New Golf Mecca: Northern Michigan
Forget the doom and gloom. This region hasn’t thrown in the golf towel, choosing instead to invest in the game, add new courses and places to stay, and reach out to
traveling golfers. It’s where to go now.
The Five Toughest Holes at Augusta National
These five holes pack the hardest punch at Augusta National
French Lick & West Baden Resort
French Lick, Indiana, has seen good times and bad. Thanks to a golf and resort revival, the future is bright.
Rosapenna Golf Resort is Expanding
Despite a continued sluggish economy, this club in the west of Ireland is taking bold steps forward
Carne Golf Links Revisited
Despite a continued sluggish economy, this club in the west of Ireland is taking bold steps forward
How to Improve Your Bunker Play
Seve Ballesteros 1988 A common mistake of amateurs in bunkers is getting “ball-bound”—focusing so intently on the ball that they become tense to the point of being unable to swing fluidly. The strategy that best helps me stay loose is to consciously focus and keep my eyes on the point where I want the club […]
My Design at Doonbeg by Greg Norman
The two-time British Open champ didn’t have to do much to the 567-yard 1st at Doonbeg, which is just how he likes it
The Next Great Irish Links
In the way that legendary breaks like “Jaws,” off the north coast of Maui, or “Mavericks,” near San Francisco, are magnets for big-wave surfers, it’s a certain kind of golfer who is attracted to big-dune links courses. They’re hardy and fun-loving, more accepting of quirky design, and, perhaps, a bit more interested in pulling off heroic shots than strictly adhering to a card-and-pencil mentality.
Scotland has its share of big-dune designs—Donald Trump’s new layout in Aberdeen is just the most recent—but the west coast of Ireland is its equal. There’s Lahinch, of course, and bruising Enniscrone, and Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s intense Cashen Course at Ballybunion. But the Big Daddy of them all is Carne, which this past summer opened a new nine that should quickly gain renown as one of the best big-dune circuits in the country.
Trump National Doral, Blue Monster Renovation
Just in time for the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Messrs. Trump and Hanse have unveiled their beefed-up beast of a Blue Course
Where To Play in Florida’s Five ‘Zones’
Let’s play word association. When you hear “Florida golf,” what comes to mind? Cure for cabin fever? If it’s February and you live in Buffalo, absolutely. Courses galore? No question. Florida comfortably leads these United States with more than 1,200 places to play. Water hazards and alligators? Fair enough. Much of Florida is flat and featureless, so when you build a golf course and need to create elevation, you dig holes, fill them with water, and pile the dirt elsewhere. Gators are an indomitable byproduct. Mr. and Mrs. Havercamp? Surely it’s no surprise that, according to the most recent U.S. Census analysis, Florida is the state with the highest percentage (18.2) of residents 65 or older.