America's 75 Toughest Golf Courses

What is it about the difficult course that holds so much appeal for many golfers? Is it simply, to borrow George Mallory's overused line about Everest, "because it's there"? Or is there something deeper, maybe even a little darker at work? Do you want to suffer for some reason? Do you "deserve" to be punished? These are questions probably better answered in the company of a professional therapist. But if it's a challenge you're looking for, you've come to the right place. Presenting Golf Digest's list of America's 75 Toughest Golf Courses. Spend some time with our list. Read it, debate it, make plans to play some of these courses if you dare. Just don't come crying to us if they make you feel like quitting the game. 1. The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, S.C.2. Pine Valley...

Read more »

St Andrews Links achieves prestigious GEO Certified™ ecolabel

St Andrews Links has become the first Open Championship venue to achieve the prestigious GEO Certified ecolabel in recognition of its sustainability commitment and achievements. St Andrews Links Trust, which manages the seven courses at the Home of Golf including the Old Course and The Castle Course, has operated a sustainability programme for many years and this approach was described by Mike Wood, the accredited verifier, as being “close to defining an ideal model for sustainable management.” A special plaque was presented to Euan Loudon, Chief Executive of St Andrews Links Trust, by Jonathan Smith, Chief Executive of the Golf Environment Organisation, with George O’Grady, the Chief Executive of The European Tour, and Peter Dawson,...

Read more »

Changes to the Old Course Spark Huge Debate

You probably heard about the changes underway at the Old Course at St. Andrews. What you may not have heard is just how big a flap this has created. Outraged at the idea of tinkering (or is it tampering?) with one of golf's most important shrines, Old Course advocates have mobilized. Someone started a "Stop the Changes to the Home of Golf" petition on Change.org. Likewise, there's now a popular, #SavetheOldCourse thread on Twitter. I don't know if anyone has started an "Occupy St. Andrews" movement, but it can't be far away. Here's the debate in a nutshell, and I'd love to get your thoughts on it: With their eyes on the 2015 Open Championship, the R&A and St. Andrews Links Trust want to, "ensure [the Old Course] remains as challenging as ever to the professionals." So,...

Read more »

2013 CENTRAL OREGON GOLF TRAIL PLAYER’S CARD

Bend, OR - Now available for purchase at the Central Oregon Visitors Association, the 2013 Central Oregon Golf Trail Players Card is back at an even more amazing value with four additional courses. Due to expected high demand and limited supply, customers are urged to act quickly.  Player’s Card holders get one (1) 50% green fee discount at each of the 19 participating courses. The discount is based on the published green fee at the time of play. Use of the Player’s Card is permitted seven (7) days a week including holidays, but limited to tee times after 12:00 p.m. The card provides potential savings of over $600. A portion of the proceeds from the 2013 Player’s Card benefits the Central Oregon Junior Golf Association (COJGA),...

Read more »

Gulf Shores Golf Association Launches New Tee Time Reservation System

(GULF SHORES, Ala.) – Gulf Shores Golf Association – a collection of nine popular, acclaimed courses located within 45 minutes of each other on Alabama’s Gulf Coast – has introduced a new Facebook tee time booking app. The app can be found at the Golf Gulf Shores Facebook page and allows golfers to select tee dates, times and price range. Tee times can also be made on the Golf Gulf Shores website, which features an updated, easily accessible interface, and on the mobile website version at m.golf.gulfshores.com, which features clickable sections for Play, Stay, Dine, Maps, Custom Quote and E-newsletter Signup. In addition, the nine destination partner courses now offer a mobile-enabled booking system from their individual websites. “With...

Read more »

Legacy Golf Club

The 18-hole Legacy course plays 7,233 yards from the longest tees for a par of 72. The course rating is 74.9 and it has a slope rating of 136. Designed by Arthur Hills, the Legacy golf course opened in 1990. Read the full review of the Legacy Golf Club Las Vega...

Read more »

Badlands Golf Club

The Badlands Golf Club course was designed by Johnny Miller, with some help from PGA golf legend, Chi Chi Rodriguez. It’s a beautiful golf course set among some of Nevada’s most amazing desert scenery. It offers an exciting day out for everyone from the novice golfer to the low handicap player. The Badlands Golf Club is also home to one of David Leadbetter’s Golf Academies. Read the full review of the Badlands Golf Clu...

Read more »

Arroyo Golf Club

The Arroyo Golf Club is nestled between the spectacular landscapes of Red Rock Canyon, one of Las Vegas' most famous natural landmarks, and panoramic views of the Las Vegas cityscape. The Arroyo Golf Club course is a blend of innovative design, great natural beauty, stratigic bunkering, dramatic water features and the stark contrast of lush emerald greens against the blinding desert terrain and mountain backdrop. Read the full review of the Arroyo Golf Cours...

Read more »

Aliante Golf Club Course, Las Vegas

The Aliante Golf Club Course plays a testy 7,022 yards from the back tees, and is highlighted by often tortuous bunkering, and trees not considered indigenous to the desert, including pear and purple locust. The bunkers have been strategically placed bunkers to compliment the rocky arroyo that comes into play on 14 of the 18 holes. Read the full review of the Aliente Golf Club Course, Las Vega...

Read more »

Sea Island is nirvana

It’s one of the top golf resorts in the world yet many have not heard of it, Vic Robbie explores the luxurious American hideaway that is Sea Island FINGERS of gold spread out across the 10th fairway at sunset and a piper in full Highland dress silhouetted by the ocean piped out the remains of the day while children gambolled around him.  Inside The Lodge in the convivial ambience of the Oak Room guests recounted their day’s exploits in a buzz of conversation fuelled by bartenders pouring generous measures from an extensive Scotch whisky menu.  As soon as we entered the grounds of the old cotton plantation with its impressive Avenue of Oaks, it was like stepping back in time helped by The Lodge’s exposed beams, hardwood...

Read more »

Ireland's top ten must-play courses

Ireland always has been a leading golfing destination but following the exploits of major winners, Harrington, McDowell, McIlroy and Clarke, it's attracting even more attention. Vic Robbie selects ten of the best SCOTLAND may be the Home of Golf but now Ireland is very much the Home of Champions. It is remarkable that Northern Ireland with a population of only 1.5 million has produced three different winners in the last six majors - Graeme McDowell (2010 US Open), Rory McIlroy (2011 US Open), and this year the 'old man' of the triumvirate at 42, Darren Clarke, adding The Open Championship to the haul. And don't forget, the Republic's Padraig Harrington won a treble of majors (the 2007 and 2008 Open titles and the 2008 US PGA Championship). What's...

Read more »

Golf’s Grand on the Strand

Myrtle Beach is a paradise for golfers where their every whim is catered for. Vic Robbie checks out why this area of South Carolina is often called the seaside capital of golf AS we rode into town there were signs everywhere ‘Welcome, all you shaggers’ which might have been disconcerting for those unacquainted with the American dance that is almost as addictive as golf itself. We had arrived in the middle of the Shagging Festival that attracts more than 70,000 shaggers to the South Carolina town of Myrtle Beach. But shag is not the main four-letter word here – golf rules in this town. You can’t get away from it. If ever there was a destination that caters to a golfer’s every whim it’s the Grand Strand, which stretches 70 miles from...

Read more »

Alabama's hidden gem

Doug Hollandsworth tastes the delights of the Gulf Shores. I HOPE your summer is going great and you have been able to get out and enjoy a family vacation or have gotten to go play a new golf course or stayed at a wonderful new resort. I have been to many great places as part of my wonderful job, but I had never been to the Gulf Coast of Alabama. I recently visited for a few days and found a hidden gem, which is a wonderful vacation spot.  I will be going back again and again now. Alabama's Gulf Coast is the perfect destination for beach, golf and fishing holidays, combining nine signature Gulf Shores golf courses with a broad array of some of the best golf vacation lodging options including everything from resortstyle and national-chain...

Read more »

Scotland on a budget

Scotland is one of golf's leading destinations but it need not be expensive to experience a slice of golfing history. PLAY golf in Scotland and it's an experience that will stay with you all your golfing life. The Home of Golf offers more than 550 courses from prestigious links to surprising gems and traditional island golf. But you don't have to be out of pocket because there are many good value offers available to make the game accessible to all budgets and skills. Here are some great deals and surprising golfing treats to be found the length and breadth of the country. SHETLAND Thanks to its northerly location, Shetland enjoys extensive daylight during the summer months from 5am in the morning until 10pm at night. During...

Read more »

Dubai’s Desert Golf

Dubai has become a major golf destination and Minty Clinch road tests its collection of high calibre courses ‘LET there be Golf’. So said the rulers of Dubai when they decided to reinvent their Emirate, one of seven in the U.A.E, as the centre of the modern universe in the late 1980s. On the face of it, the omens were unpromising. Sand stretched to far horizons, empty camelcoloured sand. Water? You must be joking. Fairways are thirsty beasts, but the sheiks didn’t allow a trifle like that to stand in their way. Instead their minds focused on the gain beyond the pain. Tycoons would bond more seamlessly in shared golfing adversity. High achieving foreign nationals, among them the architects and project managers required to create...

Read more »