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…
Travel Destinations
Jan Stephenson’s new golf course provides a boost for veterans, first responders
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….
Innisbrook re-opens its South Course, completes its four-course greens renovation
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…
Golf shared the spotlight at this Mississippi resort with Capone and Elvis
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…
Texas resort Horseshoe Bay figures to cash in on big-money upgrades
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…
Golf is thriving in Lake Charles — and not just at the casino courses
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…
Opening of Ozarks National takes Branson’s golf boom to a new level
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…
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…
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…