Six of the Most Interesting Driving Ranges in Golf
I tend not to hit more than a dozen balls warming up before a round of golf. Like many golfers, I might joke with those next to me that my good shots are limited, so why waste them? But during my travels I’ve come across a number of unique or unusual practice ranges where it’s […]
Gil Hanse’s Architecture 101: Building the Natural
With a routing in place and the best of the natural characteristics maximized, it’s time to start thinking seriously about the placement and character of the golf features. On our projects, my partner Jim Wagner and I always emphasize to our team that we want to “build the natural,” that is, create aspects that appear […]
Classic Courses: California Golf Club of San Francisco
Coming up the entryway into California Golf Club of San Francisco—or, as it’s more commonly called, Cal Club—is a drive back in time. The road winds past the first fairway and up to a grand white clubhouse. There’s a main entrance, but the members know better and walk around to the side and through a […]
Modern Classics: Wade Hampton
On the ever-growing list of courses Tom Fazio has designed, there are only a select few that he calls home. Serving as the summer getaway from his primary residence in South Florida, Wade Hampton Golf Club is one of them. One of the game’s most exclusive enclaves, the club is nestled in the tiny mountain […]
Thousand Greens: Match.com Meets the Top 100
Shinnecock, Winged Foot, Oakmont, Olympic—every serious golfer knows the names, but only a fortunate few have played the courses. In contrast to the UK, where the host sites of the Open Championship extend a warm welcome to visitors, U.S. Open venues and other top American courses are, for the most part, shut tight, exclusive bastions […]
What Golf Resorts Are Doing to Stay Relevant
In case you haven’t noticed, golf resorts are stepping up their game like never before. Putting courses and short courses are all the rage. Developer Mike Keiser is opening a new must-play course on almost an annual basis. And while new course design has taken a back seat, resorts are pumping significant money into restoring, […]
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 […]
A First Look at Hoiana Shores Golf Club
The newest course in the world’s fastest-growing golf market is open for limited preview play, and those lucky enough to get an early look at Vietnam’s Hoiana Shores Golf Club are in for a unique treat. For starters, the Robert Trent Jones Jr. design doesn’t have any flapping flags to help golfers deal with the […]
Golf’s Short Course Craze
By Tony Dear Golf’s short course movement is in full swing. Whether it’s a layout with fewer than 18 holes, or one consisting solely of par threes, truncated golf is appearing with increasing regularity as America discovers how much fun it can be, how great it is for introducing youth to the game, how […]
Dumbarnie Links
On a trip to Scotland last fall I had the opportunity to play a sneak-preview round at Dumbarnie Links. Clive Clark, a member of the 1973 Great Britain and Ireland Ryder Cup team, has taken a relatively undistinguished landscape and created 18 fun, testing, and memorable holes. About nine miles south of St. Andrews on […]
