Columnist: Z Golf Travel
Firestone Exceeds All Expectations
By Fred Altvater Many times, when you are excited about an upcoming event, like visiting a new golf course, the experience does not live up to the hype and we come away disappointed. That will never be the case at Firestone Country Club. Since opening as a private club for Firestone employees and their families […]
Rees Jones Renovates a Family Heirloom — Coral Ridge
By Len Ziehm Robert Trent Jones Sr. was the premier golf course architect of his generation, having designed 450 courses around the world. Both of his sons, Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Rees, became prominent, and prolific, architects, as well. Rees has worked on over 230 courses world-wide, plus he has become known as ‘The Open Doctor.’’ His expertise has been used to prepare seven U.S. Open courses, nine […]
Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex: A Collegiate Classic
By Mike May The men’s and women’s golf teams at Purdue University are blessed with not one, but two nationally respected golf courses, the Ackerman-Allen and the Kampen, at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. “It’s not often that you get to play golf at a university with two of the best courses in the State of Indiana. Not only […]
Early Mornings at the Old Course Have an International Flavor
Kieran Clark, GolfShake The historic town of St Andrews is regarded as the spiritual home of golf. The Old Course has played an unsurpassed influence on the development of the modern game, This unique layout has been honed by nature, as well as, the careful hand of a select few, most notably Old Tom Morris. The R&A […]
North Carolina’s Outer Banks Are Perfect for Golfers & Families
By Len Ziehm Nag’s Head Links opened for play in 1988 on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. More courses followed with, The Sound Links, The Pointe, Currituck, Carolina Club, Kilmarlic, The Pines and Scotch Hall Preserve all added by 2008. Residents and visitors to the area, which divides the Atlantic Ocean from the Currituck Sound, supported […]
Florida Historic Golf Trail’s Memorable Par 3s
By Mike May Named Golden Bell, the par-3 12th is the shortest hole at Augusta National, a mere 155 yards from tee to green. During any given round at the Masters, every player’s score can be greatly impacted by their ability to hit their tee shot over Rae’s Creek and find the 12th green. Tiger Woods will never forget the quadruple bogey he made at No. 12, during the final round on Sunday last month. In honor of the […]
Arthur Hills Golf Trail is UP & Running!
By Len Ziehm Arthur Hills designed more than 200 golf courses and renovated another 150 in his long career as a course architect. Few modern-day architects can match those numbers. Hills, now 90 years old is officially retired and spends most of his time on the east coast of Florida, but his work is […]
Forest Dunes Continues to Expand
By Len Ziehm There was never a doubt that Forest Dunes had one of the very best golf courses in Michigan, if not the entire United States. Tom Weiskopf designed it in 2002 and Golf Digest named it ‘Best New Course’ in the country. No other golf resort can keep up with the expansion Forest Dunes’ owner Lew Thompson, an Arkansas trucking magnate, has engineered over the […]
New Valley Tower & Bar is Open at French Lick Resort
By Len Ziehm Our latest golf travel writing tour took us through several states and ended at one of our favorites stops, the French Lick Resort & Casino in southern Indiana. French Lick was not immune to pandemic restrictions. The hotel and casino were forced to close for a time, but both are now open […]
Don’t Be Afraid to Travel Even Now
The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly changed our golf travel plans in 2020. Our journeys in the past 11 years have ranged from a couple days to over a month, with all of them involving travel by car. We found that golf vacations are very much doable in the Carolinas, just as they were when the […]