JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) Division of Tourism announced fiscal year 2005 sales (July 1 2004-June 30 2005) at Mississippi public golf courses increased 48.2 percent over FY 2004.
"Golf travelers are discovering Mississippi offers great golf, great gaming and much more," says D. Craig Ray, MDA Tourism Division Director. "Visitors tell us they love complementing their unique golf experiences in Mississippi with trips to our Vegas-style casino resorts, world-famous music, renowned culinary offerings, Southern hospitality and our history, heritage and architecture."
Attractions contributing to Mississippi's growing popularity as a preferred golf-and-travel destination are:
Great year-round weather and direct flights from major carriers
More than 150 courses offering all price points and design varieties in five distinct regions
New and existing courses designed by top golf course architects that garner national recognition
World-famous cuisine, blues music and luxurious casino resorts offering big-name entertainment
Family-themed attractions of all types
Widespread acclaim from the annual PGA Tour golf tournament held in Jackson
History, heritage and architecture, including Antebellum Era mansions turned award-winning B&B venues.
"Mississippi has worked hard to entice avid golf-and-gaming travelers to visit our great state, because we knew if we got them here once, they would come back," says Tourism Division Director Ray. "The sales increases demonstrate the rising trend of visitors to Mississippi and we hope increasingly more visitors will judge our offerings for themselves."
The state offers five diverse topographical and cultural regions:
The Delta - birthplace of the Blues and comprised of Northwestern flatlands
The Hills - home of gently rolling, Northeastern landscapes
The Pines - located in the Central-East part of the state and blanketed with quiet forests
The Capital/River - with its winding waterways and rich history in the state's Central-Southwest
The Coastal - located in the South and featuring the Gulf of Mexico's sparkling water and beaches
Highly regarded golf-course architects are well-represented in Mississippi, including Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Davis Love III, Jerry Pate, Bob Cupp, Arthur Hills, Hale Irwin and others.
There are numerous award-winning golf courses in Mississippi and the following two are representative of their quality and acclaim:
Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, which will host the U.S.G.A.'s 2006 Women's Mid-Amateur, was the host site of the 1999 U.S. Women's Open won by Julie Inkster and was recently named No. 96 in Golf Digest magazine's "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses"
Dancing Rabbit at Pearl River Resort and Casino in Philadelphia, which boasts two 18-hole championship courses jointly designed by Tom Fazio and Jerry Pate - Azaleas and Oaks - with the Azaleas course being named No. 70 in Golf Digest's "America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses"
Several new golf courses are currently being developed and will open in the near future, including Fallen Oak by Tom Fazio, a stunning track which is owned by the Beau Rivage Casino Resort, and offerings from Arnold Palmer, Jerry Pate and others.
"We're experiencing tremendous golf-tourism growth as people begin to understand the golf-and-gaming destination diamond we are," says Ray. "We have committed the resources necessary to inform the public and invite people to experience Mississippi's great golf and other attractions, and the return on investment continues to grow."
In addition to being annually acclaimed for its great golf courses and other tourism attractions, Mississippi has collected a slew of distinctions recently. For instance, Golf Digest, Golfweek and Golf magazines have previously rated Magnolia Golf Trail courses as some of the best in the South. A collection of 14 premier, critically-acclaimed golf courses designed by many of the game's top architects and launched in 2002, the Magnolia Golf Trail is rapidly gaining recognition as one of the nation's finest and most value-laden golf trails. It conveniently helps visitors book stay-and-play packages. For more information about the trail, visit www.MagnoliaGolfTrail.com .
A free Golf Mississippi Travel Guide and more information about Mississippi golf is available by calling 1-866-801-8551 or visiting www.visitmississippi.org
