On the Tee

Heritage Golf Group recently announced that TPC Tampa Bay, one of Florida's premier daily-fee golf facilities, has officially re-opened to the public following a two-month closure. The award-winning layout which annually hosts the Champions Tour Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am was closed in mid-June so its greens could be re-grassed.

"Our greens were the original greens from when we opened in 1991," said Brady Boyd, general manager at TPC Tampa Bay. "Over time, even with the best maintenance practices, the greens need to be replaced. The average life-span of a green is not much more than 15 years. We have a commitment to our guests to provide unrivaled golf and uncompromising service. This project is an investment in that commitment." 

The birthplace of American golf, West Virginia's Oakhurst Links, is up for sale. The asking price for the nine-hole course and its museum is $4.5 million.

It's not just the tie to history that makes a stop at the course a must for the serious golfer; it's the journey back in time. Visitors are required to use replica hickory clubs, hit gutta-percha balls molded from the sap of the sapodilla tree, and form tees from a mound of wet sand. Electric carts are unavailable - golfers walk among the dozens of sheep just as participants did a century ago. 

Longaberger Golf Club, honored by Golf Digest, GolfWorld, Golfweek and Golf Magazine as one of the best courses in the country, is extending incredible savings to its patrons to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Through Sept. 10, golfers can enjoy 18 holes and a cart on the award-winning Arthur Hills design for only $59. While the normal rate of $99 has been heralded as a bargain for the quality of course available, the savings enjoyed at the anniversary rate are substantial. The $59 offer is available all day Monday through Thursday and after 1 p.m. Friday through Sunday. 

After closing for five weeks to complete a minor renovation project designed to improve the golf course in a number of areas, the Tidewater Golf Club & Plantation is open and ready for play, representatives of Burroughs & Chapin Golf Management recently announced.

The Tidewater renovation project focused on a range of improvements including:
 

The newest and most reliable online marketplace for purchasing discounted rounds of golf provides golfers the opportunity to play more and pay less.

TeeTimeSavings.com, formerly GolfUS.com, has officially launched its easy-to-use and informative Web site that features a comprehensive catalog of premier courses in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio where golfers in those areas can buy rounds of golf at special prices. More than 200 courses are currently featured on the site, which will expand quickly to add new courses and resorts in even more areas throughout the country.

The Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owner’s Association (MBAGCOA) has named Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club the 2009 Myrtle Beach Golf Course of the Year.
 
Inspired by celebrated courses like Winged Foot and Augusta National, architect Clyde Johnston designed a traditional British Isles course at Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club. Tucked into the forest and farmlands along South Carolina’s beautiful Waccamaw River, the course features wide fairways and elevated greens. The Shaftesbury Glen Clubhouse overlooks the Waccamaw River and offers tranquil views tailor-made for post-round relaxation. 

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - On a perfect getaway, guests would be surrounded by luxury and emerald greens, all the golf courses would carry the quality signature of The PGA of America and every day would dawn with the promise of tropical pleasures.

At Castle Pines Golf Villas, you'll stay and play in the heart of The PGA Village Port St Lucie. All units are tastefully decorated, and offer every amenity necessary, just bring your golf clubs and you are ready for fun in the sun. Choose from a wide range of course-side accommodations with all the comforts of home and then some: deluxe guest rooms, golf villas and even town homes. 

Even as he approaches 80, Arnold Palmer retains a youthful vigor and passion for the game of golf that you’d expect to find in a man just beginning his journey as a touring professional.

So it makes you wonder how phenomenal a golf venue must be in order to further awaken an old soul like Palmer’s and create a renewed enthusiasm within a living legend for a game he’s built his life around; a game that’s been the beneficiary of his greatness, undeniable charm and grace under fire. 

The period of Ravisloe Country Club’s existence spans more than a century, 108 years to be precise. To put that into perspective, consider that one of America’s oldest 18-hole golf courses, Wheaton’s Chicago Golf Club, preceded Ravisloe by only six years.

And following the opening of Ravisloe Country Club in 1901, another six years elapsed before the Cubs won the first of back-toback World Series Championships. Obviously, some traditions weren’t supposed to reach the century mark. 

ORLANDO – The golf course maintenance project which began this spring at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge continues on schedule, with the course looking to fully re-open this October.

In May, Bay Hill began refurbishment work on its Championship Course, resulting in temporary closure of that course over the summer. While the primary focus of the project is to re-grass the greens, other key elements include the addition of a few more runoff areas and the elimination of some unnecessary bunkers in exchange for new sand traps which will be more visible from the tee areas.