Southwest Airlines Teams With Adams Golf

Southwest Airlines bills itself as the “Official Airline of Golf Lovers,” a claim it reinforced recently by introducing a series of initiatives for golf lovers.  One of them is forgoing those nasty extra charges for shipping your golf bag (although some restrictions apply). Another is the launch of www.southwest.com/golf, making it the only airline with a dedicated golf landing page. The site features special fares to popular golf destinations, golf vacation packages, the ability to book tee times at more than 5,000 courses nationwide, and the opportunity to purchase golf merchandise and unique golf experiences using Rapid Rewards points.

How golf-friendly is the airline? Check out this short video for some in-flight putting tips....
Southwest also has a partnership with Adams Golf that centers on its sponsorship of Adams PGA Tour staff players who will carry co-branded bags for the rest of the 2013 season.  The bags are designed in the signature blue and red colors of the Southwest aircraft livery.  In celebration of this partnership, Adams launched the Easy Million Rapid Rewards Promotion.  The campaign offers new and current Rapid Rewards Members the chance to win One Million Rapid Rewards points, while also increasing yardage with the latest and greatest Adams equipment.

“Just as Southwest has opened the skies and made air travel accessible to more Customers; Adams has made the game of golf more accessible through their innovative equipment.” said Dave Ridley, Southwest Airlines’ Senior Vice President of Business Development.  “Both companies are about growing their respective markets through easy-to-use products and services, creating a natural tie between the two brands.”

"Adams’ philosophy on creating easy-to-hit golf clubs that promote a fun and friendly experience ties right in with Southwest’s mantra, which has led to a top ten ranking on Fortune’s Most Admired Companies list,” said Scott Blevins, Adams Golf Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Through Easy Million, our new award-winning SUPER product line will deliver One Million yards of distance gains this year, with Southwest commemorating the milestone by rewarding one lucky winner one million Rapid Rewards Points."

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Teeth of the Dog Tops Caribbean Must-Play Lists

Teeth of the Dog Hole #7

If there's a soft, sentimental side to Pete Dye, I'd never seen it until I played Teeth of the Dog, the fabulous headline course at Casa de Campo in La Romana, Dominican Republic. For a guy who is renowned for designing brutal, tricky golf experiences, Dye gave the average player a break when he first laid out the course, which opened in 1971. He's tweaked it repeatedly since but Teeth of the Dog still offers regular guys and gals a chance to make a par now and then as long as they don't become besotted by the scenery.

Because views are what Teeth of the Dog offers in glorious profusion. Seven holes play along -- or over -- the sparkling Caribbean Sea, four on the front and three on the back side. The course is not quite as dramatic as Pebble Beach but it's very close. The biggest difference is that Teeth of the Dog has a more intimate relationship with the sea. You play directly over it on several holes and are close enough to bring it into play on more than you may like. You're not separated from the water by a beach either -- it's right there most of the time. When the sea isn't influencing your club selection it's drawing your eye.

Teeth of the Dog Hole #5

The par three fifth hole, one of the most photographed holes in the world, calls for a pinpoint 137-yard pitch over the crashing surf to a tiny seaside green while the longer seventh, 188 yards, presents much the same mix of beauty and terror on the tee. All measurements are from the blue tees, by the way. Holes along the water on the front side are dangerous for those with an over-active draw, while the seaside testers on the back punish the slicer. The wind, of course, beats everybody up all the time.

But the seaside holes aren't the only excellent challenges on the course. Teeth of the Dog provides an excellent mix of par fives that run from 457 to 555 yards, as well as a collection of par fours that bend left and right and stretch as long as 430 yards. There are also a surprising number of elevated greens. The course opens both nines with relatively easy holes, but the Pete Dye we've all come to know and love/hate shows up on the second hole, which has a waste area/lateral hazard that lines the entire left side of the fairway. The 170-yard par three 13th hole is jokingly (or not, depending on where your tee shot ends up) called the hardest par four on the course. It's the only one-shotter that doesn't play along the water but it's surrounded by an immense waste bunker and guarded by massive trees on each side of the green.

Greens are appropriately sized for the length of the shot you need to make coming in to them and contoured enough to make things interesting. Most of them are protected not just by well-placed bunkers but by grass collection areas that perhaps make up-and-downs even more difficult than sand.

Teeth of the Dog Hole #18

The three finishing holes capture the spirit of Teeth of the Dog perfectly. The 181-yard 16th has a green (larger than you think) perched twenty yards above the sea -- a place where aggressive fades will go to die a watery death. The 377-yard 17th is a gentle dogleg that hugs the cliff side in a beautiful risk-and-reward scenario. The closer, a 428-yard par four, plays away from the sea but holds your attention with a deep bunker that cuts the fairway in half right in most player's landing area, a lake that guards the corner of the slight dogleg, and an elevated green that drops off into a score-killing collection area and/or several bunkers.

Teeth of the Dog features five sets of tees ranging from 4779 to 7478. The blues, playing at 6,600 yards, are going to be more than enough for most of us. The course rating from there is 73.2 and the slope 137.

Teeth of the Dog is probably one of the most reasonably priced premier courses in the world, by the way. At $155 to $185 for hotel guests (and $175 to $259 for non-guests), it's a huge bargain. Caddies are required (and who wouldn't want one on a course like this?) and walking is encouraged. Need a swing tuneup while you're there? Casa de Campo is home to the only Jim McLean Golf School in the Caribbean.

But don't take my word for how spectacular Teeth of the Dog really is. You can see the entire course with a new smartphone app that allows users to virtually tour the layout with a moving aerial flyover.
Jointly released by Casa de Campo and Golf Digest/Golf World, the app also features course information, a yardage guide from all tee boxes for each of the 18 holes, tee time availability, tournament and personal scoring, and a photo gallery.  In addition the app provides information about the award-winning resort in the Dominican Republic, weather, a guide outlining things to do in the area, and convenient contact information. The free app is available now and can be downloaded by visiting http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/TOD_teethofthedoggolf/.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Very Ready Golf at Casa de Campo

I just set a new personal golf record. It wasn't a super low score -- although I was quite happy with the number I posted -- nor was it a hole-in-one or double eagle or anything like that. It was an 18-hole round played on a full-length Pete Dye golf course in a foursome in two hours and eighteen minutes.

There weren't any gimmicks or bending of the rules, either. We putted everything out, raked every bunker, repaired every ball mark and divot, and even stopped to take a picture or two along the way plus spent a few minutes interviewing head pro Dave Pfisterer about the course. Most importantly, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had plenty of laughs during the round. By the way, one member of the foursome was a woman, fellow golf writer Alice Scott. Her husband Danny (the other half of "America's Golfing Couple") and freelancer Steve Habel rounded out the group.

The round was played on the Dye Links course at Casa de Campo, a fun companion to the better-known Teeth of the Dog at the fabulous resort in the Dominican Republic. The Links sits just east of its big brother and winds through the interior of the resort. It's not too long, playing 7,003 yards from the tips and 6,624 from the next tees up (the blues, which the guys played), but driving accuracy is paramount since water comes into play on five holes and Dye liberally sprinkled the track with well-placed fairway bunkers. The greens are small and many of them are elevated, so your iron play needs to be in top form, too. The course rating is 68.6 with a 122 slope.

None of us had ever seen the course, but that didn't slow us down. We are all experienced golfers, although not scratch by any means, so we could generally figure out the lines from cues Dye provided in his design. We even hit the ball there most of the time, which helped a lot. We didn't have a caddie so everyone in the group watched the other players' shots to cut down on time spent looking for errant balls. We were the first foursome off the tee, too, so we never had to wait for the group ahead.  But here are the real reasons we played so quickly:

• We played ready golf -- whoever got to the tee first hit away. Same in the fairway.
• We were in carts, but no one sat waiting for another player to hit before being driven to his or her ball. Instead, we tried to stop where both players could walk a few steps to their balls at the same time.
• Nobody in the group had an elaborate pre-shot routine. We didn't rush, but typically the player checked the distance, picked a club, set up alignment, and hit the ball. Very few practice swings were taken.
• Speaking of distance, we didn't waste time looking for sprinkler heads or fiddling with a GPS or laser range finder. We simply used the 100, 150, and 200-yard makers in the middle of the fairway and adjusted accordingly.
• We didn't dally on the greens, either. Whoever got there first putted (if they could without stepping in someone else's line), then putted out if they missed the first one. We read the greens as we walked onto them, then took a quick look from behind the ball. Nobody rushed, but nobody plumb-bobbed, paced off distance, or read the putt from four directions either. There may have been a three-putt, but I don't remember one. I personally putted better than I had in either round on the two days previous.

That's the way golf should be played. Could I have shaved a couple of strokes by taking a little more time? Maybe, but I doubt it. I shot an even 80, which is three strokes under my handicap! How much fun is that?

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Royal Isabela Sets A New Standard

Royal Isabela 12th Hole

Caribbean golf took a giant step forward beyond flat, ho-hum courses with beautiful views but not much challenge when brothers Stanley and Charles Pasarell created the Golf Links at Royal Isabela on Puerto Rico’s northwest coast. Their vision of a daunting links-style course opened in 2011 and is now fully mature and drawing accolades from around the world.

Your round at Royal Isabela takes you over natural dunes, deep canyons, and along breathtaking cliffs above crashing surf. Trade winds shape every shot while native grasses and sod-faced bunkers conspire to push your score over par. Fairways are wide but undulating and the greens are speedy, true, and heavily contoured. It’s a course you’ll want to visit again and again to challenge your game—or perhaps just to experience the natural wonders.

The course stretches over 7,538 yards, par 72, although an optional par 5 can make it play 7,667 yards, par 73. There are six sets of tees. From the blues, it’s a tough but playable 6,675 yards with a course rating/slope of 74.8/144.  It’s sited on 426 acres of ocean-front property that will eventually be home to other courses the brothers have in mind, all part of a larger 1,800 acre community.

You’ll want to rack up as many birdies as you can on the shorter, easier front side because you’ll find opportunities are few and far between on the incoming holes, which play along the ocean edge. The front side plays up and down hills where you’re faced with numerous blind shots and uneven lies. It also ends with an island-green par three that is loads of fun in the wind.

Royal Isabela 17th Hole

Royal Isabela really comes to life on the back nine. The par five tenth hole looks like a pushover birdie, but watch out for the green—it’s narrow and slopes strongly from front to back. Above all, stay out of the bunker left of the green or you’ll be blasting out over a sod face that’s higher than your head. There’s an optional “owner’s hole” you can play instead of (or in addition to) the regular par three eleventh. The bonus hole calls for a 125-yard wedge shot you should start over the ocean and hope the wind brings back to the green. Stanley Pasarell calls it the shortest par five in the world.

Other treats on the back nine include the 354-yard twelfth hole which starts with a knee-knocking drive off a cliff followed by a nearly vertical pitch up to a double green perched on a wind-swept precipice. You’ll see the double green again when you play the fourteenth hole. If Royal Isabela has a signature hole, it’s the par-three seventeenth, which plays from 178 to 200 yards depending on the tee you choose—all carry from one cliff edge to another. The green is steeply sloped right to left toward the ocean and has a difficult back tier just to make things more interesting.

The course was designed on site by the Pasarell brothers with the capable assistance of architect David Pfaff, Pete Dye’s original partner. “My friends and I would come out with some clubs and balls and envision the holes on the undeveloped land,” Stanley Pasarell says. “The land itself shaped the course.” The brothers worked to keep the golf course in harmony with its surroundings, using only native trees and indigenous plants propagated in an on-site nursery from seeds and cuttings gathered on the property. Aside from the greens, every blade of grass on the course is of native origin.

Royal Isabela is a semi-private golf club where guests of the resort are granted temporary membership. Currently, guests stay in expansive one-bedroom casitas with ocean views, private pools, multiple large-screen TVs, and bathrooms bigger than some Manhattan apartments. In addition to golf, Royal Isabela features tennis courts, croquet, pools, hiking, and a secluded beach that’s worth a trip for its own sake. Spa services, water sports, and just about anything else you’d like to do can be arranged by the extremely accommodating concierge.

La Casa from Royal Isabela 18th Fairway

The Restaurant at La Casa features farm-to-table dining, a wood-burning oven, and an excellent wine collection. Chef Jose Carles Fabrregas visits the property’s own River Farm and Organic Gatehouse Garden every day to create the menu, which fuses Puerto Rican and classic European cuisine. The Organic Farm itself is worked in partnership with La Tierra Prometida, a non-profit organization that assists homeless disabled men. Sale of the farm’s produce to other local restaurants supports transitional housing, food, and social services to the organization’s clients.

Royal Isabela is located about 90 minutes from San Juan International Airport or ten minutes from Aguadilla International Airport. Casita rates range from $609 to $1199, depending on season, and include breakfast and golf for two each day.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

It's Old Palm For The Good Golf Life

The neighbors you meet at Old Palm Golf Club fully live the golf life so many of us can only dream about. The ultra-luxurious gated community in Palm Beach Gardens has drawn top PGA stars like Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, and Charl Schwartzel with a combination of custom homes ranging from $1.2 to $15 million, amenities like a full fitness center, spa, and concierge service, and a fine golf course coupled with one of the best practice facilities anywhere.

"Living at Old Palm has been a wonderful experience and not just because of its exceptional golf facilities," says 2011 Masters Champion Schwartzel. "Old Palm makes for a relaxing lifestyle. It allows for privacy when we want it, and when we’re in the Club the members have welcomed us like old friends."

Another neighbor is four-time major winner and Ryder Cup champion Raymond Floyd, who not only designed the Old Palm golf course but lives there as well. He's a regular in the fitness center and at the club's ultra-casual "pub night" in the elegant but relaxed clubhouse lounge. He's a bit more laid back now than he was in his tournament days, although there's still an intense flash in his eyes that match the Leroy Neiman portrait that hangs in the clubhouse.

The golf course Floyd designed takes full advantage of the property's native foliage and rolling topography. Six sets of tees make it playable from 5,218 to 7,401 yards, giving every golfer a challenge suitable to their skills. Fairway landing areas are generous but reward the strategic player who can position the ball off the tee. Greens were rebuilt in 2012 using TifEagle Bermuda grass, which yields a fast and true putting surface.

The front nine is routed through wetlands and savannah while the back, which features tighter fairways and less water, winds through indigenous palm and pine trees. On the front, the 379-yard seventh hole presents excellent risk-and-reward options off the tee. It's a slight dog leg right that can be cut with a 230-yard carry over the bunkers in the curve or played conservatively on the center line. The green on the eleventh hole, a 170-yard par three, has echoes of the sixteenth at Augusta National while the fifteenth, a 150-yard one-shotter, has a VW micro-bus buried in the green to make for some interesting putts.

Home sites are set well back from the playing areas, yet afford fine views of the course--not to mention the lakes and lagoons that wind through the 650-acre property.  Old Palm’s Mediterranean-style clubhouse pampers you with fine and casual dining, resort-style pool, and a luxurious spa and fitness facility. Just steps from the pool and clubhouse, Old Palm’s Casitas are the perfect guest-entertainment venue with charming tropical décor and well-appointed suites.

The 33-acre practice area includes a double-ended range, short-game area, and a golf studio with covered hitting bays and all the electronics anyone could want or use. Three regulation practice holes, a par 3, 4, and 5, wrap around a lake next to the range, making Old Palm the perfect place to hone to game.

Old Palm is close to shopping, dining, entertainment, and beaches. Palm Beach International Airport and North County General Aviation Airport (for private jets) are only minutes away. Old Palm is being developed by Clarion Partners, a leading real estate investment firm with over $25 billion in assets under management.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

St. Andrews Toughens Up

The St. Andrews Links Trust has announced that a number of improvements are planned for the Old Course to help maintain its challenge for the world’s top golfers when they return to play The Open Championship in 2015.

Golf course architect Martin Hawtree was commissioned to find potential changes that would challenge elite players without unduly affecting club and visiting golfers. His other charge was to make sure the revisions were true to the special character of the Old Course.

The work is planned to take place in two phases over this winter and next. The first phase involves work on the 2nd, 7th, 11th and 17th holes. The second phase will take place in winter 2013/14 with work on the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 9th and 15th holes.

Euan Loudon, Chief Executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said, “The Old Course is renowned as one of the great Open venues and its continued prominence on the Open roster is crucially important to the economy and reputation of St Andrews. The Old Course has evolved over time and the Links Trust is delighted to be working with the Championship Committee in order to maintain the challenge of the course for elite tournament players and the thousands of golfers who play here each year.”

Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A, added, “We have considered the challenge presented to the world’s top golfers by each of The Open Championship venues and carried out a program of improvements over the last ten years. While some holes have been lengthened on the Old Course in recent years it has otherwise remained largely unaltered. The Championship Committee felt there was an opportunity to stiffen its defenses in some places to ensure it remains as challenging as ever to the professionals. The proposals from Martin Hawtree should place more of a premium on accuracy and ball control while retaining the spirit and character of the Old Course.”

According to the information released today, here's what's going to happen:

Phase 1

• On the 2nd hole, the two bunkers right and short of the green will be moved closer to the right edge of the green. The ground to the right of the green will also be re-contoured to create more undulations and the width of 3rd tee will be reduced to accommodate this. Two bunkers on the right side of the fairway, near the 3rd Championship tee, will be removed.
• On the 7th, the large depression in the landing area of the fairway will be filled in and a slight mound created. The area to the right of the green will be remodeled to create more undulations.
• On the 11th, the back left portion of the green will be lowered to create more hole location options.
• On the 17th, the Road Bunker will be widened by half a meter at the right hand side and a small portion of the front of the green will be re-contoured to enable it to gather more approach shots landing in that area.

Phase 2

• On the 3rd hole, the first fairway bunker on the right will be removed. A new fairway bunker will be added into the bank on the right hand side about 275 yards from the Championship tee.
• On the 4th, the acute spur formation on the left hand side of the fairway will be reduced and the bunker on the right hand side of the green will be moved closer to its edge. The ground to the back right of the green will be re-contoured.
• On the 6th, the ground to the right of the green will be re-contoured.
• On the 9th, a fairway bunker will be added short and left of the green, about 25 yards to the left and diagonally towards the green from the last bunker on the right of the fairway.       
• On the 15th, the ground to the back right of the green will be re-contoured to create more undulations.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Delightful Tralee By The Sea

The second hole at Tralee. Photo courtesy of the club.

The biggest problem you'll face when playing Tralee is keeping your mind on the game. The Arnold Palmer design in Barrow, County Kerry, Ireland, not only has a succession of excellent holes, but every one of them has a full view of the Atlantic and many have fascinating stories and features to go along with the views. Like the 12th century Norman tower behind the third green and the sandstone boulder between the fourth and fifth fairways allegedly hurled there by Cuchullain, one of the great heroes of Irish mythology, from the top of the Sliabh Mish, the mountain that can be seen to the south. Plus the smugglers' harbor behind the seventh tee box, the shoreline behind the sixteenth green where a ship from the Spanish Armada ran aground in 1588, and the beach along the second hole where scenes for the 1970 epic movie Ryan’s Daughter was filmed.

But pay attention! You're there for golf, right? You won't be disappointed. Tralee presents a fabulous links golf experience. As the club slogan goes, it was created by God and designed by Arnold Palmer. The front nine is fun, the back nine simply spectacular, with a parade of dramatic holes that equal the best you'll find anywhere in the world. In a country noted for great golf, Tralee should be at the top of your must-play list.

The first hole sets the tone as you drive your ball directly toward the ocean. By the time you reach the green 404 yards away, you've seen the water on three sides (although not in play) and tested the stiff Atlantic breezes, the quirky rolling fairways, and navigated around the stone wall that guards the green approach on the left. The course routing continues in that vein. A round at Tralee calls for strength, length, accuracy and touch, not to mention a bit of luck and a sense of humor capable of taking the funny bounces of links golf in stride.

The 12th hole at Tralee. Photo courtesy of the club.

A bit of tactical play comes in handy, too. At the surgical 399-yard eighth hole, for example, most players should leave the driver in the bag and lay up to the mound on the right side of the excruciatingly narrow fairway that drops off the cliffs on the left side. The eleventh hole, a 595-yard uphill par five, is simply brutal, while the twelfth, a 461-yard par four, can only be described as punishing, with a semi-blind drive followed by a a long second shot that must carry a deep gully on the left of the green to give you a chance at par.

The par threes on the back side are particularly exciting. The thirteenth is only 159 yards, but it's all carry to a shallow green and generally plays with a left to right wind that makes club selection and aim a test of nerves. The sixteenth, known as "Shipwreck," plays toward the ocean in a setting as dramatic as you'll find on the Monterey Peninsula. The tee shot must carry 185 yards over a yawning canyon in the dunes and the pin can be as deep as 216 yards onto the two-tiered green.

The finishing hole at Tralee, a 486-yard par five, gives you an excellent chance to close out your round with a birdie, which is always a nice touch. You'll need to be accurate, though, especially off the tee, since there are thirteen bunkers waiting to add a stroke or two.

Tralee plays par 72 at 6,991 yards from the championship tees. It's a good idea to consider playing the forward tees, though, since the golf is just as good and the views are still excellent.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Beat A Path To Ballybunion

The 18th on the Old Course at Ballybunion. Photo courtesy of the club.

There are many old golf courses and more than a few great ones in Ireland, but you can count on one hand the number that are both old and great. The first or second finger on that hand signifies Ballybunion's Old Course, where 120 years of great golf have been played. How great? Tom Watson, winner of five British Opens, called it the best links course in the world.

When you walk out of the modern clubhouse to meet your caddie on the first tee, you're following in the footsteps of nearly every great golfer who ever played on either side of the pond, as well as thousands of devoted duffers from all over the world. The latter group includes countless notables like former President Bill Clinton. His enthusiasm for Ballybunion, not to mention his role in settling the religious strife in Ireland, earned him a statue at the main crossroads in town as well as life membership in the club. Caddies still talk about the drive he supposedly sliced into the cemetery bordering the first hole.

Don't laugh too hard at the man's errant drive, however, until you've successfully hit one to a fairway you can barely see in a 30-mph left-to-right crosswind. That's what you can easily encounter at Ballybunion where, like any great links course, the wind shapes your entire round, pushing the ball wherever it wants in the air and frequently even on the ground. The wind can easily blow a standing ball uphill and caddies develop a particular skill in teeing the ball at a slant to stand up to it.

Wind isn't the only element that can wreck your score at Ballybunion. Missing the fairway can bring on scorecard disaster whether it comes about from an unfortunate gust or shear duffer-ness. Countless pot bunkers await in all the most inconvenient places. Even worse is the marram grass, which is like fescue only meaner since it falls over in the damp air and smothers the unfortunate ProV you just took out of the sleeve and launched into the wind.

Ballybunion's Old Course was thought to be first laid out by a local professional, James McKenna, in 1892. It's been redone, extended, revised, and otherwise tinkered with through the years with the latest design changes overseen by Tom Watson in 1995. Today it plays par 71 at 6,802 yards.

Caddies say the real course begins on the sixth tee since the first five holes are little more than warm ups for the fun the come. The sixth hole is also where the Atlantic comes first into full view. Most golfers would hesitate to dismiss the opening holes as trivial, however. After all, they include a 224-yard par 3 and back-to-back par fives, the second of which, at 560 yards uphill, plays plenty tough.

The eleventh hole, a 473-yard par four, is the signature hole on the Old Course. It plays full along the ocean for both your drive and approach and the elevated green sits nestled against a marram-covered hillside with only a narrow lay-up option 50 yards in front.

While the front side has back-to-back par fives, the second nine has back-to-back par threes. The fourteenth hole is a 133 yard uphill tester with trouble on every side. It's immediately followed by the fifteenth, a 216-yard monster with a 200-yard carry.

16th Hole at Ballybunion's Cashen Course. Photo courtesy of the club.

Ballybunion also boasts a second course, the Cashen, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., that opened in 1984. Depending on your frame of mind, you'll either find the Cashen Course a tremendous challenge or simply impossible. It features tight blind fairways, forced carries off the tee and to the green (sometimes on the same hole), and approaches with no safety zones for cautious players. The Cashen Course is par 72 and only 6,306 yards, but don't be fooled into thinking it an easy walk along the seashore.

The place to stay in Ballybunion is Kilcooly's Country House, a congenial small hotel with character, a fine dining room, and an intimate, well-stocked bar. The place is filled with antiques and tasteful bric-a-brac, but unlike so many old-world hotels, the rooms are spacious and uncluttered. It's worth requesting that your golf packager include Kilcooly's in your itinerary.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf.

Lahinch Epitomizes Great Links

Sixth hole at Lahinch. Photo courtesy of the club.

You'll find every distinguishing feature of great links golf at the Old Course at Lahinch in County Clare, Ireland. Hard, fast greens. Narrow, rumpled fairways. Blind shots. Tangled rough. Wind, rain, intrepid golfers, and goats. Yes, goats. Local lore holds that when you encounter the goats munching their way around the course, you can expect an interlude of bad weather. From my experience, local lore is dead-on.

But it's the links landscape that makes Lahinch one of the world's great golf courses. When Alistair Mackenzie first saw saw it in 1927, he said, "Lahinch will make the finest and most popular course that I, or I believe anyone else, ever constructed." Mackenzie, whose credits include Augusta National, Cypress Point, and Pasatiempo, used the natural features of the wind-swept seaside to shape his holes among the dunes.

The course was originally laid out in 1892 and re-designed by Old Tom Morris in 1894. The present fifth hole, a 154-yard par 3 that plays more like 180 over a dune that blocks all but about 20% of the green, was Old Tom's handiwork. In 1999, Martin Hawtree modernized the course.

From the tips at 6,950 yards and at par 72, Lahinch demands a firm stroke and steady nerves. The heavy, wet wind off the Atlantic affects every single shot, including your putts. You play the wind from every angle, too, since Mackenzie routed the holes so that six play into it, six play with it, and six play across. But you play the landscape as well. Fairways can be as narrow as 20 yards and thread their way through dunes covered by knotty rough. The heavily contoured greens look slow but they roll fast and are guarded by numerous deep bunkers.

The fairway on the fourth hole at Lahinch. Photo courtesy of the club.

Blind shots add to the fun. The fourth hole, for example, is a simple 475-yard par five. It plays straight away downwind, too, which should mean a birdie fest. But forty-foot-tall Klondyke Hill stands in the middle of the fairway about 300 yards from the tee, blocking all views of the fairway and green beyond. It blocks the hole so completely that a club employee is stationed atop it to let you know when it's safe to hit over. Your strategy? Hit your blind second shot over the white rock on top of the hill and trust it.

The par fours make Lahinch. Eight of them are over 400 yards and none are automatic pars. Even the uniquely short 279-yard thirteenth hole can give you fits. It's eminently drive-able, but be sure to hit the green or you'll be left with an impossible up and down. It is followed by two monsters, the 461-yard fourteenth with its deadly mounds blocking the approach to the green and the 460-yard fifteenth hole, where bunkers off the tee and near the green challenge long hitters.

A good second round (or a first if you're looking for an easier warm-up) is the Castle Course at Lahinch, which plays a little shorter through less hilly terrain, but still requires precision shot making due to several water features. It's par 69 at 5,488 yards.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Ballyowen Lends A Celtic Flair To New Jersey

photo courtesy of the course

Ballyowen is the crown jewel of the Crystal Springs Resort collection of seven golf courses in the New Jersey highlands. The links-style design by Roger Rulewich has won accolades from Golfweek and many other publications, all well-deserved. You may argue whether it's like playing a links course (it's not), but you can't disagree with the simple fact that Ballyowen is an excellent test of your golf game.

The course sprawls over 250 acres atop a plateau surrounded by rolling farmland and craggy knolls giving it a wide-open, wind-swept feel. It is virtually treeless and fairways are defined by yellow fescue and other native grasses that literally eat errant shots, further giving the course a Celtic feel. Both greens and fairways are generally wide and welcoming, however, so well-played shots are rewarded. Just don't expect much links-like roll from the lush fairways.

Ballyowen measures 6,508 from the gold tees, which is as far back as all but the pros should play. With a 71.5 rating and 130 slope, the gold tees provide plenty of challenge. There are five sets of tees in total, ranging from 7,094 to 4,903 yards.

Birdie opportunities abound for the player who can keep their ball out of the gnarly rough and put it in the right place on the sprawling greens. Only two of the par fours are over 400 yards, two of the par fives are under 500 yards, and the longest par three is 180. It's the accuracy of your approach shots that will make the difference on even the two short par fours (#2 at 312 yards and #12 at 328) since neither one is drive-able.

The longest par five, the third hole clocking in at 546 yards, is a fascinating three-shot test, playing uphill on the approach and generally into the wind. The fairway is serpentine with bunkers guarding every turn and impossible rough lurking not far off the line. Aim right off the tee to bring the landing area for your second shot into view. A massive bunker--nearly fifty yards long--splits the fairway directly in front of the green, so make the right strategic choice on your second shot to set up your third.

The sixth hole, a 174-yard par three, is a card-wrecker that comes early in the round. The tee shot is all carry over water, which also wraps around the right side of the monstrous green. There's not really any bail-out area, either: the left side of the green is home to a huge bunker. Even if you avoid all the trouble, just landing your ball on the wide but shallow green doesn't guarantee a par since you could easily have a first putt of well over 100 feet.

Speaking of demanding putts, watch out for the the eleventh hole, a seemingly benign 161-yard one-shotter. You absolutely must put your tee shot on the same level as the cup on one of the three severe tiers to avoid a near-certain three jack--or worse.

The Back Nine At Ballyowen. Photo courtesy of the course.

Ballyowen's sixteenth hole brings together all the challenges you've faced so far. At 420 yards, it requires an accurate drive with a forced carry over the fescue to a fairway pinched by two gleaming bunkers on the right. Your second shot will be uphill to a long, narrow green guarded by a false front and yet more bunkers on both sides. The green itself is a roller-coaster ride where double-breakers are normal.

Ballyowen may not play like a links course, but it feels like one. Fairways are surrounded by mounds and hillocks and the big, big greens invite long running chips and pitches. The wide-open layout and views of the golf course around you reminded me of Kingsbarns Golf Links southeast of St. Andrews, where every time you look up after your own shot you can see other golfers in the distance. It's a course well worth the day trip from New York or Westchester or even a golf weekend where you can sample some of the other attractions--including the six other courses--within the Crystal Springs community.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

A Perfect Golf Weekend? Try Half Moon Bay

The Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay epitomizes the perfect golf weekend destination. Just 30 minutes from San Francisco International Airport, the resort offers accommodations at a fabulous Ritz hotel, two very entertaining golf courses, and guest pampering that won't stop.

Golf is the heart of the resort and two excellent and completely different golf experiences are available to both resort guests and daily fee players. The Old Course, a traditional parkland-style track that opened in 1973, was designed by Arnold Palmer and Francis Duane. Its18th hole along the ocean has been ranked among the 100 best in America. The Ocean Course was designed by Arthur Hills to pay homage to Scottish links-style courses. It debuted in 1997 and was remodeled in 2009 to make it play even more true to the style.

18th Hole on the Old Course. Photo courtesy of the resort.

The Old Course stretches 7,001 yards from the tips. The generous fairways and gentle greens are perfect for the resort player who chooses the right tees (the whites are fine at 6,323 yards). The better player will be rewarded by well-placed tee shots and aggressive pin-seeking approaches while the less-than-perfect golfer won't be decimated by a miss or two. The Old Course ends with two thrilling holes on the Pacific, a 167-yard one-shotter that plays dead into the prevailing wind followed by a risk-and-reward 405-yard par four with the ocean on the right and a ravine crossing the fairway smack in the middle of the range of just about everybody's tee shot. A driver should probably be your last choice off the tee on the final hole. The shot into the tiny 18th green is a simple short iron or wedge made a bit more demanding by the audience typically watching from the hotel patio and fire pit adjacent to it.

The Pacific is in view from every hole on the Ocean Course, but is in play (kind of) only on the 184-yard par-three seventeenth hole, where an errant tee shot can easily find the beach at the bottom of the cliffs next to the green. The ocean breezes (or gales), though, shape every shot you make on the 6,854-yard track--especially on the back nine. The course plays much like pure links, with rolling, contoured fairways where odd bounces prevail and approach shots into generous greens demand careful consideration of the humps and bumps of the greenside terrain. Shot values matter more than sheer length and power. The fairways are generous but the rough is mowed short around bunkers to bring the hazards into play on tee shots. Greenside surrounds are cut to “just above green” mowing height to foster ball movement on the ground and native fescue between holes provides you with visual cues about how to direct your shots.

18th Hole on the Ocean Course. Photo courtesy of the resort.

With a little planning, it's easy to play both courses in a day. Just be sure to leave time for a generous lunch break in Mullins Bar & Grill in the clubhouse or in the Conservatory Lounge in the hotel. The sliders of pulled pork cooked for 48 sweet hours deserve your full attention, so allow enough time between rounds to enjoy them.

Other dining options include the nautically-inspired Navio, which serves fine coastal cuisine from a 1,000 sq. ft. display kitchen and ENO, a wine bar that contains over 5,000 bottles of international wines and includes sommelier-selected wine flights. Other resort amenities include a 16,000 sq. ft. Spa and Fitness Center with a unique co-ed Roman mineral bath, an immense patio perched on the cliffs above the beach, and soul-searing views of the Pacific from nearly every room. There also a scenic trail that winds along the cliffs and activities nearby include horseback riding, deep-sea fishing, whale watching, sea kayaking, hiking, biking and antiquing.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Kiawah For Great Golf And Grits

Shrimp ‘n Grits. Even if you don’t want to play one of the most exciting golf courses in the country, bask on a top-ten beach, or luxuriate in a five-star spa, it’s worth the trip to Kiawah Island just to chow down on Shrimp ‘n Grits, a dish you’ll fortunately find on many menus at the resort. I liked it so much I had it for breakfast one day.

The dish is a lot like the entire experience at Kiawah, the oceanfront resort just 21 miles from Charleston, South Carolina. Each mouthful seems to combine the briny breeze off the Atlantic with the nutty grist of the dunes, all smothered with the creamy gravy of Southern hospitality. The resort melds into a 10,000-acre barrier island, home to egrets, loggerhead turtles, and alligators, not to mention ten miles of perfect Atlantic Ocean beach. You can stay at the ultra-luxury 255-room Sanctuary Hotel or rent one of the 600 charming villas and private homes on the island. There are world-class tennis facilities, a nature center with on-staff naturalists, bike rentals, three swimming pool complexes, a 21-acre park, and year-round family activities.

But the prime attraction at Kiawah Island—or at least the reason we went—are the five championship golf courses headlined by Pete Dye’s Ocean Course, once named America’s Toughest Course by Golf Digest, home of the 1991 Ryder Cup, and home of the 2012 PGA Championship. Not to be overlooked are the other four courses at the resort, all creations of the world’s top golf course architects. They are Osprey Point by Tom Fazio, Turtle Point by Jack Nicklaus, Cougar Point by Gary Player, and Oak Point by Clyde Johnston.

Golfers with a sense of history remember very well the “War By The Shore,” the 1991 Ryder Cup that poured gasoline on the spark of rivalry ignited by the European win in 1987 and the jaw-clenching tie of 1989. When the matches came to Kiawah, they took on a death-before-dishonor tone that they’d never really seen before. Corey Pavin and Steve Pate wore combat-style camo hats in their second day match, the fans were beered-up and raucous, the course was windswept and fast, giving the golfers on both sides fits as they tried to navigate the tough layout and hit the tiny target greens. As the final day dawned, the teams were tied. The singles matches went back and forth, with one memorable moment after another including Mark Calcavecchia’s choking finish that culminated in a missed two-foot putt. The Americans won the event on a missed putt, too, this one the last putt of the last hole when Bernhard Langer’s four-footer slid past the cup.

There may not be chants of “USA! USA!” when you play the Ocean Course, but that won’t make it any less thrilling. The 7,296-yard, par 72 layout runs back and forth along the dune line, giving you views of the ocean on practically every hole while forcing you to play the wind differently on each one as well. The course doesn’t play flat like some other tracks in the region, but has many not-so-subtle elevation changes Dye carved into the fairways to add to the fun. Among the stand-out holes is the 543-yard par-five second, a double dog leg that features a cross hazard in the landing area for the second shot, forcing either a heroic effort to carry it or a precise layup to avoid it. It’s followed by the shortest par four on the course, the 390-yard third hole where the green is perched on a natural sand dune that requires a perfect, high, soft approach to hold the green.

The Ocean Course plays progressively harder as you proceed through the round. At the fourteenth hole, the wind is either your best friend or your worst enemy. Your only choice on this 194-yard par three is to hit the green, which is surrounded by a waste area on the left and a steep collection area on the right from which it’s almost impossible to get up and down. The seventeenth hole strikes fear into the heart of every golfer who stands on the tee and tries to muster the strength and courage to carry the water to the green as much as 221 yards away. The average player at the resort loses two balls on this hole—and most play from the forward tee boxes!

Turtle Point, the Jack Nicklaus design that opened in 1981, is almost the opposite style of golf course, although not much less challenging. It’s a low-profile track where fairways and greens blend into the existing landscape without the artificial mounding and radical features that have become so popular elsewhere. At 6,914 yards from the tips and five par fours measuring 420 yards or longer, the course offers a fine test. The 412-yard fifteenth hole, with its tiny green tucked into the dunes, is part of a three-hole oceanfront duo and possibly the hardest hole on the course.

Tom Fazio’s Osprey Point features four large natural lakes, fingers of saltwater marsh, and dense forests of ancient live oaks, palmetto palms, and magnolias. The 6,871-yard, par 72 course has a great mix of golf holes including the 453-yard par-four ninth and two 200-yard-plus par threes, as well as some short par fours that tempt the big hitter to take a trip on the wild side.

Cougar Point, designed by Gary Player, is known for its three-hole stretch through the front nine bordering the tidal marsh and offering panoramic views of the Kiawah River. The countless wading birds, wave-skipping pelicans, and soaring osprey can easily break your concentration on par—in a good way. The 6,861-yard, par 72 course has an excellent finishing stretch that begins with the 542-yard par five fifteenth hole and ends with the dramatic 415-yard eighteenth.

Oak Point lies just outside the Kiawah gate. It’s a more typical parkland course and makes a good break from the on-island courses. It’s not to be taken lightly, either. At 6,701 yards, it’s long enough to keep your attention and tricky enough to put a big number (or two) on your scorecard.

Kiawah Island is one of the country’s prime non-golf vacation destinations, too. Tennis Magazine ranks it among the top tennis resorts in the nation, based on the quality of instruction as well as on the two separate tennis facilities, one with 14 Har-Tru clay courts, two lighted hard courts and a backboard, the other with nine Har-Tru clay courts (one lighted) and three hard courts (one lighted) as well as a zoned practice court with a ball machine and automatic retrieval system. Family activities include swimming, canoeing, kayaking, bicycling, cookouts, oyster roasts, sing-alongs, and nature walks. Staff naturalists conduct marsh creek canoe trips, sea kayaking, birding walks, night beach walks, and bike tours. Guests at Kiawah enjoy a uniquely pristine beach that stretches ten miles along the Atlantic—and 100 yards wide at low tide! Island homes are set back behind the dunes and the Sanctuary Hotel is the only one on the beach, so it’s much like enjoying  your own private beach.

After all the fun and games, you’ll need a place to lay your head, of course. You have two options. First is the Sanctuary, an ultra-luxurious oceanfront resort and spa that opened just seven years ago. Ninety percent of the guest rooms—which are among the largest you’ll find anywhere—have ocean views and all of them have five-fixture bathrooms with walk-in showers and deep soaking tubs. The hotel’s spa has a Five-Star Mobil rating and features 12 treatment rooms, sauna, steam room, and whirlpool as well as a beauty salon and fitness center. Indulge yourself—or a treat a special someone—to a Mint Julep facial, Lowcountry Verbena Body Polish, or a Body Wrapture—a treatment with warm grain- and herb-filled wraps used to induce deep relaxation.  For an additional housing option, you can rent a private home or condo through the Villas at Kiawah Island.

Now, back to the Shrimp ‘n Grits. Kiawah offers an array of dining options—all of which offer more than just my favorite dish. The Ocean Room at the Sanctuary is the resort’s premier restaurant. It specializes in serving local, grass-fed beef, helping to earn it both the Forbes Five-Star and the AAA Five-Diamond awards. Jasmine Porch, the more casual restaurant at the hotel, serves up Lowcountry cuisine in a setting of authentic Charleston brick, oak-planked floors, and a breath-taking view of the Atlantic ocean. Yes, this is the prime destination for Shrimp ‘n Grits, but you can also enjoy She Crab Bisque, house-made charcuterie, and other local specialties. There are also several casual eating spots on and around the property and each of the golf courses offers dining options as well, although some don’t offer dinner. The Atlantic Room at the Ocean Course concentrates on fine local seafood while Tomasso at Turtle Point is an Italian eatery

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Airline Golf Baggage Bugaboo Begone!

Freddie Krueger doesn’t cause nearly as many nightmares as an airline baggage handler when it comes to golf travel. Who hasn’t lost sleep wondering if your favorite driver is going to arrive in one piece? Put these fears to rest with the new BagBoy T-700 travel cover. The weather- and tear-resistant 600D polyester travel cover features a top made of 1.6 inches of high density EPE foam and impact resistant PVC that provides maximum club protection while traveling. The travel cover also has an internal compression strap that secures your golf bag inside and two roomy pockets for clothes and shoes outside. A full wrap-around zipper makes packing and unpacking very easy and in-line skate wheels make it easy to drag around.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Let The Genius Organize Your Golf Trip

A buddy trip can be the greatest golf experience you've ever had--or one of the worst. It's a blast to gang up with eight, twelve, or upteen guys (or gals) intent on playing golf til you drop, washing down some decidedly unhealthy cuisine with vast quantities of dangerous beverages, then getting up at the crack of dawn to do it all again. It's a blast, that is, unless you're the poor sap who has to organize the foursomes, score the tournaments and wagers, manage group expenses, and make sure everybody shows up at the right course at the right time.  Then a buddy trip can be a drag.

That's where GolfTripGenius.com can save your life--or at least your sanity. It's a new set of online software tools that make all that drudgery a heck of a lot easier. Charlie never wants to play with Chester but Bert and Ernie have an on-going grudge match that simply must be scheduled? GolfTripGenius will set up tee sheets to make sure everybody gets to play with everybody else while accommodating all the exceptions. Tired of telling sixteen guys where and when they're supposed to tee off tomorrow? Let GolfTripGenius take care of that chore. Need to track a six-round skins game with twelve players? GolfTripGenius will do it for you--as well as track tournament results for medal play, Stablefords, or even Ryder Cup formats. Get the picture? You will, if you use the trip book feature to create a memento with player bios, course data, photos, scores, and more.

This innovative service will save hours of preparation and remove tons of weight from the shoulders of everyone who puts together buddy trips, including not just individuals but tour operators, resorts, and golf professionals as well.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

There's More To Pinehurst Than No. 2

Photo courtesy of Pinehurst Resort

It’s tempting, but don’t spend all your golf time on No. 2. There are seven other courses at Pinehurst that are well worth exploring. Over 140 pot bunkers will complicate your round on No. 4, a 6,658 par 72 Tom Fazio design that was the site of the 2008 U.S. Amateur. It’s definitely a must-play.  Traditionalists should also play No. 5, designed by Ellis Maples, where you’ll encounter more water than on any other course at the resort. No. 6 was renovated in 2005 with new bunkers and faster greens, making it a real test. Hudson Valley golfers will feel right at home on No. 7, where elevation changes, wetlands, and large, undulating greens add to the challenge designed by Rees Jones. Tom Fazio built many traditional dips and swales around sloping greens to daunt players on the 6,698-yard No. 8, which commemorated Pinehurst’s centennial in 1996.

With so much golf to play and so many other things to do, Pinehurst is a place worth more than a three-day weekend. Available accommodations include the historic Holly, a boutique hotel with charmingly decorated rooms and public areas, the original grand copper-roofed Carolina, the Manor, a sportsman-style lodge, and numerous condominiums to handle groups of all sizes and budgets. Complimentary shuttle service throughout the property is responsive and efficient.

For lunch and/or libations, the Ryder Cup Lounge is hard to beat. Combine a Carolina Peach Tee (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, peach schnapps, and sweet tea) with a Pretzel Panini stacked with chicken breast, bacon, Monterey Jack, and slathered with aioli mayonnaise and you’re set the for the day. For dinner, the best choice is the 1895 Grille at the Holly Hotel, the only Four Diamond restaurant in the area. The lobster mac and cheese with broccolini is not to be missed—it’s the perfect accompaniment to prime filet mignon.

One other thing not to miss at Pinehurst is the extensive display in the Carolina of artifacts and photos chronicling the resort’s history. The team pictures from the 1951 Ryder Cup with Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Burke, Jr., et al is fascinating. The wide-angle shot of Payne Stewart pumping his fist on the 18th green just months before his death will send shivers up your spine. But there are fun displays, too, like the photos of Annie Oakley, who ran the Pinehurst Gun Club from 1910 to 1920 and gave exhibitions at the hotel twice a week. Makes you wonder what kind of golfer she was, doesn’t it?

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Pinehurst No. 2 Returns To Its Roots

When Peter Allen wrote “Everything Old Is New Again,” he could have easily been talking about Pinehurst Resort, where the recent restyling of famed Pinehurst No. 2 has breathed new life into the venerable North Carolina must-visit golf destination. Today, you won’t find men playing golf in ties and top hats, nor many women wearing bustles and shoes with a dozen buttons, but you will be able to play a unique and exciting golf course much the way it was originally envisioned. And the experience will delight you.

Photo courtesy of Pinehurst Resort

You’ll also find an enchanting village with a host of amenities and activities ranging from stellar restaurants to lawn bowling, croquet, and horseback riding, tours of historic homes, and a festival of some sort nearly every weekend. But golf is the main attraction and the Pinehurst Resort is home to not just one course, but eight, each one distinct and providing golf fun for players of every level. If those eight aren’t enough to scratch your golf itch, there are dozens and dozens of other courses within easy driving distance.

The main attraction, though, is Pinehurst No. 2, fabled for turtle-back greens and site of countless championship tournaments including two U.S. Opens (1999 and 2005), the PGA Championship (1936), and the Ryder Cup (1951). Walking the same fairways trod by Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Payne Stewart, and other luminaries of the game adds a whole other dimension to your round on No. 2. In 2014, today’s stars will light up the course as it sets another record, becoming the first venue to host both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open Championships within a week of each other.

The course the pros tackle will be completely different from the one where Payne Stewart punctuated his win of the U.S. Open in 1999 with an iconic fist pump that’s memorialized by a statue overlooking the eighteenth green. Today’s No. 2 has been restored so that it plays the way Donald Ross intended in the mid-1930s. Architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (who also managed the rebuild of Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle), took a long hard look at photographs of the course from that era and discovered that the modern course, with its lush fairways, even lusher Bermuda grass roughs, and sharply-defined bunkers, greens, and tees were nothing like Ross’s original design. The duo kept the routing and the basic green contours, but changed—for the better—just about everything else.

There is no more rough on Pinehurst No. 2, but before you start celebrating, take a close look at what replaced the thirty acres of thick but boring grass off the fairways. Now you’ll find sand, pine needles, hardpan, and hundreds of thousands of wiregrass plants, spikey tufts of toughness that will eat your errant ball and maybe even the club you used to hit it. Bunkers that had been covered by turf over the years were reclaimed while some of the existing ones were tugged further into the fairways to squeeze landing areas and torment those who dare challenge the layout. The characteristic Pinehurst No. 2 greens were restored to profiles that more naturally tie in to the surrounding grades, although they remain distinctly turtle-backed and can be devilishly cruel.

The result: there’s simply more to deal with on every shot.

The course not only plays differently, it looks different, too. The number of sprinkler heads was cut by more than half so that water reaches only the center of the fairways, which in turn blend into the sandy soil the way nature (and Donald Ross) originally intended. Tee areas, fairways, and even the aprons around the green are all mowed to the same height, making for a visually stunning and unique golf experience.

The second hole, which played as the most difficult in the 2005 U.S. Open, represents everything the restoration was meant to accomplish. As a 503-yard par four, it’s obviously long. What’s not so obvious from the tee though, is exactly where you’re supposed to hit the ball: aim straight for the green and you’ll end up in the hardpan or in a clump of wiregrass. And plan your approach carefully, too, since this is the first of the true turtle-backs on the course. More than one golfer has rolled off, chipped over, bounced back over, and more—all before getting a chance to putt.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Crystal Springs Makes Golf More Playable And More Fun

We all know golf needs a shot in the arm, which is why Crystal Springs Resort has stepped up with several initiatives based on the PGA of America's Golf 2.0. The northern New Jersey resort, which features seven golf courses just 60 minutes from New York City, is dedicated to finding ways to bring new and lapsed golfers into the game by offering packages and programs for families as well as players of all ages and skill levels.

For families, Crystal Springs has turned its two nine-hole courses, the regulation-length Cascades and par-3 Minerals, over to junior golfers and their kin. During the week, rounds on the 2,305-yard Minerals Golf Course, which was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., are only $15 per person all day long (slightly higher on weekends and holidays). On the 3,627-yard Cascades, afternoon rounds are as little as $79 for a twosome as long as there’s a junior in the group (rates are valid for 9 or 18 holes). Family golf also includes:

• Special tees and larger cups for young players 
• Four-seater carts 
• TaylorMade clubs available for rent ($1 per child; $15 per adult) 
• Roving golf staff to dispense advice and instruction to kids while they play 
• Kid-friendly menu items, including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the dining cart 
• Children’s golf apparel in the pro shop 
• Parent-Child tournaments (http://www.crystalgolfresort.com/Golf/Events.aspx) 

The resort’s commitment to junior golfers comes naturally, says Art Walton, vice president of golf. “We’re hoping more and more parents will encourage their kids to take up the game and Minerals Golf Course offers an easy environment to accomplish this, without the pressures and restrictions found on some adult-oriented courses.”

In another Golf 2.0-influenced initiative, the resort’s new “Fast Track Golf” program promises golfers will be able to play 18 holes in under four hours with no waiting on the group ahead and getting off the course before noon. “Fast Track” is the result of talking to hundreds of Crystal Springs’ golfers, who expressed overwhelming support for a quicker pace of play. On summer weekends, designated “Fast Track Golf” tee times will be in effect on the 18-hole Wild Turkey and Black Bear courses before 7:30 a.m., and on the 9-hole Cascades course before 10 a.m. “Fast Track Golf” is available both to daily-fee players and resort guests. To keep things moving, golfers taking “Fast Track” tee times agree to:

• Maximum 7 strokes per hole 
• Maximum 3 putts per hole 
• Lost balls must be abandoned after a 60-second search 
• No “honors”—play when ready

“We want our guests to have a great time here,” says Art Walton, Vice President of Golf Operations, “even if that means we actually shorten their time playing golf.”

The resort is doing even more to bring new players into the game. For those not ready to make a big investment in golf, starting in May Crystal Springs is initiating a “Pay Per Hole” program at Cascades Golf Course, charging just $4 per hole played with rental clubs included. And there’s more, including:

• Free golf clinics from the David Leadbetter Golf Academy (Crystal Springs is Leadbetter’s northeast headquarters), held on the newly renovated Leadbetter practice range 
• Use of the resort’s one-of-a-kind natural grass putting course. This massive, 18-hole putting green—home of the annual New Jersey Putting Championship—features multi-tiered greens, rolling terrain, rippling streams, and colorful landscaping. It’s perfect for fun and games or serious practice with the flagstick 
• Coming this summer, the new Skills and Obstacles Challenge 

Purists may shudder at the thought of hearing childish giggles on the green or giving up on a lost ball with less than a full five-minute search while the rest of the course backs up behind you, but I'm delighted to see a facility take these creative steps to keep golf alive. In case you haven't noticed, golf is teetering on the brink--we need more places like Crystal Springs to bring more players into the sport and make it more playable for the rest of us.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

A Better Chance To Play The Old Course

Here's some welcome news from St Andrews. Effective next year, the ballot for tee times on the world famous Old Course will be drawn two days ahead effective in January 2012. The ballot has been drawn one day ahead for many years but St Andrews Links Trust, which manages the seven public courses in the town, is making the change to help players plan their golf more effectively.

On Saturday, January 7, 2012, the ballot will be drawn for Monday, January 9 and will continue to be drawn two days ahead from then onwards.

The 48 hour ballot will dovetail with the one-day ahead booking system on the Castle, Jubilee, Eden and Strathtyrum courses and will enable golfers who have been unsuccessful in the ballot to book an alternative course for the day they want to play. The earlier draw will make it easier for visiting golfers to plan accommodation and travel arrangements and will encourage them to stay longer in St Andrews and play more golf in and around the town.

Euan Loudon, Chief Executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said, “The ballot is designed to ensure that golfers who haven’t been able to book in advance still have a chance to play the Old Course. It has been drawn one day ahead for many years but we conducted an extensive consultation exercise with a range of different stakeholders and the feedback was that people felt drawing it two days ahead would make it much easier for people to plan their golf. We believe the change will help to improve the experience of playing in St Andrews and to ensure that people have more opportunity to book golf on the other courses.”

To enter the ballot requires at least two golfers and they will have to enter their names, home clubs and handicaps by 2pm. The ballot will take place every day of the week with the exception of Friday as there is no play on the Old Course on Sundays. The entries can be made by phone on 01334 466666 or in person at any of the three clubhouses at the Links.

In addition to writing about golf, Dave Donelson distills the experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurs into practical advice for small business owners and managers in the Dynamic Manager's Guides, a series of how-to books about marketing and advertising, sales techniques, motivating personnel, financial management, and business strategy.

Scenic Tour Of Ryder Cup's Celtic Manor 2010 Course

Water is in play on 14 holes on the 2010 Course.

2010 Course 3rd Hole - 189 yards - par 3 - All carry with a deep depression in back to punish long shots.

2010 Course 5th Hole - 457 yards - par 4 - A left-to-right dogleg that requires 300 yards to carry to bunkers on the right.

2010 Course Hole 6 - 452 yards - par 4 - Water and sand threaten wayward shots the entire length of the hole

2010 Course Hole 12 - 458 yards - par 4 - A small green reachable only after crossing water twice

2010 Course Hole 14 - 413 yards - par 4 - A short hole that dares long hitters to challenge the water.

2010 Course Hole 15 - 377 yards - par 4 - The green is driveable with a 270 yard shot threaded through the trees.

Wind in the Usk River Valley will be a factor in the Ryder Cup matches, too.

Dave Donelson, author of The Dynamic Manager's Guide To Advertising