FRENCH LICK, Indiana – Last year the long overdue first major championship for senior women golfers was staged on the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort. The second playing of the event, 15 months later, will clearly be bigger and better than the original. The inaugural staging was paired with the Donald Ross Centennial…
Author: lenz
Hanse’s architectural touch is now in full force at Pinehurst
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…
Pinehurst Brewing Company already adds a lot to this golf mecca
Pinehurst Resort has kept up with the times golf-wise since its opening in 1895, and our regular visits over the last 20 years have described the many new things that Pinehurst has contributed to the golf world. It goes far beyond the big tournaments that have been played there. This time, though, our report on…
GOLF/TRAVEL NOTEBOOK: Carolina courses dodged big problems from this hurricane
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…
Big tournaments are a prelude to Eagle Ridge’s 40th anniversary celebration
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…
History-rich Downers Grove, Tam O’Shanter have found ways to survive
The Downers Grove and Tam O’Shanter golf courses, once among the most famous in the United States, aren’t what they used to be. Both, though, are proof of that time-worn adage – “You CAN teach an old dog new tricks.’’ Downers Grove was, back in 1892, the America’s first 18-hole course. It – or at…
Now it’s time to look ahead to big events at Medinah, Whistling Straits
Usually columns for the final issue of a season are used for look-backs at the high (and sometimes – low) points of the goings-on in the previous spring and summer months. This year I’ve coaxed Chicagoland Golf publisher Val Russell into indulging my preference to move in another direction. Rather than looking back at the…
THE GENERAL AT EAGLE RIDGE
Fun Meter score: 8.5 Location: Galena, Ill. Course architect: Roger B. Packard with Andy North Opened: 1997. Par: 72 Yardage/Rating/Slope: Black 6,726/72.8/141; Gold 6,280/70.7/136; White 5,917/69.1/132; Jade 5,240/66.0/125. Saturday morning green fee: $$135 May though September, $115 October to winter closing. Caddie service: No. Walker friendly: No. Fairways: Pennlinks Bentgrass. Greens: Pennlinks Bentgrass. THE REVIEW…
Medinah’s Johns triggered the creation of IPGA’s Birdies for Charity
The Illinois PGA’s Birdies for Charity event is one of those things that was good from the start and keeps getting better. That’ll be underscored again on Sept. 4 when the event is held for the eighth time at River Forest Country Club in Elmhurst. Birdies for Charity involves golf professionals playing 72 holes in…
Mammoth Dunes opening has taken Sand Valley to a new, most fun level
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,…