Modern Classics: Great Waters
Jack Nicklaus returned to Reynolds Lake Oconee to modernize and renovate his three-decade-old gem Jack Nicklaus has done some great things in the state of Georgia. There are those six green jackets, of course. But Jack also did some pretty fancy tailoring about 100 miles west of Augusta, where he built—and recently renovated—Great Waters at […]
Template Holes: Golf’s Most Mimicked Designs
“But don’t let famed holes…such as the ‘Alps’ of Prestwick and ‘Redan’ of North Berwick, lead you into attempting to reproduce them. In trying to make your course fit certain famous hole treatments, you are certain to be doomed to disappointment.” —DONALD ROSS, Golf Has Never Failed Me Sorry, Don. They didn’t listen. The idea […]
Classic Course: Renegade at Desert Mountain
By James A. Frank In 1987, when Jack Nicklaus opened the Renegade course at Desert Mountain—the first of six he’d eventually build at the luxury community in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert— it truly broke new ground. For along with typical Nicklaus features like mounding-lined fairways and a high degree of difficulty, every hole at Renegade […]
Consummate Cabo
Let me start by giving Cabo the ultimate compliment: I’d go even if there were no golf. I’d go for the resorts, dining, water sports, whale watching and deep-sea fishing, culture and history, nightlife (both touristy and authentic), beaches, and the weather. Especially the weather. Even without clubs, you’ll have a wonderful time. Add golf and Cabo is a […]
Red Ledges: Worth the Wait
They couldn’t have picked a nicer place—or a worse time—to launch a golf community. Red Ledges, located along the back range of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains less than an hour from Salt Lake City and 15 minutes past Park City, began selling real estate around a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course in 2007. Which, if you don’t remember, was just as a […]
Remembering Pete Dye
Pete Dye picked me up at the airport. It was 1988 and I’d flown to Palm Beach to interview him. He told me he’d have a rental car because he and wife Alice were on the road so much they didn’t keep a car at their Florida home, just rented whenever they were there. He’d […]
Reynolds Lake Oconee’s Great Waters Course Gets Renovation
As I listened to Jack Nicklaus describe the renovation of Great Waters at Reynolds Lake Oconee—a course that he originally opened in 1992 and reintroduced last week—it was hard not to think golf’s greatest champion was perhaps describing himself, as well. “Irrigation wears out, bunkers need reworking. It’s just time.” Nicklaus will turn 80 in […]
DLIII Redesigns Plantation Course at Sea Island
For the last 25 years—and largely under the radar—Davis Love III has been designing courses. With brother Mark, the Loves have done quite a bit of renovation work as well as creating some wonderful original layouts, among them Atlantic Dunes on Hilton Head Island, The Dunes Course at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, and the […]
Smooth Sailing: Golf Cruises
A few years ago, my non-golfing wife and I took a golf cruise that started in Lisbon and ended in Barcelona, along the way sailing in the Mediterranean and playing a handful of great courses. While I went around Valderrama, she went on a guided tour of Gibraltar; as the golfers enjoyed El Saler, the […]
Happy Birthday, Tom Watson
I was planning to write about Tom Watson—whose 70th birthday is September 4—even before his announcement during the recent Senior British Open that it would be his last appearance in a major championship. Actually, calling it an “announcement” is wrong: There was no press release, no scheduled event, just Watson mentioning during a TV interview […]
