By Jerry Potter, USA TODAYThe architect: Rees Jones studied history at Yale, design at Harvard and golf course architecture under his father, the late Robert Trent Jones Sr. He has built a reputation as the "Open Doctor," the architect who takes old courses and rebuilds them for major championships, most famously the U.S. Open. His work will be on display at two majors this year, at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines this week in San Diego and at the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills in Detroit in August. Jones, 66, has built approximately 110 new courses, but it''s the 70 "redos" that have cemented his reputation. By the end of this summer he will have redesigned sites for seven U.S. Opens, six PGA Championships, four Ryder Cups and one Presidents Cup.On the courseKeep reading....
By Jerry Potter, USA TODAY
The architect: Rees Jones studied history at Yale, design at Harvard and golf course architecture under his father, the late Robert Trent Jones Sr. He has built a reputation as the "Open Doctor," the architect who takes old courses and rebuilds them for major championships, most famously the U.S. Open. His work will be on display at two majors this year, at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines this week in San Diego and at the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills in Detroit in August. Jones, 66, has built approximately 110 new courses, but it''s the 70 "redos" that have cemented his reputation. By the end of this summer he will have redesigned sites for seven U.S. Opens, six PGA Championships, four Ryder Cups and one Presidents Cup.On the course
The architect: Rees Jones studied history at Yale, design at Harvard and golf course architecture under his father, the late Robert Trent Jones Sr. He has built a reputation as the "Open Doctor," the architect who takes old courses and rebuilds them for major championships, most famously the U.S. Open. His work will be on display at two majors this year, at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines this week in San Diego and at the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills in Detroit in August. Jones, 66, has built approximately 110 new courses, but it''s the 70 "redos" that have cemented his reputation. By the end of this summer he will have redesigned sites for seven U.S. Opens, six PGA Championships, four Ryder Cups and one Presidents Cup.
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From Economic TimesNEW DELHI: To strengthen its equity in India, the ''Greg Norman'' brand - better known for designing golf courses - is diversifying its activities, which includes developing branded real-estate properties and designing more golf courses, besides entering into wine segment. Great White Shark Enterprises, promoted by golfer Greg Norman, is also expanding the apparels business with plans to open more outlets. Keep reading....
NEW DELHI: To strengthen its equity in India, the ''Greg Norman'' brand - better known for designing golf courses - is diversifying its activities, which includes developing branded real-estate properties and designing more golf courses, besides entering into wine segment. Great White Shark Enterprises, promoted by golfer Greg Norman, is also expanding the apparels business with plans to open more outlets.
From The Golf ChannelBy Brian HewittThe golf course design tandem of Bill Coore and former Masters champion Ben Crenshaw has completed their first work in Florida. Sugarloaf Mountain, near Orlando, is situated in the rolling hills above Lake Apopka and it’s another home run for Crenshaw and Coore who have been in high demand ever since conceiving and building Sand Hills Golf Club in Nebraska.Sugarloaf Mountain, which officially opens for play Friday, is a classic design that plays 7,057 yards from the tips. It is owned by Hampton Golf, whose president is former PGA of America president M.G. Orender.Adjoining residential real estate is planned for the future at Sugarloaf Mountain which will eventually go private. “Not a bad hole out there,” said two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, who recently set the course record of 70 at Sugarloaf Mountain. That mark lasted until Tour pro Garrett Willis carded a 68 just minutes later.Keep reading....
The golf course design tandem of Bill Coore and former Masters champion Ben Crenshaw has completed their first work in Florida. Sugarloaf Mountain, near Orlando, is situated in the rolling hills above Lake Apopka and it’s another home run for Crenshaw and Coore who have been in high demand ever since conceiving and building Sand Hills Golf Club in Nebraska.Sugarloaf Mountain, which officially opens for play Friday, is a classic design that plays 7,057 yards from the tips. It is owned by Hampton Golf, whose president is former PGA of America president M.G. Orender.Adjoining residential real estate is planned for the future at Sugarloaf Mountain which will eventually go private. “Not a bad hole out there,” said two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, who recently set the course record of 70 at Sugarloaf Mountain. That mark lasted until Tour pro Garrett Willis carded a 68 just minutes later.
From The Globe and MailBy Lorne RubensteinThe Canadian Open, first played in 1904, has never been held in Calgary. Given a promising new development, that could change. It should.The new development is, well, a private course that''s part of a development.Johnny Miller, the 1973 U.S. Open and 1976 British Open champion, is collaborating on the course with Calgary resident Stephen Ames. Miller, NBC''s lead golf analyst, never won the Canadian Open. Ames is still trying to win the championship of his adopted country.Keep reading....
The Canadian Open, first played in 1904, has never been held in Calgary. Given a promising new development, that could change. It should.The new development is, well, a private course that''s part of a development.Johnny Miller, the 1973 U.S. Open and 1976 British Open champion, is collaborating on the course with Calgary resident Stephen Ames. Miller, NBC''s lead golf analyst, never won the Canadian Open. Ames is still trying to win the championship of his adopted country.
From Cybergolf.comLongtime friends, golf course architect Steve Smyers and legendary teaching pro David Leadbetter, are teaming up to design a golf course in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, that will combine classic link-style golf with a high dunes and desert setting.Set next to the Persian Gulf 40 miles south of Dubai and anchored by mammoth sand dunes rising 30, 40 and sometimes 50 feet high, Talil Golf Course stands in "a spectacular setting," Smyers said. "The dunes are indicative of the vastness and massive scale of the golf course itself, which is on the order of 350 acres," he added. Keep reading....
Longtime friends, golf course architect Steve Smyers and legendary teaching pro David Leadbetter, are teaming up to design a golf course in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, that will combine classic link-style golf with a high dunes and desert setting.Set next to the Persian Gulf 40 miles south of Dubai and anchored by mammoth sand dunes rising 30, 40 and sometimes 50 feet high, Talil Golf Course stands in "a spectacular setting," Smyers said. "The dunes are indicative of the vastness and massive scale of the golf course itself, which is on the order of 350 acres," he added.
Longtime friends, golf course architect Steve Smyers and legendary teaching pro David Leadbetter, are teaming up to design a golf course in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, that will combine classic link-style golf with a high dunes and desert setting.
Set next to the Persian Gulf 40 miles south of Dubai and anchored by mammoth sand dunes rising 30, 40 and sometimes 50 feet high, Talil Golf Course stands in "a spectacular setting," Smyers said. "The dunes are indicative of the vastness and massive scale of the golf course itself, which is on the order of 350 acres," he added.
From GolfweekBy Bradley KleinIn a year in which major renovations were just as prominent as new-course openings, the country’s most intriguing unveiling might have been a remodeled TPC.No, not the revamped TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium in Ponte Vedra, Fla., where the big architecture story wasn’t the sand-capped fairways and improved irrigation but a new, $32 million Italianate clubhouse. On the PGA Tour, at least, the story of the year was the retro-restyling of the TPC Boston in Norton, Mass., home to the Deutsche Bank Championship.Keep reading....
By Bradley KleinIn a year in which major renovations were just as prominent as new-course openings, the country’s most intriguing unveiling might have been a remodeled TPC.No, not the revamped TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium in Ponte Vedra, Fla., where the big architecture story wasn’t the sand-capped fairways and improved irrigation but a new, $32 million Italianate clubhouse. On the PGA Tour, at least, the story of the year was the retro-restyling of the TPC Boston in Norton, Mass., home to the Deutsche Bank Championship.
From Brian Hewitt, Golf ChannelJohn Sanford is a quietly-rising star in a golf course design field already crowded with architects like Jim Engh, Gil Hanse, Randy Heckenkemper and, most notably, Tom Doak.Their names don’t resonate yet like Nicklaus, Fazio, Dye or the Jones brothers, Rees and Robert Trent Jr. But their work is increasingly fighting its way onto golf’s radar screen in increasingly high profile places.Keep reading....
From Golf365.comSpanning some 212 hectares of prime Cape Winelands real estate near Paarl, Pearl Valley Golf Estate is an exclusive 500-home residential development surrounding a magnificent 18-hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course. With panoramic views of the spectacular mountain ranges and vineyards which in turn surround the entire estate, this outstanding course provides one of the games most memorable South African experiences.Keep reading....
FromGeorge FullerSpecial to CBSSports.comFlorida boasts more than 1,000 golf courses -- more than any other state in the U.S. -- and the southeast coast between Miami and Fort Lauderdale is one of the Sunshine State''s most popular destinations. Two new Raymond Floyd designs at Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club now provide golf enthusiasts even more reason to visit.Combined with a $100 million facelift to the resort''s guestrooms and common areas (completed December 2006), and the addition of two new restaurants -- Cascata Grille and Bourbon Steak (a Michael Mina restaurant akin to the acclaimed chef''s venue of the same name in Detroit) -- and Fairmont Turnberry Isle has evolved into one of the elite luxury golf resorts in the country.Keep reading....
From Jason Sobel, ESPNAnnika Sorenstam has a new job.Sure, she''s still a top-level golfer, but the 10-time major championship winner is also dabbling in course-design work, a role that eluded many of her elite LPGA predecessors. Sorenstam has already completed a course at the massive Mission Hills development in China and has two others in the works -- Patriot''s Point (a redesign in South Carolina) and Euphoria Gold (in South Africa).Consider those just the tip of the iceberg.The Golf Club at Red Mountain in Rossland, British Columbia, will be Annika''s first North American design from scratch; she and fellow architect Thomas McBroom plan to break ground in 2009.The Hot Seat caught up with Sorenstam during a recent walk-through at the site. Q: Other than a few former players, most notably Jan Stephenson and Amy Alcott, women haven''t made a major impact as course designers. Why is that?A: Well, I think that women''s golf is still in a young stage. It''s an old sport, but for women, it''s still very young. It''s not until the last 20 years or maybe even 10 years that professional golfers are getting more recognition and more respect. And I think that''s really where it starts. If they consider women as good golfers, then you have credible names and credible knowledge leads to credible opportunities. Like you said, Jan and Amy are the first few to really get the opportunity, and now I''m getting one, and it''s really a lot of fun. It''s an area women have not really touched, so the opportunities are there.Keep reading....
From LPGA.comROSSLAND, B.C. (Nov. 30, 2007) – Sweden''s national ski coach once asked Annika Sorenstam''s family to move to the northern part of the country so the young Annika could train more. Now a hall-of-fame golfer and emerging businesswoman, she returns to the mountains, setting her latest golf course design at the base of some of the world''s best skiing – giving new meaning to the term slope rating.The site: Red Mountain Resort, one of Western Canada and British Columbia''s oldest ski resorts – and an area that''s also home to world-class mountain biking, hiking and trail running in the non-winter months. To be named The Golf Club at Red Mountain, the 18-hole, 7,071-yard par 71 will break ground in the spring of 2009.Keep reading....
By: Jay Flemma, Cyber GolfIn 2005, Golf Digest''s Ron Whitten famously asked, "Is Tom Fazio good for golf?" But Whitten wasn''t the only one with that question. In his piece Whitten noted, "Golf''s leading designer is beloved by many, yet his courses have lifted expectations - and costs - to troubling levels." He went on to say that Fazio''s strategy-light, budget-bursting designs should not be the enduring standard for golf design into the future. "Hope not," wrote Whitten, "if you''re one who believes that golf should still be a test of thought and skill rather than just a walk on the beach where you never get sand in your shoes."But this year, I began to notice a disturbing pattern" Fazio telling sportswriters and golf course raters to pay less attention to - and indeed deduct points when rating - classic golf strategies that came over from the U.K., for example - and these are his words - "perpendicular hazards."Fazio could not be more horribly, horribly wrong. Perpendicular hazards are the lifeblood of the game''s strategy for better players and such hazards can easily be routed around by the architect for poorer players so they may still enjoy the course.First, Fazio went to Atunyote at Turning Stone Casino during the week of their woefully attended Fall Series event (3,500 per day is a dismal attendance figure), and said the following head-scratchers: Keep reading....
In 2005, Golf Digest''s Ron Whitten famously asked, "Is Tom Fazio good for golf?" But Whitten wasn''t the only one with that question. In his piece Whitten noted, "Golf''s leading designer is beloved by many, yet his courses have lifted expectations - and costs - to troubling levels." He went on to say that Fazio''s strategy-light, budget-bursting designs should not be the enduring standard for golf design into the future. "Hope not," wrote Whitten, "if you''re one who believes that golf should still be a test of thought and skill rather than just a walk on the beach where you never get sand in your shoes."
But this year, I began to notice a disturbing pattern" Fazio telling sportswriters and golf course raters to pay less attention to - and indeed deduct points when rating - classic golf strategies that came over from the U.K., for example - and these are his words - "perpendicular hazards."
Fazio could not be more horribly, horribly wrong. Perpendicular hazards are the lifeblood of the game''s strategy for better players and such hazards can easily be routed around by the architect for poorer players so they may still enjoy the course.
First, Fazio went to Atunyote at Turning Stone Casino during the week of their woefully attended Fall Series event (3,500 per day is a dismal attendance figure), and said the following head-scratchers:
From Tom Hutton, Asian GOlf MonthlyQuang Nam, Vietnam (November 21): Despite the heavy rain that has ravaged Vietnam''s central coast over the last few weeks, a bold Colin Montgomerie took time off between the HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the World Cup in Shenzen to visit the site of his very first golf course in Southeast Asia - The Montgomerie Links Vietnam.Located in the breathtakingly picturesque region of Danang, Montgomerie''s first foray into the Asian continent is developed by Indochina Land and constructed by his management company IMG. The golf course will be the first in the Danang area which is being heavily developed right now, with Hyatt, Banyan Tree, Kor and Crowne Plaza properties set to open in the near future.The Montgomerie Links Vietnam will be constructed on China Beach, 15 minutes from Danang and 5 minutes from The Nam Hai Resort which is Indochina Capitals lavish resort complete with spectacular beach front rooms, private villas and luxurious Spa. The resort opened recently and will soon be able to offer special golf packages on Montgomerie''s new course.Keep reading....
By Hunki Yun Two days after winning the 2007 PGA Championship at one of golf''s most venerable addresses, Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tiger Woods steps out of a black Range Rover at the Cliffs Valley in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, a small town 20 miles north of Greenville, the hometown of Jay Haas and more infamously, "Shoeless Joe" Jackson. Following his expulsion from baseball along with seven Chicago White Sox teammates for fixing the 1919 World Series, Jackson returned to Greenville shrouded in shame. He eventually opened a liquor store, which Ty Cobb visited years later to buy a fifth of bourbon. The former baseball greats performed the transaction as if they were strangers until Cobb finally said, "Don''t you know me, Joe?" Keep reading....