Golf Digest Search Results

Most Fun Golf Courses

Pete Finch — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Golf doesn't have to be an ordeal. You work hard enough off the course! At these venues, 'play' and 'golf' are not mutually exclusive. We chose them with the help of Golf Digest's panelists, who create our biennial rankings of America's 100 Greatest, 100 Greatest Public and the Best in State.

Counting Down Best of Buddies-Trip Destinations. No. 9: Hilton Head Island/Savannah

Matt Ginella — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:57:00 GMT

In our January issue we rank America’s 36 Best Buddies-Trip Destinations, a list we created by surveying the roughly 1,100 Golf Digest course-rating panelists who produce our biennial rankings of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses.In...

Another piece of PGA Tour puzzle appears to be settled

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:51:00 GMT

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Another piece of the 2013-2014 PGA Tour puzzle appears to have been settled.

The current Fall Finish events that will move to the beginning of a split-calendar season in 2013 are likely to be worth full FedEx Cup points. The PGA Tour Policy Board still has to vote on the measure, but that was the recommendation the board received from Player Advisory Council, which met Tuesday at the RBC Heritage.

The tournaments in question are the Justin Timberlake Shriner's Hospital for Children Open, Fry's.com Open, The McGladrey Classic and the Children's Miracle Network Classic. Additional co-sanctioned events in Asia like the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic also would be worth full FedEx Cup points.

Photo by Getty Images

"The thinking was that if we're going to go through all this trouble to change the schedule and incorporate the fall events into the regular season, the points should be equal to the other events on the schedule," said Jim Furyk, one of four players on the Policy Board.

How Joe Durant saved Bubba Watson's career

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:25:00 GMT

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Joe Durant remembers well the day he helped launch Bubba Watson's professional golf career. Durant did it by making sure he stayed out of his way.

It was 2003, and Durant, already a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, received a phone call from Watson's father, Gerry.

"Gerry called and asked me if I would be interested in working with Bubba, helping him out. I thought about it for a while, and then said, 'No, absolutely not,'" Durant said Tuesday afternoon at Harbour Town GL in preparation for the RBC Heritage. "My answer simply had to do with thinking that would be the biggest disservice I could do for Bubba. I had seen him play a little and I knew what kind of a player he was.

"We have two totally different kinds of games," Durant continued. "Plus, he just had a creativity that I knew was special. He didn't need a teacher. The guy has unbelievable hands and talent. He's creative. He kills the ball. You don't want to put him in any kind of a program, per se. You can't teach what Bubba can do no more than Seve (Ballesteros) could teach someone to hit the kind of short-game shots he could hit. He just needed to go play, take a little time, and he was going to be fine."

Of course, Durant didn't know that Watson one day could win the Masters Tournament. But Watson, who never did receive any formal coaching, did just that last week at Augusta National GC, defeating former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen on the second hole of a sudden death playoff. And Watson, 33, accomplished the feat thanks to the imagination and shot-making Durant alluded to, hitting a 155-yard sling-hook from a pine-straw lie, around trees, to within 12 feet of the hole at the par-4 10th.

Players will see a different Harbour Town this year

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:18:00 GMT

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- PGA Tour players ranked Harbour Town GL second behind Augusta National GC in a Golf World survey published in January. But the survey was conducted without the players' knowledge of changes that architect Pete Dye oversaw last fall.

"It's going to be a little bit tougher -- and a lot tougher in some spots depending on the wind," said Boo Weekley, who twice has won at Harbour Town. "We'll have to see how it plays out."

Since Brandt Snedeker's victory last year over Luke Donald, Harbour Town, an iconic par-71 Low Country gem designed by Dye and Jack Nicklaus in 1969, has grown by 127 yards, and will play up to 7,101 yards for this week's RBC Heritage.

Photo by Getty Images

Seven teeing grounds were altered, with the most dramatic changes coming with additional tees at Nos. 3, 16 and 18. The par-4 third is 32 yards longer, the dogleg left 16th has an additional 36 yards, and the famous par-4 18th is 20 yards longer thanks to an extension of the tee box back and to the left towards Calibogue Sound.

PGA Tour: Fantasy Fix: RBC Heritage

Alex Myers — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:00:00 GMT

We discuss an especially-strong post-Masters hangover, the real start of the baseball season, and of course, this week's PGA Tour stop.

Players' Picks: The Top 10 PGA Tour Courses

Geoff Shackelford — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Our survey of more than 80 tour pros reveals the 10 courses they most enjoy playing each year.

Round 2 of Fans' Choice: Pebble Beach or True North?

Matt Ginella — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:14:00 GMT

Leave it to Las Vegas to be a part of the biggest first-round upset in Golf Digest’s tournament of the top 64 public courses in the country. In a sea of torn sports-book tickets, on...

PGA Tour: Fantasy Fix: Zurich Classic Of New Orleans

Alex Myers — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:00:00 GMT

We discuss belly putters, Dustin Johnson's caddie search, a new funnyman on the PGA Tour and of course, this week's tournament in the Big Easy.

How close is RBC to saving the Heritage?

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:23:00 GMT

From this week's issue of Golf World Monday:

The search for a new sponsor for the Heritage has made Steve Wilmot, the tournament director, physically ill from worry after Verizon pulled out of the Hilton Head stop last year and left the event scrambling to stay alive in 2011.

An exciting playoff won by Brandt Snedeker, a compelling subplot with Luke Donald ascending to No. 1 with a victory, and gorgeous weather accentuating Harbour Town GL had to make him feel better. But the best medicine will likely be delivered in the coming days when Royal Bank of Canada is expected to ride to the rescue and save the tourney.

Several players and sources related to the tournament told Golf World that RBC is close to signing a four-year sponsorship deal. Talk about timing: RBC already received nice exposure with two of its players, Donald (shown) and Jim Furyk, in the final pairing.

So the good news is that one of the players' favorite events held on one of the PGA Tour's most revered layouts probably isn't going away or getting replaced by a TPC near you. Score one for the little guys.

-- Dave Shedloski

(Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)