Archives for: May 2009
Palouse Ridge, Coeur d'Alene and Circling Raven make for a dynamic golf combination
Friday May 29, 2009 | 12:29:45 am 218 words, 3967 views
Designed by John Harbottle III, Palouse Ridge Golf Club at Washington State University opened with much fanfare last year, and from what I saw, it deserves it. It seems like every time you get to a tee box, you’re treated to panoramic views of the course and beyond that stretch 50 or 60 miles.
Much of the course plays like a links course, which can make for some very interesting bank shots and strategy. In other words, golfers need to play the slopes around the greens and even off the tee, often coming up short on a hole intentionally trying ...
Coeur d'Alene is much more than a floating golf green
Wednesday May 27, 2009 | 02:19:15 am 224 words, 3812 views
The Coeur d’Alene Golf Resort is known for its island green, but defining this Idaho Panhandle golf course by the famous par-3 14th really does the rest of the course an injustice.
While the floating green, which was tethered to about 179 yards from the back tees today, is a modern marvel, it’s not the best hole on the golf course. Although any green that you have to take a boat ride to (with complimentary hard candy on board) is certainly one you will never forget.
In truth the front nine at the Scott Miller-designed Coeur d’Alene is as good as it ...
Natalie Gulbis says we should stretch before golf, which is good enough for me
Saturday May 23, 2009 | 03:08:41 pm 307 words, 5897 views
Most golfers agree that it’s a good idea to stretch before playing golf, or warming up on the range, but few probably do it. And many of those who do stretch probably aren’t doing it properly.
Well, here’s a little incentive: Natalie Gulbis says you should, and the LPGA’s pin-up girl has endorsed the Golf Stretch Fitness Mat from G2 Fitness.
It’s the only stretch mat specifically designed for golfers. Available for both men and women, the mats depict every important golf stretch directly on its canvas so that you never forget another stretch while warming up. Physician-certified, portable and even eco-friendly, ...
Bring your daddy to Texas' Horseshoe Bay Resort for free golf
Wednesday May 20, 2009 | 10:40:44 251 words, 3751 views
How’s this for a Father’s Day treat? Horseshoe Bay Resort outside of Austin in the Texas Hill Country is offering free golf for dads when they are accompanied by a guest who pays a full green fee on Father’s Day, June 21.
And it’s good on any of the resort’s Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed courses – Apple Rock, Slick Rock and one of the toughest tests in the state, Ram Rock.
You could work this a couple of ways. If you’re a dad, get one of your golfing kids to bring you. Or bring your own dad. Heck, if you ...
Could the timing be right for a golf trip to Mexico?
Monday May 18, 2009 | 11:57:25 pm 260 words, 3505 views
Well, one thing is for sure: Getting a tee time in Mexico shouldn’t be a problem right now, and you might be able to find a few deals if you’re willing to roll the dice a little.
At Las Ventanas in Los Cabos, for example, officials are reducing hotel rates, providing complimentary upgrades and resort credits and basically rolling out the red carpet for tourists who are willing to make the trip. They are also reporting that zero cases of the H1N1 influenza, AKA Swine Flu, have been discovered in the local area, which might mean this is a great time ...
Admission is free to only U.S. British Open qualifier in Texas
Saturday May 16, 2009 | 09:31:37 pm 264 words, 3552 views
If you’re looking to check out some good golf without the crowds or the expense, check this out: Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas, is hosting the International Final Qualifying for the British Open.
The Open IFQ will be on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, right after the PGA Tour’s HP Byron Nelson Championship and three days before the start of the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club. The date and location were chosen to be most convenient for players on the PGA Tour competing in those events.
So if you have the day off and you’re in the Dallas area, ...
On the Audubon Golf Trail in Louisiana: It's a small, small world
Thursday May 14, 2009 | 11:33:51 pm 379 words, 3176 views
I knew I had met Bill Caldwell before, perhaps talked to him on several occasions, but I didn’t want to bring it up until I was sure. As it turned out our paths had crossed many times over the years, and they had crossed again on this night during dinner at Carter Plantation Golf Club.
Finally I realized I had worked with Caldwell years ago on the Rules columns that we ran in PGA Magazine; Caldwell, the longtime pro at Chateau Golf and Country Club in Kenner, La., then remembered a story I had written on PGA couples that included he ...
Along the Audubon Trail -- golf, gator watchin' and Cajun cookin' doing just fine, thank you
Wednesday May 13, 2009 | 12:35:20 am 293 words, 3073 views
NEW ORLEANS – It was rather subdued on a Tuesday night in the French Quarter, but as far as I could tell, it was the Crescent City of Old.
The scars of Katrina are certainly still evident – and will be for many years to come – but as one of our hosts, Eric Kaspar of the Audubon Golf Trail, pointed out, “We’re not underwater anymore.”
Indeed, Tuesday was a great day of golf, gator watching and Cajun food. It started with a round at the Pete Dye-designed TPC Louisiana in Avondale and ended with a great meal at the Gumbo Shop ...
Players Championship: Has Tiger Woods lost his mojo?
Sunday May 10, 2009 | 07:20:48 pm 347 words, 3488 views
At best, Tiger Woods was playing with his “C” game this week at The Players Championship at the TPC at Sawgrass. Nonetheless, somehow it was good enough to get him into the final pairing with Alex Cejka on Sunday.
And when Woods is in the final group, you expect him to make a charge, especially in a big event like The Players, which many players consider a “fifth major.” You always get the feeling that Tiger can turn it on at will.
Guess what? Apparently he can’t. He really isn’t super human.
Today, it was Henrik Stenson who played the Superman role. Starting ...
All massages aren't created equal; some might have a psychic golf connection
Thursday May 7, 2009 | 11:05:01 pm 302 words, 2901 views
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – One of my very favorite aspects of traveling to golf destinations is the spa treatment, which in my case means a massage.
Yesterday, I got one at a place unlike any other – Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E, or Association for Research and Enlightenment, which is located in a big old historical house on 67th Street. If it sounds like there’s a little more too this than a therapeutic massage, you’re right.
Edgar Cayce, if you don’t know, was a pretty famous psychic, among other things. He was able to “enter a self-induced trancelike state that enabled him to ...
With a little luck there was golf to be played in Virginia Beach
Tuesday May 5, 2009 | 10:24:36 pm 233 words, 2766 views
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – When the forecast says “70 percent chance of thunderstorms,” and the Doppler Radar indicates that you’re surrounded by them, you don’t expect to get in much golf, much less 18 holes.
Well, today I got lucky, and I’m glad I did.
We played Virginia Beach National, the former TPC club bought by the city of Virginia Beach. If you didn’t know who designed the course, which hosts the Nationwide Tour’s Virginia Beach Open, you’d be hard-pressed to guess it was Pete Dye. There are no railroad ties, pot bunkers that I remember or anything really super hard about ...
Could John Daly really be turning it around this time?
Sunday May 3, 2009 | 12:17:15 pm 308 words, 3017 views
Drastic times call for drastic measures, and kudos to John Daly, who’s competing on the European PGA Tour right now, for doing something drastic.
The two-time major winner has used a six-month suspension from the PGA Tour to reflect, evaluate and get some good advice.
According to a BBC story, he decided to undergo lap-band surgery earlier this year, and the result has been a loss about 4 stones, down from 20 a few months ago (that’s 56 pounds, down from around 280 pounds, for us Yanks).
“He unveiled his more slim-line shape at this week’s Spanish Open in Girona, showing ...
PGA of America will get another winter golf home
Saturday May 2, 2009 | 10:17:51 pm 306 words, 2592 views
What recession? At least not as far as the PGA of America is concerned.
In fact, the timing couldn’t be more right, officials say, to start construction on another PGA Village, except this one will be outside the country.
Actually, it won’t be that far from the original PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla., which is about 400 miles or so to the northwest of the new one being built on Cat Island in The Bahamas. This week, officials from the PGA of America and The Bahamas held an official groundbreaking.
The new PGA Village The Bahamas will feature a Rees ...
The Accidental Golfer
The Accidental Golfer (AKA Mike Bailey) has spent more than 15 years writing about the game that has brought him unbridled joy and temporary bouts of insanity. Now on staff at WorldGolf.com, Bailey is a former senior editor for PGA Magazine, senior writer for Golfweek's SuperNEWS and Turfnet magazines and past president of the Texas Golf Writers Association. He has covered every facet of golf, including the PGA and LPGA Tours, equipment and course architecture, as well as the bane of his golfing existence: instruction. The last has led to at least 30 different golf swings, which all feel different but appear to his playing companions to be the same.
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