Len Ziehm On Golf

SEBRING, Florida – This charming town of about 11,000 in Central Florida has long been known for its robust golf courses and a famous auto race. Legendary golf course architect Donald Ross started the golf scenario when he designed the Pinecrest course in 1923 and the Sebring International Raceway, which opened in 1950,  is one ...

FRENCH LICK, Indiana – Add the Korn Ferry Championship  to the long resume of big golf tournaments played on the courses at French Lick Resort. Lots of new things have been going on at the southern Indiana destination, the latest being the staging of the season-ending event for the PGA Tour’s alternative circuit. The concluding event ...

BOYNE FALLS, Michigan – Having three top golf resorts is somewhat like having three children.  How do you decide which one gets taken care of first? That’s a potential dilemma at Boyne Mountain, The Highlands and Bay Harbor – the three resorts that have a combined 10 golf courses and plenty of other amenities and attractions.  ...

BOYNE FALLS, Michigan — We don’t just play golf on our travel writing trips. While visiting Boyne Mountain in Michigan this week we walked the world’s longest timber-towered suspension bridge  — called Skybridge Michigan. The bridge, which has become a popular tourist attraction at the Boyne Mountain Resort, stretches 1,200 feet in length above the Boyne ...

    PLYMOUTH, Michigan – This transformation has been ongoing, and impressive. Saint John’s started as a seminary in the 1940s. Seminarians designed the first nine holes of the 27-hole Mission Hills course in the early 1970s. The seminary closed in 1988 and was dormant until 1994 when it re-opened as a retreat center for youth and families. Then, ...

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – I’m big on golf trails. Quite a few states have golf trails, and some have even more than one. They’re a good marketing tool for the areas involved and helpful for golfers  looking for spots where our sport is a priority. Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is the most prominent, but ...

SKY VALLEY, Georgia – This is not a report on your traditional golf travel destinations.  Sky Valley Country Club is in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  At an elevation of 3,297 feet it’s the highest and northern- most course in Georgia. The location is a plus for this Georgia Golf Trail layout, which justifiably bills itself as ...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Having about 100 courses, an oceanside setting and tons of lodging and dining options made Myrtle Beach a popular place for golfers to visit.  It wasn’t good enough for the PGA Tour, however – at least not until this year. Golf’s premier circuit brought its first-ever tournament to the stunning Dunes Golf ...

OCALA, FL. – Even without a ball being hit yet, the week ahead looms as an interesting one on the PGA Tour. Holding two concurrent events in the same week isn’t unusual on the PGA Tour, but this is a little different.  The Wells Fargo Championship, in Charlotte, N.C., and the Myrtle Beach Classic are similar ...

DAYTONA BEACH, FL. – Because we do what we do, it’s golf that is our first target when we make our visits to the Daytona Beach area, and that’s a shame.  Daytona offers so much more than golf. There’s the beach, of course – 11 miles of oceanfront famous for its wide, firm sands that allow ...

PINEHURST, North Carolina – These are extraordinary times for the “Cradle of American Golf.’’ The U.S. Golf Association will begin unveiling its new campus in Pinehurst on Dec. 1. This six-eight acre spot will evolve leading into the U.S. Open in June, 2024. That may turn out to be the most significant addition to the golf ...

ABERDEEN, North Carolina – The Pinehurst area has dubbed itself “Cradle of American Golf,’’ and there’s no argument here – especially given what’s coming soon. The Pinehurst Resort has announced that it’ll open its 10th course, called Pinehurst 10, on April 3, 2024.  Soon after that the U.S. Golf Association will open its Golf House Pinehurst ...

  GALENA, Illinois –  Mark Klausner changed most everything since taking over ownership of the Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa four years ago – with one notable exception. We’ll get to that one later. Klausner hosted the grand opening of his pride and joy, the Stonedrift Spa, earlier this year and it is something to behold. The original ...

HARBOR SPRINGS, Michigan – Boyne Golf has a lot to celebrate these days. Boyne Mountain, the first of the group’s three Michigan destinations to open, is celebrating its 75th anniversary.  The Highlands, a few miles down the road, is celebrating its 60th and long-time senior vice president of golf operations Bernie Friedrich has been named the ...

SPRING GREEN, Wisconsin – This was one of those odd stops where we stayed at a golf resort — and it looked like a pretty good one — but didn’t hit a shot.  House on the Rock has 27 holes designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., but we were there to see a couple of ...

DAYTONA BEACH, FL. – The Daytona Beach area is good place for golfers, no question about it. The greater Daytona area has 20 courses. Two are part of LPGA International, the area’s premier golf destination. Since 1994 it has been the home of the Ladies PGA Tour, and it hosts the final stage of the circuit’s ...

Playing golf in the mountains isn’t our norm, but when the opportunity arose we jumped at it – and we’re glad we did. The International Network of Golf Spring Forum was held in Valley Forge, Pa., and the mountainous area known as The Poconos was barely an hour away.  As soon as the Forum was over ...

  ALL OVER, Alabama – There’s a handful of golf trails across the country – and then there’s the Robert Trent Jones Trail that stretches over about 400 miles in Alabama, from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to the Gulf Coast. This collection of courses is like no other. It includes 26 courses — or 468 ...

SYLACAUGA, Alabama – Alabama is a golf-rich state, with the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail dominating the lists of top courses there.  There’s only one thing missing from the Trail’s 26 courses spread around 11 destination sites. All of those layouts don’t include the best one – at least according to GolfWeek, one of the ...

It’s no secret that the horrible pandemic gave a boost to the golf industry nation-wide, and that is most evident in Mississippi. The sport has really taken off there in the last few years. That was evident when a small group of golf media members from all parts of the country spent a week getting a ...

It’s time to hit the road again.  Our visits to golf travel destinations will take us to Mississippi, Alabama and Pennsylvania over the next few weeks, but there’s plenty going on at other places that golf travelers should know about. For instance: REYNOLDS LAKE OCONEE – Famed architect Tom Fazio is returning to this beautiful resort in ...

HOWEY-in-the-HILLS, Florida – Mission Inn, one of Florida’s oldest golf resorts, is no stranger to hosting tournaments. The fourth playing of the Epson Tour’s Inova Mission Inn Resort & Club Championship is coming up in May, but this time it’ll be different. On Dec. 9 the resort changed ownership.  The Beucher family, with deep roots in ...

  GULF SHORES, Alabama – First off, let’s make this perfectly clear.  Gulf Shores-Orange Beach – a  community sandwiched between Pensacola, FL., and Mobile, AL., and not far from the Mississippi state line – offers a lot more than golf. But we will get to those other nice things later. Gulf Shores is a unique spot for ...

NEKOOSA, Wisconsin – Mike Keiser’s Sand Valley Resort has already brought a new look for golfers looking to travel. Its two 18-holers, Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes, are walking courses with lots of sand – of course – and lots of great views.  On our recent visit we asked some of the veteran staffers to pick ...

  WISCONSIN DELLS, Wisconsin – Golf is different in the Wisconsin Dells.  Given all the entertainment options for tourists, golf seems more an amenity than an attraction. But, make no mistake, it’s a good one. The Dells offers 142 holes and 12 different golf experiences, ranging from short courses to championship versions. The courses were designed around landscapes ...

Patience and loyalty are enviable qualities, and they figure to pay off big time for Sentry Insurance once the 2023 golf season gets into gear. Sentry was patient, closing the course at its headquarters in Stevens Points, Wis., for two major renovations in the last 10 years.  Now it’s on the clock to host one of ...

  GALENA, IL. – The General at Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa isn’t your ordinary golf course – not by a long shot. So, it’s fitting that this Andy North-Roger Packard design isn’t getting the standard treatment for a course hitting its 25th anniversary. It’s getting a “Celebration Restoration’’ instead.  We’ll explain, but first know this: Not only ...

Golf travel writing is a lot of fun, but it isn’t easy.  I guess you could say “It’s a tough job but someone has to do it.’’ At least that’s how we felt after the first month of our later-than-usual start for our spring trip. From May 26 to June 24 we played 342 holes spread ...

There are golf resorts – and then there’s A-Ga-Ming. It has four courses in Northern Michigan, but their 72 holes are spread out. Each has its own history, but over the last 22 years they’ve grown together. Mike Brown and Larry Lavely were 27-year old Central Michigan University alums when this project started. They moved to ...

HARBOR SPRINGS, Mich. – I’ll admit it.  I’m a sucker for golf tribute courses because they provide a look back in history. There are only a handful of such courses nation-wide, and the best may be at The Highlands of Harbor Springs (formerly Boyne Highlands Resort) in Michigan. It has the ideal honoree in Donald Ross ...

  AUGUSTA, Mich. – Gull Lake View is not only a pioneer destination among American golf resorts, it is also one of the biggest. The resort near Kalamazoo, Mich., can boast of being “the sixth largest golf resort in the world’’ with its 108 holes spread across more than 2,000 acres. Within the U.S. only North Carolina’s ...

GAYLORD, Michigan – This might well turn out to be the best feel good story in golf in 2022. Gaylord, a town of 4,200 residents, and the small towns surrounding it have long been on the cutting edge of golf marketing.  Led by executive director Paul Beachnau, the Gaylord Golf Mecca was created in 1987 to ...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – This South Carolina golf hotbed has been at least an annual stop for the last 13 years, but our latest visit was different than all the others. Our travel writing itinerary called for stops at three courses – one on the south side of town (Caledonia), one centrally located (World Tour ...

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – The most famous of the 51 courses in the golf mecca called Pinehurst area is Pinehurst No. 2, recently named an anchor site for the U.S. Open by the U.S. Golf Association. This week the area will also host the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles, and many more big events ...

America’s golf hotbeds are shifting, now that snowbird golfers are departing the warmer weather states for cooler climates where the golf seasons are just beginning. Golf, however, is always in season in Myrtle Beach, S.C. where the lead-in to the 39th annual Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship is already underway — even though the tournament ...

BROOKSVILLE, FL. – Go back three decades and World Woods was one of the biggest things in Florida golf. It had two Tom Fazio-designed courses – Pine Barrens and Rolling Oaks – that opened together on April 1, 1993 and its Japanese owner,  Yukihisa Inoue, had plans for much more. “The previous owner (Inoue is now ...

NAPLES, FL. – The traditional warmup in Hawaii is over.  Now PGA Tour Champions is ready to get down to business. With the tournament rounds scheduled for Feb. 18-20, the Chubb Classic Presented by SERVOPRO is the first full-field event of the season for the 50-and-over circuit. “A great place for it,’’ said Peter Jacobsen, who ...

                SARASOTA, FL. – The Champions Course at Palm Aire Country Club was one of the more difficult courses in Florida, and it may still be. It will, however, have a much different look when it re-opens following an extensive $2 million  renovation on December 1. The original version, created by architect Dick Wilson, opened in 1957 ...

  HARBOR SPRINGS, Michigan – Michigan-based architect Ray Hearn has worked on courses across the country for 25 years, but the projects he has recently  taken on close to home may have a more far-reaching impact. Stephen  Kircher, Boyne’s president and chief executive officer, and  Bernie Friedrich, senior vice president of golf,  brought in Hearn, who has ...

BARK RIVER/HARRIS, Michigan – Island Resort and Casino has two golf courses.  They’re eight miles apart and have a much bigger difference in course architecture, even though Paul Albanese designed them both. Sweetgrass, which opened in 2008, is one of the best courses in Michigan – perhaps in the whole Midwest.  Sage Run, which opened 10 years later, ...

Can you imagine golfers interrupting their round for a dip in this “bath?” KOHLER, Wis. – Whoever heard of allowing golfers to go swimming in the middle of their round? Well, probably nobody – until now. The Baths of Blackwolf Run is allowing players to enjoy a swim on its new 10-hole par-3 course that is built on ...

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – The Wisconsin Dells area never grew much in population.  Its namesake city has never had more than 3,000 residents.  Still, the Dells has been one of the Midwest’s most popular travel destinations since its founding in 1856. Boats trips brought tourists in first because they liked the scenery.  A wide variety of ...

The golf lessons that Richard Franklin offers aren’t for everybody. “Some people look at what we do and say it’s not even golf,’’ admitted Franklin, but he can live with that. Franklin, 38, calls himself “a game designer.’’ That’s what his group lessons are – a series of games for youngsters as young as 4 years old ...

GALENA, IL. – I love Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa.  There, I’ve said it. Actually, it’s not that earth-shaking a statement.  I’ve had good vibes about this place since my first visit, probably in the early 1970s.  There have been a lot since then, the highlights being an invitee to the Grand Opening of the South ...

  The Myrtle Beach World Amateur – always one of my favorite tournaments of any year – is adding three new divisions for its 38th staging this year. There’ll also be 70 flights and $100,000 in prize money, and Southwest Airlines has added 10 new non-stop destinations to help players get there. That’s not the best news, ...

PALM HARBOUR, Florida – Golf, maybe more than any other sport, likes to celebrate anniversaries.  The pandemic took a toll on those. The PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic was poised for its 50th anniversary in 2020.  Now it’ll be staged this July, pandemic restrictions permitting.  The International Network of Golf was to mark its 30th anniversary ...

  HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Florida – Bud Beucher, president of the history-rich Mission Inn Resort & Club, has never been reluctant to host tournaments. Most all were high school, junior or college events. Until now. It’s doubtful that any golf facility in the country can match the schedule of professional tour events and U.S. Golf Association qualifiers that Beucher has ...

WESLEY CHAPEL, Florida – For 40 years now, the Saddlebrook Resort has been well-equipped for golfers. For most of that time it had two Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses.  Enough said. There’s more to the Saddlebrook story than that, however. Owner Tom Dempsey, who made his mark in the publishing industry in Cleveland, was a member at Palmer’s ...

SEBRING, Florida — The Citrus Golf Trail has – most justifiably —  promoted itself as “The Value Golf Capital of America.’’ Joe Staffieri, the  manager at Pinecrest on Loleta in Avon Park, created the Trail in 2012 and it’s flourishing like never before now. “Golf can be expensive, but if you want to make a golf trip ...

    First of all, HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all of our traveling golfers from our place in Florida’s PGA Village. We are now in the heart of the holiday season and we hope that all our friends will enjoy these days to the fullest. Golf travel wasn’t so easy in this pandemic year, but we’re sure that better ...

  MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina — Believe it or not, there are some good things coming out of this horrible pandemic that has negatively impacted the U.S. for the last nine months. It created a bigger demand for golf nation-wide — play is up over 20 percent, according to the National Golf Foundation —  and the ...

  POWELLS POINT, N.C. – Golf has been played around the Outer Banks of North Carolina since 1988 but its development was a slow one. Nags Head Links was the first to open,  and The Sound Links, The Pointe, Currituck, Carolina Club, Kilmarlic, The Pines and Scotch Hall Preserve all were taking players by 2008. Those courses ...

  WILLIAMSBURG, Michigan – This is one of those golf feel-good stories that you don’t see often enough. It focuses on LochenHeath Golf Club in northern Michigan, on the outskirts of Traverse City.  LochenHeath is a course that once was closed, but has since been rescued thanks to some extraordinary efforts by a few club members and ...

  ROSCOMMON, Michigan – There was never a doubt that Forest Dunes had one of the very best golf courses in Michigan, if not the entire United States. Tom Weiskopf designed it in 2002 – the same year that Golf Digest named it Best New Course in the U.S. That started a rivalry with nearby Arcadia Bluffs ...

  TOLEDO, Ohio – Arthur Hills designed more than 200 golf courses and renovated more than 150 in his long career as a course architect. Few modern day architects have come even close to those numbers. Hills, now 90 and officially retired, spends most of his time on the east coast of Florida now but his work ...

FRENCH LICK, Indiana — Our longest golf/travel writing tour of the year – 22 days with stops in six states — ended at a most familiar place.  We’ve made at least one stop at French Lick Resort & Casino every year since 2009. This year’s visit was a bit different than the others in that no ...

 Georgia may be the best state in the union for golf.  Others may have more courses, but the Peach State is the home of both the Masters and the PGA’s Tour Championship. No state has major events of that caliber on an annual basis. And don’t forget the Georgia Golf Trail. With 20 destinations it’s one ...

  TRAVELER’S REST, South Carolina – Clubs — at least the lucky ones– are sometimes able to build nice, new clubhouses even in these difficult financial times.  Cherokee Valley, a 28-year old public facility 25 miles from the city of  Greenville, is one of those but there’s more to the story. Owner Matt Jennings wanted to add ...

LAKE LURE, North Carolina – The Bald Mountain course at Rumbling Bald Resort hasn’t changed much since W.B. Lewis designed it in 1968. “Actually, it hasn’t changed at all,’’ said Adam Bowles, who has headed the golf operation at the resort the last seven years. “They put in new bentgrass greens in about 2000, and the ...

  Business is reportedly down aty America’s golf destinations, but you certainly can’t blame the operators of those places for that. They have taken aggressive measures to entice golfers back, even in these troublesome pandemic times. Most notable recent example of that comes from Kohler, Wis., with an announcement only a few days after the Ryder Cup ...

SOUTHERN PINES, North Carolina – Traveling to golf destinations has had a big impact on our lifestyle for 10 years. Make no mistake, though. The pandemic affected us big-time, just as it has everyone else. For eight months we didn’t leave Florida, our home for nearly four years now. We didn’t forget how nice it was ...

CAMDEN, S.C. – Camden, a town of about 7,000 residents, has a Donald Ross-designed golf course. That made it fair game for us on our first travel writing trip of 2020. There’s much more to Camden than that, however. Camden, a beautiful little town, is less than an hour’s drive from the state capital of Columbia. ...

I must admit that I was surprised to see the Cheraw State Park Golf Course included on the itinerary when trip planner Martin Armes lined our first golf/travel writing journey of 2020. Though we have been making such driving trips several times a year over the last 10 years we had never heard of the ...

SANTEE, S.C. – Less than 1,000 people live in Santee – a little town between Charleston and Columbia – but the South Carolina community has three quality golf courses within a few miles of each other, plenty of lodging and an ample supply of restaurants highlighted by the iconic Clark’s Restaurant and Inn, a fixture ...

Putting courses aren’t exactly new. Many golf facilities – even storied St. Andrews in Scotland – are adding them as a extra amenity at their facilities. The one that we played Monday in Santee, S.C., is one of the better ones. It’s called Palmetto Traverse. Santee is a town of barely 1,000 residents but ...

Johan Tumba, son of a Swedish sports legend, has big dreams for Jensen Beach. JENSEN BEACH, FL. – Eagle Marsh Golf Club, a Tommy Fazio design, was well-received on Florida’s Treasure Coast when it opened in 1997.  Now Eagle Marsh is no more – but its future is by no means a sad one. JENSEN BEACH, ...

ONE IN A SERIES Once again Rory Spears and Len Ziehm are combining efforts on our experiences from various golf destinations. This one is on Florida courses. Living in the Sunshine State now, I’ve always felt that Florida golf is most enjoyable in those months after the snowbirds leave for the season. In normal times ...

If you want to see the PGA Tour live there’s only one place to go – at least for a while. That’s Florida. After spending the first two months of the year bouncing around between Hawaii, California, Arizona and Mexico the circuit will be in Florida for four consecutive weeks. The season heats up ...

I found this interesting. As most of you know, I give little credence to the course rankings provided annually by the various golf publications. Golfweek, though, just released its top 200 resort courses (as well as its top 200 in casino courses, residential courses and courses in the Caribbean and Mexico). Being most interested in the ...

The Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship is already the world’s largest tournament with its annual entry number around 3,200, but that’s apparently not good enough. When the event tees off for the 37th straight year on Aug. 31 tournament director Scott Tomasello is hoping for a change in the field. There hasn’t been a ...

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina – The Harbour Town Links, with its iconic lighthouse behind the No. 18 green, may give Hilton Head Island most of its international exposure, but this golf destination is more than just Harbour Town. A lot more, in fact. While Harbour Town — home of the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage tournament ...

U.S. golf options – for the next few months at least – will be reduced as winter weather transitions into most of the country. That doesn’t mean that interesting things aren’t happening at many of our favorite places, however. Here’s a sampling of what’s been going on at some of the most popular American golf ...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – There are good reasons why Rochester should come to mind when you consider golf destinations. After all, the legendary player Walter Hagen grew up here and one of the most prolific course designers, Robert Trent Jones Sr., was not only born in Rochester but his very first design, Midvale, is also ...

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, FLORIDA – Florida is loaded with golf courses – about 1,500 of them – and the state’s golf resorts include such famous multi-course meccas at PGA National, PGA Golf Club, Bay Hill, TPC Sawgrass, Innisbrook and Doral. In contrast, Mission Inn Resort & Club on the outskirts of Orlando has just two courses but, make ...

THOMPSONVILLE, Michigan – The state of Michigan is loaded with great golf courses. That’s no secret. With over 800 public facilities in the state, it might be challenging to find the right area for the best courses – but fear no more. Northern Michigan is that spot. You can’t go wrong there. In ...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — August is the biggest month of the golf season – and not just because big professional events like the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs are contested then. The PlayGolf Myrtle Beach.com World Amateur Handicap Championship was different but every bit as impressive. Staged for the 36th time on 55 courses in this ...

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina – This 37th Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship has 161 international players among its 3,215 entries, and Steve Muller may have come the furthest to get here. He is one of eight players from Australia in the tournament, and the only one from Brisbane. Oh, yes, he’s also the only ...

ARCADIA, Michigan — For years I had been told that Arcadia Bluffs and Forest Dunes were in a battle for best golf course in Michigan with Bluffs usually getting the nod. I’ve now played them both, and I’m not so sure about that. The Bluffs definitely has the scenery. Its waterfront views of Lake ...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — August might be the biggest month of the golf season – and not just because big professional events like the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs are contested then. The PlayGolf Myrtle Beach.com World Amateur Handicap Championship is different but every bit as impressive. It is older and has many more players. ...

AS PUBLISHED IN CHICAGOLAND GOLF, AUGUST 2019. You can’t try this at home, that’s for sure. While we continue to write about all things golf for this publication (and a few others), we’ve taken a special liking to Travel Destination pieces in the last 10 years. There’s nothing wrong with playing most of your golf close to ...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – There are good reasons why Rochester should come to mind when you consider golf destinations. After all, the legendary player Walter Hagen grew up here and one of the most prolific course designers, Robert Trent Jones Sr., was not only born in Rochester but his very first design, Midvale, is also ...

LAKE GENEVA, Wis.—This is a milestone year for Grand Geneva Resort and Spa, which is already a place with an interesting history. The current milestone being celebrated is the 25th anniversary of the resort’s ownership by Milwaukee-based Marcus Corporation. Marcus bought what was then called the Americana Resort in 1981, and that came after ...

POLAND, Maine – We’re always looking for unusual golf experiences, and this time we found one in Poland. Poland, Maine, that is. Chances are you won’t think of Maine when you’re talking golf. It’s nothing new at Poland Spring Resort, however. Golf has been played there since 1896. For the last 10 years it’s hosted ...

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – Can’t say I ever started a round of golf like a recent one at Raven’s Claw, a public course near historic Valley Forge. You line up your tee shot and the most noticeable obstacle in an old brick house – or at least part of one. It doesn’t really come into play ...

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Like so many other communities, Williamsburg was hit hard by the recession a few years back and that negatively impacted its golf business. The difference is, Williamsburg got back in revival mode and is showing off now at several facilities. For instance, Royal New Kent was a smash hit when it opened. ...

GREENSBORO, N.C. – There’s a lot more good golf to be played in North Carolina than what’s offered in the Pinehurst area. For instance, consider the unique situation in this burgeoning community that is the state’s third-largest metropolitan area. Greensboro may offer the feel of a small town, but it hosts the third-oldest PGA Tour ...

The Sea Pines Resort welcomes the PGA Tour this week for the RBC Heritage Classic and a big new amateur event will be coming in the fall. A two-person team competition, the 54-hole Lighthouse Invitational, will have divisions for both men and women amateurs. Dates for the tournament on Hilton Head Island, S.C., are Sept. ...

JEKYLL ISLAND, Georgia – Georgia is a state rich in golf resorts. It has 24 of them and is also boasts Augusta National, the home of the Masters, and East Lake, the home of the PGA’s Tour Championship. At least 20 PGA Tour pros live on Sea Island. And yet, the biggest public golf ...

GREENSBORO, Georgia – Georgia is already considered a big-time golf destination. How could it not be when the Masters is played annually in Augusta and the PGA’s Tour Championship in Atlanta? Don’t be surprised if another biggie is coming soon, either. Recent developments at Reynolds Lake Oconee, which is located roughly midway between Atlanta ...

MOUNT DORA, Florida – It’s safe to say that few golfers would come to this Central Florida city primarily to play the Mount Dora Golf Club course. Mount Dora has just too many interesting shops, enticing restaurants and other attractions to lure tourists. The Mount Dora Golf Club, though, is part of the Florida Historic ...

FORT MYERS, Florida — Every state should have a golf trail like the one Florida has. The Florida Historic Golf Trail represents a most serious attempt to chronicle the state’s rich history in the sport, and the Trail lists 56 courses that have been open to the public for at least 50 years. They’re all ...

ORLANDO, FL. – Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses are generally show pieces – the focal points for golf communities world-wide. That wasn’t the case at one of Florida’s biggest resorts, however. Reunion Resort started with an 18-holer designed by Tom Watson, then added one designed by Arnold Palmer. The Nicklaus Course there opened eight years ...

Earlier this month the PGA of America announced that it will be moving its headquarters from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to Frisco, Texas. That’s a huge deal, since the projected new headquarters is a half-billion dollar project that will include 45 golf holes, a 500-room Omni resort and a 127,000-square foot conference center among other ...

PALM HARBOR, Florida – Jan Stephenson is about to go into the World Golf Hall of Fame. That’s not surprising given that she won 16 LPGA tournaments including three majors, among them the 1982 LPGA Championship and 1983 U.S. Women’s Open. She also has 41 world-wide wins including 10 titles on the LPGA’s Legends circuit. ...

PALM HARBOR, Florida – The golf resort business is highly competitive in Florida, and the managing director of one of the best thinks there may soon be a changing of the guard. Mike Williams, managing director of Innisbrook Resort, presided over the re-opening of his South Course last week and took an aggressive stance after outlining ...

OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi – Not all the golf destinations that we visit are just about golf. Gulf Hills Resort is a prime example. Knowing our interest in history as well as golf, one of our tour guides suggested we hit this 91-year old resort on the Mississippi Gulf Coast that was founded as a golfing ...

HORSESHOE BAY, Texas – This is good news for all of golf. Major new construction, renovations and upgrades aren’t just being done in the Missouri Ozarks. Not by a long shot. Other golf destinations – especially in Texas – are taking on expensive projects as well. Granted all the projects undertaken by the visionary Johnnie Morris ...

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana – Casino courses Contraband Bayou and The Country Club at Golden Nugget tend to get the most attention when visiting golfers come to this popular golf spot near the Texas line. That’s not always the case, however. A couple other courses well known to the casino crowd are making major upgrades. Gray ...

HOLLISTER, Missouri – Given the history of golf in the Missouri Ozarks, it’s shocking what’s been happening in that area these days. This area 20 miles south of Springfield didn’t have a golf course until 1938 when Don Gardner, a club pro at two of the Chicago area’s premier private clubs – Olympia Fields and Flossmoor, ...

PINEHURST, North Carolina – Pinehurst Resort dates back to 1895, but its leadership has never been reluctant to change with the times. The estimable contributions of course architect Gil Hanse are just the latest examples of that. Hanse’s portfolio had already featured the Brazil course used for golf’s return to the Olympic Games as well ...

The damage inflicted by Hurricane Florence was devastating, especially in North and South Carolina, but those states’ golf courses averted serious damage for the most part. Golf mecca Myrtle Beach, S.C., was an hour’s drive away from Wilmington, N.C., where Florence struck first. Myrtle Beach has about 100 courses in its general area. As of ...

GALENA, Illinois – Illinois’ premier golf resort turns 40 in October and the months leading into that milestone have not been easy ones on the golf end. Weather-related issues haven’t been kind to Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa. “We’ve been getting punished, for sure,’’ said director of golf Reagan Davis. “We’ve been getting five-six inches ...

NEKOOSA, Wisconsin – I accept the premise that if you have one 18-holer you have a golf course, but if you have two – or more – you have a golf destination. Well, Sand Valley is definitely a golf destination now. This Mike Keiser-developed facility in Central Wisconsin opened its first course on May 2, 2017. ...

BARK RIVER/HARRIS, Michigan – Very few new golf courses are opening these days. That’s just a reflection of these economic times. One did in July in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, however. The Paul Albanese-designed Sage Run is brand new. It’s no renovation built over an existing course. This one was created on previously untouched land ...

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – This is hardly breaking news. Michigan has been a golfing hotspot for, well – almost forever. Michigan has over 850 public courses, more than any other state in the nation, and golf generates more than $4 billion to the state’s economy. You can pick virtually any section of Michigan for ...

The Ozarks is an unusual region of the country. Broadly defined, this beautiful area encompasses parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Golf-wise its central point is Missouri’s Branson area and Johnny Morris’ array of exciting projects there. Top of the Rock and Mountain Top are Morris courses completed in recent years. Ozarks National, a Bill ...

HOLLISTER, Missouri – Where do you start in describing all the big new things Johnny Morris has in the works for golfers in the Missouri Ozarks? For starters, how about a prediction? This area in the Ozark mountains near the entertainment hub of Branson will – in the not very distant future – become the America’s next ...

Lots of states have golf trails, and some of them have received more recognition than Louisiana’s Audubon Trail. That’s unfortunate, because the Audubon offers much more than the others if your golf trips take into account non-golf attractions. Make no mistake, the 15 courses on the Audubon Golf Trail are good. The trail was named ...

KEY WEST, Florida – For some vacations you might want to choose a golf destination. For others golf need be no more than an amenity. You can have easy access to the game, but take advantage of other attractions as well. Key West Golf Club is one of the latter. Its first claim to fame ...

Here’s more proof that Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge is carrying on since the passing of its legendary owner 16 months ago. The second Arnold Palmer Invitational, played in March, benefitted from the return of Tiger Woods to draw record crowds and Rory McIlroy’s rousing victory kept the excitement at a fever pitch. But that’s ...

The world’s No. 1-ranked golfer hasn’t forgotten where he came from. Dustin Johnson has put many of his trophies and memorabilia on display at TPC Myrtle Beach, and now he’s upgrading his commitment to that South Carolina facility. Johnson was featured at the groundbreaking for the state-of-the-art Dustin Johnson Golf Performance Center, a 3,100-square foot ...

OK, maybe I do have an ulterior motive: I’d like to play more golf with my Chicago friends during the cold weather months. That would be possible if more of you would just head to Florida. The Sunshine State is officially my residence now, though I’ll again be on hand for the heart of the Chicago ...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida – December’s re-opening of the Ryder Course merited a celebration at PGA Golf Club – the winter home of the PGA of America’s 29,000 members. The first course to open at the premier resort on Florida’s east coast was the last of its three 18-holers to get a facelift during a hectic ...

MIAMI SPRINGS, Florida – The first thing you notice are the trees. The Miami Springs Golf & Country Club has lots of great big ones, and there’s a reason. Trees played a big part in the design of this, arguably the most historic 18 holes in Florida – a state with over 1,300 courses, more ...

ORLANDO, Florida – It’s not unusual for a golf destination to lose its owner or – in Florida, at least – to be hit by a hurricane. That’s just part of life. When the owner, though, is the legendary Arnold Palmer and the hurricane is one of the most devastating in the history of the state, ...

PALM HARBOR, Florida – Sheila Johnson’s Salamander Hotels & Resorts company, had an extraordinary two days last week. On Thursday Salamander re-opened its Jack Nicklaus-designed Hammock Beach course in Palm Coast, Fla. It had been closed for a 13-month restoration. The next day Salamander put on a festive celebration to mark the re-opening of ...

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – It might be difficult to look at Daytona Beach as a golf destination but — without question — you should. Admittedly the self-proclaimed “World’s Most Famous Beach’’ is the main attraction in the Volusia County area. Or maybe it’s the Daytona International Speedway, the recently renovated world’s largest motor sports stadium ...

STREAMSONG, Florida – There are over 1,300 golf courses in Florida, more than any other state in the nation, but one facility stands head and shoulders above the rest. Streamsong Resort, located in the central portion of Florida, has three of the very best 18-holers – not only in the Sunshine State but in the ...

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Florida – You would think, given all the years I’ve spent travelling through Florida and now residing there, that the state’s golf scene couldn’t provide much in the way of surprises. Then we visited two destinations in the Panhandle, the sometimes forgotten section in the northwest portion of the state. That was an ...

From the standpoint of this hurricane rookie and new Florida resident the damage incurred from Hurricane Irma was devastating – and it was. The entire state was impacted by one of the biggest hurricanes ever to hit the Sunshine State in mid-September – and that’s saying a lot because hurricanes are an annual concern ...

With the big tournaments held recently at Erin Hills and Whistling Straits and the opening of Sand Valley, it may seem that luster could be off the Wisconsin golf destination that started all those good things. Don’t you believe it, though. Grand Geneva is doing just fine, thank you. Dave Hallenbeck, director of golf at the ...

PINEHURST, North Carolina – There’s one thing that you can always be sure of when you visit this premier golf destination. There’s always something new and exciting in the works. This time that’s been taken to extremes. Always looking for something different, our visit this spring provided that in an unusual way. Our two rounds ...

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina – This is one golf milestone that certainly shouldn’t go unnoticed. Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Back in 1967 Myrtle Beach was by no means the golf mecca that it is today. It had only nine courses then. Now the number of courses on the ...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida – The PGA Golf Club, with its four courses, has no trouble attracting golfers. There’s more to the place than those four courses, however. Most notably, there’s the PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance. This is where the really serious golfers hang out. Very few golf facilities have anything like ...

PALM BEACH, Florida – I’ve always believed that the Nickol Knoll course in my former backyard is the best par-3 course in Illinois. As for the best par-3 in the entire United States I had given the nine-holer at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Mo., a slight edge over Three-tops, at Treetops Resort in ...

ORLANDO, Florida – The late Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club is just a 15-minute drive from Shingle Creek Golf Club, an 18-holer connected to the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel and in Palmer’s final days his design company was in the process of renovating the nearby layout. That renovation is now completed and the course has opened ...

OCALA, Florida – The world’s first replica golf course, turned 30 this week. Ron Garl, one of the most prolific of all course architects, was the brainchild for the layout at Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club. Back in 1986 he picked out eight holes from five of golf’s most famous courses – Augusta National ...

The Loop, Tom Doak’s 18-hole reversible course in Roscommon, Mich., isn’t just something new. It’s also been declared something very good. Golf Digest and GOLF Magazine, the golf industry’s two leading publications, both honored The Loop with its top awards. Golf Digest named The Loop as the Best New Public Course of 2016 and ...

JUPITER, Florida – This town on Florida’s East Coast, just north of Palm Beach, has long attracted top golfers. It’s home for Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Dustin Johnson, Luke Donald and a host of others. Those pros have a wide range of championship courses to play, but there’s another course in town ...

Of the four golf courses in PGA Golf Club, one stands out – at least historically. The winter home of the PGA of America’s 28,000 members includes three 18-hole courses on the grounds of PGA Village – the Wanamaker, the Ryder and the Dye. PGA Golf Club also encompasses one course across Interstate 95 about ...

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – Florida leads the nation with over 1,300 public golf courses, and it also has something that many other states with serious golfers should consider – a trail that pays homage to its older layouts that have best withstood the tests of time. The Trail hasn’t been heavily promoted but we have ...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida — The year 2016 has been one of milestones for the PGA of America and its 28,000 members from all parts of the world. The organization’s various centennial celebrations appropriately drew the bulk of the attention, but there was more to 2016 than that – particularly if you’re a fan of the ...

SEBRING, Florida – Now is the time for a golf upsurge in central Florida. At least that’s how Jim Kurtzeborn — spokesman for the newly-created Citrus Golf Trail — sees it, and I agree with him. The Citrus Trail is a collection of nine courses spread among the communities of Sebring, Avon ...

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

Donald Trump’s rise to President of the United States has come amidst a variety of controversies. There’s no debate about him from the architect who built Trump’s first golf course, however. “He was the best client I ever had in the United States,’’ declared Jim Fazio, the designer who created what is now Trump International in ...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida – The PGA Golf Club is the winter home of the PGA of America’s 28,000 members. It’s also one of just two facilities in America that the PGA operates, the other being Valhalla – the organization’s premier tournament venue in Louisville, Ky. PGA Golf Club, with its four 18-hole courses plus a ...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida – The Legacy may be the most intriguing course in golf-rich Florida. Located in a community that has five 18-holers in close proximity to each other, The Legacy – the only private course among the five — has been around for 32 years and has hosted local qualifiers for many U.S. Opens ...

Davis Love III had barely finished savoring his team’s victory in the Ryder Cup when the U.S. captain had another event to celebrate. His Atlantic Dunes course was to open a day later at South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island. That opening, though, never happened. Hurricane Matthew caused damage from Florida to South Carolina, but none ...

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina – This city in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just over the Kentucky line, isn’t the first place that left me wanting to stay longer – just the latest one. An interesting place, Asheville. It’s been called the “Hippie Hideaway of the South.’’ Its downtown hangouts reminded us of a miniature New Orleans ...

So, you’ve been lucky enough to wangle tickets to the 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine? Lucky you – and you might benefit still further by enjoying some of the courses on your way to and from Chaska, MN. Chicago golfers have a couple options on how to drive to Hazeltine. You could drive along Lake ...

BELOIT, Wisconsin – The last two decades have done wonders for golf in Wisconsin. Look no further than the creations of Blackwolf Run, Whistling Straits, Erin Hills and – most recently – Sand Valley. And don’t forget the recent major upgrades at SentryWorld and Lawsonia. The Beloit Club should count in that mix as well, though ...

The entry number is already over 2,900 from 25 countries, but there’s still room for more in the 33rd annual Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship. The deadline to enter the event, labeled “Every Man’s Major,’’ is Aug. 6 and the competition runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2. Nearly 60 of Myrtle Beach’s best courses ...

OSCODA, Michigan – I’ve always tended to shy away from dwelling on greens fees in reporting on golf travel destinations. There’s a good reason for that. Course owners, by necessity, are constantly changing what they charge their golfers and these reports can’t keep up with that. They’re written with the expectation of a long shelf ...

ROSCOMMON, Michigan – America’s most innovative golf course design is now open for play – at least on a limited basis. The Loop, created by the highly imaginative Michigan architect Tom Doak, is an 18-hole course that can be played in two directions. One day it’s the Black Course – 6,704 yards from the back tees ...

You’re a Chicago resident and you want to play golf year-around? One way to do that is to move to Florida, and some who did even went a step further. They bought their own courses in the Sunshine State and have taken them to new, higher levels. Two Orlando area facilities – Mission Inn ...

GALENA, Illinois – Let’s make this perfectly clear. I’ve always enjoyed visiting Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa. I’ve been there many times – and for various reasons – over the last 35 years. It had been four years since my last visit, though, and this time things were different. That’s different, as in better. It all ...

The countdown is on for the opening of one of the most talked-about American courses in years. Forest Dunes, in Roscommon, Mich., has long featured one of the most popular 18-holers in the Midwest – a Tom Weiskopf design consistently ranked among the best public layouts in the state. Now the Weiskopf design will have one (or ...

ACME, Michigan – The structural changes at Grand Traverse were made last year when owners of the 30-year old resort spent $7 million to renovate the tower that is the facility’s centerpiece. Grand Traverse has three courses on its 1,400 acres and the resort features 660 rooms, diverse restaurants and lounges and 49,000 square feet of ...

BAY HARBOR, Michigan – This is anniversary time for Boyne Golf, the biggest golf course conglomerate in the Midwest. It has 10 courses among its three northern Michigan resorts and two are celebrating milestones in 2016. The Heather course at Boyne Highlands – the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that got the golf boom started ...

MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan – There’s a lot of reasons why people take the 20-minute boat ride from Mackinaw City or St. Ignace to Mackinac Island from May through October every year. The Island is an interesting place. It’s different, and not just because of the boat ride required to get there. Visitors – up ...

Here’s the latest for golfers who like to travel: The Heather Course at Michigan’s Boyne Highlands Resort hit a milestone when it opened for the season on Friday the 13th. The 2016 campaign will mark the Heather’s 50th anniversary season. The Robert Trent Jones Sr. design was the first course at Boyne. Heather opened for ...

Our latest, extended travels to golf destinations are over now, and they were unprecedented. We were basically on the road for six months – from Oct. 1 to April 10 – and made visits to destinations in Nebraska, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California. Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana. We ...

WINTERGREEN, Virginia – Let there be no mistake about it. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Wintergreen Resort is a destination for skiers – but it’s also quite a bit more than that. Wintergreen also has 45 holes of golf available and, while it’s not unusual for resorts to have both ski slopes and ...

OUTER BANKS, North Carolina – The Outer Banks of North Carolina had been a mystery to us, and apparently we weren’t alone. A golf buddy of mine who lives in North Carolina, who had been there and liked it, told me that “most people in North Carolina don’t know about it.’’ A much bigger portion ...

PINEHURST, North Carolina – Make no mistake. Pinehurst is at the very top of the world’s golf resorts. That hasn’t changed. The nine courses there — coupled with the other amenities provided at its Carolina Hotel, Holly Inn, Manor Inn and related condos — make Pinehurst a very special destination. The term Pinehurst, though, doesn’t ...

SUNSET BEACH, North Carolina – I’m frequently being tipped off about “hidden gem’’ golf courses. They’re in all parts of the country and are said to be great courses that are off the beaten path enough so that many golfers don’t know about them. The last such course brought to my attention was Thistle Golf ...

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina – I love Myrtle Beach. There, I’ve said it again. With 100 courses in a very condensed area, there’s no golf destination quite like it. After about a half dozen visits spread over several years there’s one thing I don’t quite understand about this golf mecca yet, however. None of the professional ...

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina – It’s inevitable, I suppose. Major improvement projects that impact a PGA Tour event will get more attention than ones that don’t. That’s why you can’t downplay all that’s been done at Harbour Town Golf Links. This home base for the RBC Heritage Classic, coming up on April 14-17 – the ...

AMELIA ISLAND, Florida – Located in the northeastern most corner of Florida, Amelia Island isn’t the easiest place to find and it isn’t all that big, either – just 18 square miles. When it comes to golf, however, Amelia Island is clearly in the big time. It has 117 holes, seven of which play along the ...

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida – The World Golf Hall of Fame should be a regular stop for serious golfers. For me it’s been an annual one the last five years. This time there were some notable changes since the winter of 2015. The menu at the delightful Caddie Shack restaurant changed three times (and is about ...

Our road trip ventures resume next week, with five weeks worth of stops at golf destinations in Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia. Before our on-site reports resume, however, here’s an array of things going on at golf facilities around the country. THE KINGSMILL Resort, in Williamsburg, Va., unveiled its own “Best Golf Package Ever,’’ and it ...

WINTER PARK, FLORIDA – A big reason for scheduling a round at Winter Pines Golf Club is that it is – at least arguably – the busiest course in Florida. Given the reported 1,500-plus courses in the Sunshine State – and particularly the array of good ones in the Orlando area – that’s saying ...

OCALA, Florida – The ingenuity of golf course architects never ceases to amaze me, but Tom Lehman – a player first and designer a distant second – has outdone all his architectural counterparts for the time being. Lehman — a two-time major championship winner, former Ryder Cup captain and a regular on the Champions Tour – ...

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – It probably wasn’t a good idea for the operators of St. Lucie Trail and Rio Pinar to have those courses open in the immediate aftermath of the 63rd PGA Merchandise Show. Both had been pelted with two-plus days of rain while the show was in progress at the Orange County Convention ...

LAKE WALES, Florida – I can’t think of a much more pleasant golf experience than playing a Donald Ross course on a crisp, sunny day. That’s what we thought we were doing when we visited Lake Wales Country Club, which is about 40 miles from Orlando. Lake Wales is managed by Chicago-based GolfVisions, and we found ...

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Want to take on a real golf challenge? Try to complete what I’m now declaring the Salamander Slam. The Salamander Golf Collection includes nine courses in Florida plus another in the company’s home base of Middleburg, Va. Sheila C. Johnson — former Chicago resident, University of Illinois alum and founder and chief ...

ST. CLOUD, FLORIDA – The story of the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links started ominously. Its grand opening came two days before the horrendous 9-11 terrorist attack in 2001. The 18-hole course was known as the St. Cloud Golf Club then, and the designer was Chip Powell. That’s where facility’s connection with Illinois ...

HAINES CITY, Florida – Though I’ve belong to a Chicago area private club for about 30 years I still consider myself more of an avid public course player. Wherever I go, I’d rather play a wide variety of courses rather than a select few. When away from Chicago the ideal combination is in an area ...

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Florida – Its name may not suggest that of a full-fledged golf destination, and neither does the town in which it’s located, either. Make no mistake, though. Mission Inn Resort & Club, located in central Florida 35 miles southwest of Orlando, is all you could want in a golf resort. It has two ...

PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA – Black Friday may be the biggest day of the year for shoppers, but it won’t mean as much to the golfers at Innisbrook Resort in this suburb of Tampa. The day after Thanksgiving to them means the re-opening of Innisbrook’s famed Copperhead Course, annual site of the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship. ...

WEST POINT, Mississippi – Right now all that’s in operation is the practice facility – albeit a very nice one – used by the men’s and women’s teams at Mississippi State University. Within a year, though, that will change as this town of about 12,000 residents can boast of having one of the premier golf destinations ...

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana – Given the economic difficulties golf has experienced across the country the last few years, it was refreshing to see what’s been happening in this tourist-driven town just 30 miles over the Texas line in southwestern Louisiana. Lake Charles has almost as many casinos (four) as it has golf courses (six). Two of ...

ISLE OF PALMS, South Carolina – For Wild Dunes it was a long time coming. “It was a long process,’’ said director of golf Jeff Minton. “We’d talked about renovating for about 10 years (Minton himself has been at the resort on the outskirts of Charleston for only eight years), but we finally closed the ...

SANTEE, South Carolina – Sure, South Carolina is one of the best states in the U.S. for golf. Myrtle Beach might well be the best single city in America for golfers, given the number and variety of its courses. The Kiawah Resort in Charleston is world famous, with its Ocean Course a popular site for ...

CARLSBAD, California – Little-promoted fact: one of golf’s iconic tournament venues celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015. La Costa, the Southern California site for 35 PGA Tour events and two LPGA tourneys, reached that milestone with the admitted realization that “things ain’t what these used to be.’’ The Mercedes Championship, also known as the Tournament of Champions, ...

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

CARMEL, Calif. – This was going to be just a short trip triggered by a relatively new development in a legendary golf area with, perhaps, a little nostalgia mixed in. Instead it turned out a lot more than that. The Pebble Beach-Carmel area is well known in golf circles. Pebble Beach Golf Links may be ...

BANDON, Oregon – There’s definitely a lot to say about Bandon Dunes, the very unique multi-course facility on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. In short, though, it has most everything. There’s four quality walking-only 18-holers, a 55-acre practice range, the 100,000-square foot Punchbowl putting course, a 13-hole par-3 layout called Bandon Preserve that ...

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – At the start of 2015 Chambers Bay was viewed as an exciting new venue for June’s U.S. Open. Four months after Jordan Spieth’s victory in one of the most dramatic finishes to that championship the course is viewed differently. Now, four months later, it still has the historical benefits from being a ...

BOZEMAN, Montana — Based on our driving the last two days Montana is the most beautiful state in the U.S. and its town of Bozeman merits a more long-term stay ASAP. We took a side trip there to check out Big Sky Resort, even though we were aware its golf course had closed for ...

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — The Floating Green is a gimmicky thing, but it brought the desired attention to Lake Coeur d’Alene Resort. It was envisioned by Duane Hagadone in 1991, when the first ball was struck toward this movable putting surface. The 6,803-yard course was designed by Scott Miller but No. 14 is the hole that ...

VALENTINE, Neb. – The first thing you notice as you approach the Prairie Club in the sandhills of Nebraska is what’s not there. You cruise through the “big’’ town of Valentine (population 2,830) and 17 miles later you see the first indication that a big-time golf resort is nearby. It’s just a small sign saying ...

NIOBRARA, Neb. – Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen much anymore. New courses are rare, and most of those are created as renovations. They’re not really built from scratch; they’re built over existing golf courses. It’s great that there are more renovations now than there were the last few, economically difficult, years. Some are good-looking courses, ...

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

ROME, Wis. – Given the popularity of Bandon Dunes, Mike Keiser’s venture into Oregon, it was inevitable that golfers would be closely watching the progress at Sand Valley in this somewhat remote corner of Wisconsin. I know. I was one of them. Now I’ve visited the place, a much-anticipated stop before the PGA Championship at ...

From the beginning the building of Harbor Shores was a feel-good thing. Creating a beautiful, upscale golf destination could only be an enhancement for an economically depressed area in southwestern Michigan. Well, the building of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbor Shores course wasn’t all that long ago – it opened in 2010 – but the ...

BRANSON, Mo. – Golf isn’t the main attraction in Branson, this rocking town of about 10,000 in southern Missouri. It has a wide range of entertainment options. Golf is just one of them. Plenty of links-related things have been happening in Branson, however, with most of them tied in some way to Johnny Morris – ...

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

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

THOMPSONVILLE, Mich. – Crystal Mountain Resort started as a community ski area in 1956. Golf didn’t come until 1977 when one of the owners, Bob Meyer, designed the first nine holes of what is now the Benzie Valley course. That course became an 18-holer a year later, and Bill Newcomb, a well-established Midwest course designer from ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Golf trails are nothing new. Courses and clubs have formed marketing partnerships for years with varying degrees of impact. In the United States alone there are at least 50 trails. Texas has five separate of them. Colorado Golf Trails is one marketing entity, but it promotes 10 different trails within that state, and some ...

Given the brutal winter of 2014, no doubt plenty of Chicago golfers will want out in search of warmer climates within the next few months. Many will likely head for Arizona. After all, in addition to the sunshine there are lots of good courses in that state and – for another diversion – the ...

PINEHURST, N.C. – Sometimes even big events can get lost in the shuffle. That’s certainly what happened when the Pinehurst resort added a Jack Nicklaus design to its portfolio. Adding a Nicklaus course is a big deal anywhere golf is played, but Pinehurst’s acquisition announcement wasn’t greeted with much fanfare — and for good reason. ...

ORLANDO, FL. – Roy Schindele, director of sales and marketing for Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge, stresses one thing before taking you on a tour of the facilities. “This is not a resort. It’s a country club,’’ said Schindele, and that’s an important distinction to make from the outset if you’re lucky ...

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Now I know why so many golfers call Hilton Head their favorite get-away destination. It could easily become mine, as well. Prior to the early 1960s Hilton Head was basically a stop for hunters and fishermen. Then, in 1962, the Ocean Course was built at the Sea Pines Resort. That ...

KESWICK, Va. – Pete Dye is in his late eighties now, but the most innovative golf course architect of this generation shows no signs of slowing down. His latest creation, Full Cry, is proof of that. Full Cry opened informally in September at the Keswick Golf Club with the formal opening on Oct. 10. It’s ...

HOT SPRINGS, Va. – I don’t think I’ve ever been to a place quite like The Homestead. This resort – officially The Omni Homestead since July of 2013 — is about so much more than golf. Located just 39 miles over windy two-lane roads from the West Virginia state line, The Homestead also offers ...

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – Setting foot on the grounds of America’s first golf course took awhile – four years to be exact. Finally, though, it happened. That’s the good news. The unfortunate part is that Oakhurst Links, saved by a purchase by Jim Justice, owner of the Greenbrier Resort, was closed for the ...

CULVER, Ind. – Mission accomplished. It took four years, but my attempt to play all seven courses on Indiana’s Pete Dye Golf Trail ended with a bang on a cold but sunny November afternoon – a most pleasant way to finish a most pleasant golf odyssey. While Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is the most ...

CHASKA, Minn. – In just a couple years a golf club that is just 52 years old will become only the second in history to host all of the top six championships played on American soil. Hazeltine National, which opened in 1962, has already hosted the U.S. Open (1970, 1991), the U.S. Women’s Open (1966, ...

When you visit the SentryWorld course in Stevens Point, WI., there’s always the temptation to get overwhelmed by its world-renowned Flower Hole. I’ve seen lots of beautiful golf holes, but No. 16 at SentryWorld remains my choice as the most beautiful. The course opened in 1982 and was recently renovated by Robert Trent Jones Jr. ...

CHOCTAW, MS. – Determining the best golf options in your first visit to an area isn’t easy. We faced that situation in our first-ever visit to the state of Mississippi, and I don’t think we could have made any better selections. The state has less than 200 courses, but the ones we found were ...

When Harbor Shores hosted the Senior PGA Championship in 2012 it had no tournament history. That won’t be the case when the tourney returns to the Jack Nicklaus-designed course in Benton Harbor, Mich., in 2014. The May 22-25 event will mark the tournament’s 75th anniversary. While the Senior PGA is rich in tournament history, ...

PETOSKEY, MI. – Boyne Resorts may be best known for skiing nationwide, but golf has never been just an afterthought. That was clearly evident this season when Boyne undertook two major projects simultaneously on its Michigan courses. The bunkers on The Moor layout at Boyne Highlands Resort underwent an extensive renovation while nearby Crooked Tree ...

GAYLORD, MI. – The northern Michigan community of Gaylord has 17 golf courses, all of them quite good. It’s one of the best places you can go if you’re looking for a golf-getaway destination. I should know. I’ve probably visited the area 10 times over the last two decades. This year, though, there’s something new ...

Bet you never thought of Iowa as a golf destination, did you? Well, maybe you should. At least visits to two courses – Spirit Hollow in Burlington and Amana Colonies Golf Club in Middle Amana — during John Deere Classic week suggested that Iowa has plenty to offer golf-wise. The Amana Colonies layout is the older ...

GREEN LAKE, Wis. — Shame on me. This golf writer of nearly 50 years didn’t know nearly enough about the work of William Langford until playing in last week’s Langford Shield outing at The Links of Lawsonia. The course got its name from the legendary newspaperman Victor Lawson. He was the publisher of ...

BURLINGTON, Iowa –I guess I’ll always be looking for golf’s so-called `hidden gems’ – great courses that are off the beaten path. Too often, though, I find that these courses are more hidden than they are gems. That’s not true when it comes to Spirit Hollow, though. This is a true hidden gem ...

KOHLER, Wis. – What’s been going on in golf in Wisconsin is astonishing. Another PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup coming to Whistling Straits. A U.S. Open on its way to Erin Hills. A Robert Trent Jones renovation of the famous Flower Hole at Sentry World. A new Mike Keiser resort, Sand Valley, ...

AUGUSTA, MI. – When you put Augusta and golf together you think of April, azaleas and the Masters tournament, right? Well, that’d be understandable. Not all the great Augusta golf is played in Georgia, though. Check out Augusta, Michigan. Golf is pretty good there, too. This little town (population of only about 1,000) in southwest Michigan is ...

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. 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 ...

By Len Ziehm 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 ...

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 ...

We Illinois golf fanatics had best disregard the state line boundaries. Our neighbor to the north, Wisconsin, isn’t far away – no matter where you live in Illinois – and that’s where the action is these days. It’d be a shame not to enjoy it to the fullest. For whatever reason, golf progress in Illinois ...

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 ...

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 ...

VALDOSTA, Ga. – Bob Spence is about to hit the 60-year mark as a golf professional. Now his focus is on Kinderlou Forest, a stunning 18-holer just 16 miles from the Florida state line, but Chicago golfers should remember him well. Spence, who turned pro in 1954 – a few months after graduating from high ...

OLD HICKORY, Tenn. – Hermitage, a 36-hole public facility on the outskirts of Nashville, Tenn., isn’t the only club to see a longstanding pro golf tournament leave its premises or disappear altogether. On the PGA Tour, En-Joie Country Club in Endicott, N.Y., hosted the B.C. Open for 34 years – the last in 2005. Warwick Hills, ...

ACME, Mich. – It’s not easy operating a golf resort in Michigan. There’s just so much competition. This golf-rich state has more public courses — over 700 — than any other state. The best ones, though, are able to survive in the long term. Perhaps the best example is Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, ...

HARBOR SPRINGS, Mich. – For 26 years the resorts in Gaylord joined forces in a successful joint promotion under the title of the Gaylord Golf Mecca. Now there’s an even larger joint promotional effort in effect there. Leading resorts in the towns of Traverse City, Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Gaylord, Bellaire, Boyne City and Thompsonville ...

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. – What’s in a name? Plenty, if you’re familiar with Lake Geneva’s biggest golf facility. As Geneva National Golf Club its 54 holes were eye-catching from the outset. So was its stately clubhouse (below), but the golf was the thing. Each 18 is named after its designer – Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino ...

GAYLORD, MI. — Treetops has grown into – arguably at least – Michigan’s most spectacular golf resort and one of its main features is its teaching program. Started in 1990 by Rick Smith and Henry Young, the school thrived as the Rick Smith Golf Academy and Smith became prominent far beyond his home state as ...

ROCK FALLS, IL. — I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for golf history. That explains why it seemed a good idea to stop by what had been Rock River Country Club en route to the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in Silvis, about 40 miles further west. Officially known now as Rock River ...

CENTREVILLE, Mich. — The Scott family’s five 18-hole courses aren’t far from either Island Hills or Yarrow Golf & Conference Resort. All are near the bigger cities of Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, but the facilities are all quite different – in a good way. Between them they make Southwest Michigan a convenient golf getaway ...

HAMMOND, Ind. – The Lost Marsh golf course didn’t exist when I lived in Northwest Indiana from 1967-69 and was just getting serious about golf. What a shame! Back then, while working for the Hammond Times immediately after finishing college, the courses of choice were Wicker Park – it had a player-friendly course, the best ...

ERIN, Wis. – The hoopla was extraordinary when Erin Hills first welcomed golfers in 2006. The very upscale public course on the outskirts of Milwaukee was even awarded a U.S. Golf Assn. national championship (the 2008 U.S.Women’s Amateur Public Links) before its land was even seeded. By 2009 – following an ownership change from creator ...

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Golf course openings are rare in these tough economic times. Three decades ago that wasn’t the case, but none back then were as celebrated as Jack Nicklaus’ The Bear at Grand Traverse Resort. Grand Traverse, then just five years old, took an extraordinary step when The Bear was ready for play. Virtually ...

ROSCOMMON, Mich. – There never was a doubt about the quality of the 18 holes at Forest Dunes. The course has consistently been ranked as the No. 2 public layout in golf-rich Michigan, behind Arcadia Bluffs. A Tom Weiskopf design that opened in 1999, Forest Dunes is –in the words of general manager Todd ...

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Squeezing in a fast nine holes is a good way to break up a long driving trip. It doesn’t cut severely into the mileage covered and certainly is refreshing. On our last winter trip we indulged in that practice twice – and with goals in mind. We’d never played golf in Tennessee ...

GREENVILLE, Ala. – Some things are just meant to be. That seemed to be the case when a chance to play on Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail finally materialized at the end of a 10-week road trip. This travel-writing journey was to finish up with rounds at Sandestin, on the Florida Panhandle, and Preserve, ...

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL. – It can be confusing. The PGA of America has its headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, FL., where PGA National and its five courses are located. The PGA doesn’t own that complex, but it does own PGA Village, an hour or so north of PGA National. PGA Village is much different than National, ...

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL. – The Fazio is the newest course at PGA National Resort & Spa. Playing it was to be the highlight of a four-day stay there, and it was, but for more personal reasons. This site is designed primarily to be informative about the golf destinations we visit, and this report on PGA ...

NAPLES, FL. – Yes, Naples is one of the most beautiful cities in the United States. And, yes, it has one of the best year-around climates. Temperatures were ideal for the entire month we stayed there. This winter hotspot in southwest Florida has plenty to entice you. Good restaurants are in ample supply (though ...

STREAMSONG, FL. – The anticipation surrounding the opening of Streamsong Resort was too great. I had to see it pronto. Eventually I did. Eventually. As it turned out the adventure involved in finding the place was very much part of the excitement surrounding it. Streamsong wasn’t easy to find, but well worth it once we did. While ...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – It’s almost mind-boggling when you think about it. A three-month visitor to this long-time golf hotbed could play a different course every day and would still not have played all the layouts offered. Myrtle Beach, which aptly bills itself as the “Golf Capital of the World,’’ has over 100 courses packed ...

PINEHURST, N.C. – It may seem silly for a golf addict from Chicago to visit the famous Pinehurst Resort – if only for a few days around Christmas – and not hit a shot. That’s what I did at the start of a long winter trip that will include plenty of golf, I guarantee that. A ...

CAMDENTON, Mo. – It’s easy to have warm feelings about Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks region. Mine go back to college days, and that was way too long ago. Not everything in the world is better now than it was back in those more carefree years, but Lake of the Ozarks fits the bill. ...

For years it had been on my bucket list of things to do. I wanted to make a driving trip down Route 66. Upon retirement from my full-time job as a sportswriter I made that trip happen. In June, 2010, the two of us took off on a drive of nearly 6,000 miles, which included ...

GAYLORD, MI. – It has never ceased to amaze me how much better golf is in Michigan than it is in any other state. The season isn’t very long there, but the number of quality public courses is extraordinary. I should know. For over 25 years – starting about the time of the 1985 U.S. Open ...

CHESTERTON, Ind. – Tim Miles Sr. tells me I’ve made golf history. He says I’m the first member of GolfVisions’ Player Pass program to play all of the 16 courses offered in this most innovative program, and I’ll tell you it wasn’t easy. Miles, the GolfVisions president, started the Player Pass program two ...

MOLINE, IL. – For years now I’ve told my golf-media buddies from the Quad Cities that they reside in “the golf capitol of Illinois.’’ They think I’m kidding but, after four decades of covering the PGA Tour stop in that community, I’m not so sure. In fact, I can now say that the area encompassing Moline ...

AUGUSTA, MI. – Michigan-based golf course architect Ray Hearn has made an impact in Chicago with his work at Flossmoor Country Club, one of the area’s top private facilities, as well as at Mistwood in Romeoville, one of the best public courses. If you want to test more of Hearn’s work you don’t have to go ...

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Swan Lake, the Indiana resort that has operated relatively low-key since its opening in 1969, is about to elevate its profile. Located in Plymouth, near the Notre Dame campus, Swan Lake hosted the National Junior College Championships last week and will host that event again in 2014. Of even more note, it’ll ...

JASPER, Ind. – If ever there was a comeback story in the golf business, it’s the one that has unfolded at French Lick Resort — and it continues to get better. This little town in the resort’s namesake in southern Indiana, near Louisville, was the home to one of the most popular retreats in the ...

GALENA, IL. – I’ve always had a warm spot in my heart for the Eagle Ridge Resort. Not only has it been a favorite get-away retreat for about 40 years, it’s also a place where I’ve been on hand for some special events. In 1984 I played in the grand opening outing for Eagle Ridge’s South ...

SYLACAUGA, AL. — The FarmLinks course in this little town about 45 miles from Birmingham already has a big reputation. Golf Digest, Golfweek and the National Golf Foundation have recognized it for one good thing or another. Soon, though, things will be changing. Honours Golf, which managed the facility for 10 years, will be leaving and ...

GULF SHORES, AL. — There is, I believe, a misconception about golf in Alabama. Sure, the creation of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail 20 years ago was a big boost for golf in the state. In fact, it was a marketing breakthrough for the entire golf industry. The Trail has 11 courses covering 468 holes, ...

SARASOTA, FL. — The main goal was to get to know a new area on our first two-month winter odyssey and — of course — that meant getting to know the golf options on Florida’s Gulf coast. We did a good job of both. Between our arrival in Sarasota on Dec. 30 and our departure on ...

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Any devoted golf aficionado should want to visit Oakhurst Links, long billed as the first golf club in the United States. A book — “Oakhurst: The Birth and Rebirth of America’s First Golf Course’’ (by Paula DiPerna and Vikki Keller, Walker and Company, 2002) — was even written about this ...

CARMEL, Ind. — No disrespect to Tom Fazio, Rees Jones, Robert Trent Jones, Jack Nicklaus or any of the other high-quality golf course architects putting their talents on display these days, but — for my money — one stands ahead of the others. Pete Dye is definitely the most innovative and probably the most prolific ...

PINEHURST, N.C. — My frequent golf travels have led me to introduce you to a term you’re certain to hear more about in the next few months and years. It’s called wire-grass, the key ingredient in the recent renovation of North Carolina’s Pinehurst No. 2 — one of the world’s most famous courses, as well ...

IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. — Michigan, as any avid golfer knows, is loaded with great courses. While the golf season isn’t as long as it is in some other warmer weather places, there’s an abundance of daylight in Michigan when its season is in full swing. The problem with Michigan is its abundance of riches. Most any ...

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — There’s still a good two months left in the Chicago golf season but, unfortunately, it won’t be too long until the weather changes. Snow and cold weather always arrive eventually, and then it’ll be time to head to warmer climates. For golf in the winter months that means Florida, California or Arizona. ...

Not that there’s anything wrong with golf courses in the Chicago area, but golf getaways can be fun, too. And, you don’t have to go very far to find great getaway destinations. Our neighboring states of Wisconsin and Indiana have plenty of possibilities. In my book no state in the country has come as far golf-wise ...

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Anything Jack Nicklaus is sure to be good in golf, and The Golf Club at Harbor Shores is no exception. It’ll gain immense exposure in this summer of 2012 as the site of the Senior PGA Championship. It’ll also host that event in 2014. Considering the course didn’t open until July 1, ...

BRANSON, Mo. — The golf is quite good in this lively little town in the southwest corner of Missouri. In just the last few years Branson, with about 6,000 full-time residents, has emerged as a golf destination. There are 13 courses in the general area, and they can accommodate all types of players. Eight of ...

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The World Golf Hall of Fame doesn’t get the media attention that baseball’s Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y., or football’s counterpart in Canton, Ohio, receive — and that’s a shame. It’s well worth a visit and some who were there in its first years will be quite impressed with what they’d see ...