Characters: Bob Ford
Low-key club pro Bob Ford, of Oakmont and Seminole renown, provides a comforting presence to nervous U.S. Open contestants Please welcome, from Oakmont, Pa., Bob Ford. The vaguely familiar, calmly reassuring voice that greets competitors on the first tee at the U.S. Open belongs to respected club professional Bob Ford. In 2017, late in his […]
Open Competitions: Bargain Golf in the UK
Open Competitions are the key to bargain golf in the UK Many American golfers would like to play golf in Scotland but think it’s too darned expensive. Tour operators want thousands of dollars for package tours featuring a half-dozen “trophy” courses and expensive lodging. But what if you could book top-drawer golf courses in Scotland, […]
Modern Classics: Wild Horse
Another beauty in the Nebraska Sandhills, but this one is open to the public—and very affordable It’s unlikely any public golfer hoping to get the most bang from their buck will ever find a better option than Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg, Neb. Okay, the fact it’s in Gothenburg—not the easiest place to reach, […]
Top 10 Lakeside Courses You Can Play
Many course connoisseurs opine that there’s nothing better than oceanside golf. However, there’s plenty to be said for the glories of golf on a lake. Some lakeside golf experiences deliver so much beauty and challenge that they can vie with any of the top-ranked courses set next to oceans, bays, gulfs, or sounds. Based on […]
10 of Oregon’s Top Public Golf Courses Beyond Bandon Dunes
For many golfers outside Oregon, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort isn’t just at the top of the list for great golf in the state—it is the list. But as good as Bandon’s golf offerings are, with all five of its 18-hole courses nationally ranked among public courses by every conceivable publication, there is a wealth of […]
The 10 Most Extraordinary Greens in the U.S.
“Putting greens are to golf courses what faces are to portraits,” said pioneering American architect Charles Blair Macdonald. Indeed, it is the infinite variety of golf’s ultimate targets that makes for endless fascination. “Nothing is more enjoyable than to play to a beautifully designed green,” said Robert Trent Jones, who recognized that shaping, contour, and […]
5 Reasons to Love The Omni Homestead Resort
The culmination of a more than $150-million renovation, along with a centennial milestone, make now the perfect time to visit this historic golf resort For more than two centuries, The Omni Homestead Resort has drawn dignitaries and discerning travelers to the Allegheny Mountains of western Virginia. Nearly two dozen presidents and former presidents have visited […]
Top 20 U.S. Courses for Fall Foliage
When sweater weather arrives in northern climes, the days may grow shorter and the nights longer, but golf’s playing grounds take on a mantle of color that makes playing in autumn a sublime experience. From New England to the Pacific Northwest, with pockets of color extending through mountain regions and as far south as Alabama […]
Top 10 Courses: Portugal
Here’s our list of the top 10 courses across the Atlantic in Portugal 1. MONTE REI (NORTH), Vila Nova de Cacela, Faro At the southern tip of Portugal, this Jack Nicklaus course unfurls between the Serra do Caldeirão mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. Bigness is the keynote: Broad fairways, enormous sculpted bunkers, and raised greens […]
Scotland’s Best Do-or-Die Par Threes
Par threes offer a nice break from golf’s two-shotters and three-shotters, a respite from the lengthier holes that predominate most courses—including those lucky enough to be situated in the Home of Golf. But because so much depends on your tee shot on these holes, your one full swing, they can often be scorecard-wreckers. If your […]
