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…
Travel Destinations
CENTRAL IOWA: Amana Colonies course rekindles good memories
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…
IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Lawsonia may be in Wisconsin, but its roots are in Chicago
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 the Chicago…
IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Iowa’s Spirit Hollow is a true `hidden gem’
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 in an…
Wisconsin’s golf boom really started at Blackwolf Run two decade ago
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, with four…
This is American golf’s `other Augusta’
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…
IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Georgia’s Summer Grove course could be called Jemsek South
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 to…
Women’s events will trigger busiest year for French Lick
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 this little…
IT ZIEHMS TO ME: Kiawah remains in the forefront after landing 2021 PGA
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…
Wisconsin will be where the golf action is this season
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…