10 Very Expensive Golf Course Memberships
The home hole at the soon-to-be opened Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, New York, is a natural beauty, a par 5 that dips, rolls and rises atop a cliff overlooking Peconic Bay. The target off the tee is a flagpole at the adjacent National Golf Links of America, opened in 1911. The symbolism is not coincidental. Sebonack […]
Naples National Golf Club, Florida
Let’s see. Florida. That should mean loads of mounds, plateau greens tipped toward the line of play to ensure visibility, plenty of palm trees, big frothy bunkers, including two at every green to force the approach shots to carry. Sorry, not here. Naples National starts with the forceful personality of Dr. Charles Benton, a successful […]
Old Memorial Golf Club, Florida
In 1994 Outback Steakhouse founders Chris Sullivan, Bob Basham and Bob Merritt decided to move ahead with their dream of building a national golf club in their hometown of Tampa, Florida. After securing a 312-acre sandy site just 15 minutes from the Tampa airport, Steve Smyers built a course on a pure, undisturbed sanctuary where members and guests can […]
An Understated Classic: Timuquana Country Club
Long before David Duval soldiered to victory in 2001 over the hard-and-fast links of Royal Lytham and St. Annes, his father sagely predicted that son David’s first major title would be a British Open. Formidable on any course, Duval’s length, creativity and steely focus seemed particularly suited to the challenges of links golf. Firm, running […]
World Woods Golf Club, Florida
Less than 10 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, World Woods Golf Club is located in the heart of Florida’s Nature Coast, a bountiful and unique region of Florida that was virtually undiscovered by resort developers and the growing snowbird population. It was a 90-minute drive from the Orlando and Tampa airports, and in […]
Ocean Course at Hammock Beach Resort
Jack Nicklaus may have hailed from landlocked Columbus, Ohio, but his career has been tied to the ocean from the very earliest days. While practicing for the 1961 U.S. Amateur Championship he would go on to win, where Nicklaus first lost his heart to coastal California and the Pebble Beach Golf Links. Later, he […]
The Ultimate Private Club: Cherokee Plantation
I knew I was in a special place my first morning at Cherokee Plantation when a mule-drawn carriage arrived at the front door to carry me to breakfast. For a moment, I felt as if we had been transported back to Victorian England. Or maybe it was Tara. Cherokee may be the most exclusive club in the world. […]
Caledonia Golf and Fish Club, Myrtle Beach
Caledonia Golf and Fish Club in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, evokes one of those enduring layouts that were created at the heyday of golf course architecture in the 1920s. Why shouldn’t it look and play like a work of creative genius? Its designer, Mike Strantz, after all, is doubly skilled as a craftsman of both turf and fine […]
Pine Lakes Country Club, Myrtle Beach
The very first golf resort in Myrtle Beach, Ocean Forest Hotel & Country Club, opened in 1927 right before the Great Depression. On March 12, amidst the greatest economic downturn since then, the club (renamed Pine Lakes in 1944) held its grand reopening following a 20-month, $15 million renovation of its Robert White course and […]
Old Town Club, North Carolina
Unless you happen to live in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina or follow Wake Forest University’s golf program, you’ve probably not heard of the Old Town Club. Quietly traditional down to its very name, this Perry Maxwell design is anonymous to most but revered by all who know it. Among those in the […]
