Philadelphia Cricket Club
The tee is mildly elevated. The green is markedly elevated. The 459-yard par 4 is mightily intimidating. The drive must carry a stream about 175 yards out, as well as a long slit of sand edging more than halfway across the fairway from the right. Majestic hardwoods frame the landing area. There is no […]
Journey Golf Course, Pechanga Resort & Casino, California
Combining a great golf resort and wine tasting in California usually meant Napa or Santa Barbara, but since the Journey at Pechanga opened in August, you can add Temecula, located in an inland valley between Los Angeles and San Diego and home to 22 wineries, into the mix. The six-year old Pechanga Resort & Casino is the […]
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 […]
Prairie Dunes Country Club, Kansas
Long before Sand Hills captivated golf purists, this outpost was the paragon of the links game in America’s heartland
Myopia Hunt Club, Massachusetts
Myopia Hunt Club wastes no time displaying its distinct and venerable virtues. A long entryway carries the visitor past Gidney Field, the oldest polo grounds in America, then alongside a private stable and kennel before reaching the front of the club’s elegant, yellow-clapboard clubhouse. There is room to breathe on this property less than […]
Plainfield Country Club, New Jersey
Scotsman Tom Bendelow, whose 1898 layout survives in part at Plainfield Country Club, bore the unfair burden of this dismissive catchphrase supposedly describing his course-design methodology. The Plainfield we’re most familiar with today is a tough-but-fair Donald Ross design, but its link to the pre-Ross era only adds to its historical significance. Most tradition-minded […]
A Round at Oakmont Country Club
Lee Trevino once said that “there’s only one course in the country where you can step out right now and play the U.S. Open, and that’s Oakmont.” He later added that first they had to slow down the greens. You’ll get no disagreement here. I played Oakmont for the first time last August and I felt like I […]
The Crossings at Carlsbad, California
Home to Callaway, TaylorMade, Cobra and the Titleist Performance Institute, Carlsbad is one of the centers for golf in the United States. But despite its prominence in game, the city hasn’t really been a golf destination. The city’s latest course, the Crossings at Carlsbad, hopes to help change that. The 6,835-yard layout, owned by the city, joins two […]
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 […]
Metairie Country Club
The New Orleans of 1922 was booming. Streetcar carryed residents from Uptown, Metairie or Gentilly to the bustling business district by day, and when night fell, to the jazz clubs that would change the country’s music history. Ships entered the ports carrying sailors eager for landfall, and riverboats docked near the French Quarter. Perhaps […]