wanted the burial ground, which includes at least three bodies, to remain and it’s prominently marked in the fairway leading to the No. 3 green.

Bursheim was hired after the course construction had begun. He had been a head professional for five years at the Sundance public course in Buckeye, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix. Bursheim was anxious to return to his family roots in South Dakota and took the job without seeing the property.

He believes Tatanka will stand on its own, independent of the casino, in due time. Initially he envisions greens fees no higher than $75 at prime time.

“The one thing that’s different about our course compared to others in the area is that the others are either links-style or tree-lined,’’ he said. “We are a little of both, and there are undulations on every hole.’’

Some of those undulations are extreme, suggesting that Tatanka will never lend itself to being a walking course. That’s no problem for a resort facility anyway. The fairways, though, are very generous and there’s plenty of length available. The course measures 7,450 yards from the tips with a rating of 75.7 and slope of 134 but it can play as short as 4,784 yards. The are six sets of tee placements.

Tatanka won’t be in full operation until the spring of 2016. Bursheim has installed three simulators to stir golf interest among casino visitors during the winter months. When the course opens in the spring it’ll likely have GPS on the carts and the look will be a bit different than it is this fall. It’ll have new, wooden flagsticks, a general wood theme in its on-course atmosphere and full valet service will be available.

Albanese had specific ideas on how the course should look. It’s reflected even in the Indian lore included on the scorecard.

“Paul’s idea was to have it look like just-planted grass,’’ said Bursheim. “He didn’t move much dirt. He wanted to keep it as natural as possible for the golfers – like they were just out on a nature walk.’’

With the golf season in the Midwest winding down, it’s a good time to check out what’s been happening at golf’s best travel destinations – and there’s been plenty. Our first golf/travel notebook of the fall begins at one of America’s most famous courses.

The famed Harbour Town course at Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head, S.C., re-opened this week after undergoing major renovation work that included the installation of a new irrigation system.

Harbour Town, a joint design effort by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus, closed in May after last year’s PGA Tour stop, the RBC Heritage Classic. All the greens were also resurfaced while the course was closed.

Keiser abandons Bandon Links project

Seven years ago Michael Keiser hired architect Gil Hanse to plan a destination golf course near his Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon. This week Keiser, citing issues with the Bureau of Land Management and disappointing results in recent well testing, announced he was abandoning the project.

“Termination of the Bandon Links project will have no effect on anything having to do with the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, where the public will continue to experience the first-class golf experiences which they have come to expect there,’’ said Keiser.

He also said he would seek another site where a project similar to Bandon Links “would be viable.’’

Kemper to manage Desert Rose

Chicago-based KemperSports has been selected to manage Desert Rose, a Las Vegas public course that has been closed for more than two years. When it re-opens sometime this fall it will have a new, still undisclosed, name.

Desert Rose was designed by Joe Lee and Dick Wilson – the architects who designed Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course that hosted Chicago’s PGA Tour stop for 20 years. Desert Rose opened in 1964 and was completely re-designed by Randy Heckenkemper during its closing.

Heckenkemper’s most recent design work includes the Champions Course at TPC Scottsdale and he also worked with Phil Mickelson on McDowell Mountain.

Salamander connects with Virginia course

Salamander Hotels and Resorts, which has 10 courses spanning Virginia and Florida, has added its Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Va. The facility will enable its guests to play at Creighton Farms, a nearby Jack Nicklaus design.

The Copperhead course at Salamander’s Innisbrook Resort in Florida is scheduled to re-open in November after a six-month restorative enhancement. It was the site of Jordan Spieth’s first victory of his storybook 2015 season in the Valspar Championship.

Another Salamander Florida resort, Reunion in Orlando, has begun work on a new clubhouse at its Nicklaus Course. Reunion is the only resort with signature designs by Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Arnold Palmer and it also houses the Annika Academy, the creation of LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam.

New course in Nebraska

The Tatanka Golf Club has been added to the Ohiya Casino Resort of the Santee Sioux Nation in Niobrara, Nebraska. The course, a Paul Albanese design, opened in September.

Wild Dunes’ Links Course will re-open soon

Tom Fazio’s first-ever solo design was the Links Course at Wild Dunes Resort in Charleston, S.C. It’ll re-open in late October after getting a new irrigation system, concrete cart paths, a renovated halfway house, a 4,500-square foot putting green and new views of the Atlantic Ocean on holes 16-18.

New look for California’s Quail Lodge

Todd Eckenrode, a California-based architect, removed several lakes and introduced deep grass swales in his effort to freshen up Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Irvine, Calif. Swales are prominent on holes 1, 2, 14, 16 and 17, the last of which is now the course’s feature hole.

From the beginning the building of Harbor Shores was a feel-good thing. Creating a beautiful, upscale golf destination could only be an enhancement for an economically depressed area in southwestern Michigan.

Well, the building of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbor Shores course wasn’t all that long ago – it opened in 2010 – but the changes throughout the Benton Harbor area have been extensive. A quick trip there proved that in a hurry. What a comeback this community has made, largely because it added a stunning golf course!

Once the course was opened it never dropped out of the spotlight. Whirlpool Corp. got the ball rolling and kept it going. Barely two years after its opening Harbor Shores hosted the Senior PGA Championship presented by Kitchenaid – one of the major tournaments on the Champions Tour. That tournament returned in 2014 and will also be back in 2016 and 2018.

That’s all well and good, but this isn’t designed as a golf course update. It’s more than that. After all, a big golf tournament only takes one week. and exciting things have been going on both in and around Harbor Shores ever since the course opened. For those who haven’t been to the Benton Harbor area for a few years, you might not recognize the place when you return. The whole community has been working together in the revival effort.

Most eye-catching is The Inn at Harbor Shores. It opened just in time for the 2014 Senior PGA Championship, providing the resort with an appropriate upscale lodging option for visiting golfers. It’s a leisure and business 90-room hotel billed as Lake Michigan’s first golf and waterfront destination. Condos are also under construction on the seventh and eighth floors, but the rooftop bar is already a popular social hangout.

The Inn has a marina, spa, fitness center, conference/banquet facilities and indoor-outdoor swimming pools. It offers scenic views of both the golf course and the water and fine dining at Plank’s Tavern. Strong consideration is being given to make it more of a year-around destination by adding cross country ski trails. The golf course has spots that would be perfect for that once the snow falls.

Harbor Village, a 530-acre lifestyle community located on the St. Joseph and Paw Paw rivers in the bordering community of St. Joseph, is also well underway. Kerry Wright, director of sales and marketing for the Village, reports that 12 homes have been built and are now occupied just since the last Senior PGA Championship and eight more lots have been sold. Out-of-towners, especially those from Chicago, have discovered what Harbor Village is all about.

Residents have easy access to 12 miles of walking/biking trails that are also open to the public. Some of the trails intermingle with the cart paths on the golf course. Others go through Jean Klock Park and touch the waters of Lake Michigan, the St. Joseph River and the Paw Paw River. A new fitness center has also opened nearby.

Nowhere, though, are the upgrades as eye-catching as in the city of Benton Harbor. There’s still work to be done, but long-closed buildings aren’t nearly as prevalent as they were before the course opened and new businesses are evident. Attractive murals don the walls of some of them and an arts district is sprouting up quickly.

New restaurants are also in the mix, most notably Bread + Bar, and an interesting, very new coffee stop – Clifford’s Coffee Canal, which was a few days from its grand opening but still welcoming curious visitors – intrigued us with its décor, cozy atmosphere and waterfront views. The Livery and The Ideal Place are good Benton Harbor nightspots.

As for the course, it remains its challenging, testy, memorable self. And its conditioning is top-notch. The First Tee program is also thriving there. Some of the steep greens were softened since the last Senior PGA but, thankfully, not the controversial one at the No. 10 hole. It remains – at least arguably – the most memorable part of the course.

There’s a lot of competition among many great golf destinations in Michigan, and Harbor Shores is right in the thick of it.

AS ALWAYS, golf travel destinations are hopping places. Here’s what going on at some of the others:

FRENCH LICK – The southern Indiana resort that hosted the Senior PGA Championship this year is about to welcome the women’s version. The Legends Championship returns to French Lick’s Pete Dye Course from Aug. 28-30.

The event is the biggest on The LPGA Legends Tour, but this year’s format has changed slightly. The tournament will be 36 holes instead of 54, as was the case the previous two years. The Friday feature is now the Legends Hall of Fame Gala. The Hall takes up a room year-around in the West Baden Springs Hotel and will welcome its third induction class this year.

GREENBRIER – Owner Jim Justice continues to be a trendsetter, and his next project couldn’t be more exciting. He’s bringing together Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Gary Player to jointly design a mountaintop course that Justice envisions being a U.S. Open site eventually.

Groundbreaking is next month for the course, which will overlook Oakhurst Links – generally regarded as America’s first golf course with roots dating to 1884. The new course, to be called the Greenbrier Sporting Club, will also include a modest private ski facility. The planned opening for the course is the fall of 2016.

U. OF MICHIGAN – The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is offering golf packages, particularly around home football weekends, in which unaffiliated guests can play its two courses. The Blue Course, designed by Alister MacKenzie, opened in 1931.

The “newer’’ layout, Radrick Farms, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It was one of architectural legend Pete Dye’s first creations. He designed it in collaboration with his wife Alice.

INNISBROOK – The Florida resort that hosts the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship is in the process of renovating its famed Copperhead Course. The six-month project is to be completed in October. Jordan Spieth posted the first victory of his banner season (Masters, U.S. Open and John Deere Classic wins followed) at Copperhead.

The renovation involves replacing all of the fairways and rough, rebuilding each green and re-shaping the bunkers as a tribute to the late Chicago-based Larry Packard, who passed away at age 101. He spent much of his later years living at Innisbrook.

MYRTLE BEACH – This golf hotbed is getting ready for two big events that tee off in August. The Myrtle Beach Family Fun Golf Tournament is Aug. 20-23 and the massive Myrtle Beach World Amateur will run Aug. 31 to Sept. 4.

The World Amateur, in its 32nd year, will be played at over 60 area courses and will have over 3,000 entrants. They’ll cover from all 50 states and about 25 other countries. The 72-hole event will feature net and stroke play competition with players assigned to flights based on gender, age and handicap.

The Family Fun event will be hosted by Mystical Golf, which operates The Witch, Man-O-War and The Wizard courses.

THIS is the fifth of an ongoing series of columns reporting on what’s new at golf destinations.

BRANSON, Mo. – Golf isn’t the main attraction in Branson, this rocking town of about 10,000 in southern Missouri. It has a wide range of entertainment options. Golf is just one of them.

Plenty of links-related things have been happening in Branson, however, with most of them tied in some way to Johnny Morris – the billionaire who created Bass Pro Shops. His first such Outdoor World opened in the nearby, much larger town of Springfield, Mo., in 1972.

Morris, a passionate conservationist, built his business empire around fishing, hunting, camping and boating but – in more recent years – he has embraced golf in a big way. That’s why Branson has become a big golf destination that figures to get only bigger in the very immediate future.

Here’s a sampling of what’s been happening golf-wise in Branson and the nearby towns of Ridgedale, Hollister and Reeds Spring. A warning: this could be a bit overwhelming.

Morris acquired Big Cedar Lodge on the outskirts of Branson in 1987. Now it’s a sprawling wildness resort highlighted – from a golfer’s viewpoint – by the Top of the Rock course and the accompanying Arnie’s Barn. (The Big Cedar facility also has multiple restaurants, a spa, chapels, stables and a conference center, among other things).

Top of the Rock is a nine-hole par-3 course designed by Jack Nicklaus. It is — from this perspective of a golfer who has traveled widely in search of playing opportunities for 60 years and been a scribe on the sport since 1968 – the most scenic course in America.

Nicklaus began building the course in 1996, and the work took awhile – over seven years, to be exact. By 2014, however, it became the first par-3 layout included in a PGA Tour-sanctioned competition. The oldest event on the Champions Tour – the Legends of Golf – is partially played there.

Top of the Rock also includes a one-acre putting green called “the Himalayan,’’ which was designed by Tom Watson and has an elevation change of 20 feet from top to bottom.

The overall practice facility was designed by Arnold Palmer and features 16 fully lit target greens. It also, unfortunately, includes five sink-holes that emerged last May. Geologists are trying to deal with them, but they are more of a photo opportunity now. They don’t impact play on the course and the range is still in use.

Palmer’s influence is more evident in the “Barn,’’ which houses the pro shop and an upscale Mexican restaurant. The wooden Barn has a history; it was built 150 years ago in Palmer’s hometown of Latrobe, Pa., and was transported piece by piece and reconstructed at Top of the Rock. Included in its bar area is the mounted 1,358-pound black marlin that Nicklaus caught in Australia in 1978.

The course is filled with breath-taking views of Table Rock Lake, waterfalls and fascinating rock formations. After a round golfers have the option of taking a cave tour on their carts and/or visiting the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum. Obviously, a nine-hole round there isn’t you’re ordinary breeze around a par-3 course.

And that’s not all.

More recently the high-quality Branson Creek course, a Tom Fazio design built in 1999, was taken over by Morris. It was renamed Buffalo Ridge Springs, updated by Fazio and now includes free-ranging buffalo. Morris brought them over from his nearby Dogwood Canyon Nature Park. Buffalo Ridge Springs’ 18-holer is the companion course for Top of the Rock in hosting the Legends of Golf.

And that’s not all.

Murder Rock, which had been highly-promoted as a John Daly design, is no more. It will soon be two courses. Gary Player is building a 12-hole family-friendly course there, scheduled to open sometime in 2015, and the well-regarded architectural team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are creating The Ridge Course at Buffalo Ridge, an 18-holer that will open sometime in 2017.

And that’s not all.

The Payne Stewart Golf Club, which had been a Branson attraction with lots of memorabilia from the late two-time U.S. Open and former PGA champion, just parted ways with Stewart’s foundation. The course is now called Branson Hills. Apparently a museum in Stewart’s honor is in the planning stages. He grew up in Springfield.

Those aren’t the only courses in the Branson area, by any means. Holiday Hills, established in 1938, was the area’s original course and its short (5,798 yards from the tips) layout is still going strong. So is Pointe Royale, which is more of a championship layout with its 6,501 yards from the back tees and eight water holes.

LedgeStone, a one-time private facility, rivals the higher-profile Buffalo Ridge Springs and Top of the Rock layouts for attracting serious players and Thousand Hills Golf Resort has a funky (one par-5, eight par-4s and nine par-3s) layout that is loads of fun. Thousand Hills was an especially nice place to stay for us, since it was so close to the evening entertainment venues.

One thing to remember about Branson when you plan a trip there. There’s much more to do in addition to the golf. Our stay included three shows, all high quality but very different. Violinist Shoji Tabuchi is an Ozark entertainment legend who has his own, high-tech theater. “Six’’ features some very musically-talented brothers with a unique story to tell through the course of their performance and “Liverpool Legends’’ is a tribute to The Beatles that had the crowd dancing in the aisles.

Those shows are just a small offering of the available night-life. The Branson area has 41 theaters offering about 100 shows, depending on the time of the year. There’s also a wide variety of lodging and dining options. And, soon there will be a youth baseball complex that will have replica versions of Wrigley Field and Busch Stadium.

But, if you still need at least a taste of golf after nightfall, you could try the wide range of miniature courses. They seem to be everywhere and some are of a very elaborate nature.

CAMDENTON, Mo. – There never was a doubt about the quality of The Course at Old Kinderhook. The Tom Weiskopf designed layout has ranked among the top three public courses in Missouri and the top 20 in the state overall since its opening in 1999.

In the last four years, though, this scenic place in the Missouri Ozarks, has undergone some major changes that have only made it better – much better, in fact.

Climaxing a series of upgrades initiated by executive director Bob Renken was the completion of the 84-room Lodge at Old Kinderhook, an upscale hotel that also includes a banquet center, indoor swimming pool and fitness center. Its creation also led to some outdoor enhancements that broadened the activity offerings at the facility and impacted one hole of the golf course.

Now adjoining the new lodge — which had its grand opening in April during the last Masters Weekend — are two courts for outdoor volleyball, a saltwater outdoor pool with a waterfall and a cabana and bar.

Guests are just starting to enjoy most of those outdoor facilities, but the volleyball area was already a big hit during the winter months. It was transformed into an ice rink that drew an average of 300 skaters per day.

Kenny Morrow, a member of the United States’ gold medal-winning hockey team in the 1980 Olympics, built the rink — the only one in the Ozarks. The closest other ones are in Jefferson City, Springfield and Columbia. Not only did the Old Kinderhook rink attract casual ice skaters to an area that only rarely sees snow, it also became a venue for competitive pond hockey leagues two nights a week.

The outdoor attractions required space and some adjustment in the other buildings on the property, but more notably they necessitated changing a course that really didn’t need any changing. It was popular just the way it was – but there’s a good chance the revised No. 15 hole will make it even better.

Weiskopf’s original design had it as a par-4 that required a layup off the tee. Since the outdoor expansion it’s being played as a temporary par-3, but soon it will be a par-4 again – one that’s 40 yards shorter but more challenging.

“We want it to be our signature hole,’’ said Old Kinderhook all-purpose staffer Paul Hannigan. “Now it’ll be a drive-able par-4, and a risk-reward hole for longer hitters.’’

The hole ranges from 344 yards from the back tees down to 291 from the front. When played at full yardage the course is 6,797 yards with a rating of 72.8 and slope of 137.

The change from the current temporary par-3 will take a few weeks, as the fairway is being moved 20 yards to the left, in large part to take some of the golf villas out of play. It was a necessary tweak that promises to enhance an already quality layout, one of the best of all Weiskopf creations.

Old Kinderhook has only one 18-holer, albeit the best one in the Ozarks, but visitors to the area have other golf options. The Ozark Golf Council has 13 courses on its Golf Trail, all within a 30-minute drive of each other. One of them, Lake Valley, is across the street from Old Kinderhook.

The work done at Old Kinderhook over a 16-month period came at a cost in excess of $11 million. The result was a more full-service gated facility that spans over 700 acres. Old Kinderhook’s investment group took an aggressive approach during an economic downturn that particularly impacted the golf industry both in the Ozarks and nation-wide. There were also some positive upgrades made in the town of Camdenton during that period.

“Camdenton and Old Kinderhook were willing to grow during the period,’’ said Hannigan. “We also built 20 (housing) units, and they sold in less that two years. Now we’ll be adding rental boats and jet skis.’’

That bold approach, the ownership expects, will lead to more home sales, lodging rentals and general activity year-around.

ERIN, Wis. – Erin Hills has gotten nothing but better since its opening in 2006. That was clearly evident when the facility on the outskirts of Milwaukee conducted what has become an annual outing leading into its ultimate showing – as the site of the 2017 U.S. Open.

Jim Reinhart, general chairman for the big event, was presented with a good opportunity to compare Erin Hills with a similar facility. Chambers Bay, in Washington, hosted a U.S. Open that wasn’t without controversy a week before Erin opened its doors to about 50 media members from around the Midwest.

Reinhart tried hard to steer clearly of controversy in making comparisons.

“Both courses are in new areas that had never hosted a U.S. Open,’’ said Reinhart. “Both have incredible community support. Both areas are naturally beautiful, but Chambers Bay was manufactured on a gravel pit while Erin Hills’ architects took advantage of a more natural area. Both have fescue fairways, and both play long. Erin Hills is not a true links-style course. Chambers Bay is much more a links style. We have eight times as many trees – we have eight!’’

Inevitably, though, the subject of Chambers Bays’ perceived shortcomings came up. Players didn’t like the bumpy greens there and the course wasn’t spectator-friendly.

“You have to put it in perspective. It’s a U.S. Open, and they bitch,’’ Reinhart said of the player complaints, the most notable coming from Billy Horschel and legendary competitor Gary Player. “That’s what the USGA does. It gets into their heads. There was a lot of grumbling out there. We took notice of some of that but, when they get out here in two years, they’ll be blown away.’’

Given the history of the U.S. Open, however, it’s unlikely that players will unanimously be in love with Erin Hills. U.S. Open courses always get tough setups, and Erin Hills will, too.

On the spectator side, though, things should be much, much better than they were at Chambers Bay.

“This golf course, overlooking Holy Hill, will be mind-boggling,’’ said Reinhart. “At first I was a little scared (after the criticisms started to build about Chambers Bay), but then I thought `This is going to be super for us.’ We’ll knock the ball out of the park here.’’

No argument there, especially when you consider the spectator space available throughout the course and especially on the last three holes.

“Nos. 16, 17 and 18 coming down the stretch will be filled with spectators who will have a perfect view of the most important holes of the entire championship,’’ said Reinhart. “It’ll be an absolute home run.’’

As for the facility and tournament update, Reinhart reported that the U.S. Golf Assn. would put staffers on the premises full-time beginning in July. Corporate hospitality sales for 2017 have begun, and are way ahead of schedule. Recruitment of volunteers will begin soon.

Since the previous year’s update outing Erin Hills has changed the green on the No. 3 hole, put in a beautiful short game area, created a new practice putting green near the No. 1 tee and created several new tees. Some of those were built to enhance daily play, but those at Nos. 2 and 15 created reachable par-4s that should appeal to USGA executive director Mike Davis.

Scott Walker, Wisconsin governor and presidential candidate, was also on hand to predict an “incredible’’ U.S. Open and laud the growth of the sport in his state, which has about 500 courses.

“I’m not a golfer,’’ he said. “The reason I’m here is because of the green on the greens.’’

Citing a 2008 report, Walker said golf puts 38,000 people to work in Wisconsin and has a $2.4 billion economic impact. His projections for the 2017 U.S. Open called for an economic impact of between $140 and $170 million.

Here’s an even more interesting stat. Erin Hills’ biggest event so far has been being the main course used for the 2011 U.S. Amateur, won by Kelly Kraft. That was only four years ago, but the contestants since them have accumulated $38,450,796 in prize money as professionals, won eight tournaments, had 75 top-10 finishes and 152 top-25 finishes. Those stunning numbers should indicate the caliber of play coming in August at Olympia Fields, site of this year’s U.S. Amateur.

Jordan Spieth, who won at Chambers Bay, didn’t win at Erin Hills when he was an amateur. He lost in the quarterfinals.

“He’ll have good memories of Erin Hills,’’ predicted Reinhart.

More memories will be built at the course this season on the local level. Erin Hills will host this summer’s Wisconsin State Amateur.

For the record, the course can now play as long as 7,812 yards from the back tees, where is has a 77.9 rating and a slope of 145. Green fee at the walking-only course is $245 for public play. In 2017 there won’t be any public play until after the U.S. Open is over.

ROSCOMMON, Mich. – The idea is at least intriguing. Tom Doak has designed a golf course that will have 18 greens and fairways but will play in two directions.

The No. 18 green will always be the No. 18 green, but one day you play around to that green from a clock-wise direction, and the next day you do it in a counter-clockwise direction. Michigan’s respected Forest Dunes will get two new courses while building only one.

Think about that — and a lot of people have.

“Most people are over-thinking this,’’ said Todd Campbell, the general manager at Forest Dunes. “Some, even executives, think people we will be hitting into each other. No!!!! We’re smart individuals. This is going to work out.’’

After touring the property with Campbell I think it will, too. But, you have to see it to understand it. Hopefully this description will help in that regard.

Forest Dunes’ first course, designed by Tom Weiskopf, opened in 1998 and is a gem. It’s long been listed in America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses and last year golfers came from 34 states and seven different countries to play it. Thirty-eight percent of the rounds played there were from non-Michigan residents.

The problem for Campbell and Lew Thompson, the course’s Arkansas-based owner, was keeping players around after they’d played Forest Dunes once. They built a lodge and other lodging options. That helped, but still there was just that one great course in a relatively remote area of Michigan.

“Our ownership wanted a national destination,’’ said Campbell. “People weren’t staying here. We were seeing money drive out of the parking lot.’’

There was plenty of land available, however. Having 1,320 acres to work with was a good thing.

Thompson, who is in the trucking business and is also part of the investment group that owns the Jack Nicklaus-designed The Bridges course in Colorado, and Campbell wanted a second course at Forest Dunes — one designed by a Michigan architect that would be much different than the first course – and they’ll certainly be getting it.

There won’t be any course in the country, if not the world, like the radical Doak design when it opens. Hopefully that will be in late fall, 2016, but the course won’t likely be in full swing until the spring of 2017.

Doak has said he considered building a reversible course for about 30 years, and insists it’s not unprecedented. Several European courses – even the famed Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland – were played in reverse in their early years in an effort to minimize the wear and tear from divots.

In these modern times, though, there aren’t any such courses and the anticipation for this one has been building.

“Tom will build a great-experience golf course that will be fun,’’ predicted Campbell. “And, it will look different.’’

Doak, whose Renaissance Golf is based in Traverse City, last designed a course in his home state when Black Forest opened in Gaylord in 2002. He also designed Lost Dunes, in Bridgman, before creating 31 courses around the world including five recognized in America’s Top 100. Most recently his renovation of Medinah’s No. 1 course in the Chicago area opened in 2014.

To create the reversible layout Doak needed flat property with few trees, sandy soil and an owner who could think outside the box. He found all that at Forest Dunes and groundbreaking was held last October amidst much fanfare.

“We can pull this off,’’ said Campbell. “We’ll have two golf courses wrapped into one, and people will stay multiple nights. And this will only enhance our other golf course.’’

The key to the reversible course’s success will be tee placements, and there’ll be many of them. Tee box areas will be defined, and each hole will have multiple tees, but the staff will have lots of flexibility in their use.

While there’ll be just 18 greens and 18 fairway complexes, there will be two courses thanks to the positioning of the tees. Both layouts are expected to be par-70s, but one will play about 6,700 yards from the back tees and the other will be about 100 yards longer.

“There’ll be two different golf courses,’’ stressed Campbell. “They’ll play completely different. The wind will be completely different. Some greens that you hit into will be for a par-3 one day and for a par-5 the next.’’

There’ll be no water holes and the fairways will be extremely wide and lively. There won’t be much in the way of flowers, and grass from the tee boxes all the way to the greens will be mowed at the same height but there will be some fescue in evidence. None of the tee boxes will be elevated, and the present design calls for 41 sand bunkers and about 40 grass bunkers.

“We want a completely different golf experience than we have over (at the existing course),’’ said Campbell. “There’s no other place in North America where you can find a bentgrass golf course and a fescue golf course 100 yards apart.’’

The existing Weiskopf design was a $12 million project. The Doak layout will be considerably less, though Campbell declined to offer a cost estimate. The Weiskoopf layout was built on 500 acres, the Doak will need only 200. The Weiskopf course is connected to some real estate development. The Doak course won’t be.

Cost for the Doak course was impacted by the fact that it’s being built basically in house. Forest Dunes owns the equipment being used, irrigation comes from a nearby pond and, said Campbell, “We think it’s kind of sexy that the green mix is all from the property.’’

A tornado that struck the area before work began last October turned out a blessing. It reduced the number of trees. Then still more were removed to expose the sand. The arrival of Brian Slawnik, Doak’s lead representative on site, and the hiring of Brian Moore as course superintendent triggered the grassing process. It’s to be completed by Labor Day.

Moore, 33 arrived in May to take what he considers a “dream’’ job. His resume includes a brief stop at Philadelphia’s famed Merion and a three-year stint as first assistant superintendent at Chicago Golf Club, America’s first 18-hole course.

The new course isn’t all that’s being built at Forest Dunes.

“For us to build this without more lodging would be suicidal,’’ said Campbell. “We struggle with lodging just for the existing course, and we need to triple our accommodations. We have about 50 beds and will need 135 to 150 – enough accommodations for our guests to play both golf courses..’’

One villa is under construction and another six to 10 will likely follow. Several members are also building homes on the property that will be put into the rental program.

Maybe by then Campbell will know what to call the course that Doak is creating.

“I’ve been working on a name for 18 months, and I’m ready to tear my hair out,’’ said Campbell.

Staff members, which included head professional Chad Maveus and first assistant Patrick Bloom, all participated in the naming process but they couldn’t come to an

agreement. Forest Dunes has 20,000 golfers in its database, so Campbell contacted them for some “idea-sourcing.’’

That didn’t work, either, though he received 600-700 responses and some even included suggested logos for the new course. The list of possible names is now down to about 20. Names will also be needed for the direction of the layout used; Campbell doesn’t want to “clock-wise’’ or counter clock-wise.’’ There should be something more appealing than that.

Forest Dunes, once the Doak course is completed, will be more of a golf destination, but still not a resort. The golf season will still be a short one, but golf can be played until nearly 10 p.m. most nights during that season.

Like Bandon Dunes in Oregon, Whistling Straits in Wisconsin and Streamsong in Florida Forest Dunes doesn’t have much of a local market but Campbell expects the expansion will have benefits locally.

“What we’re doing is great for everyone in the state,’’ he said. “We have a cat by the tail. We just don’t know how big that cat will become.’’