NEWNAN, Ga. – It’s no secret that the Jemseks are the first family of golf in Chicago. In fact, it’s been that way for a long time. A cheery welcome greets golfers when they arrive at Summer Grove.
It all started when Joe Jemsek purchased St. Andrews, in West Chicago in the 1930s. He later bought Cog Hill, in Lemont, and expanded it from 36 to its present 72 holes. The Jemseks are now three generations deep in Chicago golf. For years the family operated Glenwoodie, in Glenwood, and – in addition to Cog Hill and St. Andrews – the Jemseks also operate Pine Meadow, in Mundelein.
But the family’s golf involvement isn’t limited to the Chicago area. Though it’s not widely known, the Jemseks also have a course in Georgia – and it’s one that in some ways has more family involvement than the Chicago layouts.
Frank, Joe’s son, and his wife Pat considered building a course in Florida as a possible retirement retreat in the late 1990s. Negotiations on a location there fell through, but another opportunity – in the Atlanta, Ga., suburb of Newnan – materialized on land near the home of long-time family friend Rocky Roquemore, a Georgia course architect.
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Another Joe Jemsek, the original Joe’s grandfather and Frank’s son, took on this project.
“I used to play on that property,’’ then-budding course architect Joe T. Jemsek said, “and I was in college in Boca (Raton, FL) then. It was a great site.’’
He was playing on the golf team at Lynn University while working towards a business degree and the project, now known as Summer Grove Golf Club, provided a chance to get involved in course design. Joining forces with Jeff Burton, Roquemore’s partner, Jemsek lived on and off the construction site for about 18 months. The affable John Mahle has been checking in golfers at Summer Grove since the course opened in 1999.
Summer Grove opened in November of 1999 with a par-72 course that has five tee placements and measures 6,954 yards from the tips. The signature holes play around a big lake and the most fun holes are four short par-4s. From the tournament tees the course has a 73.4 rating and 132 slope.
“My first design was a pretty fun experience,’’ said Jemsek, who also worked as an intern for Joe Lee, designer of Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course, when he was in college. Summer Grove was immediately well received. Golf Digest magazine named it among its Top Ten Best New Affordable Courses in 2000.
After Jemsek finished his work his sister Katherine moved to Newnan and was Summer Grove’s general manager for 18 months. She’s now the president at Cog Hill and Joe has his own course architecture business, Jemsek Golf Services, which operates out of a Chicago office. Summer Grove’s clubhouse blends in well with an upscale golf community.
Only Summer Grove carries Joe’s name as a designer but he’s worked on courses worldwide — 90 of them in 29 countries. He spent seven years working with the famed Dye family of designers – father Pete and wife Alice in Indiana, Perry in Denver and P.C. in Ohio – before opting to go off on his own.
He’s specialized in renovations, generally doing about two a year. Among the best known are Windermere in Florida and Glen Lake in Alabama. He also has done some work in course management.
Presently Jemsek is doing a renovation of Caujaral Club in Colombia and recently broke ground on a new practice range at a 36-hole facility in suburban New Orleans.
The elevated tee at No. 18 sets up a scenic finishing hole.
The work at Summer Grove, though, isn’t done. The Jemseks sold the upscale public layout to the Canongate group, which operates some nearby private courses, in August, 2005 and then reacquired the layout in February, 2013. Joe and Katherine were on the site for three months in the spring of 2013 to “re-launch’’ the golf course. It’s now a semi-public facility with about 100 members.
Summer Grove has a much different look than it did when the Jemseks first took over the 250-acre property and built a course that wanders through native dogwoods and pine trees, preserved wetlands and wildlife habitats. There’s now 2,350 homes in the general area of Summer Grove.
FRENCH LICK, Ind. – Golf’s newest Hall of Fame has been slow in developing since Dave Harner, director of golf at French Lick Resort, announced plans for the LPGA Legends Hall of Fame last September.
The facility, to be located off the lobby of the West Baden Springs Hotel in this little southern Indiana town, is still vacant though Harner has no doubts that the Hall will be a major attraction when the Legends Championship returns to French Lick’s Pete Dye Course from Aug. 15-17.
The indoor facility at Valley Links is French Lick’s teaching facility when the weather prevents outdoor play.
“We’d like to do a timeline on women’s golf at French Lick,’’ said Harner, who has been gathering memorabilia for the Hall. “I’ve bought a lot of pictures from the 1959 and 1960 LPGA Championships and we’ve invited all the ladies to send memorabilia. Sandra Hayne sent a pair of golf shoes, Kathy Whitworth sent a putter and Donna Caponi a trophy.’’
French Lick’s history, though, is extraordinary on the women’s side and needs more in its Hall of Fame exhibit. The resort is well-stocked with art of the early 1900s and one, still unidentified, woman is prominent from the days when French Lick was one of the country’s most prominent vacation hotspots.
“We’ve got eight-10 pictures from around 1907 to 1915, a time when you didn’t see many women in golf, and this same lady is in every one of them,’’ said Harner, who would like to find out who this mystery woman is.
In subsequent years French Lick was an LPGA tournament site. It hosted a tour event in 1958 and the LPGA Championships of 1959 and 1960 before a tumbling economy eventually put the resort on the brink of closing. Louise Suggs won the tour stop in ‘58 and Betsy Rawls and Mickey Wright won the LPGA Championships. They were the first inductees into the Legends Hall last year along with Jan Stephenson and Whitworth, the ceremonies coming in conjunction with the Legends Championship won by Lorie Kane.
The first Hall selections were obvious, though there were no big tournaments at French Lick for over four decades. Women still made use of the French Lick fairways, though.
Springs Valley, the town’s high school, was known for its basketball teams thanks to the talents of Larry Bird. It didn’t have a girls golf team, but three of the town’s residents – Libby and Kelly Akers and Angie Mills – earned Division I college scholarships in the 1980s. Libby is now Libby Pancake, and the wife of Tony Pancake – the head pro at Crooked Stick, Indiana’s prominent tournament venue near Indianapolis.
Libby played at Arizona State, Kelly at Southern Methodist and Mills at Indiana. They’ll also be part of the Legends Hall’s timeline, but there’s some suspense about who will be in the next class of inductees. Who is this woman? She’s pictured frequently on French Lick courses from 1907-15, and director of golf Dave Harner would like to know who she is.
“It’ll be decided by the Legends board and us, and there’s been no discussion yet,’’ said Harner. “There are so many deserving women. Jane Blalock started the Legends Tour; she would be a natural. Nancy Lopez does more for women’s golf today even though she’s not playing on the LPGA Tour. Then there’s Rosie Jones, Joanne Carner, Carol Mann, Sandra Palmer.’’
The list of candidates goes on. In the meantime, the Legends’ second visit to French Lick will immediately follow the Alice Dye Invitational. The Dye course will also be used for the Big Ten women’s tournament for the first time on April 25-27. The last two years it was played on the Donald Ross Course.
French Lick originally had two 18-holers, the Donald Ross (or Hills) course and the Valley Links, as well as the one of the nation’s first par-3 courses. The Valley was closed in 2005 to make way for a casino and was rebuilt as a nine-holer honoring legendary designer Tom Bendelow and the teaching academy.
The featured layout is now the Dye Course, which has hosted the Professional Players National Championship and will welcome the Big Ten men’s tournament again this spring (May 2-4). It’ll also get French Lick’s first U.S. Golf Assn. national event when the USGA Men’s Team Championship comes from Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
“We’re excited to get that one and hope the USGA sees fit to use us again,’’ said Harner.
Chances are it will, as French Lick will get even more attention in 2015 when the Senior PGA Championship is played there.
The Ross Course will host the Indiana Southern Open, one of the four annual majors for the Indiana PGA, and the Monday qualifying round for the Web.com Tour’s United Leasing Championship, which will be played at Victoria National. French Lick will also host an Evans Scholars fundraiser for the Western Golf Assn.
Instruction manager Mike Kerby has been teaching at French Lick since 1987.
In the meantime golf instruction manager Mike Kerby and head professional Adam Marshall got the Academy program going for another season after the winter’s 30 inches of snowfall had melted. They toiled at the Valley Links indoor facility during the cold weather with Kerby additionally operating a club-fitting facility. He’s been teaching at French Lick since 1987.
Moving outdoors, they offer a unique program on a practice facility honored two years running by Golf Range Magazine.
“We feel our Academy is unique because most academies are structured,’’ said Kerby. “You arrive at 8 a.m., work on the range, have lunch and then go play. Here we try to build the Academy to suit (our students’ time frame because there’s so many other things to do. We’re regimented to the point where we’ll cover certain things, but we’re not scheduled so tightly where –if we get behind a few minutes – it’ll throw everything off.’’
Kerby has a maximum student to teacher ratio of 4 to 1 for three-day, three-night stays that feature five hours of instruction per day, unlimited golf on the Valley Links and Donald Ross courses and unlimited range and practice facility usage. Students can take a break from the instruction sessions whenever they want and can play their rounds before or after their instruction sessions.
There’s a drawback to designating one prime superstar in a sport. That policy can work to the detriment of others, and that’s what happened this week, when Tiger Woods announced he wouldn’t play in this year’s Masters. In this case the victim was the LPGA, which had its own big news to unveil at its first major championship of the season.
Woods’ announcement, while definitely newsworthy, was by no means a surprise. He’s been damaged goods most of this season and his decision to undergo back surgery instead of trying to tough it out at Augusta National simply showed common sense.
This trophy will be on the line at the first International Crown.
The golf media – particularly The Golf Channel – tends to overload on all things Tiger and that wasn’t a good thing this time. Over in Rancho Mirage, Calif., the LPGA made some significant announcements just as Woods revealed his Masters pullout. The result was that the women’s announcements sadly got lost in the shuffle because of this latest example of Tiger-mania.
For one thing, the LPGA also lost one of its top stars for awhile. Suzann Peterssen, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, withdrew from the Kraft Nabisco Championship that begins on Thursday. Like Woods, she has had lingering back problems. Peterssen was also a late withdrawal at last week’s Kia Classic.
Of a more long-term nature, the LPGA also unveiled major particulars on its new International Crown – by far the most significant new event in golf this year. The biennial global team event will make its debut July 24-27 at Cave’s Valley in Owings Mills, Md., and be held for the second time at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, IL., in 2016.
The first International Crown took shape when the stunning 20-pound, 23-inch trophy was unveiled, three Ambassador Sponsors were revealed and ticket sales began on the event’s website – www.LPGAInternationalCrown.com.
Named as Ambassador Sponsors were Hana Financial Group., Pandora Jewelry and Rolex. The trophy was designed and hand-crafted by Tiffany & Co. and required 165 hours of labor during its creation. Grounds tickets were priced at $99 for the week and $25 per day with youngsters under 17 admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. All that came out in California to start off Kraft Nabisco week.
The latest Crown particulars came after the eight qualifying nations were revealed several months ago and the four players on each team were finalized via the world rankings after the Kia Classic concluded. Pettersen’s absence could well impact this week’s Kraft Nabisco tourney but it will have no bearing on the first International Crown. Even with Pettersen’s lofty ranking Norway didn’t make it into the eight qualifying nations so she has no team to play for in the competition.
Going strictly off the world rankings, the first International Crown figures to be a duel competition between the U.S. and South Korea with the U.S. Definitely going in with more momentum. When the qualifying format was announced in January, 2013, South Korea’s top four players were 44 points better than the U.S. foursome. The final rankings, though, found the U.S. with the 32 points to South Korea’s 33. That means the U.S. will be the top-seeded team at Cave’s Valley.
The U.S. foursome is Stacy Lewis (No. 3 in the world), Paula Creamer (8), Lexi Thompson (9) and Christie Kerr (12). South Korea has world No. 1 Inbee Park, So Yeon Ryu (6), Na Yeon Choi (11) and I.K. Kim (15). Japan, the No. 3 seed, is way back with 131 world ranking points. Its top player is Mika Miyazato, at No. 27.
In pool play the U.S. will face Thailand, Spain and Australia while South Korea will battle Japan, Sweden and Chinese Taipei. That will start the unique competition, which will conclude with singles matches on Sunday, so seeding could be important. The South Koreans, though, don’t feel bad about losing the No. 1 spot in the final weeks leading in.
“We finished as the No. 2 seed,’’ said South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi. “We feel a little less pressure than before. The USA has a lot of pressure now, but it’s all fun for each country.’’
Lewis said improved play by the U.S. after the format was announced is encouraging.
“I’ve been beating my head against the wall for the last year and half and nobody would write about it,’’ said Lewis. “I’ve been saying that American golf is in a really good place….It’s nice to get that No. 1 seed to prove to people that we’re here, and we’re competing.’’
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – With so many golf facilities struggling these days, Roger Warren’s report on the popular Kiawah Resort is eye-catching to say the least.
“We had the best year in the history of the resort last year,’’ said Warren who left the Chicago area for Kiawah in 2003 and has been the resort’s president since 2005. “There was a halo effect from (hosting the 2012) PGA Championship, but we experienced four years of double digit growth from 2009 on.’’ Roger Warren has plenty of good memories from his recent Ryder Cup experiences.
Why is that?
“I know it flies in the face of what’s happening in the rest of the game, but there’s a segment in this country that’s doing just fine – and that’s my customer,’’ said Warren. “They continue to come here. This is a beautiful island, and there’s a lot to do here.’’
This five-course facility near Charleston, S.C., doesn’t need a commercial after already hosting an historic Ryder Cup (in 1991) and a major – the PGA, won by Rory McIlroy. Its Pete Dye-designed Ocean Course has witnessed it all, and it’s due to witness another big one. The PGA of America has announced that the PGA Championship will return to Kiawah for its 103rd playing in 2021.
“From a golf perspective, at the Ocean Course there’s not much higher you can go,’’ said Warren. “Now there’s a need to repeat. We’re looking at another opportunity for a PGA Championship. The Ryder Cup has never gone back to the same location in the U.S., so – while we’d love to have it back – I don’t think that will happen.’’
The return of the PGA seems reasonable but it’ll be awhile.
“We think we’ll get another PGA, but it’s booked through 2019,’’ said Warren, “and we’d prefer not to do it in 2020. In 2012 (Kiawah’s last PGA) we were in competition with a domestic Ryder Cup at Medinah and the Summer Olympics. When you do a major sports event in that climate it’s difficult to get major corporate support. We’d prefer not to do it in 2020 because there’s a domestic Ryder Cup at Hazeltine (in Minnesota) and the Olympics again.’’
A year later, though, things would be much more enticing.
“In 2021 that’d be the 30th anniversary of our Ryder Cup, and it’d be nice to play on that history, what those ’91 matches meant to it,’’ said Warren.
If not a PGA, then what? The Kiawah clubhouse provides a dramatic backdrop to the finishing hole at the Ocean Course.
“At the Ocean Course you almost don’t do anything else,’’ said Warren, “but we’d do a Presidents Cup. That’s a team event that would be fun.’’
Kiawah’s bottom line, though, isn’t getting another big event on its most prestigious course.
“It’s a major championship golf course, but anybody can play it,’’ said Warren. “It’s hard, but still so much fun from the right set of tees. We’ll continue to make it a great experience for the people who play it.’’
Kiawah is much more than the Ocean Course. The other layouts will get special attention over the next few years. Osprey Point will get a makeover this year, Cougar Point in 2015 and Oak Point the year after that.
“We’ll probably build another hotel in West Beach, too,’’ said Warren. “Our challenge is to keep going, but it’s fun.’’
Things were much different when Warren arrived in 2003. A Western Illinois University graduate who grew up in the downstate Illinois community of Galesburg, Warren started in golf working three summers at Village Links, Glen Ellyn’s 27-hole facility. His main job was as a high school teacher and basketball and golf coach, first at Dundee Crown and then at Illinois Math and Science Academy.
He didn’t enter golf full-time until he was 38, when he took the head professional’s job at Village Links in 1986. He moved on to Seven Bridges in Woodridge , IL., when that facility opened in 1991 and remained there until going to Kiawah.
“I came here because I wanted the opportunity to do five courses, rather than one,’’ he said. “It was a career growth thing for me. You’re in a new region of the country, with new grasses. Then I was here about 18 months and the guy in (the president’s job) left and they asked me do it as an interim.’’ Alligators at the Turtle Point course measured in the eight-foot range.
Not long after that the interim tag was lifted and Warren was promoted to president of the resort. He presided over the opening of its Sanctuary Hotel in August of 2004. At the same time he was climbing the ranks of the PGA of America hierarchy. He served as that organization’s president in 2005-06.
“I had to learn the hotel and villa business and 12-13 restaurants also became my responsibility,’’ he said. “It all came together at the same time. I was one busy person, but it’s all been great.’’
The PGA duties were all voluntary, but they kept him away from Kiawah for 132 nights. That’s not unusual for the men who have held that job since then.
“Some have been out 170-180 days. I couldn’t do that,’’ said Warren. “If I had to do that job now I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t give up the time.’’
But he did then, and Kiawah has thrived.
“When I first got here people didn’t know much about Kiawah,’’ said Warren. “I came here in 1992 for a PGA meeting in Charleston, then I came again for another meeting. I never thought about traveling this way (from Chicago). We’d go to Florida or Arizona, not here. But it’s amazing that we’ve gotten a lot of people from Ohio and Illinois who are here now as guests or (home) owners.’’
Warren arrived at Kiawah after the Ryder Cup effort in 1991, but he has great memories of the event in his capacities with the PGA. He was captain of the U.S. team in the Junior Ryder Cup competition during the last staging at Medinah.
“Of all thing things I was blessed to do with the PGA, the Junior Ryder Cup was one of the finest,’’ he said. “We had a great group of kids, and they’re all playing at major colleges now.’’
Medinah’s Ryder Cup, though, got Warren thinking about changes to improve the epic competition.
“As a past president we’re almost over the line on what the Ryder Cup is now,’’ he said. “They had 50,000 people there, and it was the first time I went to a Ryder Cup and felt I just couldn’t see anything. For that kind of event people would pay more to see more and you wouldn’t have to have 50,000 there, I’m hoping as we move forward we can make an adjustment. It’s the greatest golf event in the world. We ought to make sure people who go there have a great experience.’’
DAYTONA BEACH, FL. – I’ll let you in on a secret. The trophy that will go to the winner of the LPGA’s biggest-ever event will be one of the most impressive in all of sports.
I received a sneak preview of the prize that the players in the new International Crown event will play for in July during my first visit to LPGA headquarters here (photo below). No pictures of the trophy or descriptions of it were allowed then, and the trophy won’t be officially unveiled until April 1 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
The Crown – 32 players from eight countries battling for that one crown in biennial global match play competition – will be contested for the first time July 21-27 at Caves Valley in Owings Mills, Md. Then it’ll come to Jerry Rich’s Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove in 2016. Rich hopes it’ll stay there, and that isn’t just his dream.
“Our goal is that we want to come back to Chicago,’’ said Kelly Hyne, vice president –LPGA properties. “We know it’s what Jerry wants to do. He wanted to start in 2016 and we wanted to start in 2014, but we love the city of Chicago. We want a partnership with Mr. Rich, and the people at Rich Harvest do a great job.’’
While no LPGA tour events have been played in Chicago since 2002, Rich did host the 2009 Solheim Cup — one of the circuit’s most captivating competitions. The International Crown, though, will be bigger once people understand just what it is.
The concept of a global team match play event is unique in golf, and something that special is just what the LPGA needs to elevate its profile.
LPGA International headquarters have been in Daytona Beach since 1989. A big sign off I-95 pinpoints the location of LPGA International Blvd. with its two 18-hole quality golf courses — designs by long-respected architects Rees Jones and Arthur Hills. But the major thoroughfare also leads to the PGA Tour’s TPC Sawgrass and World Golf Village, in St. Augustine — both a few miles north of Daytona – and the PGA of America is based in Palm Beach Gardens, a few miles to the south. They are also all multiple-course establishments.
Big annual PGA tournaments are played at both TPC Sawgrass (The Players Championship) and Palm Beach Gardens (the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort) and the World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village. Those attractions cause the LPGA base to get somewhat lost in the shuffle, but the LPGA likes being located in the middle of the big men’s organizations.
“That’s really the reason we decided to settle here,’’ said Hyne, in her 13th year with the LPGA. “Every time a new commissioner comes in there’s a rumor that the LPGA is moving, but we’ve got a great deal here.’’
The LPGA had been based at Sweetwater in Houston prior to moving to Florida in 1989. Its offices were across from the Daytona Motor Speedway until the mid-1990s, when the headquarters building and the Jones and Hills courses were built on the 4,000-acre property. The LPGA doesn’t own the courses –Jones’ Champions and Hills’ Legends. Both are owned by the city of Daytona Beach.
In their early years those courses were used for LPGA tournaments. The Sprint Centel Classic, later called the Titleholders, and the ATT Championship were played there, the last stop coming in 2000. Now the biggest events held on the home courses are the LPGA qualifying school and the season-ending event on the satellite Symetra Tour.
There was some turmoil within the LPGA in the years after the big tournaments were moved elsewhere, especially during Carolyn Bivens’ four-year term as commissioner. She preceded current boss Mike Whan, who has engineered some progressive moves headlined by the creation of the International Crown.
Carol Kilian (pictured at right with Hyne amidst paintings of legends Babe Zaharias and Dinah Shore at LPGA headquarters) noticed the evolution perhaps better than anyone else. She was the LPGA’s first director of creative services and an LPGA employee from the outset of the move to Daytona. Since her retirement she has remained in Daytona and is the women’s club champion at LPGA International.
“Mike Whan has revived what I call `the old LPGA,’’’ said Kilian. “He’s created a family atmosphere. The feeling in the building is back to the way it used to be, where you’re really proud of the tour.’’
LPGA headquarters opened in 1996 and has become a hub of activity recently. Ninety-nine employees work there. The building houses the LPGA staff, which includes its marketing, communication and administration personnel. The Symetra Tour, an offshoot of the former Futures Tour before the LPGA purchased that circuit in 2007, is also based there as is the LPGA Teaching Division, which is up to 1,500 members. While the LPGA recently opened an office in South Korea with three staffers, the global operations of the circuit all come out of Daytona.
Under Whan’s direction the LPGA schedule grew from 23 tournaments in 2009 to 28 in 2013 to 33 this year and the Symetra Tour went from 15 stops in 2013 to 20 this year. A new management company, ClubCore, replaced Buena Vista Hospitality as operator of the two courses and a point system – the Race to the CME Globe – was introduced this year.
Like the men’s circuit, the LPGA also has its tour for older players but the LPGA Legends, for stars 45 and over, operate out of Boston with Jane Blalock in charge. That circuit’s growing, too, and another reason why the LPGA’s slogan declares “It’s different out here.’’
Nothing will be more different than the International Crown. The PGA has its two-team events, the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and they’re very popular. Neither, though, has the scope of the International Crown, an ideal event given the LPGA’s more global schedule.
The eight countries qualifying to play in the inaugural Crown at Caves Valley have already been determined on a point system. They are South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Spain, Thailand, Sweden, Chinese Taipei and Australia. The four players who will compete for each of those teams haven’t been determined. The individual point race concludes with the April 1 announcement when the trophy is also unveiled.
This first International Crown doesn’t have a title sponsor. Hyne expects one to be in place for the second staging at Rich Harvest. If all goes according to plan the competition will remain in Sugar Grove, though an occasional staging in Asia hasn’t been ruled out for far down the road.
“We want to be U.S.-based,’’ said Hyne. “We’re marketing it in the U.S.’’
The lenziehmongolf.com website is proud to announce a sixth partnership agreement – and this one is much different than the other five.
Dave “Links’’ Lockhart (left), who has worked for over 20 years in the golf media business and created three award-winning golf TV shows, is bringing his LinksVideo.net to a golf promotional effort that includes Rory Spears’ Golfers on Golf, Tim Cronin’s Illinois Golfer, Cheryl Justak’s Golf Now! Chicago, Brian Weis’ GolfTrips and Bruce Stasch’s Hackers Central.
Spears and Cronin provide regular reports on developments in the sport. Golf Now! Chicago and Golf Trips focus on travel destinations and Hackers Central functions as a course rating service with features mixed in.
While Spears also hosts a golf radio program, Lockhart is the only partner operating on the broadcast side in television. He currently produces Chicago District Golfer TV for the Chicago District Golf Assn. on Comcast SportsNet. Also a well-versed writer, Lockhart has done video work around the world and also has served as on-camera talent.
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL. – Florida’s Treasure Coast embraces three counties – Martin, Palm Beach and St. Lucie. Add the surrounding areas and the golf options in this east coast area are numerous, diverse and competitively priced.
That’s why so many tour players make this their offseason home. Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Ricky Fowler and Nick Price are among 16 present or past tour players who are members at Medalist in Hobe Sound. Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Ernie Els and Camilo Villegas play at The Bears Club in Jupiter and Greg Norman, Russ Cochran and Scott Langley are at The Dye Preserve – another Jupiter club. Old Palm, in Palm Beach Gardens, includes Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Darren Clarke and Raymond Floyd. Even President Barack Obama has visited the area’s links; he made a weekend vacation trip to The Floridian in Palm City.
The tour players go to private clubs, but the public course options in this area are also quite good. And, you don’t have to go to resorts like PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens or PGA Village in Port St. Lucie to find good golf on the Treasure Coast. In fact, you can find courses that are arguably as good as those for half the price at a number of public courses. You could say golf on the Treasure Coast was for the birds — but that’s a good thing.
During a 10-week stay we played 18 courses, almost all located between Vero Beach on the north to Jupiter on the south. Fourteen in the general Treasure Coast area were public, the lone exception being the Santa Lucia River Club – a Jack Nicklaus Signature Design in Port St. Lucie where pro Doug Main (below) could enjoy a view of the St. Lucie River from the club’s 18th green.
Lost Lake, in Hobe Sound; Hammock Creek, in Palm City, and two Stuart layouts — Champions Club at Summerfield and The Florida Club – all measured up well with the layouts at the two PGA facilities, most of which we had visited a year ago. Hammock Creek had the highest greens fee – an in-season rate of $69, which was still far below and tab at either of the PGA resorts.
Most of the other Treasure Coast publics were priced in the $40-50 range. In short, mixing course quality with cost, this area was far superior to Sarasota-Bradenton, our winter destination in 2012, and Naples, the base for 2013.
This stay was topped off by the round at upscale Santa Lucia River Club, designed by Nicklaus in 1982 and redone in 2007. It wasn’t the only Nicklaus course in the area. Hammock Creek is also a Nicklaus project, the co-designers being Jack and Jack II back in 1993.
Many Nicklaus courses have been criticized for being too penal. These weren’t. The Golden Bear has lived in Lost Tree Village in nearby North Palm Beach since 1965. The River Club and Hammock both had generous fairways and were highly playable. The Nicklaus influence was most evident on the greens. Their surfaces were huge with plenty of undulations, providing challenges we didn’t find anywhere else.
Hammock’s greens were new – just seven months old – and needed more time to blossom. But, course operators were quick to point that out and the Hammock experience also included use of an excellent practice facility and free range balls.
Lost Lake and Champions Club at Summerfield are Tom Fazio designs. His courses are always good, with Stonebridge, Conway Farms and The Glen Club providing ample evidence for players coming south from the Chicago area. Lost Lake had a practice facility option similar to Lost Lake.
Champions Club has been honored by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine in their various rankings. The only problem we had with Champions – one of only four courses we played twice – came in our second visit. There weren’t enough carts available, resulting in our tee time being pushed back enough to make finishing the round difficult.
Finding a Fazio course here was easy. Jim Fazio and Tom Fazio II did the design work on Lost Lake and Fairwinds, in Ft. Pierce. Tommy Fazio was the designer of Eagle Marsh in Jensen Beach and Dom Fazio was the architect of record for Heritage Ridge of Hobe Sound. A big believer in checking the architect before playing a course, I’ll always look forward to visiting a Fazio layout.
In general, Treasure Coast golf offers a greater array of bird life than we experienced anywhere else in the U.S. and there were other welcome distractions. We’ve shared courses with deer lots of times and seen sheep, horses and cows either on courses or adjoining property. Here there was more than that.
At Pine Lakes, a Stuart course, there was a big family of unusual ducks in charge of the No. 8 tee. A bobcat crossed the 18th fairway at Lost Lake as we finished a round in the dusk. A diamondback snake, said to be at least six feet long, has been spotted around the courses in Port St. Lucie. We saw a picture but, fortunately, didn’t see that on-course visitor and we also missed alligators. They were regular features at courses on Florida’s west coast in previous years.
On Treasure Coast area courses the non-human companions were on the more memorable side. Brooks, Patty and Indy formed an unusual threesome at Fairwinds.
At Fairwinds, we were paired with a couple from Ohio. Brooks and Patty were nice people, but they came as a threesome. Indy, a Maltese puppy, came with Patty. We had doubts at first, but Indy was extremely well-behaved and created no problems. In fact, that little dog respected course etiquette more than some playing partners we’ve had over the years.
Indy wasn’t the only extra attraction at Fairwinds. Driving my cart beside the No. 4 green, I was greeted by four wild hogs.
“They’ve been an issue since the course opened,’’ said head professional Matt Baum. “Nobody’s been physically injured, but they destroyed parts of three-four fairways one winter.’’
Removing the hogs has been difficult. The St. Lucie International Airport adjoins the course, and the use of firearms nearby that facility is prohibited. Instead hunting dogs have occasionally been used to trap the hogs so that they can be tied up and hauled away. Still, they’re part of the golfing experience. These sandhill cranes don’t always like golfers.
Just as memorable as our hog-sighting was our encounter with red-headed sand cranes at Lost Lake. Two big ones settled near the 14th green and my approach landed in their midst. So did that of Jim, one of my playing partners from Pennsylvania. The cranes didn’t like that one bit but wouldn’t leave when we arrived to hit our chip shots. Those birds could have done us some damage, and we were reluctant to approach them. We eventually did, though, and that sent the birds into a series of belligerent dance moves that I’ll never forget. We were happy to get out of there.
Two of our rounds didn’t go the full 18 holes. Rain stopped us after eight holes at Fairwinds and after 13 holes at Pine Lakes. It was great being detached from the extraordinarily brutal winter that hampered the rest of the U.S., but we did find that when it rains in Florida it really rains. In just a matter of minutes both courses had much too much water on the greens to anticipate an imminent resumption of play. We gave up and splashed our way in.
As always, variety and economics were the cornerstones in determining our golf destinations. On the economy side, the lowest-priced course was Pine Lakes — at $28. We felt lucky to find it on a day in early February. We had called 10 other courses before finding one that could provide a tee time early enough to allow for the completion of 18 holes.
We didn’t expect a whole lot when we checked the scorecard. The course played just 4,766 yards from the tips with no par-5s and six par-3s. Still, it was golf on a day we were particularly anxious to play. We even considered walking – something rarely available at Florida courses in the heart of their season. Pull carts were provided free of charge, but we discarded the idea when we found only one of about 10 had two wheels that would turn. It may sound crazy, but golf needs more places like Pine Lakes – no frills, low rates, friendly atmosphere and a walking option. Not surprisingly, it was packed when we were there.
It was interesting to check out the golf promotional publications available for the area. They – as is usually the case – gave the best reviews to the courses that were the best advertisers. Understandable, I guess, but not in the best interests of the snowbird golfers.
So, here’s a more objective rating of the Treasure Coast public courses played in the winter of 2014:
1, Lost Lake, Hobe Sound — Excellent course and practice facility. Nice clubhouse. Friendly people. One of the very best places we’ve played over the last five years coming to Florida.
2, Hammock Creek, Palm City – Course and practice facilities were comparable, but Lost Lake was about $15 cheaper and Hammock’s new greens didn’t measure up to Lost Lake’s.
3, Champions Club at Summerfield, Stuart – Like Lost Lake, we played this one twice. A good course, and a good golfing buy.
4, Florida Club, Stuart – A fun layout marked by lots of waste bunkers, but conditioning didn’t match the top two.
5, Indian Hills, Ft. Pierce – A similarly fun layout, but a step below in conditioning and clubhouse options. (This one may admittedly be getting a higher ranking because our best scores were shot there).
6, Heritage Ridge, Hobe Sound – This one got the best reviews in the local publications, and its putting surfaces were among the best. It was also among the best for post-round relaxation but there was one big negative: the practice range was unusually far from the course.
7, Eagle Marsh, Jensen Beach – This Tommy Fazio design billed itself as “The Most Challenging Course on the Treasure Coast.’’ That’s debatable, but hot dogs came with your greens fees.
8, Fairwinds, Ft. Pierce – Wish we could have gotten in all 18 holes here. This one had the most interesting history of the ones we visited. In addition to the wild hogs and the nearby airport, Fairwinds had the distinction of being perhaps the first course in Florida built on a landfill. Baum also points out that back in the early 2000s Fairwinds ranked second to Pebble Beach in a readership survey that involved a variety of ranking categories. “We all scratched our heads over that,’’ said Baum (so did I) “but the course has experienced a lot of success. People seem to like it.’’
9, The Saints, Port St. Lucie – This one was once part of St. Lucie Country Club (its partner course in those days was called The Sinners). The Saints is now city-owned and a hub for social activity. The Sinners was taken over by Club Med and is now called Sandpiper Bay.
10, St. James, Port St. Lucie – Located very close to PGA Village, this was a decent course at a very good price. Built in 2000, it was probably the newest of the courses we visited.
11, Pine Lakes, Stuart – You can’t beat the price. If only the pull carts were working. Hardly any courses in this area offered the option of walking. This one did.
12, Sandpiper Bay – User friendly and decently priced, but the conditioning was lacking. Club Med’s other offerings (tennis academy, in particularly) relegated golf to being just another option rather than the focal point.
13, Sandridge, Vero Beach – We played the Lakes layout at the 36-hole facility owned and operated by Indian River County. Fairly priced, it was one busy place throughout Florida’s tourist season.
14, Palm Cove, Palm City – You either love or hate this one. It’s billed as a Chi Chi Rodriguez course, and the super popular golfing legend is a part-time resident of the area. The conditioning is better than many of the higher-ranked courses but the holes were squeezed in between homes, making the course extremely tight. That put it in sharp contrast with every other course we played, and lost balls were inevitable.
ORLANDO, FL. – The 61st PGA Merchandise Show was just all the previous 60 such stagings. All the latest and greatest products for golfers were on display at the Orange County Convention Center.
This year, though, there seemed to be an abundance of unusual new putters.
The one that got the most attention was Veritas Golf’s Cure RX2, and that was due largely to one member of its design team. Deane Beman, the long-time commissioner of the PGA Tour (the man in charge prior to Tim Finchem) joined forces with designer Steve Davis on this one. This is what you see when you line up a putt with the new Veritas putters.
Veritas, based in Flagler Beach, FL., isn’t a new putter manufacturer. Beman, in fact, says the company produces “the most technologically advanced putters ever made.’’
This new one, though, is billed by the company as “completely customizable to every golfer.’’ The putter, coupled with Beman’s publicized involvement, led to a big turnout at the Veritas booth. Those showing up even included Donald Trump.
Beman and The Donald were by no means the whole show in the putting department.
A French company, Argolf, made its first appearance at the big show after its clubs were well-received overseas. Argolf is run by brothers Sebastian and Oliver Colas and its models are named after the Celtic legend of Arthur – Merlin, Morgane and Lancelot.
RadiusRoll, from Lockport, IL., put its blades on display. They employ what the manufactures calls “PureStrike Instant Roll Technology – No Hop, No Skid, No Excuses.’’
Tru-Roll, out of the Canadian city of Calgary, showed off a round face putter also designed to “eliminate skidding’’ with the added benefit of “dramatically improved distance control.’’
Another Canadian company, Innovations Golf from Vancouver, introduced its ClearBlade and ClearBall putters. Both included clubhead features to help in alignment and the best-known endorser of the product was one who missed a big putt.
“If I was playing with the ClearBall putter I would have made that putt on the last hole of the British Open in 1970 to win,’’ stated Doug Sanders.
Another foreign-produced putter, Stonesplendor, was created in South Korea. It’s hand-made out of black stone. Whether it makes for a better putter or not, I don’t know, but the company reports that “the iron content therein is much higher than other kinds of gemstone.
What’s in a name? Well, Triple `P’ Putters claim the three Ps are for “Perfect Putter Performance.’’ The New Jersey manufacturer claims its blades offer “the widest range of weighting options on the market today.’’ There are 12 different weight options, five putter head styles, 16 shaft positions and 14 different putter head finishes.
The company says it produces “the right putter for every condition, which will suit every players needs.’’ Getting all those options right in the same putter, though, doesn’t seem easy, does it?
I got the biggest kick out of the L2 Traditional Putter (pictured above). It’s the heaviest putter I’ve ever tested and comes with a disclaimer: “This putter is not for everyone, only those players who wish to improve their overall putting skills.’’
An average putter measures less than five inches from toe to heel and weighs less than 380 grams, according to John Ambrose, the Ohio-based designer of the L2 Traditional. His putter measures 6 ¼ inches and weighs 620 grams. It’ll stand by itself and its heft reduces the wristiness that plagues many golfers. And, the putter comes with the most understandable slogan: “It’s worth the weight.”
“This big putter gives golfers the smooth steady stability of anchor putting without the need to anchor,’’ said Ambrose. “It’s doing for putting what big headed drivers did for driving.’’
Obviously, the best putter is the one that makes the most putts for you. I hope you find it.
ORLANDO, FL. – It’s become a tradition now. For the ninth straight year David Glod, president of Batavia-based Tour Edge, has gotten a jump on his club manufacturing rivals at the massive 61st annual PGA Merchandise Show.
The biggest show in golf begins a three-day run at the Orange County Convention Center on Wednesday with over 1,000 golf companies and brands and over 40,000 industry professionals from around the world displaying their wares. Over 20 Chicago area companies will have a big presence. Tour Edge president David Glod unveils his new Exotics prior to the PGA Merchandise Show.
Glod introduced Tour Edge’s latest Exotics line of clubs to a select media contingent a day ahead of the show. Glod, who came out of the club pro ranks to found Tour Edge in 1987, considers his well-respected company as “the little clubmaker that could’’ and it’s become especially well-known for its fairway woods.
“We start with a manufacturing base, which is different than the bigger companies. We’re using better, more expensive materials that are harder to get,’’ said Glod. “That clearly puts us in a different category. We’re ahead of the game.’’
Fairway woods are again a highlight of the Exotics line, headed by the $500 CD Pro model.
“It’s a crazy, crazy fairway wood,’’ said Glod. “It’s so exciting. The first time we brought it on tour we won. Chris Kirk (at last fall’s McGladrey Championship on the PGA Tour) won with it.’’
Tour Edge doesn’t use tour players to endorse its equipment, but Wilson Sporting Goods, based in River Grove and celebrating its centennial in 2014, does. Wilson is using the show to make endorsement news in addition to launching modern renditions of three of its lines.
Wilson added German Marcel Siem, who has three victories on the European PGA Tour, to its staff and re-signed American PGA tourist Ricky Barnes. Wilson already had major tour winners Padraig Harrington and Paul Lawrie and up-and-coming Kevin Streelman of Wheaton as endorsees of its clubs.
Angelo Papadourakis, president and chief executive officer of North Barrington-based NewSpin Golf, is also expected to make an impact with his SwingSmart – an innovative golf swing analyzer. It recently won Golf magazine/s Techy Award in the training aid category.
KemperSports, the Northbrook-based golf management company, opened a new 216-room centerpiece lodge at the nearby Streamsong Resort as a prelude to the big show. Streamsong’s Red and Blue courses opened last year to rave reviews. The lodge includes three restaurants.
Streamsong, built on a natural 16,000 acres, has world-class bass fishing, a sporting clays facility and spa in addition to the courses, one of which was designed by Tom Doak and the other by the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.
Colorful tee boxes are a feature at the renovated Winter Haven course.Country Club of Winter Haven, on the outskirts of Orlando, also unveiled its renovated course prior to showtime. The renovation was a combined effort by architects Rees Jones and Bill Bergin. Jones completed two major Chicago renovations in the last few years – at Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course in Lemont and Medinah’s No. 3 layout.
Winter Haven’s is an even more massive renovation. The private course, formerly known as the Lake Region Yacht & Country Club, was taken over by a group of members. It was lengthened by 500 yards in the renovation and the clubhouse, driving range and cart barn will also be replaced soon.
ST. AUGUSTINE, FL. – Jim Hahn spent nearly 30 years with Northbrook-based KemperSports, leading the management efforts of all the Chicago Park District golf courses as well as suburban layouts Waters Edge, in Worth, and Rob Roy, in Prospect Heights. He worked with Kemper facilities in other parts of the country as well.
Now the former Libertyville resident remains in golf, but with a far different facility than those he guided for Kemper.
Hahn (pictured below) took over general manager duties at the two courses at World Golf Village, an iconic links destination that also includes the World Golf Hall of Fame. He’s been at World Golf Village for a year, since leaving his last Kemper post at Cape Fear National in Wilmington, N.C.
World Golf Village, which opened in 1998, has undergone some changes and is gradually rebranding itself as a place offering more than golf. Now it’s going by the name Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center. The resort and accompanying residential community is spread over 6,300 acres.
“It’s a true resort, though it hadn’t been talked about that way,’’ said Hahn. “It’s not just two golf courses you can play. We’re trying to create the atmosphere of a resort. That means you can stay and do a variety of things as opposed to just golf.’’
In addition to the King & Bear and Slammer & Squire golf courses and the elaborate Hall of Fame, World Golf Village includes a recently renovated Renaissance Hotel, one of the largest (300 seats) IMAX theaters in Florida, PGA Tour Golf Academy and a state-of-the-art spa all just a few miles from the heart of historic St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S.
The resort concept was initiated by Jeffrey Oliasami after he took over as general manager of the Renaissance shortly before Hahn ‘s arrival.
All the components of a resort are there, but they have private owners. Honours Golf, based in Birmingham, Ala., owns the two courses. Marriott owns the hotel. The Hall of Fame is owned by its own association. BlueGreen has time shares available. The Murray brothers’ Caddie Shack bar-restaurant and the convention center are also part of the package.
“Having separate owners has been a little challenging in the past, but the last couple years we’ve tried to promote ourselves as one resort,’’ said Hahn. “The Rennaisance has been great about this. Jeffrey Oliasami lives and breathes the belief that we’ve got to be part of the same resort to be successful, He believed strongly in the resort visions, and everybody has embraced it. If the resort can be successful, we’ll all be successful.’’
There is one reminder of the tough times World Golf Village went through prior to the rebranding. A series of retail shops are vacant, probably because they’re too far off I-95 to attract shoppers who aren’t staying on the property.
Otherwise, though, things are on the upswing – especially at the two very unique courses. Both opened about 10 years ago and had interesting creative concepts.
The Slammer & Squire honors legendary players Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen. Bobby Weed designed the sporty course, which is on the short side compared to The King & The Bear. The only course co-designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, it’s the more challenging layout. The finishing hole at the Slammer and Squire course sets the tone for World Golf Village.
Honours Golf took over both layouts long before the economic downturn of the last few years. Honours owns about half of the 15 courses it operates in the southeastern United. States. Primary owners are Bob Barrett and Rob Schultz. Barrett had been an assistant professional at Augusta National and head pro at Quail Hollow – both sites of PGA Tour events. He was also involved in the start of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama.
Both the World Golf Village courses are well-conditioned, and improvements were recently made at the Slammer & Squire clubhouse. They’ve been vying for golfers with a variety of nearby courses while resort business picks up.
“They’re not where they used to be five years ago, but nobody is,’’ said Hahn. “But these courses are doing fine. They took a dip, but they’re still very profitable properties, both of them.’’
A goal for the golf operation is to bring back more resort play – a challenge with the famed Pete Dye-designed TPC Sawgrass just a few miles away. Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship, has one of golf’s most famous holes. Its par-3 17th has an island green that alone is an enticement for visitors. Sawgrass recently boosted its fees over $400 per round.
“ From a resort perspective, that’s our competition,’’ said Hahn, “but we’re not in that price range. We’re a $150 golf course.’’
During the economic downturn both resorts saw play from business golfers decline. World Golf Village (viewed by night below) sought to make up for that by supplementing resort play with local players, but the locals couldn’t afford such a high greens fee. Now, with the economy looking up again, Hahn admits “We want to build up resort play; that’s how we’ll really be successful.’’
No other resort can offer the spectacular World Golf Hall of Fame, a facility rich in historical memorabilia that also includes a unique putting course and hole-in-one challenge for its visitors. You don’t have to be deep into golf to appreciate what the World Golf Hall of Fame has to offer. Just the long-running Bob Hope exhibit is worth the price of admission.
This year the Hall will carry on without its main annual event. There won’t be an induction ceremony during the PGA Tour’s Players Championship in May. Officials wanted to skip a year to allow for the revamping of the selection process.
While looking forward to the return of the Hall inductions, Hahn doesn’t feel its absence with have much of an effect this year.
“They’ve made a lot of improvements here,’’ he said. “Our owners feel confident in these properties, and they’re investing back in them.’’
