A Golf Obituary: Touring the picturesque courses of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf

The PGA Grand Slam of Golf was permanently cancelled March 16, 2016, by the PGA of America. Consider this photo gallery of the best public courses to host the event as its obituary.

Launched in 1979, the Grand Slam served as a 36-hole showcase for the four major champions for more than three decades. Unfortunately, with an increasingly crowded schedule, many top players simply stopped coming, forcing the PGA of America to scramble to fill spots.

While it's debatable if any golf fans will miss the competition, some fans like me will certainly miss the chance to be introduced to beautiful new golf courses that aren't normally on television. The first two PGA Grand Slams of Golf in 1979 and 1980 were played at private clubs regularly broadcast on the tube -- Oak Hill Country Club, a recent PGA Championship venue in upstate New York, and Hazeltine National, site of this fall's Ryder Cup in Minnesota.

After bouncing around to multiple sites in the 1980s, the Grand Slam found a more successful formula by going tropical throughout the 1990s and 2000s. It didn't hurt that moving the event to Kauai and later Bermuda coincided with the rise of Tiger Woods, who won the Grand Slam seven times between 1997-2006. It's probably not fair to blame Donald Trump for the death of the Grand Slam, but last year's cancellation of the event scheduled for Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles certainly helped put at least one final nail in the coffin.

You might not remember who played or who won certain Grand Slams, but it's worth putting these courses in your memory banks. They're all worth a visit.