Featured Golfer's Guide Golf Courses and Golf Resorts

SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. - Course knowledge may be two of the most over-used words in a professional golfer's vocabulary, but it translates to volumes of vital information when you are about to play championship golf in the high desert at approximately 5,052 feet above sea level.

That is the setting for a 312-player field this weekend, as they converge upon Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Clubs for the 42nd PGA Professional National Championship, June 28 through July 1, in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M. The Championship returns to Santa Ana Pueblo after a 2003 visit when Twin Warriors served as sole host. 

At a time when many of the nation's recession-weary country clubs are cutting back, Medinah Country Club is stepping up with a view toward the 2012 Ryder Cup.

By a margin of more than 4-1, Medinah's membership voted Saturday (June 13) to spend upwards of $3 million on a multi-faceted renovation that would see the club's famed No. 3 Course close August 15 and re-open next June.

For even the most seasoned golf course architect, restoring a historically significant layout is a formidable challenge, commensurate to the task a musician undertakes when recording a classic song. The finished product has to strike a delicate balance somewhere between paying homage to the original work and forging a distinct path in order to resonate with a more current audience, as well as preserve the integrity and character established many years ago.

The new Pine Lakes Country Club does just that, reminding long-time Myrtle Beach regulars just how brilliant Robert White’s initial course concept was and moving the “Granddaddy” into a new era so that it can remain relevant in the supercompetitive Myrtle Beach golf scene.