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 […]
Great Courses of GB&I: Dunbar Golf Club
Scotland’s self-proclaimed “Golf Coast” offers some illustrious options for traveling golfers. But while Muirfield and North Berwick get most of the headlines, nearby Dunbar Golf Club more than holds its own. First laid out in 1856, and later redesigned by Old Tom Morris, Ben Sayers, and James Braid, this seaside East Lothian links regularly hosts Open Championship […]
Cavendish: Hawaii’s Free-to-Play Golf Course
By Erik Matuszewski At the end of a non-descript road in Lanai City, there’s a golf course unlike any other in the heaven-on-earth that is the Hawaiian Islands. The tee boxes and fairways are a bit shaggy. Drainage can be a problem. Worm casings cover many of the greens, and deer hoofprints crisscross […]
First Peek: Rancho San Lucas
By Brian McCallen Showpiece of an 834-acre resort community that bellies up to the Pacific 15 minutes from Cabo San Lucas, the newly opened Greg Norman-designed course at Rancho San Lucas is sure to be hailed as Mexico’s next great venue. Norman throttled back the bulldozers to create a low-profile layout with sweeping ocean […]
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 […]
LINKS Golf Podcast Episode 44: In-Depth on Cabo Golf
Inspired by Senior Editor Jim Frank’s “Consummate Cabo” piece in the Winter 2020 issue of LINKS Magazine, Digital Editor Al Lunsford brings Jim on to discuss golf on the Baja Peninsula in the Season 4 finale of the LINKS Golf Podcast. Jim gives perspective on what makes Cabo a “slam-dunk, bucket-list destination,” why there has […]
Golf’s Greatest Water Hazards
Water hazards come in all shapes, sizes, and salinities, of course. The best are entirely natural, though it would be wrong to suggest man-made water hazards are off the table. As with bunkers, we tend to prefer small and subtle—furtive, inconspicuous creeks that run across or alongside holes without calling much attention to themselves but […]
The U.S. Military is One of the Biggest Golf Course Operators—Here’s Why
Top Gun or Top Flite? You might come across golfers looking for both at Miramar Air Station in San Diego. The MCAS Miramar Memorial Golf Course is among more than 140 courses nationwide and overseas operated by the U.S. Armed Forces, offering a valuable recreational and social outlet for military members and their families. And […]
Jack Nicklaus at 80
Jack Nicklaus is telling stories. He’s seated on a makeshift stage for the reopening of the Great Waters course at Reynolds Lake Oconee, a design he originally built in 1992 in the picturesque, golf-mad community between Atlanta and Augusta. Back then, Nicklaus convinced the ownership that instead of building a string of McMansions along the 90 miles of lakefront, they should take […]
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 […]
