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.’’

GLEN ARBOR, Mich. – The Homestead is located in the heart of Michigan’s best golf areas, but it’s difficult to consider it a golf destination. There’s so many more attractions there, most notably Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. In 2011 ABC’s Good Morning America labeled that area “the Most Beautiful Place in America.’’

It’d be pretty hard for a golf destination to compete with “America’s Most Beautiful Place,’’ wouldn’t you agree?

The Homestead welcome sign doesn’t even focus on golf. Instead, it proclaims itself as “America’s Freshwater Resort.’’

Still, there’s good reasons to link The Homestead with golf. The facility has a 19-year history with the sport, dating to the creation of a nine-hole 1,200-yard par-3 course called Mountain Flowers. Bob Kuras, The Homestead’s owners, was one of its designers.

Kuras was part of the ownership group then and golf was in a big growth period nation-wide. Consideration was given to building an 18-hole course then, but the idea was eventually rejected.

Mountain Flowers, though, worked out just fine in providing guests with a golf option during the warm weather months (it was also in use for skiers in the winter). The short course had multiple tees, water hazards, sand, bunkers and trees. A fieldstone bridge replicating the 13th hole at Augusta National’s Amen Corner was included. Kuras had a romantic attachment to the beauty of ancient courses, visual aesthetics and a commitment to the environment. It showed in the course’s creation and – most important – it was fun to play.

In 2004 Kuras took things a step further in expanding the golf options to include the Dave Pelz Scoring Game School. It was located away from Mountain Flowers and had its own unique atmosphere around the Firefly Lodge.

Pelz’ schools are held across the country, but the one at The Homestead is more elaborate. It includes classroom, locker rooms, club storage and an amphitheater for outdoor instruction. The hitting bays are also covered so that instruction and practice can go on even in inclement weather. Golfers can come for a variety of schools to enhance their chipping, putting and bunker play.

By 2009 Kuras, now sole owner of The Homestead, took an even more dramatic step. He purchased The King’s Challenge, an Arnold Palmer-designed 18-holer 10 miles away in Cedar. It needed, and received, upgrades and was eventually renamed Manitou Passage in honor of a shipping route that ran through the property, most notably by the No. 8 tee box and fairway. That elevated spot produces the most spectacular view on the course.

Remnants of a once-thriving ski area, Sugar Loaf, remain on the golf course though skiers haven’t been there for about 15 years. The second course that was part of the Sugar Loaf complex is being operated as a public course known as the Old Course at Sugar Loaf.

This Old Course has no connection to Manitou Passage, which has kept ahead of the changing times through the guidance of general manager and former IBM executive Bob Summers.

“I do things a little differently,’’ Summers is quick to point out. He refused to get involved in price-cutting, as so many other course operators have done in recent years. Instead he kept the upscale Manitou Passage at the upper end of the fee schedule while increasing the services offered his players.

Most notable in that regard was the installation of a new phone app, Pace Setter. Golfers use their I-Phones or Androids to get course information and about any other information they might want. Pace Setter keeps track of their statistics all year long. Users can book tee times, learn if they’re on or off pace on the course, order food and beverages and be advised of upcoming events at the course.

Summers believes that Manitou Passage is the first course in Michigan to use Pace Setter, but he’s had inquiries from no less a facility than Oakland Hills regarding its performance. In barely two weeks about 250 golfers had loaded Pace Setter, and Summers had set a goal for 1,000 by the end of the year. He also is offering golfers weekly and monthly play passes.

Manitou Passage also introduced a six-hole loop on holes 10 through 15 this year to stimulate youth and family play. The full course, though, can be all the challenge you could want from the back tees – a layout that measures 6,668 yards

All that means that serious golfers have Stay & Play visit options. They could include top-level instruction at the Pelz School, on-course sharpening on Montain Flowers and a serious challenge at Manitou Passage. At the same time they – or family members — can explore the beauty of Sleeping Bear Dunes, taste the delights of Nonna’s – a fine Italian restaurant on The Homestead property, play some serious tennis on courts equipped for exhibition play and relax in Spa Amira at Little Belle.

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. – For the life of me I can’t understand why Grand Geneva Resort hasn’t hosted a big PGA or U.S. Golf Assn. championship. The playing facilities are certainly there to do it.

So is the lodging (355 guest rooms and suites), restaurant options (three fine-dining spots on property plus more in this long-time vacation destination community on the Illinois border), and space for the on-course requirements that a big tournament requires. There’s even an executive airport on the property.

More than anything, though, Grand Geneva has quality courses, two of them in fact.

The Brute is the better known. It’s 68 bunkers and huge, rolling greens have challenged golfers of all abilities since the Robert Bruce Harris design opened in late 1968. The other course, which opened at about the same time as The Brute, was first called the Briarpatch but is now The Highlands.

Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus made a rare joint design effort to create the Briarpatch, and it underwent a major transformation from Bob Cupp in 1996. Bob Lohman gave the course an additional update in 2006. It doesn’t have the reputation The Brute has, but The Highlands has its devotees – among the most notable being head professional Kyle Kunash.

Kunash pointed out that the property has lost about 40 ash trees recently and will likely be taking more down. He also says plans are underway to add a tee placement between the front markers (5,244 yards) and regular tees (6,554 yards) on The Brute. That’s necessary, and would be a plus, but the quality and conditioning of the courses and the views they offer is still extraordinary.

As for landing a big tournament, Grand Geneva is trying but so far has been unsuccessful. The courses still host a variety of Wisconsin PGA events and USGA qualifiers while remaining one of the best outing destinations around.

The lack of a big-time tournament, while not worth dwelling on, could simply be because Wisconsin already has so many coming up state-wide. A third PGA Championship is coming to Whistling Straits later this summer. The U.S. Open is coming to Erin Hills in 2017, and the Ryder Cup is coming to Whistling Straits in 2020. Earlier this month the Champions Tour announced a new tournament to be held at University Ridge in Madison in 2016.

All the activity in recent years has left Dave Hallenbeck, Grand Geneva’s long-time director of golf, stunned. Hallenbeck has worked on property for 42 years – he was a lifeguard back when the facility was known as the Playboy Club Hotel in the 1970s – and has been a golf professional for 37.

“You wouldn’t think of Wisconsin hosting all these major events at these first-class facilities – but it’s happened,’’ said Hallenbeck. “I never dreamed it would get to this point.’’

Grand Geneva no doubt played a role it that going back to the Playboy Club days.

“Playboy got the state on the map and Kohler (Blackwolf Run, Whistling Straits) made it international,’’ said Hallenbeck.

Together, Grand Geneva and the state’s other array of golf facilities and destinations overcame the perception that a short season weather-wise was detrimental to golf development.

“There’s no better place than where we are four-five months a year – during our peak season,’’ said Hallenbeck. “The climate’s great, and there’s so many things you can’t find in other parts of the country. Wisconsin has it all, and it’s affordable. That’s huge.’’

PRAIRIE CLUB, in Valentine, Neb., will be the site of the second KemperClub Championship from Aug. 2-5. Northbrook-based KemperSports held the first championship at Bandon Dunes in Oregon last year.

The competitive format will remain the same for the second version – a fourball handicapped event that will be limited to 40 two-player teams.

ARNOLD PALMER’S Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Fla., will be closed during the summer to allow for a comprehensive re-grassing project on the greens and additional fairway restoration and design modifications.

The courses are scheduled to re-open in August. In the meantime, Bay Hill is offering a summer fishing package for anglers in search of bass in the Butler Chain of Lakes in Orlando.

FOREST DUNES, in Roscommon, Mich., has named Brian Moore the director of agronomy at its unique Tom Doak-designed course that is under construction. The course can be played in both directions. Moore had formerly been senior assistant superintendent at Chicago Golf Club.

Dave Harner, director of golf at the French Lick Resort in southern Indiana, looked for a big event to spotlight the stunning Pete Dye Course when it opened for play in 2009.

He ended up establishing the premier event for the LPGA’s Legends Tour – the only 54-hole event on the circuit for women professionals 45 and over. The first Legends Championship was played in 2013 on the Dye-designed layout built on one of the highest points in the Hoosier state.

That event quickly became something special, as the Legends Hall of Fame opened the same week as the tournament in the historically-rich West Baden Springs Hotel nearby. And that wasn’t all.

French Lick was subsequently awarded the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, which will come to the Dye Course next week. (Tournament rounds are May 21-24).

That means that French Lick will be the only facility to host major championships on both of the senior tours in the same year. The Senior PGA is the first of the five annual majors for the men’s Champions Tour and the third Legends Championship will be played on the same course from Aug. 28-30.

Given French Lick’s recent involvement with the top senior players, it would seem to be a leading contender to host the first U.S. Senior Women’s Open when that event makes its debut on the U.S. Golf Assn. championship schedule in 2018. The site for that event hasn’t been announced yet, but the LPGA Legends know the Dye Course well. Sherri Steinhauer posted a course-record 63 in last year’s Legends Championship.

The men, though, haven’t had a good look at it yet. Kerry Haigh, chief championship officer for the PGA of America, checked the facility out as did Colin Montgomerie, who will defend his Senior PGA Championship next week. They were impressed.

“You can see 40-50 miles around,’’ marveled Haigh. “There are spectacular views and from the back tees it’s over 8,000 yards, so Pete was very protective of the game and made sure technology will not take over that golf course. But we won’t be playing from the back tees.’’

That was never a consideration for the 50-and-over circuit’s stars, but Haigh is certain the Dye Course will provide a “great test…..The greens are generally small, there’s a lot of bunkering and some of the narrowest fairways you could find….It’ll be exciting to watch.’’

“There’s not a weak hole on the course and that’s the sign of a great golf course,’’ said Montgomerie, who won his first major title in the 2014 Senior PGA at Harbor Shores in Michigan. That’ll be the site of the tournament again in 2016.

“I want to take the trophy back to Harbor Shores,’’ Montgomerie said. He could do it, too, but the field will be strong and the tourney has been kind to lesser-known players in recent years. England’s Roger Chapman won at Harbor Shores in 2012 and Japan’s Khoki Idoki was the champion at Bellerive in St. Louis in 2013.

The Senior PGA, first played in 1937, has never been contested in Indiana but a former French Lick pro, Willie Goggin, was the tourney champion in 1959. French Lick had its share of majors in its early years, too. Walter Hagen won the first of his four straight PGA Championships there in 1924 and Mickey Wright and Betsy Rawls won LPGA Championships there in 1959 and 1960. Hagen, Wright and Rawls, though, won on what is now French Lick’s Donald Ross Course.

A NEW TREND FOR U.S. AMATEUR? The U.S. Amateur will be played at Olympia Fields in the Chicago area from Aug. 17-23 and will visit other tradition-rich private clubs in 2016 (Oakland Hills in Michigan) and 2017 (Riviera in California).

Then things seem to be changing with resort facilities taking precedence. The U.S. Golf Assn. had previously assigned the 2018 U.S. Am to California’s Pebble Beach and then last week announced that Pinehurst in North Carolina would host in 2019 and Bandon Dunes in Oregon would be the site in 2020.

Pinehurst has already hosted 10 USGA championships, including both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open in 2014, and this will be the resort’s third U.S. Amateur. The famed No. 2 course will be the site of both the stroke and match play portions of the tournament with the No. 8 course the companion layout for stroke play competition.

Things aren’t as set at Bandon, which has hosted six USGA championships since 2006. Bandon has four courses, all of which are already established tournament venues. The two that will be used for the U.S. Amateur will be determined at a later date.

BITS AND PIECES: The PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic will have – according to owner Jim Justice — “unquestionably the best Greenbrier Classic in our tournament’s history.’’ Committed players for the July event in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., already include Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson and Brandt Snedeker and Justice has announced that Keith Urban and the Band Perry will perform at the July 1 pre-tourney concert….Keswick Hall, home of Pete Dye’s latest architectural creation – Full Cry in Charlottesville, Va., has reached an exclusive agreement with Bob Rotella, the noted psychologist and performance coach. Full Cry, which opened to rave reviews last fall, has announced its first stay-and-play packages and Dye has declared the layout “as good as any I’ve done.’’…..Concession Club, the Bradenton, FL., site for the upcoming men’s and women’s NCAA finals, has set the dates for its second Concession Cup – a biennial amateur team match play event for mid-amateur and senior golfers from the U.S. and Great Britain-Ireland. The U.S. won the first Concession Cup 21 ½-14 ½ in 2014. The second is April 20-24, 2016, with Vinny Giles (U.S.) and Garth McGimpsey (GB-I) returning as the team captains…..Forest Dunes, in Roscommon, Mich., has opened its popular Tom Weiskopf-designed course and announced its new golf packages. Those who visit, though, will be sure to check out architect Tom Doak’s reversible design layout that is now under construction.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This the second of a series columns devoted to golf travel. They’ll be posted as news dictates under Travel Destinations at www.lenziehmongolf.com.

Golf courses generally get toughened up before they are used for a major professional tournament. That wasn’t the case at Harbor Shores, the Jack Nicklaus design in Benton Harbor, Mich., however.

Harbor Shores has already hosted the Senior PGA Championship twice and has already been awarded that plum for 2016 and 2018. It’ll play differently for the future events.

Bob McFeeter, managing director for the course, unveiled changes to six greens (Nos. 1. 2 and 6 on the front nine and Nos. 12, 14 and 16 on the back). Two fairways, at the sixth and 14th holes, also underwent some tweaking and beach sand at the No. 7 hole was replaced with regular bunker sand.

“As good as this course is, there is always room for improvement and one of those areas was in the softening of the greens,’’ said McFeeter. The severe slopes on some of the putting surfaces confounded both the Champions Tour players as well as recreational players. At least some of those slopes were reduced.

McFeeter and the Harbor Shores staff discussed the proposed changes with Nicklaus after last year’s Senior PGA Championship, which was won by Scotland’s Colin Montgomie.

“(Nicklaus) understood,’’ said McFeeter. “He sent his representatives and we came up with a process of enhancing the greens.’’

Interestingly, the green that stirred the most controversy – the extremely undulated No. 10 – was not altered. Kerry Haigh, chief championships officer of the PGA of America, lauded the changes.

“All the changes we’re 100 percent in support of,’’ said Haigh. “They’re very exciting, wonderful changes. The green contours make this course what it is. It’s a great challenge to play these greens and the main thing – from our standpoint – is that now we’ll have additional hole locations that we can use.’’

Nicklaus was the focal point of the course’s grand opening on July 1, 2010, and it landed its first major event just three years later.

“This was already a special golf course,’’ said Haigh. “It will grow in stature and mystique. We enjoy bringing our championships here and look forward to bringing many more.’’

A FLOWERY OPENING: The renovated SentryWorld’s course in Stevens Point, Wis., opens for its first full season on Saturday, May 2. After a 20-month renovation conducted by architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., the course allowed only limited play late in the 2014 season.

Jones constructed two new par-3s (Nos. 3 and 12) on previously unused property but the iconic par-3 sixteenth – well known as The Flower Hole — was not only preserved, but also enhanced. The course now measures 7,237 yards from the back tees, and new director of golf Danny Rainbow has declared “SentryWorld is back and better than ever.’’

Opening day also will include a TaylorMade demo day. In a staffing adjustment long-time head professional Brian Dumler is shifting his focus to instruction and player development.

ANOTHER PGA AT KIAWAH: Kiawah, the five-course resort on the outskirts of Charleston, S.C., has been awarded the 2021 PGA Championship.

That was no big surprise, since Kiawah’s Ocean Course has a rich reputation as a tournament venue. It has previously hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup, 2005 Professional Players National Championship, 2007 Senior PGA Championship and 2012 PGA Championship.

BITS AND PIECES: The 84-room Lodge at Old Kinderhook in Camdenton, Mo., is now open….Erin Hills, the Wisconsin course that will host the 2017 U.S. Open, will open for the season on May 11. Matthew Flaherty, who had club pro stints at Chicago area private clubs Stonebridge and Butterfield, is now the head professional at Point O Woods, in Benton Harbor, Mich….French Lick Resort, in Indiana, is bracing for the Senior PGA Championship on May 21-24. It’s been 91 years since the resort hosted a men’s major. Walter Hagen won the 1924 PGA Championship on French Lick’s Donald Ross Course. The Senior PGA will be played on the six-year old Pete Dye Course. Both courses have hosted women’s majors, the Ross for the LPGA Championships of 1959 and 1960 and the Dye for the LPGA Legends Championships of 2013 and 2014. It’ll host that event for the third straight year in August.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This marks the debut of a golf notebook designed to spotlight news developments at clubs, resorts and courses beyond the Chicago area. We’ll be producing more of these columns as news developments dictate.They’ll be published first under Travel Destinations of this website. – Len Ziehm

GREENSBORO, Ga. – A Ritz-Carlton situated in a small town in central Georgia? At first that seemed hard to imagine.

Then again, Greensboro – located off Interstate 20 midway between Atlanta (it’s 75 miles from the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport) and Augusta — isn’t your usual small town by any means. That explains why Ritz-Carlton has a special property at Reynolds Plantation, the golf destination that is the heart of this friendly, upscale town that — in February, 2016 — was named by Golf Magazine as one of its “25 Best Golf Communities in North America.”

Ritz-Carlton has 94 locations world-wide but the 251-room facility here is the only one that is designated as a lodge.

Reynolds Plantation also has 117 holes of great golf, an irresistible attraction for those visiting the Masters tournament in Augusta every April. Located barely over an hour from that tournament site, the Ritz-Carlton Lodge traditionally sells out for Masters week a month after the previous year’s tournament at Augusta National. This year is no exception. The day after the Masters concludes TaylorMade adidas will launch a new high-tech golf shoe at Reynolds Plantation, which will keep the resort in the golf spotlight even after the tournament is over.

“The Masters is our Super Bowl,’’ said Ralph Vick, the hotel’s general manager.

There’s no doubt about that. Vick said room rates start at $388 on most nights during the course of a year. During Masters week in April they start at $1,000. That’s not just because of the quality of the hotel. The golf options are extraordinary, and that’s been underscored since MetLife took over ownership of Reynolds Plantation two years ago from the family that created it.

Visitors during this year’s Masters will see some major upgrades at The National course, a Plantation favorite. A new clubhouse, pro shop and cart storage building are in various stages of construction. Obviously the goal is to have as much done as possible in time for the first major golf championship of 2015. The Ritz itself will also have a new expanded swimming pool area.

Golf-wise Reynolds Plantation has an interesting location. It’s within a reasonably short drive of both the year’s first championship (the Masters) and The Tour Championship, the climax to the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs in October. The Tour Championship is played at East Lake in Atlanta, but vice president of golf operations Mark Lammi says there’s no question about which big tournament has more impact at Reynolds Plantation. It’s the Masters by a long shot.

Golfers will flock to the 10,000–acre community in April, and it won’t be just to watch the competition at Augusta National. They’ll also be playing the courses built around the beautiful Lake Oconee. It’s the second-largest lake in Georgia, spreading over 19,000 acres and having 374 miles of shoreline. All of the Reynolds courses touch Lake Oconee at some point.

The 117 holes are spread over six courses. One, The Creek Club, is private. The members-only layout was designed by Jim Engh and opened in 2007. Engh, Golf Digest’s first Architect of the Year, created a somewhat short course (6,490 yards from the back tees) that has three par-threes, three par-fours and three par-fives on each nine. And, each hole has seven tee placements.

Only one of the other five courses offers openings for public, non-resort, play. That would be The Landing, the first course built in the area in 1986. It’s one of two Bob Cupp designs at Reynolds Plantation and was originally known as Port Armor Golf Club. Immediately well-received upon its opening, the course was acquired by Reynolds Plantation in 2005. Only resort guests can play on the other courses.

The other Cupp course is The Plantation, which he designed with consulting help from PGA Tour players Hubert Green and Fuzzy Zoeller. It opened in 1988, when Golf Digest named it Best New Resort Course.

Our visit centered on the other three courses, all created by the highest of high-profile designers. The one we liked the best of The Oconee, a Rees Jones creation. Jones was in the early stages of building his reputation as “the Open doctor’’ when he did his work on The Oconee. He would eventually redesign seven U.S.Open courses and three layouts that have hosted Ryder Cup matches. Chicago’s Medinah No. 3, which has hosted both big events, was one of them.

The waterfalls that define several fairways are the stunning special feature of The Oconee, which opened in 2002 and is the closest layout (just a short walk) to the Ritz-Carlton Lodge. Water comes into play on nine holes, including the last three, and the par-threes are outstanding.

Toughest of the Reynolds courses is the Jack Nicklaus-designed Great Waters, which first greeted golfers in 1992. The nines are completely different, with the back having eight holes right on Lake Oconee. Great Waters was the site of the Andersen Consulting World Championship in its early years and was the most recent Reynolds course used for a somewhat high profile event. The first 72-hole Big Break Invitational was played there last year and was broadcast on The Golf Channel.

Last of the layouts, The National, has the other 27 holes. Architect Tom Fazio had the Ridge and Bluff nines ready for play in 1997 and the Cove made its debut in 2000. These nines differ from Reynolds’ other courses because of their more pronounced elevation changes. All the courses have generous fairways and offer fun challenges for resort visitors. The putting surfaces would obviously vary in difficulty according to the time of the year, but the least undulating were the greens on The Oconee.

The Reynolds Plantation golf experience doesn’t end with the courses. Director of instruction Charlie King, one Golf Digest’s 50 Best Teachers, oversees the Reynolds Golf Academy and cutting edge technology is available at The TaylorMade Kingdom. It offers swing analysis, club-fitting and on-site club building so well respected that PGA Tour players have made it a frequent stop. In fact, the only other such facility is at TaylorMade’s headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif.

Kingdom’s high-tech tools include Motion Analysis Technology, the Quintic launch monitor system to improve putting techniques and Trackman and Flightscope X2 launch monitor technology. Four experts in the use of this equipment are available to make good things happen to visitors’ golf games.

Reynolds Plantation isn’t all about golf. The Ritz-Carlton Lodge offers a variety of dining options at the Linger Longer Steakhouse, Georgia’s Bistro and Gaby’s, a lakeside café, and the clubhouse at each of the courses also offer dining options. In addition, there’s a 26,000 square foot spa, boat cruises, the Lake Club Wellness Center and Tennis Center, swimming pools and all sorts of activities on Lake Oconee, which has four full-service marinas.

Again, however, golf is the biggest thing. Reynolds Plantation has been rated with Pebble Beach, Pinehurst and Wisconsin’s American Club as the best golf resorts in the country by Zagat Survey.

I’m not big on those rating games, but I’ve been to the other three major U.S. resort destinations. Reynolds Plantation differs from the others in that it hasn’t hosted the big tournaments but – as a destination for avid players – it’s every bit the equal of any resort in the country.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – An embarrassment of riches. That’s what I’ve always felt about this unique golf mecca. There is a potential problem for those many who make return trips, however.

You find a favorite course (or two or three) and there’s many times a tendency to just play them on each visit. To do that is doing Myrtle Beach a disservice. You don’t get the full experience of what this area has to offer. That’s why I insisted on changing things up for my fourth Myrtle Beach visit in probably a 15-year span.

No more returning to long-time favorites like Caledonia Golf & Fish Club or True Blue or Pawley’s Plantation or Founder’s Club – the last course to open in the area in 2008. Nope. This time I wanted to play good, interesting courses, of course – but none that I had played before. With the help of Chris King of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday I was able to do just that.

King lined up tee times on four courses, and the very first one underscored just how much I had been missing. The Dunes Golf & Beach Club should have been the very first course I had played in the area, because it’s the one that gets the bulk of the attention as a tournament site. It’s also arguably the most historically significant.

Pine Lakes, which opened in 1927, was the first golf course in Myrtle Beach. Scottish-born Robert White, the first president of the PGA of America, was its designer. The second course didn’t come along until 21 years later.

That would be The Dunes Club, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and later renovated by his son, Rees. It trigged the barrage of golf interest in the area, which carries into today. Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday has about 70 member courses, but there are quite a few more in the area. One course official said the number is more like 120. The number doesn’t really matter. Suffice it to say, Myrtle Beach has more than enough golf courses.

Back to The Dunes Club, the first on our schedule. For many years it was host to the last round of the Golf Writers Assn. of America championship. That provided immediate recognition to golf in Myrtle Beach, and The Dunes Club eventually hosted six Senior PGA Tour Championships, a U.S. Women’s Open and the finals of PGA Tour Qualifying School. Last year the PGA Professional Players National Championship was played there. The Dunes Club is a beautiful place, with a course that has survived the passing of time and the technological changes that have impacted the game.

After a round at The Dunes Club the trip continued at Tidewater, in North Myrtle Beach. It doesn’t have nearly as famous a designer. The architect of record is owner Ken Tomlinson, a tax attorney, but the layout and its most interesting setting couldn’t be more enjoyable. There’s a whole different kind of charm here, as we coped with thick fog that hampered play on holes along the natural wetlands and tried – many times unsuccessfully – to stay out of the numerous white sand bunkers which seemed to be a factor on every hole.

Weather was a big problem the rest of the trip, as temperatures dropped 40 degrees over night and descended into the 20s at times. Still, it wasn’t difficult to see the enjoyment possibilities at the Dye Course at Barefoot Resort or Grande Dunes, the partner course for The Dunes Club during the 2014 Professional Players National Championship.

Arriving at Grande Dunes for an early morning round was a shocker. Frigid temperatures suggested play would be minimal, but we were told that 150 players would be on the course that day. (That was considered a quiet day in March, as the usual daily average was about 240).

Grande Dunes was designed by Roger Rulewich, whose resume includes a renovation of Medinah’s No. 3 course for the 1999 PGA Championship. Rulewich worked beside Robert Trent Jones Sr. for many years.

The Dye Course had the visual deceptions and railroad ties so prevalent on courses designed by Pete Dye. It wasn’t as busy as Grande Dunes, as only six hardy souls from the Boston area were willing to take on the challenge when the temperatures had bottomed out.

Sam Puglia, the owner of the Dye Course, gave all four of his Barefoot Resort courses the grandest of grand openings back in April of 2000. Barefoot also has courses designed by and named after Davis Love III, Tom Fazio and Greg Norman. Puglia wanted all four to open on the same day – the only time a golf course owner has opted to open four by famous designers all at once. The courses didn’t even have clubhouses then; they operated out of trailers, but all four courses are still going strong today.

It only seemed right to follow a round of golf with a dinner at Greg Norman’s Australian Grille. Opened in 1999, it’s the only restaurant bearing the name of the famous golfer who has dabbled successfully in many other financial ventures outside of golf.

While trying out a variety golf courses is advisable in Myrtle Beach, it’s also important to analyze the variety of lodging and dining options. Lodging-wise you can get an oceanfront condo, a lodge on the outskirts and the area or a chain hotel most anywhere. There’s something to fit all budgets.

Getting the lodging or dining place that best suit you isn’t always easy, because Myrtle has so much in the way of variety. The are, for instance, about 1,500 restaurants in the area. All the chain restaurants are represented, and Norman’s Australian Grille isn’t the only upscale one by a longshot.

Sea Captain’s House is a long-time favorite, having been converted from an oceanfront guesthouse to a restaurant that has fed visitors since 1962. New York Prime and Aspen Grille are also among those representing the best in Myrtle Beach dining.

They’ll be bustling in the coming weeks, as Myrtle Beach has a full schedule of special events. The inaugural March Championship was on tap the week after we departed. It’s a handicap-based 54-hole event that drew 200 players from 28 states, Italy and Canada. Though a new event, its entry spots quickly sold out. The event will be played at the Arrowhead, Meadowlands, Sandpiper Bay, Shaftesbury Glen, Thistle and Tiger’s Eye layouts..

Next on tap is the Hootie and the Blowfish Celebrity Pro-Am at the Dye Course. It’s been held on the Monday after the Masters tournament for 20 years and always draws Masters participants as well as celebrities from the entertainment world.

The biggest event of them all, however, won’t begin until Aug. 31 when Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday hosts the 32nd annual World Amateur Championship. The handicap-based 72-hole event will have more than 30,000 players from over 30 countries and more than 60 area courses will be utilized.

Our next Myrtle Beach visit — one that I expect will come soon – won’t include stops at the courses previously visited. There are so many more to enjoy. If you are enticed by the various magazine course rankings, Myrtle Beach has plenty those honored layouts. I’m not so much about those. We just want pleasant overall golfing eperiences, and Myrtle Beach has loads of potentially good ones.

Black Bear? Carolina National? Crow Creek? Eagle Nest? Tournament Players Club of Myrtle Beach? Waterway Hills? Who knows where you might play next in Myrtle Beach?

Chances are, however, you can’t go wrong with whatever courses you choose.

PALM COAST, FL. – Our three-month stay in this ocean-side community between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach was much different than our previous three winters, spent in Sarasota, Naples and Port St. Lucie.

In this case, “different’’ means generally better golf-wise with one notable exception. We played lots of golf in cold (50 degrees), windy weather, and that’s something we rarely faced in the other, more southerly stops.

The less-than-ideal weather –much like fall golf in Illinois — was never bad enough to keep us from playing and that one drawback was overridden by two other factors. Courses in this area offered much more in the way of variety and affordability than we experienced the previous three years playing our recreational rounds in the heart of the Sunshine State’s tourist season.

This area is called Florida’s Historic Coast because St. Augustine, settled by Spanish explorers in 1565, is America’s oldest city. There’s over 60 historic sites there and is a great location for more than just golf. Still, recreational golf addicts need their golf fixes, and we got it here.

We played 18 rounds between Nov. 28 and Feb. 28, and they didn’t include visits to the most famous course in the area (TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra) or the only layout jointly designed by legends Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus (King &Bear in St. Augustine). We had played those courses on previous visits and our ultimate goal was to experience the widest variety of golf the area had to offer.

Our self-imposed “previous visit’’ rule also kept us from returning to one of the best-regarded public layouts, St. John’s in St. Augustine.

Still, we covered a good cross section of courses in the immediate area and stretched our experiences with visits south, to courses the Orlando’s western suburbs, and north, to layouts near Amelia Island.

As has been the case in previous years, we’re rating the courses strictly from our enjoyment playing them. We’re downplaying the cost factor, since greens fees vary so much –day to day and even hour to hour. Comparing the most expensive courses (some had greens fees slightly over $100) to the lowest ($25) is like comparing apples and oranges. Still, it should be noted that most of the public (non-resort) courses were priced in the $30-$40 range, cart included. That was much more affordable than any of our previous Florida destinations, and many offered the option of walking. That was also a rarity elsewhere.

Each round in the Historic Coast was memorable and enjoyable – and generally for different reasons. In fairness, weather conditions and general atmosphere on the particular day of play probably influenced our rankings. That said, here’s how we rank the courses we played on Florida’s Historic Coast.

1, SLAMMER & SQUIRE, St. Augustine. This is one of two courses at World Golf Village, a must-stop for golfers regardless of the playing options available there. The nearby CaddieShack restaurant also enhances the overall experience. Slammer & Squire is a tribute to Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen. It was probably the best-conditioned course we played. While many might prefer the longer, more challenging King & Bear layout, we lean towards Slammer & Squire because of its more sporty nature and proximity to the other World Golf Village attractions.

2, OCEAN HAMMOCK, Palm Coast. One of two courses offered at the Hammock Beach Resort, which – with Innisbrook in Tampa and Reunion in Orlando – is part of the highly respected Salamander Hotels and Resorts Collection. A Jack Nicklaus Signature design, Ocean Hammock lives up to its name with six views of the Atlantic Ocean, and you can’t beat holes on the water for memorability. Nicklaus also labeled the last four holes as “The Bear Claw’’ – a challenging finish to anybody’s round, but especially impactful when you play the course on an extremely windy day. A real tough call between Slammer & Squire and Ocean Hammock. Both have their unique charms.

3, THE CONSERVATORY, Palm Coast. This Tom Watson design is the other 18-holer offered by the Hammock Beach Resort, but the courses are about five miles apart. Both received accolades from Golf Digest and were used for PGA or Champions Tour events in their earlier years. The Conservatory, which has the most elaborate clubhouse of all those we visited, is the centerpiece for a proposed golf community that hasn’t materialized as yet. At 7,726 yards from the back tees, it’s one of the longest courses in Florida and has one of the highest slope ratings (78.2). The Big Ten Conference played its Match Play Championship at the Hammock Beach courses in February.

4, LPGA INTERNATIONAL, HILLS COURSE, Daytona Beach. One of the two 18-holers near the Ladies PGA headquarters, I was told the Hills (designed by Arthur Hills) was much more challenging than the Jones Course, a Rees Jones design. Both are used for the LPGA’s Qualifying School competition each fall. The Hills has generous fairways but lots of forced carries off the tees and quick greens. It’s a fun course with a fine finishing hole – a dogleg left par-4 that features an approach to the green that can make or break your round. The LPGA connection is significant (it’s prominently promoted off I-95) and the facility is well equipped as an instructional center. It even has practice holes.

5, AMELIA RIVER, Fernandina Beach. The first hole, as well as the fifth and 13th holes, run beside the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport. That didn’t strike me as a plus, but there are some beautiful holes as well. The designer was Tom Jackson, who has done most of his work in his native South Carolina (he has seven designs in Myrtle Beach). Formerly known as Royal Amelia, the Amelia River layout’s signature hole is No. 17 — a par-3 to an island green — and the finisher is a strategic three-shot par-5 that ends at the edge of the Amelia River.

6, HALIFAX PLANTATION, Ormond Beach. The first course we played during our stay here, it was excellent from all ends –- affordability, conditioning, clubhouse setting and amenities. Bill Amick opened the oldest golf architectural office in Florida in 1959, and designed this course, which is located near that office in Daytona Beach. The course is an interesting layout that runs through a residential community. This one definitely merits a return trip.

7, DUBSDREAD, Orlando. We had to make this one, as its name spawned the name of the much more famous No. 4 course at Cog Hill – the long time Chicago home of the Western Open. This DubsDread is much older – a Tom Bendelow design in 1924 – and is much shorter (6,153 yards from the back tees). Very playable for a wide variety of players, it was obviously a favorite of the locals. It was one of the rare courses that was packed when we played there.

8, DEBARY GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB, DeBary. We strayed from the area to visit this Lloyd Clifton design from 1990 because the club had just been taken over by ClubCore, the Texas-based firm that moved into Chicago during the winter at both Ravinia Green, in Riverwoods, and Rolling Green, in Arlington Heights. ClubCore was in the process of doing good things at DeBary, which had hosted qualifying events for the PGA Tour, U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open a decade or more ago.

9, RIVIERA, Ormond Beach. Family-owned and operated since 1953, Riviera proclaims itself as “the friendly club’’ on its entrance signage and it was that, both in greens fee ($32), the play on a crowded day and in the clubhouse lounge afterwards. The most fun part of the course, which measured just 6,250 yards from the tips, were the humps in the greens. Though obviously not in the same category as its California namesake, it’s also obvious that — in these difficult economic times — the golf world needs more operations like this Riviera.

10, PALATKA GOLF CLUB, Palatka. This is a Donald Ross design from 1925, a fact clearly promoted on the outside of the clubhouse. Made challenging by its small, turtle-back greens, it’s been the home of the Florida Azalea Amateur since 1958. There were lots of doglegs and waste bunkers with a few blind shots mixed in and moss hanging from some of the trees. A long-time Donald Ross fan, I felt this course was one of the best resemblances of a Ross original creation.

11, NEW SMYRNA, New Smyrna Beach. This municipally-owned layout is one of five courses played on this trip that were part of the Florida Historical Golf Trail, a state-wide conglomeration of 50 courses that have been continuously accessible to public play for at least 50 years. This one, opened in 1948, was one of Ross’ last designs. The famed architect died a few months after New Smyrna’s opening. The course is now notable for its white sand bunkers and the Italian restaurant in its clubhouse.

12, DAYTONA BEACH, SOUTH COURSE, Daytona Beach. Part of a 36-hole municipal complex that gets heavy play in one of Florida’s major cities, the South layout is another Ross design. While very playable, it had one most notable feature—a train track that ran right through the course. We were there when a train came roaring through with its horns blowing. I’m told the North Course is the more challenging of the complex’s courses.

13, RIVER BEND, Ormond Beach. This one had tightly-mowed fairways with a helicopter airport adjoining the course and a nature center across the street. Also memorable was the rickety bridge over a highway that was needed to get you from the No. 3 green to the No. 4 tee and the palm tree that was in the middle of the No. 6 fairway.

14, INDIGO LAKES, Daytona Beach. This layout had just come under new management and its pub held its grand opening the day before we visited. The fairways were wide, the greens unusually fast for the area. There was also a nine-foot alligator resting beside a pond off the 17th fairway. Unlike our other Florida stops, we didn’t see many alligators on these courses – but we will remember this big one.

15, PALM HARBOR, Palm Coast. Managed by Chicago-based KemperSports, this course opened in 1973 in what was to be a centerpiece for a planned community. Now it’s a busy city-owned municipal course with a big practice range and a particularly friendly staff. It’s also in the process of change, with home construction underway beside some of the holes. Most unusual about this layout is that you go past the clubhouse to get from the No. 4 green to No. 5 tee. You also make the same journey in the more traditional spot in the rotation — between nines.

16, PINE LAKES, Palm Coast. This is an Arnold Palmer design from 1980, a good layout with interesting contours on the greens. But, it had undergone a recent management change and the conditioning wasn’t good. It did offer a nice view of the 18th green from a huge glass bay window from the clubhouse.

17, ROYAL ST. AUGUSTINE, St. Augustine. We liked the rich sound of the name, the merchandise in the clubhouse and the low greens fee ($25). But this was a goofy layout, starting with the very first hole, as the course meandered through streets that featured some interesting homes.

18, CYPRESS KNOLL, Palm Coast. A Gary Player design, this course was once under the same ownership umbrella as Pine Lakes and Matanzas. We were told that Matanzas, a Palm Coast course which had since closed, was the best of that trio when all were in operation. Cypress Knoll was also in the process of a management change and had conditioning issues, which was reflected in its $25 greens fee. The back nine was much better than the front in both design and conditioning.

FINALLY, we couldn’t include this one in our rankings. Oceans Golf Club, in Daytona Beach Shores, has only 13 holes. The longest is 135 yards, the shortest only 40. But this walking-only course, which wanders through high-rise buildings and botanic gardens, was every bit as enjoyable as all the others we played on the trip.