My favorite courses for sneaking in an emergency 18 on a work trip

I’ve probably spent more than a year of my life in Orlando and, honestly, while there’s a fair amount of good golf, there’s not a ton of great. One exception is the Links Course at Evermore Orlando Resort (formerly Grand Cypress). This Jack Nicklaus take on re-creating the Old Course at St. Andrews works on several levels. For starters you can hit the ball all over creation and find it. The greens (seven, of them massive double greens) offer an ego boost for iron play and putting frustration due to their size but are intriguing nonetheless. The $250 sticker price is a bit steep, but it’s less than going to Scotland.

Don’t want to pony up that much? Another option is Dubsdread G.C. where green fees typically run between $40 and $55 during the week. Designed in 1924 and renovated in 2008, the fairways can be scraggly at times, but the greens are pure and bones of an outstanding layout are there. Plus it has one of the best eateries around on site.

Looming near the hotel/casino, the two Coore/Crenshaw courses at Talking Stick C.G. are perfect when traveling to Phoenix. The O’odham Course is my personal favorite of the two as it provides options galore and often the opportunity to run approach shots up. That’s not to say the Piipash Course should be ignored. It’s tighter off the tee and has several raised greens that have you thinking on the approach. I just prefer to think less after getting up at Zero Dark Thirty for an early flight.

A little further away from Sky Harbor Airport is the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes G.C. in Maricopa. A former Indian Reservation, the Brian Curley/Fred Couples design was originally a private club but is now one of the best daily-fee facilities in the area. The course is more reminiscent of Australian Sandbelt golf than desert golf, which makes it a very cool venue. As a test of golf, it has served as a U.S. Open qualifying site and has an excellent range as well.

Chicago is littered with some of the best courses in the United States. Unfortunately, most of them are strictly private. No worries. The two courses of Harborside International (Port and Starboard) offer more than a viable alternative. The Port provides a linksy feel and ends strong with the signature “Anchor Hole” 15th followed by three holes along Lake Calumet. The Starboard is perhaps not quite as dramatic but is a pleasure to play while taking in the views of the Chicago skyline.

For the money-is-no-object crowd (as in $500+ green fees), the Ocean South and Ocean North courses at Pelican Hill provide the kind of views of the Pacific Ocean that almost make it worth the cost. A high-end resort course in every way, it’s a pamper-myself kind of experience whether on the day of arrival or the culmination of your trip.