On the Tee

Some renovations simply alter or spruce up a golf course. Other ones, however, can drastically change the personality, playability and challenge of a single layout much for the better. Five years removed from a renovation by Steve Smyers, Grande Pines Golf Club is most certainly far more the latter than the former.

Located in the shadow of Sea World in the heart of Orlando just off International Drive, Grande Pines was already one of the better regarded layouts in Central Florida before the renovation began. Following Smyers’ redesign, this 18-hole Marriott Golf facility is in the discussion as one of the finest courses in the area; a significant statement given the world-class golf that is found throughout the Orlando region.

With a dramatic setting in the foothills on the edge of Phoenix’s West Valley, first-class amenities and stark visual appeal, Trilogy Golf Club at Vistancia offers a unique and engaging golf challenge that is hard to equal even in Arizona’s hotbed of desert golf.

Now rolling into its fifth full season, Trilogy at Vistancia has matured to become one of architect Gary Panks’ best designs; an impressive achievement considering his list of courses includes such celebrated layouts as Chaparral Pines, Grayhawk’s Talon Course and Raven South Mountain.

Now entering its seventh peak season, Buckeye’s Raven Golf Club at Verrado has a unique perspective of the Arizona golf landscape. Located due west of Phoenix and Scottsdale, locations long considered as the only viable options for golfers looking for tried and true, championship-caliber layouts, The Raven Golf Club at Verrado offers an unobstructed one-of-a-kind view looking east into the valley. It’s a spectacular scene unique to the property, especially from the 18th hole.

Golfers can enjoy the picturesque panorama knowing that their feet are firmly planted at one of the area’s premier courses, regardless of location. The Raven Golf Club at Verrado has taken the other side to another level, and a number of respected publications agree.

The sprawling, visually stunning Pete Dye course at the French Lick Resort, which opened in the spring of 2009, has garnered its greatest accomplishment to date. The layout has been selected "Best New Public Course" in the country by Golf Digest and will be featured in the publication's annual review of America's Best New Courses scheduled to appear in the January 2010 issue.

The list covers the best new courses in the public, private, Canadian and remodeled categories. A panel of 950 male and female golfers conducts the annual best new survey by rating the courses based on shot values, design variety, resistance to scoring, memorability and aesthetics.

The Doral Golf Resort and Spa has officially opened its newest golf course - The Jim McLean Signature Course. Totally renovated, the new course is already building a reputation as one of the most difficult courses in Florida for those wishing to play from the tips, while the course is a fantastic challenge for those looking to play from the "regular" tees.

The Jim McLean Signature Course features a stretch of three holes dubbed "The Bermuda Triangle" - a stretch of golf that will test the mettle of any golfer. 

The King Reigns Supreme at the 1996 Opening of King’s North

MYRTLE BEACH, SC - Arnold Palmer recently celebrated his 80th birthday, and photos and tales of his career graced the covers and pages of every golf magazine in America. Like so many people and places, Myrtle Beach, S.C. has been blessed to have hosted several Palmer sightings, including several appearances at Senior Tour Championship and a special guest appearance at the 50th Annual Golf Writers Dinner in 2003.

Among his greatest gifts to Myrtle Beach are the three Arnold Palmer signature courses at Myrtle Beach National, located on Highway 501 between Myrtle Beach and Conway.

OCALA, Fla. - When Herbert Warren Wind coined the phrase “Amen Corner” in reference to holes 11, 12 and 13 at Augusta National Golf Club in 1958, he supplied what eventually would become the world’s most prestigious golf tournament with a distinctly unique three-hole enclave as synonymous with The Masters as the great Bobby Jones; a standalone experience within the overall body of work.

Closer to home, PGA National Golf Club has the “Bear Trap” and TPC Sawgrass has the infamous island green. Albeit without the national acclaim or PGA Tour status to provide it, Candler Hills Golf Club has a collection of golf holes so unique and challenging they deserve their own distinction 18 times over.

FOUNTAIN HILLS, Az. - Blending its colorful past as the first ever golf course in the town of Fountain Hills circa 1971 with a recently completed renovation project highlighted by a new state-of-the art irriga tion system designed to keep the course colorful for years to come, Desert Canyon Golf Club is proud of its tradition and fired up about the future.

Voted as the No. 1 public golf course in Fountain Hills and Fort McDowell for five consecutive years (2005-09) by Market Survey of America and hailed by Golf Digest as a 2008 “Must Play” course in a nationwide survey the par-71 Desert Canyon Golf Club is an atypical player-friendly desert layout that has become a local institution among golfers in the know.

MONTGOMERY, Texas - If the hackneyed term “Hidden Gem” was ever to be used accurately to describe a single outstanding golf course that separated itself from the lot of out of the way layouts, surely it would be wisely deployed in honor of Montgomery’s Blaketree National Golf Club.

Located in the sedate and remarkably stunning Southeast Texas countryside, roughly 20 minutes from Lake Conroe and a little more than an hour from downtown Houston, Blaketree National is the result of attorney turned oil wildcatter Thomas W. Blake’s ambition to build a private playground for himself and his friends to enjoy.  

ORLANDO – After a nearly three-month shut down, Falcon’s Fire Golf Club is making rapid progress in renovating all 18 greens and bringing the course back to the pristine, award-winning condition its renowned for amongst the Orlando golfing community.

The improvements to this Rees Jones Signature-designed championship golf course include brand new TifEagle putting greens, enlarged bunkers and improved irrigation and drainage. The larger, more visible bunkers will require more strategic shot selection while the new TifEagle turf will provide faster, smoother and more consistent putting surfaces than ever before.