Half Dozen Best Multiple Course Resorts in America By Bob Fagan
Variety is the spice of life so the following are all fantastic golf destinations with more than one favored course to play. Additionally the food, lodging, service, and other attractions are usually excellent too. One great course and one really good course are not nearly enough to make this “Five Star List”. To make this list, you need a minimum of at least three remarkable courses. The geographic dispersion is interesting: North Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan, California, and Oregon.
The following courses all receive the “Fagan Five Star Rating” for being the Best in America and are listed in alphabetical order.
The Bandon Dunes Resort on the southwestern coast of Oregon features “the most pure golf experience” of the five honorees and the most remote to access. The accommodations are comfortable, but not luxurious, and there is no spa, famous restaurant, or tourist spots to attract or distract you. Instead, three golf courses by the name of Bandon Dunes by David McLay Kidd, Pacific Dunes by Tom Doak, and Pacific Trails by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw form the attraction. This is pure golf at its finest and the closest thing to a British Isles experience in America. I feel that Pacific Dunes is comparable to the private Sand Hills Club in rural Nebraska as the finest golf course built in America in the last sixty years. It is not the most difficult and there are others as stunning in their beauty. Rather Pacific Dunes is intriguing, playable, and thrilling. With good play and under favorable weather, par can be broken. On the other hand, it can be a real challenge, but it is always mentally stimulating. All three courses might be described as “minimalist” in design whereby the architect has accommodated nature rather than transformed it. You can expect that the elements will play a significant factor in your golf where not only is walking a delight, it’s required.
The exciting news is that a fourth course, Old Macdonald, designed by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina, is scheduled to open in mid-2010. Located adjacent to the Pacific Dunes course, this layout pays homage to Charles Blair Macdonald, an American golf pioneer who designed some of the most revered courses that include National Golf Links and the Chicago Golf Club. All four courses stand a very, very good chance to all be among the Top 100 Courses in America.
Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin along with the two nearby Whistling Straits courses on Lake Michigan represent some of Pete Dye’s very best work. All are owned by the private Kohler Company. The best news is that all four layouts are open to everyone. The River Course at Blackwolf Run is the more famous of the two carrying the Blackwolf Run moniker, having hosted a US Women’s Open. The ninth hole may be one of the best short par-fours in America. Its Sister, the Valley Course, is every bit as challenging and beautiful. Both involve rugged wood meadows, valley, and streams as a recurring theme. My favorite of the two Whistling Straits courses is the Whistling Straits Course where Vijay Singh won his 2004 PGA Championship. Once an unattractive flat bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, Dye transformed the Whistling Straits Course into something akin to a British Open venue. You really forget that you are on a lake in the middle of America, and imagine you have been magically transported across the Atlantic. This is a major “WOW!” course both in terms of difficulty and rugged beauty. Dye again moved mountains of earth in concocting the adjacent Irish Course. Accommodations at the American Club in Kohler are absolutely as first class as the four magnificent golf courses.
The Pebble Beach Company owned by the likes of Arnold Palmer, Clint Eastwood, and their high profile friends is enough of an attraction even without the golf. The Lodge at Pebble Beach, long famous, is joined by an exclusive retreat, Casa Palmero, plus the luxurious Lodge at Spanish Bay. Associated with resort though at separate locations are, of course, the Pebble Beach Golf Links that needs no further introduction, Spyglass Hill Golf Course which boasts perhaps the best six starting holes in America, the Links at Spanish Bay which I always find a fun challenge, and the under-rated Del Monte Golf Course. Del Monte is of a parkland variety and one of the oldest courses west of the Mississippi. Flattish and fairly short, golfers nonetheless usually enjoy it and are more challenged than they would have imagined. Trendy shopping and dining in nearby Monterey and Carmel make this a delight for he non-golfers as well.
Pinehurst Country Club in the Sandhill region of central North Carolina is the St. Andrews of America. While there are plenty of other pastimes such as skeet shooting, horseback riding, tennis, etc., golf defines the existence of this understated village. Donald Ross, the famed golf course architect, has his hand in several of the courses here, with the #2 Course considered his masterpiece. Eight layouts are included in the Club with all but Rees Jones’ #7 accessible to public play. Visitors who want a real challenge will likely also want to play #4 and #8 though any of the courses are a treat. This is a genteel quiet town, so if you are searching from nightlife and action, you may be disappointed. Certainly, the golf will delight you. Five of the courses play out of one general clubhouse location.
Reynolds Plantation about an hour and a half east of Atlanta, Georgia boasts four terrific golf courses in hilly Georgia pines that are open to the public. Jack Nicklaus designed the Great Waters course that features some really attractive waterside holes and marked his evolution to a gentler, less penal design. When you add in layouts by Bob Cupp, Rees Jones, and Tom Fazio together with a Ritz Carlton hotel with lakeside vistas, you are in for a treat. Actually, the oldest course designed by Bob Cupp with input from Fuzzy Zoeller and Hubert Green is a personal favorite while the Jones and Fazio courses can really be demanding from the tips.
Treetops in Northern Michigan is a truly stunning Midwest cornucopia of golf featuring four regulation courses and the nine-hole, Threetops, one of the world’s best par-three layouts. You can expect to play in the hilly woodlands area that makes for scenic vistas and serious challenges. Co-Owner, Rick Smith designed Threetops and two of the other courses bearing his name with the Signature Course being his first architectural effort. All are remarkably scenic and playable, yet challenging. The Tom Fazio Course at Treetops is his only design in Michigan, and one I consider to be among his very best, while the Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Course is the oldest, and traditionally challenging and beautiful.
No matter how discriminating your golf tastes, these are selections that I promise will delight you.
This article is derived from Bob Fagan’s “American Golf Course Book of Lists”, a book of more than 280 lists related to American golf facilities. It will be debuting from the website, www.golfshigherplane.com. Bob Fagan is a well-traveled golf coach and the author of “Golf’s Higher Plane,” a fresh innovative psycho-spiritual approach to better golf.
Testimonials
“I love it, and I am a great believer in what you profess.”
Hollis Stacy, 3-Time US Women's Open Champion
“An ‘instant ‘Classic’ in the tradition of ‘Golf in the Kingdom’. Shivas Irons would be proud.”
Bruce Strickland
“Bob Fagan shares his expertise and passion for golf along with his belief in the capacity of every golfer to achieve his or her best.”
Patricia Baldwin, Former Editor of “Golf For Women” & “Private Clubs” magazines
“This message has begun to work for me already. It’s amazing!” -
Kelly Martin
“An honest, fresh roadmap of specifically what is required to improve your golf game, regardless of your level.” -
Bob Shott
“Rates a ‘10’ on the relevance factor. These are simple yet amazingly overlooked points. Golf’s Higher Plane nails it.” –
Andrew Slaughter
“Who is this Fagan guy and where has he been hiding? This is amazing stuff!
Clyde Barrett
“Golf’s Higher Plane” may prove to be the first true “Golf Classic” of the 21st Century – a must-read.”
Patrick Murphy
“’Golf’s Higher Plane’ should be required study for everyone looking to play competitive golf or simply improve their game.”
Terry Sawyer
“Bob absolutely rejuvenated my passion for the game.”
Lori Garbazc, LPGA Tour Winner
“Golf’s Holy Grail may finally have been cracked by Bob Fagan.”
Bob McNulty
“Golf’s Higher Plane is golf’s missing link!”
Bert Greene
“All I can say is that Golf’s Higher Plane is an uncommonly empowering message and I want to shake your hand some day.”
Tim Porter
“Just wish I had the “Higher Plane” message twenty years ago!
Tony Morales
“Bob Fagan’s message is just what the doctor ordered, the golfer’s chicken soup!”
Dr. Duncan Edwards
“Hopefully, this is a message of empowerment that every teaching professional can embrace.”
Bruce Hamilton