The term “resort course” is often used to describe certain golf courses. But I’m willing to wager that most casual golfers don’t know what the label denotes, aside from “a golf course at a resort.” There’s only part of it. Resort courses – good resort courses – share certain features: wide fairways, visible hazards, minimalContinue reading “Sand Valley’s Mammoth Dunes delivers mammoth fun”
Tag Archives: golf course review
Sedge Valley is Sand Valley’s shortest 18, but not its easiest
In this age of 460cc drivers and 300-yard drives, length is king. In the U.S., most recreational players immediately check the yardage of the back tees on the scorecard to determine a course’s difficulty or even its appeal. This is an amateur mistake, however. Distance and difficulty are certainly correlated, but correlation doesn’t imply causation.Continue reading “Sedge Valley is Sand Valley’s shortest 18, but not its easiest”
Sand Valley anchors the growing Sand Valley Golf Resort
Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have made a handsome career for themselves designing golf courses following a “Minimalist” philosophy. Hand these two artists a topographically interesting and well-drained canvas, and they will deliver a masterpiece. Sand Hills Golf Club in Nebraska, Streamsong Red in Florida, and both Bandon Trails and The Sheep Ranch at BandonContinue reading “Sand Valley anchors the growing Sand Valley Golf Resort”
First stop on the Tennessee Golf Trail: Henry Horton State Park
Henry Hollis Horton was the 36th governor of Tennessee, serving from 1927-1933. Upon his death in 1934, the state procured a portion of his large estate with the intention of preserving it as a state park. The sprawling park opened in 1961, and in 1962 the park’s Buford Ellington Championship Golf Course debuted. The 7,060-yard,Continue reading “First stop on the Tennessee Golf Trail: Henry Horton State Park”
Towhee Club: New owners, new name, new greens, same creek
In 2013, I reviewed King’s Creek Golf Club, located in Spring Hill, TN. The two most memorable aspects of the 2005 Arnold Palmer design were the namesake creek and my first (and still only) hole-in-one. Upon returning to the area in 2026, I discovered that King’s Creek, which had closed several years earlier, was re-openedContinue reading “Towhee Club: New owners, new name, new greens, same creek”
New South Wales Golf Club: Fourth Leg of Dr. MacKenzie’s Grand Slam
Dr. Alister MacKenzie was a civilian surgeon in the British military before turning to golf course architecture. He designed around 50 courses world-wide, with three immediately recognizable to most avid players: Augusta National, Cypress Point, and Royal Melbourne. A strong case can be made that the good doctor’s 1928-vintage New South Wales Golf Club roundsContinue reading “New South Wales Golf Club: Fourth Leg of Dr. MacKenzie’s Grand Slam”
Mizzou’s Gustin Golf Course Surprises at Every Turn
Columbia, Missouri, is known as the location of the state’s flagship public university. And to its faithful fans and alumni, The University of Missouri is known as MIZZOU. During the Tigers’ sold-out SEC football games at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium, you can hear half the avid fans cheering “M-I-Z” and answered by the otherContinue reading “Mizzou’s Gustin Golf Course Surprises at Every Turn”
Dubsdread: Cog Hill #4 is Perennial Top Public Course in Illinois
Since the mid-1990s, golf has witnessed the widespread development of far-flung golf resorts constructed according to a “build it and they will come” philosophy. The idea is that dedicated golfers will travel to the ends of the earth to play great layouts. Today’s golfing public sometimes forgets, however, that the best courses are often withinContinue reading “Dubsdread: Cog Hill #4 is Perennial Top Public Course in Illinois”
The Cullan at Mineral Mound: Gem of the Kentucky State Parks
Long before the land on the shores of Lake Barkley, Kentucky, was a golf course – or even before it was a state park – it was the family farm of Willis B. Machen, grandfather of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. The tempestuous Zelda was a celebrated writer and the wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. OneContinue reading “The Cullan at Mineral Mound: Gem of the Kentucky State Parks”
Sandals Emerald Bay Resort and Golf Course are out of this world
The water around Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas is one of the most recognizable landmarks to astronauts 249 miles overhead. The irradiant blue-green hues are unrivalled elsewhere on the plant, as tides rush in and out through shallow channels between Exuma’s 365 islands and cays. The ocean seems to glow, as if lit fromContinue reading “Sandals Emerald Bay Resort and Golf Course are out of this world”
Midwestern Golf 