BrandonWebb

Been hearing the buzz about this place for quite some time, so I added it to the front end of a Reynolds Oconee weekend.

I never played the course before the overhaul, so I can’t provide a lot of context about the difference. But what is there now is reminiscent of something out of the Southern Pines area in South Carolina’s sister state. Sprawling natural waste areas dot the course. Roughed in bunkers are framed by long natural grasses. Loblolly pines frame the holes and there are even some random railroad ties sprinkled in.

The best compliment I can give Aiken GC is that it is comfortable in its’ own skin. It’s not trying to be Sweetens Cove, or Mid-Pines or Pine Needles. It is simply a course wildly popular with locals and caddies from nearby Sage Valley, that offers a charming golf experience for roughly $40 with a cart.

The opening hole offers a Scottish feel as one can play as far right as they want off the tee into a fairway that seeps into the par-3 18th’s footprint. The approach is played to a double green that is shared with the 17th. Standout holes were the par-4 eighth, with a lovely reveal after cresting the hill in the fairway, and the par-5 10th, which is home to one of the most memorable green complexes I’ve seen in all my travels. The hour-glass shaped putting surface is on the bias, with the back half being a lowered shelf that can’t be 10 paces wide. It makes Harbour Town’s smallish greens seem roomy by comparison.

Take the time to play the putting course in front of the clubhouse.

Bobby Jones has been gone for more than 50 years, but his presence is still felt here, whether in the locker room, beside the first tee, or out in the quietest corner of the course: the bench beside the 17th tee box, perched above the par-3 16th green.

Donald Ross didn’t go full Ross when constructing this course. He opted for subtlety instead of severity, relying on blind tee shots and often even more concealed approaches to elevated greens to provide much of the deception.

There’s mountain golf and then there is this.

Old Edwards offers dramatic elevation change and tremendous shot and scenic value. I still haven’t decided whether the course seduces you to be too bold or too conservative off the tee. There are almost too many options and second-guessing oneself tends to rear it’s head throughout the round.

As finishing holes go, this one has few peers when it comes to sheer exhilaration.

This quiet, traditional golf-first club is no longer anonymous in golf circles. Instead, it is widely revered by anyone who has had the chance to step foot on this truly special property.

A family member of the Reynolds tobacco empire donated the 170 acres OTC sits on, and allowed Perry Maxwell to handpick the holes from a vast expanse of fallow land that was once a horse farm. Maxwell left the topography mostly undisturbed, incorporating the site’s natural ridges, knolls, swales and ravines into his design.

Old Town’s broad fairways are marked by varying degrees of slope, which generate many awkward lies on approach shots. But it’s the green undulations affectionately known as “Maxwell’s rolls,” or “puffs,” that wreak the most havoc on scorecards.

Short-siding yourself on any golf course is hazardous. Here it is downright devastating. Pitches left short will roll, and roll, and keep rolling into collection areas 40-50 yards from the green.

There are no tee times, so there is an unhurried vibe present. A trip to OTC is more than just four hours of golf. It is an experience. Have lunch in the grill room and order the chicken melt (add bacon) with hot pub chips. Then figure out a way to come back.

Watching the Wyndham Championship on television doesn’t do the place justice.

Mr. Ross frustrates with subtle green complexes that offer a bevy of false fronts and maddening swales that filter balls further away from the hole than you could ever anticipate. I’m of the mind, in hindsight, that the pin should become an afterthought if one wants to get around here without wrecking their rig. Playing to the middle of the green and putting to the corners is a solid strategy.

Elevation changes from tee to the fairway, then back up to the green are complicated by uneven lies.

I particularly loved one architectural feature that you hardly ever see anymore: the stair-stepped fairway near the 17th green. Brilliant eye candy that can facilitate some complicated pitches if you miss it on the short side.

Make no mistake, Midland Hills is destined to climb the Minnesota private club rankings thanks to the good fortune of discovering Seth Raynor’s original design maps in the ceiling of the maintenance facility in 2018.

That discovery prompted the club to hire Jim Urbina in 2020 to return the course to its original intent, including widening fairways, massive tree removal, restoring bunkers benched into greens, and reclamation and squaring of greens.

The result is the kind of course that speaks to golf nerds, particularly architecture purists.

My only disappointment in a course that is replete with template holes, is the decision to make only the back half of the Biarritz a putting surface. The front half and valley are kept at fairway height, I suppose at the behest of the members. Still, this course is soulful, imminently playable and ultimately pleasurable a year into its rebirth.

Hazeltine is a brawny, championship-laden golf course that plays even longer because it is largely exposed to the Midwestern wind.

The first thing you notice when setting foot on the premises is that that the membership is very proud of the major championship heritage. They have done a very nice job of encapsulating mementos from each one it has held.

These were among the fastest greens I can recall playing on. We were told they were stimping at 13 today and without a wealth of experience on greens that quick, it was easy to putt defensively. Just accept that this is a different animal and expect to have a few more 3-putts than normal.

Holes 4-8 stand out on the front. A mixture of alternating doglegs, with a bunker guarding the inside elbow - a RTJ staple - dominate the design. The interest and intensity ramps up after the walk from the ninth green to the 10th tee, which kicked off my favorite hole on the course. No. 14 was another standout, offering a risk/reward gamble off the tee. The signature 16th offers a breathtaking tee shot that must avoid Lake Hazeltine, and an approach into the windiest corridor on the property.

Our host for the day made it an immensely memorable experience. Like most members, I suppose, they delight in sharing their club with players who truly embrace the history of the place.

Much is made about the fifth and sixth holes at Quivira, and rightly so. They are among the most photographed holes in Mexico. Yet, there are plenty of other spectacular holes that you probably aren’t familiar with after your Internet sleuthing. Discovering these holes is some of the joy to a round here.

It is hard to believe that this course is only 8 years old. It still has some maturing to do, and will only get better. This place has already received much fanfare and is rocketing up course rating lists, so I expect the buzz around Quivira to continue with a white-hot ascent.

Quivira caters to the guests of the Pueblo Bonito Resort. Staying at one of their properties is the ticket onto the course, unless maybe you sell your soul to one of those timeshare hawkers that prey on unsuspecting tourists just after passing through customs at the airport. The steakhouse in the clubhouse is a tough ticket. The three comfort stations on course, as well as the smaller version at the staging area before beginning your round, are made to make guests feel over-the-top welcome.

The course itself eases you in the first four holes before sending you on a 3-4 minute cart ride up the mountain to the postcard 5th and 6th holes. From this point on, the terrain of the course is pretty severe. Lots of elevation change. That combined with the heat and trouncing through the loose, sandy waste areas that border both sides of most holes can make for a physically grueling day. But, you are rewarded with panoramic vistas of desert, sand, cactus and sea that will keep you reaching for your camera.

The par 5s are long, yet play yawningly downhill for the most part. The par 3s are all very different approaches. There are several short par 4s throughout that not only allow for long-hitters to take their chances, but also offer varied routes to the green for the strategic player.

The price tag wasn’t too bad for a course of this nature. Beware, however, that pro shop items are extremely expensive. My wife rode along in the cart with me ($50, and well worth it since she had access to comfort stations as well) and they made her buy a collared shirt to do so. $165!

Still, a wonderful course and spectacular experience.

Tom Watson said after playing here for the first time in 1981 that a man would think the game of golf originated here.

Golf at Ballybunion is nothing if not a study in topography. The first five holes plot along from the looming graveyard beside the first tee and the shadow of the clubhouse on mostly flat terrain. Still, the allure of those magnificent dunes that await are always in sight, almost seducing you through the usual pedestrian start to a round here. The wild card was that the wind today had flipped from the prevailing one, making the back-to-back par 5s early on the card play straight into the fan.

Once you walk onto the sixth tee, however, an imaginary trumpet sounds in your subconscious. For all intents and purposes, this is the genesis of a round at Ballybunion.

The constant alternation between uphill and downhill shots and how they pair together kept me engaged and slightly off balance. And that wind… I reached two par 5s on the back with driver/9 iron and 4 iron/6 iron. I also hit 3-wood on two par 3s that measure 193 and 200 yards, respectively.

There are two holes from here I will remember long after returning home; a pair of par 4s: the 11th and 17th. Hard against the sea, these holes ride dragon’s back fairways down to humps and hollows, leaving short, but spectacular approaches to difficult greens. They are world-class holes.

I have a friend that that fell in love with Ballybunion on his honeymoon here in 1982. So much so, that he recently told me he’d like to have some of his ashes spread in a specific spot on the course someday when he passes on. After walking it today, I can clearly see why.

Old Head is one of the most ambitious golf courses ever built. The miracle that is Old Head began when a few brothers bought what was essentially an island at the end of Kinsale, spent years covering it with soil and turf, and built a course on a piece of property that is better suited for goats than golfers. Lore about the purchase of Old Head says the farmer finally agreed to sell because he was tired of losing sheep to the cliffs.

This is unlike anything I’ve ever laid eyes on. It is the most visually-stunning course I’ve ever played, and there is no close second. Old Head is billed as “the Pebble Beach of Europe.” Here’s a hot take: that may be an insult to Old Head. I’m not saying it’s a superior golf course - if I had to play here regularly I would probably quit the game because of the seemingly endless grind for bogey, double, or the dreaded other. But, Pebble Beach cannot compare to Old Head in the “postcard hole” department. After making the turn, I said aloud to no one in particular that any course in the world would be happy have even a single hole that compares to all but two on Old Head’s front nine. That’s when my caddie said wait until you see the back nine.

He most certainly wasn’t into hyperbole.

The GPS-guided game we play in the States in benign breezes over unblemished, relatively flat fairways allows us to take on a course with one golf shot in our bag: high and deep, knocking the ball well over bunkers and water.

Golf at Old Head, with it’s 35-mph sea gales, is not about knocking one’s ball over and above a golf course, but rather playing your ball through it.

For anyone with a golf imagination, playing Old Head is an all-out indulgence, and it makes one understand that golf isn’t about striking the perfect 8 iron or hitting “x” number of greens in regulation. A good day here reminds you that golf is about one thing…and one thing only…stuffing your ball into the hole as quickly as you can.