On the Tee

INDIANAPOLIS - Golfers can become rather irascible when confronting the creations of legendary golf course architect Pete Dye, cursing their luck upon finding a ball buried in one of his pot bunkers or flipping a club after watching a shot splash land in the moat surrounding No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass.

But for all the fury and frustration Dye draws out of both hackers and professionals, we can’t help but love the man who’s provided us with so many wonderful places to play golf. 

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. 

SAINT HELENA ISLAND, S.C. - Representatives of Dataw Island Club announced that the club has approved a renovation project that will involve both the Cotton Dike and Morgan River golf courses.

Dataw Island Club will close the Cotton Dike golf course in March 2010 for the renovation project, with a planned reopening in October 2010. The Morgan River course will close in March 2011, with a targeted reopening of October 2011. 

A blissfully brisk early morning chill eventually gives way to a sun-drenched mid-afternoon, and as you stand in the fairway on the par-5 16th hole at Edgewood Tahoe, annual site of the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship, you’d swear those piercing rays of sunshine prohibiting you from tracking your ball as it sails toward Lake Tahoe are being beamed down directly from heaven.

But it’s just another day in one of America’s most scenic regions, an area known for world-class skiing, abundant outdoor recreational opportunities and unsurpassed natural beauty that aspires to plant its flag at the golf destination summit.   

ISLE OF PALMS, SC - Golfers can once again enjoy one of the Charleston area's most acclaimed par 5 finishing holes at Wild Dunes Resort, with the reopening of the famed oceanfront 18th hole of the award-winning Links Course on June 12 following a redesign led by golf architect Tom Fazio.

The reopening closes the chapter on the beach erosion cycle that temporarily shut down the signature hole that's brought critical acclaim to the Charleston golf resort for three decades. Following a months-long building project to restore the hole, Wild Dunes' Links Course once again offers two stunning finishing holes overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

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.

The U.S. Open returns to Bethpage State Park's Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y., for the second time in seven years, June 18-21, with Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Class A member Craig Currier becoming just the second superintendent to host more than one U.S. Open at the same facility.

Paul Jett, CGCS at Pinehurst (N.C.) No. 2 was the first, hosting in 1999 and 2005.

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.

In 2003 the University of Texas Golf Club, with its rolling hills, panoramic views of the Texas Hill Country and lush fairways, opened to considerable acclaim.

But after initial rounds by some of the nation's best collegiate players, and a few Touring pros, the course's management noticed that the rolling terrain was aiding already lengthly drives, which were catching favorable slopes and plummeting down the course's fairways. In other words, the distance on the card of 7,150 yards wasn't quite measuring up in real life.

Las Vegas National Golf Club is located just a stone’s throw from the famed Las Vegas Strip.

This classic Bert Stamps design opened in 1961 and has since held a storied existence rivaled by only the most prestigious clubs in the world.

How many other clubs have been the regular hangout of the Rat Pack, held numerous events on the PGA, Champions and LPGA Tours and been a location for a major Hollywood production, Martin Scorsese’s 1995 crime drama classic, Casino?