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Ambush update: The Ponce is going across The Pond

Friday, May 18, 2012 Comments
Ponce.jpgThe Ponce was, and always will be, the first Ambush. It was 16 guys colliding with the courses of Sea Island, boyish camaraderie, enjoying the comforts of the Lodge, shoulder-season specials and a few bottles of wine on behalf of Golf Digest.

Now I can see why Geoff Shackelford made fun of my Ambush videos:


Anyway, I've kept in contact with both planners of The Ponce, Michael Palmore and Neil Thomson, and as they prep for their 10th annual buddies trip, I received this email from Thomson:

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Bill Coore's latest: Pinehurst No. 9

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Comments
The current state of golf courses in America can be summarized by a closer look at Pit Golf Links, a scrappy set of 18 holes five miles south of Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. In February 2011, Bob Dedman, Pinehurst’s owner, bought Pit, and then closed it. As the fight for the avid golfer’s dollar got tough, Pit was one of many to tap out.
 
This was another case of capital is king, and guys like Dedman, Donald Trump, Herb Kohler, Mike Keiser and Wayne Huizenga have been the snakes in the grass-for a lack of a better analogy-striking when the time has been right. More than anything, they’re buying up prime real estate, growing their stakes in golf. And as natural selection continues to play out across the country of courses with broken business models, inept management, horrific designs and bad timing, it’s the guys with deep pockets who are maximizing the returns on their investments by hiring minimalist architects.
 
As colleague Peter Finch and I continue our phone tour of some of the best resorts in the U.S., I spoke to Don Padgett Jr., president of Pinehurst Resort since 2004. Not only is Padgett an accomplished golfer who has played in six PGA Championships and three U.S. Opens, his father, Don Padgett Sr., was the former director of golf at Pinehurst and was the past president of the Professional Golfers Association.
 
Padgett shared the news of Pit becoming a Bill Coore-designed Pinehurst No. 9. He also said that as long as he has been in and around the business of golf, he has never seen anything as successful as the restoration of No. 2, which will host the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open in 2014.

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Q and A: Jim Justice, owner of the Greenbrier

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 Comments
As we tour some of the best golf resorts in the country, this is Pete Finch's recent conversation with Jim Justice, owner of the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Greenbrier_Justice.jpgUntil 2009, James C. Justice III was little known outside the industries where he made his fortune -- coal and farming. But the 61-year-old multimillionaire jumped straight into the golf spotlight with his purchase of the foundering Greenbrier Resort & Spa, which had fallen into bankruptcy. On the three-year anniversary of that bold move, we caught up with Jim Justice to see how things have changed for both him and the West Virginia resort Golf Digest calls the 5th best in North America.

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This winner of the Major Championship Challenge is going to Ireland

Thursday, May 3, 2012 Comments
If there’s an easier way to win a $9,000 all-expenses-paid golf trip to Ireland, we haven’t heard about it.

“I was in shock!”

That was Brendan Fehr’s reaction when he found out he was the winner of an all-expenses-paid golf trip for two to Ireland thanks to his entry in Golf Digest’s Major Championship Challenge.

“I’ve subscribed to Golf Digest long enough to know that it’s owned by Conde Nast, so when Conde Nast came up on my caller ID, I answered the phone.”

Brendan.jpgFehr, 35, of West Valley, Ariz., picked Bubba Watson to win the Masters. “I love Bubba,” says Fehr. “He’s an amazing person. He has such imagination around the golf course, and that’s the reason he won.”

Fehr was one of 953 who entered the first leg of Golf Digest’s Major Championship Challenge, a fantasy golf competition based on the “five majors.” (We’re counting the Players Championship as the fifth major.)

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Next Stop: Golf in New York

Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Comments
With sticks out, golfers in New York stick out. In the 16 years of living in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I've jumped shuttles, caught the subway and hailed cabs while carrying clubs. It's not easy, it's not cheap, and yet it's also not unusual to see a golfer navigating all that is Manhattan. I saw this golfer last Friday, waiting for the N train going from Times Square to Union Square:

NY_Golf_1.jpgHe was listening to music, and I was in a hurry, so with not much more than a nod of appreciation for his dedication, we went our separate ways.

There are roughly eight million people living in New York City, so it was more than a ridiculously crazy coincidence to see my avid golfing friend again on Monday:
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Trip Report: Ireland

Monday, April 30, 2012 Comments
Roger Schiffman, managing editor of Golf Digest, was on vacation playing golf in Ireland last week. When he got back, I put him to work, managing the following pictures and captions for this blog.

Here's Schiffman's trip report:

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Q&A: Roger Warren, president of the Kiawah Island Golf Resort

Monday, April 23, 2012 Comments
Kiawah_4.jpgThe Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, S.C., site of the unforgettable 1991 Ryder Cup, again hosts golf’s biggest names this summer at the PGA Championship, August 9-12. In a series of Q&As I'll be posting to the blog -- talking to the people who run some of the best golf destinations in the country -- colleague Pete Finch recently caught up with Roger Warren, the former PGA of America president who has run the Kiawah Island Golf Resort since 2003. They discussed the business outlook for Kiawah (No. 17 on our most recent ranking of 75 Best Golf Resorts), how it’s getting ready for the PGA, and more.

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Catching up with Mike Keiser, owner of Bandon Dunes

Monday, April 16, 2012 Comments
Last week I spoke to a very wealthy and avid golfer. He took time away from swinging deals for potentially prosperous property to discuss the opening of his new courses, working with architect Gil Hanse, and what might be next in Ireland. He’s a key figure in the world of golf, now and in the future. Oddly enough, this could be a description of Donald Trump, but my conversation was with Mike Keiser.

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Shadow Creek opens its doors to Michael Jordan's tournament

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Comments

Those who know of Las Vegas' Shadow Creek GC are familiar with its exclusive ways. Play at this Las Vegas wonder is restricted solely to guests at MGM-owned hotels (President Clinton once was refused a tee time because he was not staying at one) either invited or willing to pay the $500 green fee. Even that does not guarantee a tee time -- some cash play is turned down to keep rounds played to approximately 40 per day. On March 29 through April 1, however, Shadow Creek is opening its doors for the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational.

For as little as a $30 daily ticket (other weekly and VIP tickets also available -- visit MJCIGolf.com), golf fans can witness this architectural marvel (some 21,000 trees were planted and the course was said to cost more than $60 million to build) first-hand during the event. Hint: Stake out a spot on the par-3, 17th. Word is if anyone scores an ace, a liquor sponsor may be doling out some free booze.


blog_shadow_creek_0328.jpg

Photo courtesy of Shadow Creek GC

Jordan, who has played the course more than 100 times, always has a small army of celebrities and sports stars at his event (this year Aaron Rodgers, Wayne Gretzky and Ken Griffey Jr. will be in the field), but this time they will share star billing with Shadow Creek. Originally nothing more than desolate, scarred brown earth, casino magnate Steve Wynn gave architect Tom Fazio a blank check and an open time frame to create a course that Wynn once said, "was supposed to excite one's emotions, and then test one's golf."

Related: A closer look at Michael Jordan's swing

As someone who has played the course, I feel that Fazio delivered on both counts. The course is dramatic in many spots, yet has an unexpected mature feel to it, eschewing, for the most part, overblown glitz (the waterfall behind No. 17 a possible exception). Initially, play at this Las Vegas wonder was restricted to members and special guests when the course opened in 1989. Ten years later, owner Steve Wynn opened the course to all guests at his hotels willing to shell out a $1,000 green fee (but hey, you got limo service to and from the course -- something that is still part of the package). Today the green fee is half that and while no course is likely "worth" a $500 green fee, I submit that in an area filled with over-priced, mediocre golf courses, I'd much rather play one round here than two or three rounds elsewhere.

But that's for high rollers. This weekend, for a few days, non-high rollers can also enjoy the experience Fazio and Wynn created during the Jordan Invitational. They just can't bring their clubs.

--E. Michael Johnson

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Trip Report: The East Course at Dorado Beach in Puerto Rico

Friday, March 16, 2012 Comments
Colleague Mike Johnson is back from a recent trip to Puerto Rico. I asked for his thoughts on the East Course at Dorado Beach, so he filed this report:

Dorado.jpgThere are few things better than a buddies golf weekend in Puerto Rico. Unless it’s a buddies golf weekend in Puerto Rico that includes playing Dorado East. (Pictured: fourth hole.) Re-opened in November after an extensive renovation that included removing a massive amount of trees and vegetation allowing for views of the ocean on 14 holes, Dorado is worthy for the quality of its layout and conditioning as much as its views.

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