A long time ago I gave up on playing golf on holidays. There’s too many golfers on the course, most of which haven’t played since last Memorial day. Rounds end up taking six hours and I can never use the little coupons I cut out of the Sunday paper. I think I’d much rather spend Memorial Day, hanging out on the back porch with an ice cold Dr. Pepper, trying to figure out why Rasheed Wallace–other than the fact he’s clinically insane–doesn’t post up more. I know most courses make a good buck on Memorial Day weekend, July 4th, etc. ...

The mass-exodus out of Michigan thanks to the auto industry means the hundreds of private clubs are scrambling to fill memberships, leaving members worried about the future of their exclusive playgrounds. To quote Cuba Gooding in Jerry Maguire: “Well boo fu**ing hoo.” Finally, this means some of the state’s most well-kept and historic layouts are opening up to more than those who have 40K to drop on initiation fees. These courses should be open to anyone who appreciates the game’s tradition, regardless of who they know or whether they properly invested in a diversified 401k early in their career. This ...

Damn Chris, you’re a fellow Michigan man, right? You’ve been spending too much time at Bob Evans in the desert without your visor and ’sun’brella. I’m in northern Michigan again and I’ve reaffirmed that THIS is where its at, especially in May. Fine scenery and plenty of options. There’s over 100 courses in the three-county area and you can find anything from $20 clunkers to Mackenzie’s Crystal Downs (tried to talk my way on today, at the least just to take some photos and was kinda told the only way I’m getting on this course is with a rake or ...

I made up my mind that I’d blog tonight— sometime during my morning drive up to Traverse City, MI for my first summer golf trip of 2006. I also decided the topic would be largely based on the solid summer vacation destination of Traverse City, and how it’s striving to prove it’s no second fiddle to Gaylord and Boyne’s golf scene. But this would be a very different entry had my boys lost to Lebron & Co. tonight. My CAPS LOCK would probably have been on the whole time and my scribe would have been largely unlegible because I ate ...

It appears one of the newest big things in golf travel marketing is the “golf trail". It sounds pretty catchy, right? Traveling one small nitch of countryside, playing a series of courses that speak to you like chapters of a book. Maybe the trail charts a designer’s growth from first design to later masterpiece. Then there’s the ad-wizards who look at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama and love the ring to it so much they try to fabricate their own. Arthur Hills is a very capable course designer with a solid reputation nationally, but trying to market 12 ...