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…
Travel Destinations
PINEHURST: Famed resort’s banner year will come in 2014
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….
MISSOURI OZARKS: Old Kinderhook is the place to go
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. It…
DOWN ROUTE 66: Good golf mixes well with all the nostalgia
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…
Michigan’s Mecca had plenty to celebrate at 25th anniversary
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….
My GolfVisions record: 16 courses played in four states
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 years ago…
Quad Cities should be considered as a golf destination spot
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…
Island Hills, Yarrow are good bets for golf trips to Michigan
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…
Indiana’s Swan Lake lands U.S. finals, ING gathering
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…
French Lick’s fourth course, Sultan’s Run, is a keeper
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…