JerryFoltzGC

Sea Island is as enjoyable to play is the city is to visit. The town reminds me of the way life was intended to be, and perhaps the way it was a generation or two ago. A slow paced, unpretentious, and welcoming spirit is on display from the moment you drive over the bridge, and more than one time I wished I didn't ever have to make the return trip back over the bridge. I would love to call this place home, and a growing number of PGA Tour players do just that.

The Fazio design is demanding. Designed to play primarily without rough, the generous play much tighter than they actually are due to the fact that if you miss them, you're likely reaching into your pocket for another pellet. Part of the beauty of the design is that the prevailing wind produces primarily a cross wind on the majority of the holes. The greens aren't all that demanding to putt in terms of undulation and slope, but the are small and they all have those shaved runoff areas that drive me mad when I miss a green and then never manage to save par...or worse if an extra pellet has been utilized.

On paper, it doesn't look all that challenging, but trust me, it's no cupcake. Part of what Fazio does so well is design championship courses that are capable of challenging the world's best, yet player-friendly enough for the resort and recreational golfer to enjoy. I could name a few designers who could learn from that.

The driving range might be the prettiest you've ever seen. So pretty in fact, that you wonder how they ever convinced the owners to use that tract of prime land for a practice tee.

The staff is southern, which means that you'll feel welcome from the moment you walk on property. I once asked a food server if they ever say the word no. She said, "I can't answer that...because I'd have to say that word." Everyone makes you feel special whether you're a captain of industry, or a free-loading golf commentator.

I played here with fellow GC announcer Scott Walker a few years back while we were in the Milwaukee covering the old Greater Milwaukee Open (or whatever it was called at the time).

Driving out into rural Wisconsin from Milwaukee makes you wonder how in the world there's a golf course out here that is receiving such rave reviews, and then you see it and you experience a bit of a Field of Dreams moment. The clubhouse was small and very much looked like it once belonged on a farm, however, once inside, it was extremely nice.

The course looked massive on the drive in, as well as on the score card, and it was only the second Hurdzan/Fry design I'd ever played. I really didn't know what to expect. My lasting impression is that it just might be the golf course of the future. It was designed in a way that will defend it against technological advances for generations to come simply based on distance from the back tees. But more impressively, it wasn't a giant emerald green pasture of finely manicured watered turf. Rather, it looked more like a pasture than a world class golf course. The reason for that is that all the grass on the course absent the putting surfaces, was native grass. It looked much more like it belonged in Scotland than Wisconsin, and it played as golf seems to have been intended when it was invented...firm and fast. And those native grasses were a shear delight from which to play. Even though the color was multidimensional, it played just like any other firm course.

The design is masterful in my opinion as it provided plenty of room to play tee to green, but after close scrutiny, it required tee shots to be hit to certain areas in order to have a slight chance to get it close to the pin on the somewhat extreme greens. Funny part was, the greens don't look extreme, but the subtleties made them that way in hindsight.

Erin HIlls is a course that I think I could play everyday and not tire of it.

From the moment you turn into Bay Hill off of Apopka-Vineland Rd., the experience becomes a bit surreal. First of all, in the land of exclusive gated communities, Bay Hill stands nearly alone in Central Florida as a not-gated exclusive community. That was the first refreshing part of my first trip there. Much like the character of the King himself, Bay Hill just has a welcoming feel to it from the time you step out of the car until the time you have to call it a day. You can sense Arnie's presence at all times, even when he's not on site.

As for the course itself, in a word, it's tough. It also has a bit of an old school feel to it as it really isn't a visually intimidating (see Pete Dye) course at all. However, the difficulty is in the fact that it just never lets up...well, that and the length. And whatever the scorecard says, it seems to play about 300 yards longer. I kept waiting to get to the easy holes, and next thing you know, we were finished. Even the shorter holes are made very demanding by the precision required into the greens in order to leave a makeable putt.

All in all, you'll remember just about every hole after you leave and they're all tremendous. Arnie always strives to build courses that can challenge the best players in the world, yet be enjoyable to higher handicap recreational golfers. At Bay Hill, he succeeded in spades.

In the two AT&T's I was able to play in back in the early 90's, I found Spyglass to be one of the top 2 or 3 designs that I've ever seen. Granted, if you're planning a trip to the Monterey Peninsula, you're first choice is likely to be Pebble Beach. However, if you have the time and the resources, so yourself a favor and play Spyglass...you'll be very glad you did.

While it's not exactly oceanside, the views on the first 4 holes are stunning. But more than that, it has 18 holes that you will remember for as long as your able to not hide your own Easter eggs. Spyglass is old-school, traditional, challenging golf at its finest. Small greens that are typically in excellent shape, sloping fairways, swirling breezes, and a timeless design will keep you on your toes the entire time.

One word of advice: leave the rangefinder in the bag and play it by feel. The approach shots almost always play longer than the yardage, and you can't afford to be off by much.

Perhaps absent Augusta National and Pebble Beach, I think more American golfers are familiar with this course than any others that they've never played. Typically, we see Kapalua on TV while most of the country in mired in the depths of winter and it always provides such a majestic escape. I've been fortunate enough to cover the Hyundai Tournament for the last 7 years I think, and I try to take advantage of being able to play there when our schedule allows.

It's no secret that Tiger and Phil annually skip the first event of the year. Both have cited a dislike for the course and the windy conditions, but almost to a man, the PGA Tour players who do show up for the event have nothing but praise for the course. And they have to walk, which is nearly impossible (they do get shuttled 4 times before the 10th tee and 2 of those are during the play of the 4th and 8th holes).

The course is, in a word, extreme. I interviewed Geoff Ogilvie about it once on air and he called it an amazing design that only Crenshaw/Coore could pull off. It's built on the side of a mountain for goodness sakes. It has some of the shortest-playing monster holes in the world, and conversely, has some of the longest-playing short holes I've ever seen. On one hole you could hit a 7-iron 240 yards, and then hit the same club to another hole maybe 110 yards in the prevalent tradewinds.

The fairways are huge and the greens are absolutely massive for the most part, and you'll enjoy every inch of it, but the views from a majority of the holes are second to none. The course is in Hawaii which means it has 365 days of perfect growing conditions which translates into the course being in perfect condition every day of the year.

Because of the extreme terrain, the course always makes you feel somewhat off balance. And other than the tee boxes, you'll never have a level lie.

If you're a fan of golf, you'll feel like you've been there before and likely remember every hole on the back nine. I've played many courses in Hawaii, and this is the first I would recommend to anyone who truly loves the game.

Two bits of advice:

First, don't worry about how you hit it on the range. It really is the craziest driving range in history. You hit up a pretty severe hill that's set in a valley. While it's physically to put two different spins on a single shot, the range will make you feel like you've suddenly mastered the low-high-hook-fade. And it's kind of a good thing because you never ever hit one single standard driving range type shot on the course. Kapalua exercises your imagination like no other course I've ever played, and in doing so it just may transport you back to your youth when you used to mess around just trying different and creative shots just for fun.