https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog daily 0.75 2026-01-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/df01350a-fdae-447c-8f97-c02c571ca79a/MapChart_Map+%287%29.png https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/the-best-books-i-read-in-2025 monthly 0.5 2026-01-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/c49627fb-06b9-489a-a92b-ff30c30dc1e9/IMG_9055.jpg Blog - The Best Books I Read in 2025 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/top-ten-golf-courses-2025 monthly 0.5 2025-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/283d9586-652e-44b4-9773-96a16569c9b0/IMG_2277.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - Make it stand out Teeing off on Black Desert in Ivins, Utah. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/43335c3b-9866-4d29-84ff-377d6493ffa3/IMG_5547.jpg.jpeg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 15. Firestone (North), Akron, Ohio Robert Trent Jones, Sr.’s second design at the renowned Firestone Country Club, which opened is 1969, is situated on the north side of East Warner Road and is a course defined by a reservoir that surrounds much of the routing. In fact, there are ten holes in which the lake is considered in play. The course plays like a typical resort style golf course and a lot of the holes rely on water to derail your round instead of presenting genuine strategic challenges. Just like the South course, if you can’t hit a ball straight on the North, you will be punished severely. The final stretch, highlighted by the penultimate hole, a 218-yard par three that is all carry, is perhaps the best time to whip out your camera on the entire Firestone property. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/c6c6e763-b674-4452-9b55-ddc304ddc33c/IMG_6688.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 14. Fox Run, Ludlow, Vermont The first golf course I ever played in New England, Fox Run will always hold a special place in my heart. Everyone talks about the signature downhill par three eighth, but in reality the course is more than its main attraction. The fifth and sixteenth are two unique challenges that lay next to each other geographically but couldn’t play anymore differently. Golden fescue and striped flagsticks are subtle details that add to the overall Fox Run experience. In a peculiar way, a walk here carries the quiet charm of a time long gone. There’s nothing here but you and the course and Vermont’s Okemo Valley in all its mountain glory. The course doesn’t really get interesting until the third hole, and a number of the par threes leave much to be desired. As far as hidden gems in New England go, Fox Run should be near or at the top of your list. The awe-inspiring landscapes and exceptionally fun golf make for a memorable outing. Moreover, you get to experience Vermont in all its magnificence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/80f998f9-21e9-4548-88ea-8fa66d487fbe/IMG_5483.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 13. Firestone (Fazio), Akron, Ohio Consider me pleasantly caught off guard by what was supposed to be the “worst” offering of Firestone Country Club’s trio. The recently renovated Fazio sports wide open fairways, rolling hills, and expansive views of the property. I really enjoyed Fazio’s playability, too, and how distinctly different it is than the other two courses at the club. I do, however, think it is a tad dramatic to refer to the back nine as a “links” like so many on the property do. The green of the fifteenth, a 476-yard par four, is supposedly one of the highest points of elevation in Ohio. The South basks in glory and the North earns the love from its members, but the Fazio cannot be overlooked. Make sure you stop at the 7/12 Grille for a burger dog! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/41de9ce1-7887-4b59-9165-ef8f72247345/IMG_1753.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 12. Kiva Dunes, Gulf Shores, Alabama On an early morning in January, my friend Luke and I braved out the unseasonably chilly Gulf Coast conditions to play Kiva Dunes, a former member of Golf Digest’s Top 100 Public. Kiva Dunes is the sort of golf course that doesn’t require flash to destroy you. Absolutely nothing about the layout will wow you, but I guarantee you’ll come away genuinely impressed. Many places rely on exorbitant elevation changes and sweeping views to wow golfers, but this Jerry Pate design is less concerned with optics and more involved in making sure you’re challenged with subtle movements and hard-nosed golf. Other than the excellently formed putting surfaces, the quartet of par threes are Kiva Dunes’ greatest strength. Many who encounter Kiva Dunes often lament the missed opportunity to showcase gulf views, given the track’s close proximity, but I wasn’t bothered. I was more concerned with a few par fours looking and playing similarly. Even still, when you’re on the Alabama Gulf Coast and seeking a worthy challenge on the links, it’s Kiva Dunes or bust. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/0ddadb09-3484-42b9-9f7c-4aa40b72de06/IMG_7847.HEIC.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 11. Gentle Creek, Prosper, Texas Gentle Creek, situated in the northeastern Dallas suburb of Prosper, is perhaps best known as the home of several YouTube golfers, but the course itself is nothing to scoff at. A generous club pro let me on the course, and I teed it up with a kind member, Chris, who doubled as my playing partner and guide. The front nine was okay if not a little unremarkable. The third, a downhill, dogleg right par four with a few extremely penal bunkers and a perched green complex, was my favorite hole on the front, with the par three ninth a close second. Holes twelve through fifteen were my favorite stretch on the course, and the eighteenth, pictured to the left, is an awesome closing hole. The thirteenth, a 570-yard dogleg right par five, with its approach played through a thin copse of trees half as wide as the fairway that precedes it, is a sight to behold. There’s a good reason Gentle Creek is a sought after invitation in this part of Texas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/d4aa5555-caf4-4391-b828-ed38a32186c7/IMG_3215.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 10. Firekeeper, Mayetta, Kansas Generally considered the best public course in the Sunflower State, Firekeeper is a Jeff Brauer design situated next to Prairie Bend Casino on Potawatomi land just north of Topeka. Bunkers are strategically placed around the routing, and fescue outlines just about every hole. The course plays to a robust 7560 yards, four of the par fours stretching longer than 480, and the difficulty matches the length. Conditions are impressive and the contoured greens provide a stern but fair test. Some holes are repetitive and play similarly, especially in the first part of the round. The two nines are distinctly prairie golf and tree-lined parkland golf, and I personally favored the latter half. The best endorsement I can give the track is that if I found myself in Kansas City and had time to set up a round, I’d make the one-hour trip to the west and take on Firekeeper. It’s a better public golf course than any other I’ve played in the region. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/5bea794a-9c6e-4835-9ddf-507aefae56c6/IMG_5956.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 9. Hawktree, Bismarck, North Dakota My introduction to the wacky world of Jim Engh golf course design came this summer in the form of Hawktree, a central North Dakota layout. There are rock walls, fescue, elevation changes galore, and black slag bunkers. The stunning topography and quirky hole layouts showcase both the best and worst of Hawktree. What I mean by that is that while the views are jaw dropping, many decisions are difficult to make without prior knowledge of the golf course. The par-three third, par-four fourth, and par-five fifth are all stellar holes with a ton of variety. That’s the name of the game at Hawktree. The topography of Bismarck and the surrounding area is really impressive, and Hawktree makes the most of its land. A friend of mine from the area named Bryan told me the course plays very differently when the wind is howling, so I guess that just means I’m obliged to return. North Dakota golf is extremely underrated as a whole, and Hawktree might just be the best of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/ff52e555-b2a6-4069-b149-27c96aa6bcf8/IMG_2220.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 8. RainDance National, Windsor, Colorado Hailed two years ago as America’s second best new public golf course by Golf Digest, RainDance National is known for its extreme length. The track’s claim to fame is that, at 8463 yards, it is the longest golf course in North America. Mercifully for me, I played a purple/blue combination tee at 7300 yards. You might think that playing golf in Colorado in February is a miserable undertaking, but RainDance National was plain showing off the day I played it. Conditions were great, and the greens rolled fast and firm. Thank the good Lord for speed slots and high elevation. The course suffers a bit due to its playability. Take the tee shot on the par four fifth, which requires a 280-yard carry over high desert wash. Be that as it may, the Fred Funk design will be considered for top one hundred public status in many national publications, and it’s a worthy discussion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/b0b6b2c2-01a6-4f22-bafb-9e2ac696c35a/IMG_6777.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 7. Cape Arundel, Kennebunkport, Maine Cape Arundel is steeped in golf history. Renowned course architect Walter Travis, born in Australia during the American Civil War, put into place the elements that would become Cape Arundel in 1896. It is the playground of the Bush family, a place George Herbert Walker and his son are both venerated. The first tee box is the site of George W.’s famous “Now watch this drive” quip. The defining feature of Cape Arundel is its perched, undulating green complexes. The back nine is extraordinarily scenic, its views most notable on the eleventh, thirteenth, fourteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth. Cape Arundel is pure fun from start to finish. It’s no surprise that Golf Club Atlas has included the course among its 147 Custodians of the Game. The contemporary golf world never gets to be what it is today without places like Cape Arundel. The margin between seventh and second-best on this list is razor thin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/1263fb4f-c3ad-45a0-964e-a15a8b953781/IMG_2452.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 6. The Rim, Payson, Arizona The Rim may is merely an eighty minute drive by car from Scottsdale, but it may as well be an entirely different galaxy. With the aid of a friendly member, I was able to take on the 1999 Tom Weiskopf design, a property that showcases mighty ponderosa pines, spectacular views, and memorable golf hole after memorable golf hole. Look no further than the thirteenth, a downhill dogleg left par five played into a green dramatically set in front of a rock that resembles an elephant, to hammer home that sentiment. One of the best three hole stretches in all of Arizona—one of the country’s best golf states—is the eighth through the tenth, beginning with an aesthetically pleasing par three over water and culminating in a strenuous second-shot walk up the incredibly difficult par four tenth. What lies between, the par five ninth—featured in the photo left of this caption—is a stout test that is capable of producing scores of three and seven. There are a lot of unpredictable bounces at times, and that can be frustrating to the golfer who doesn’t know how to play the course. Even still, I wasn’t shocked to learn The Rim is a stalwart of GolfWeek’s best modern courses in the country. It’s a wonderful track. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/8487ffe0-c1e2-4404-b889-7e50590dd252/IMG_3154.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 5. Spanish Oaks, Bee Cave, Texas A work trip and a kind host allowed me the opportunity to take on Spanish Oaks, long considered one of central Texas’ most lauded golf courses. The gated community is home to Tour players and professional athletes, and I can’t blame them for setting up shop on this beautiful track. From the post-ninth hole brisket tacos to the jovial and knowledgable trio—shoutout to Joel, Mike, and Gianna—I teed it up with, everything about Spanish Oaks was fun. The entire place is, as the kids say, a vibe. The green complexes are tricky but fair, further proof that the 6900-yard Bobby Weed design’s difficulty stems not from its overpowering length. My favorite hole was the penultimate offering, a 575-yard high risk, high reward par five guarded by a false front, two large water hazards, and a number of penal bunkers. The terrain of the area was used very well, but the walking golfer might struggle with all the hills. The exposed rock formations scattered throughout the course add an aesthetic appeal and a striking contrast to the putting surfaces. I was a little bummed to hear from our host that the club has suffered financial troubles, and I hope the membership continues to thrive because Spanish Oaks is an awesome place. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/5ff7ec78-6395-4977-bae4-25ca63764adf/IMG_6942.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 4. Lake Winnipesaukee, New Durham, New Hampshire Among the most rewarding aspects on the journey to play golf in every state has been discovering hidden gems along the way. Places like Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire truly embody what I’m getting at. Conditions are great, the layout is fun yet challenging, and the elevation changes are aplenty. I wasn’t a fan of holes eight and eighteen, but they are a small percentage of an otherwise outstanding golf course. The sixteenth deserves a post of its own. The 388-yard beaut has two rotating sets of tee boxes, the left being the more attractive spot to hit your first. The carry from the back tee is almost two hundred yards through a chute of tall conifers and over a pond. A canoe in the center of the water is designed to be your intended aiming point. The scenery, like the rest of the course, is spectacular. Lake Winnipesaukee deserves a little more national love than it garners. The track has the look and feel of the Giants Ridge Quarry course and Forest Highland’s Canyon routing, two places I hold in high regard. Mountain golf, when routed properly, is a blast, and Lake Winnipesaukee is a blast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/8fd91283-de3a-41cf-b193-b42d92eeb7b4/IMG_5600.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 3. Firestone (South), Akron, Ohio “Historically significant” most accurately captures the essence of Firestone Country Club’s South course. Tiger Woods, who won eight times on the property, hit his “shot in the dark” on the eighteenth hole in 2000 en route to victory. Jack Nicklaus made a “miracle routine par” on the sixteenth on his way to winning the 1975 PGA Championship at Firestone. A few of the holes are a little dull from an architectural standpoint, and an average amateur golfer might loathe its length or difficulty. That being said, it’s impossible to deny Firestone South’s place as a giant that has tested nearly every one of the game’s best golfers. The third hole, a dogleg right played over a small pond and into a down-to-front sloping green, is one of the best par fours I saw this year. I played the signature sixteenth from its full 667 yards and was faced with 220 yards in on my third shot. I hit the best five iron in quite some time, carrying the pond in the image to the left and finishing about twelve feet from the hole. To have such a great opportunity to make birdie at a historic site like the South was the stuff golf trip dreams are made of. It was a fitting conclusion to an unforgettable visit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/8b67a61d-2ce0-4952-afcf-d86f10e940e1/IMG_2970.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 2. Desert Highlands, Scottsdale, Arizona Have you ever played a back nine that seems to get better with each hole? This is the experience at Scottsdale’s Desert Highlands, a place most notable for its stout bunkering, incredible vistas, and its variety of zero or hero shot options. Look at the stretch between thirteen and seventeen and attempt to identify a poor hole. You can’t. Perhaps the dogleg left, par five eighteenth is a bit of a let down, but that’s because the preceding hour encompasses nothing but pure, unadulterated golfing joy. In fact, there is no better view anywhere in the surrounding area of the iconic Pinnacle Peak than from the fourteenth tee box. There was a renovation this year to remove obstacles that impeded playability, and I’d be interested to see what the new product’s look and feel. Desert Highland’s historical significance stems far beyond its forty-two-year stay; the Jack Nicklaus design was home to the first official Skins Game, a competition that included the likes of Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Tom Watson. Thanks, Jeff, for showing me your great club. The golf scene of Scottsdale, Arizona is littered with first tier country clubs, and Desert Highlands is one that shouldn’t be overlooked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/3cb54db0-ba83-47d3-86da-29ee8d9d2a18/IMG_2283.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2025 - 1. Black Desert, Ivins, Utah St. George, Utah has become one of the United States’ newest must-visit golf destinations, and Black Desert is the crown jewel. Between the red rock backdrops, lively green grass, jet black lava, and sugar white sand, Tom Weiskopf’s final design is an homage to the color wheel. Black Desert backs up its jaw-dropping landscapes with exceptional golf. Every spot on the course is impeccably conditioned. The greens have a generous amount of slope, and some are perched while others are played into. There is an insane variety in the layout, no two golf holes looking or playing the same. If I were to nitpick a bit, I would say without a forecaddie on hand, a few tee shots are impossible to predict. The greens fee seems too expensive on the surface, but what do you expect from a high-caliber course like this? Black Desert is worth every penny and then some. The highest compliment I can give the golf course is that I opted to play it on Super Bowl Sunday, and because of my decision, I was forced to watch the big game on tape delay. And yet, I’d do it all over again. Black Desert rocks. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/capearundel-maine monthly 0.5 2025-11-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/968f5c1f-c609-4233-a78e-75fe4367443a/IMG_6782.jpg Blog - Cape Arundel Golf Club, Maine - Make it stand out The par four closer at Cape Arundel Golf Club in Kennebunkport, Maine. Now watch this drive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/a3795aea-4b8c-40c9-b9e7-6a8ec7d18db1/IMG_6758.jpg Blog - Cape Arundel Golf Club, Maine Cape Arundel is a property full of quirks, perhaps my favorite being the way in which you make your entrance. Turning off River Road, one has to be mindful on the drive in. This is because the road leading to the clubhouse intersects three golf holes—seven, eleven, and eighteen, to be precise—and is situated a few feet to the south of a fourth, the sixth green. I have heard of places like Shinnecock Hills that deploy this feature but have never seen it in person due to my inexperience in the northeastern United States. I was matched up on the first tee with a tennis teaching professional named John. If you see this, John, thank you for taking this post’s main picture and being a great dude to walk alongside for eighteen holes. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/lakewinnipesaukee-newhampshire monthly 0.5 2025-10-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/c24aa884-ab62-4362-b45d-66d39958d7b2/IMG_7298.jpg Blog - Lake Winnipesaukee Golf Club, New Hampshire - Make it stand out The extraordinary par four sixteenth at Lake Winnipesaukee Golf Club in New Durham, New Hampshire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/ebce06ab-d191-4838-861e-daba558c81f5/IMG_6909.jpg.jpeg Blog - Lake Winnipesaukee Golf Club, New Hampshire I embraced the challenge of Lake Winnipesaukee by playing off the back tees. The routing plays to nearly 6900 yards and features a par 37 front and par 35 back. I’m intrigued by the concept of a trio of par five scoring opportunities clustered on one side of the routing. However, at 558, 550, and 584 yards, you’ll need to play to the best of your ability to capitalize on the front nine. My favorite of the three aforementioned par fives was the 550-yard seventh, a beautiful slithering double dogleg that plays through a narrow corridor of pines off the tee and, eventually, leads to a green guarded by a penal pond and bunker. The fifth, the number one handicap hole, is also a standout on the front nine. It’s a 449-yard par four dogleg left with a daunting second shot that must carry over a large marsh hazard to get to the green. The best par three on the front nine is hole four, though precision is required off the tee to avoid six bunkers that probably, in total, double the square footage of the long, thin putting surface. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/foxrun-vermont monthly 0.5 2025-10-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/5ea4339a-87a8-44c6-812c-dbcdaac701b7/IMG_7122.PNG Blog - Fox Run Golf Club, Vermont - Make it stand out The signature par three eighth hole at Fox Run in Ludlow, Vermont. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/277bd5a0-1392-40b3-adb1-a4d3005c04d1/IMG_6686.jpg Blog - Fox Run Golf Club, Vermont Fox Run is a flat out fun loop that was an excellent introduction to New England golf. The course utilizes tall native grass, a neat aesthetic touch, to create a faux heathland look. The flagsticks sport a bold red top and a shaft wrapped in alternate blue and white stripes to add to the visual appeal. It feels as though you’ve stepped onto the green at a USGA championship. Even though it’s modern by golf standards, Fox Run carries the quiet charm of a time long gone. Maybe that feeling stems from my inexperience with golf in New England, or perhaps it has something to do with playing a mere 6500 yards from the tips. At 187 yards, the eighth is Fox Run’s signature hole. The dramatic, downhill par three offers an incredible vista of Okemo Mountain, dotted with massive mansions. There was a slight breeze in my face that Friday morning, and even though I played the number I still ended up fifteen feet short. We need not discuss the ensuing three putt. If you’re coming to Fox Run expecting anything less than wild, undulating greens, you’re in the wrong place. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/firestonecountryclub-ohio monthly 0.5 2025-09-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/f44eb4b6-2231-42ea-ac7e-7a3306db7e7e/IMG_5671.jpg.jpeg Blog - Firestone Country Club (South), Ohio - Make it stand out The signature par five sixteenth, nicknamed “The Monster”, at the historic South course at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/21218f11-f4c8-494d-8984-8797e143503a/IMG_5603.jpg Blog - Firestone Country Club (South), Ohio Let’s talk about the hallowed South course. Firestone’s championship layout has hosted nearly every golf legend of the last century, from Hogan, Nelson, and Nicklaus to Woods, Mickelson, and McIlroy. Many of golf’s iconic moments have happened at Firestone. Tiger Woods hit his “shot in the dark” here on the eighteenth in 2000. Jack Nicklaus made a “miracle routine par” on the sixteenth in 1975. The course hosted three PGA Championships, the Tour’s WGC Bridgestone for several decades, and nowadays is the venue for the Champions Tour’s Kaulig Companies Championship, a major on the senior circuit. In recent years, shiny new objects have surpassed the South in national rankings. The Robert Trent Jones layout is still rated highly by GolfWeek (156th in their ranking of the nation’s classic courses) and Golf Digest (ninety-first in their ranking of top 100 public, which makes sense now given their stay-and-play packages). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/2594d208-3a5d-4d31-90ab-6216555a50f9/IMG_5738.jpg Blog - Firestone Country Club (South), Ohio Of the par threes, the twelfth is easily the best. The scorecard may say it is the shortest one-shorter by thirty yards, but that in no way is an endorsement of it being the easiest. The area around the green is quite literally shaped like a volcano. The putting surface is tiny, and any errant golf shot off the tee will stick in the deep rough or one of the deep bunkers. Not only that, but the green sports a number of unfriendly contours. A lot of naysayers opine that Firestone South is dull and repetitive from an architectural standpoint. Since most holes are tree lined and defined by penal bunkers and tangly Bentgrass rough, I can see where one might struggle to see variety. Having grown up in Minnesota, I love old, championship parkland golf, and the South stands as a notable example of that type. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/anchoragegolfcourse-alaska monthly 0.5 2025-08-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/fd26babc-35f3-4902-a976-b72f79343b2a/IMG_4291.jpg Blog - Anchorage Golf Course, Alaska - Make it stand out The par four fourth hole at Anchorage Golf Course in Alaska. This picture was taken ninety minutes before midnight! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/01aa903a-46ee-4324-baba-abfada9a1fc2/IMG_4344.jpg Blog - Anchorage Golf Course, Alaska Years ago, the USGA elected to contest the 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship—Alaska’s first—at Anchorage Golf Course, a 1997 parkland design situated in the trees on the southeast part of the state’s largest city. The 6,601-yard Bill Newcomb layout is the second best in the state according to Golf Digest and Top100GolfCourses.com, and GolfWeek hails it the greatest in Alaska. I had played Settlers Bay earlier in the afternoon and come to the swift conclusion that Anchorage was the track I had to highlight for this series. It’s not that Settlers Bay was a dud by any stretch, but rather that Anchorage played the part of big-league layout in a state where few match that description. That the clubhouse is fully stocked and the peaceful layout winds through the trees add to the overall appeal. Anchorage’s finest course can be defined by its mammoth evergreen trees, rolling hills, and scenic views. The course offers great shot variety, too. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/blackdesertresort-utah monthly 0.5 2025-06-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/6b474b0a-006e-43c3-bde3-efeeb8c88c29/IMG_2287+2.jpg Blog - Black Desert Resort, Utah - Make it stand out Black Desert Resort in St. George, Utah is a treat to play and a sight to behold. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/400a2f1c-7474-49db-a485-86de2681bd64/IMG_2292.jpg Blog - Black Desert Resort, Utah Tom Weiskopf, the course’s architect, unfortunately passed away a few years ago and never was lucky enough to witness the final product. What he would have seen would surely make him ecstatic. I’ve played many Weiskopf designs, from Forest Highland’s Canyon course to The Rim to the three Troons of Scottsdale (the private Troon Country Club and Troon North’s Monument and Pinnacle), and Black Desert is ranked near the absolute top. Many golf courses in the southwestern United States rely far too much on scenery, but at Black Desert the views are just the beginning. I would be remiss not to mention the iconic red rock backdrops, the lively green grass, the jet black lava framing the holes, and the sugar white sand, each element coming together to form a brilliant contrast. It’s visually attractive in a nonconventional way not seen in other places. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/raindancenational-colorado monthly 0.5 2025-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/5e8b4d35-e491-4f4a-b943-9c681942c3a1/IMG_2408.jpg Blog - RainDance National Golf Club, Colorado - Make it stand out The beautiful eighth hole at North America’s longest golf course, RainDance National in Windsor, Colorado. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/3b2b2436-65eb-4ab1-bf23-4bbeec252a92/IMG_2227.jpg Blog - RainDance National Golf Club, Colorado The track’s claim to fame is that it is the longest golf course in North America, tipping out at 8463 yards. Luckily for me, I played a purple/blue combination tee at 7300 yards. Even still, the elevation of Windsor is five thousand feet, so the ball flies about ten percent further. It equates to a seven-hundred-yard difference. The course’s yardage ranges from 8463 to 4919, so there is a tee box for everyone. From the tips, the tenth hole is the longest par four I’ve ever heard of at 602 yards. From the tips, the second hole is the longest par five I’ve ever heard of at 713 yards. That is, until you get to the thirteenth hole, which is the longest par five I’ve ever heard of at 752 yards. You get the theme here. Gracefully, the tee box on the tenth sits about two hundred feet above the green, and there were temporary tee boxes about 400 yards from the green. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/kivadunes-alabama monthly 0.5 2025-02-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/cd327fad-4628-4e69-9590-42f213ea885d/IMG_3487.jpg Blog - Kiva Dunes Golf Course, Alabama - Make it stand out Teeing off on the final hole, a par four, at Kiva Dunes Golf Course in Gulf Shores, Alabama. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/bb342afd-2f0f-4399-8dcb-980bdf5ae0c8/IMG_3441.jpg Blog - Kiva Dunes Golf Course, Alabama Kiva Dunes, perhaps the most unique in the Yellowhammer State, is the sort of golf course that can beat you over the head with lightning fast and undulated greens. Many places rely on exorbitant elevation changes and sweeping views to wow golfers, but Kiva Dunes is less concerned with optics and more involved in making sure you’re challenged. The layout doesn’t appear super difficult from the onset, but there’s way more than meets the eye here. Little contours in the fairway affect the bounce of your golf ball, but not in an overly penal fashion. The greens are perched, none more so than the par-five fifteenth, and the surrounding Bermuda grass provides a stout test. When the rough is thicker, approach and chip shots can get a bit tangly. I played the blue tees, which measured at 6505 yards. Given the cold temperatures, the distance felt right. On a warmer day, I would’ve appreciated a combo tee that alternated between the golds and blues. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/the-best-books-i-read-in-2024 monthly 0.5 2025-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/c045db2e-9938-43ee-af4b-6af7fee995a3/Unknown-3.jpg Blog - The Best Books I Read in 2024 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/top-ten-golf-courses-2024 monthly 0.5 2025-10-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/292354cc-f4a4-4113-b299-8324e6b72143/IMG_7098.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - Make it stand out The par four fourteenth at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, AZ. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/777fe131-c473-4c9f-baa6-fdc5149a0a6e/IMG_9498.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 10. Spirit Hollow, Burlington, Iowa After commencing with back-to-back beauties, Spirit Hollow fails to fully capture your attention until the par four ninth. From there you are treated to an awesome stretch of golf, notably the par four fourteenth and the signature par three fifteenth, a forced carry to a green surrounded by a trio of bunkers, golden fescue, and a rock wall cropping. The downhill par five eighteenth, a dogleg right, is a beautiful way to end your round and a potential scoring opportunity. Side note: I played behind and spoke to at length a pair of brothers from the area, the older of whom is a Division I golfer and the younger well on his way. The game of golf and the spirit of sportsmanship are in good hands if these two are the future. Back to Spirit Hollow—there’s a reason many publications hail it the best public golf course in Iowa. It’s certainly my favorite. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/f164fcb9-5478-49ea-b742-56c7ed8f6d97/IMG_8874.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 9. Elkhorn Ridge, Spearfish, South Dakota While we’re on the subject of favorite public golf courses in a particular state, Elkhorn Ridge is my selection for South Dakota. While visiting my wife’s family in the Black Hills and participating in the Wild Deadwood Reads festival, her cousin and I made a point to get out and play. The course is excellently anchored into mountainous terrain along Interstate 90. The first and last holes are the least interesting, but that makes sense considering the clubhouse is situated at the low elevation point. If ever there becomes a list of best golf holes in the Keystone State, I nominate the par five twelfth to be at the top. Polo Creek cuts across the hole right to left, and back left to right again. There are two fairways to choose from, and a rock wall to the left side of the green. The twelfth is the type of golf hole you need to see to believe. Some of my other favorites are the 536-yard par five fifth, with its elk footprint shaped bunkers, and the par three thirteenth, with its red-orange canyon backdrop. Elkhorn Ridge is the definition of a “hidden gem”, although publications like Golf Digest, who named it third best in South Dakota after Sutton Bay and Minnehaha, are beginning to catch on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/d8df6484-aaf5-4acc-b0ec-a8bc198ec68a/IMG_6914.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 8. Park Mammoth, Park City, Kentucky Park Mammoth’s website notes this is a place “where traditional golf meets new age design”. Boy, could that assessment not be more spot on. The golf course plays a mere 6215 yards from the tips, ironic given its name suggests the track is lengthy. It hosts a litany of great holes, perhaps none more encapsulating the Park Mammoth experience like the par four, 394-yard opener. The tee shot goes down the hill and back up to a green that slopes forward to a false front. If not instructed properly, I could see how the golfer might have a hard time around the routing on the first try. Look at the second and fifth tee shots, and you’ll see what I mean. Nevertheless, Park Mammoth was perhaps the greatest thirty-five-dollar round of golf in my life, and that’s saying something. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/42c8e175-6552-4b77-af38-a722c829cf0a/IMG_0191.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 7. Cragun’s Lehman Legacy, Brainerd, Minnesota When planning my family’s annual golf tournament up north, I read up on Tom Lehman’s new design at Cragun’s Resort. It seemed to fit in with the popular woodlands golf of central Minnesota. The course is defined by its gargantuan fairways, wild undulations, and lush evergreen skylines. I love the rugged, natural look, and this layout will do nothing but grow into its land as the years go by. The par five second, playing a whopping 618 yards from the tips, is the first of many fantastic holes at Lehman’s layout, sporting a Stephens Lake backdrop you won’t forget. There are so many jaw dropping vistas here that I can’t explain which is the coolest. I could hear convincing arguments from the second green, the eleventh tee, the twelfth tee, and the sixteenth tee. A few holes have ludicrous green complexes you can’t possibly prepare for the first time you play, none more so than the par five thirteenth. The 7500-yard layout is a sight to behold, and maybe the third best golf course in the Brainerd Lakes area after The Classic at Madden’s and Deacon’s Lodge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/4ed37d30-54dd-4f44-bd5f-2f8eabf2da37/IMG_0229.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 6. Deacon’s Lodge, Breezy Point, Minnesota Deacon’s Lodge has always been highly lauded, and since I had the opportunity to plan the family golf tournament this year, I made sure to include the Arnold Palmer design on the itinerary. I’m glad I did. Deacon’s Lodge is secluded, stunning, and a blast to play. The heavily wooded course needs to be played more than one time, however, as a lot of bounces are unpredictable your first go around. I hit a fading right-to-left bomb on the 310-yard tenth to what I thought was a perfect position. Between my dad, uncle, cousin, and I, no one could manage to find a ball that should have been perched next to the green. Some of my favorite holes on the course include the par four seventh, the incredible downhill par four twelfth—one of the only holes on planet Earth I’ve talked myself into a risky shot because the outcome of driving the green would “look cool”—and the beautiful par three seventeenth. The penultimate offering, with its lake backdrop, is one of the signature holes of Minnesota. I’ve teed it up at many Arnold Palmer golf courses, and Deacon’s Lodge is my favorite of the bunch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/6523dc43-7a98-4f31-8761-a13ac18cf0ee/IMG_7430.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 5. SouthShore, Henderson, Nevada A “babymoon”, which is what us millennials allegedly call a vacation between spouses preceding the birth of a child, brought my wife, unborn son, and I to Vegas this March. We played a round at SouthShore Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus design in the affluent Lake Las Vegas area. The front nine is a worthy experience, but the back nine takes the golf course to a different level. The fourteenth is a gorgeous downhill par three over a pond with two of the most penal bunkers you’ll encounter. I learned this fact the hard way, striking my ball in the back bunker and flipping one back over the hole and into the water for a double bogey. A sign just before the fifteenth tee alerts you the final four are among the most scenic Jack Nicklaus holes in the world. Boy, are they right. The fifteenth is an uphill dogleg left par four with a postcard backdrop dotted by dozens of palm trees, an active waterfall, and the overarching mountains. The sixteenth is a beautiful 205-yard par three, all carry over a dramatic desert canyon. The last two are par fours cut along a daunting mountain on the right. Views of the Lake Las Vegas area are awesome during the closing stretch. There are many homes on the golf course, which can sometimes take away from the experience. I will say it is fun to hear the members utter things like, “There’s Celine Dion’s house”, or “that one just went on the market for eight million”. We were so lucky to have played here with a wonderful host. Anyone would be lucky to call SouthShore their home club. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/2f7850cf-305b-490c-9f97-fb17061481f3/IMG_9449.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 4. Mossy Oak, West Point, Mississippi I had wanted to play Mossy Oak, a staple of Golf Digest’s Top 100 public, for years, and when I got an opportunity this summer I pounced. The Gil Hanse design lived up to the hype and would be an amazing destination buddies’ trip. Mossy Oak sports big fairways, ninety-four bunkers, undulating greens, and a ton of prairie fescue. The rough collection areas are smaller than most courses, but the thick stuff wasn’t overly penal during my round. I loved the look of the property being framed by tall trees and basically cut in the shape of a rectangle. My favorite holes were the par four third and the par five seventeenth. There is an illusion from the tee the third is extremely gettable, but ending up in the surrounding bunkers or tumbling down the false front is far more likely an outcome than attempting an eagle putt. The second-to-last hole is reachable and sports a bunker on the left that is at least three times the size of the green it guards. Thirty thousand square feet of orange-brown sand lies ahead of your approach. The trap is visible from half the property and haunts you from the moment—oftentimes before the round—you see it. I’m going to nitpick a bit here, but Mossy Oak, in eliminating trees, has a bit of a variety issue. Also, there is a confusing moment on the fourth tee box in which the golfer might not have a clue where they should aim their tee shot. That being said, a round here is a treat and the look and feel provide a stark contrast to the average round in the American South. Mossy Oak rules. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/c56fa274-99d6-4c04-a34a-153887484c44/IMG_0010.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 3. The Red Course at The Loop, Roscommon, Michigan The Red course at The Loop is a reversible routing, one that can be played one direction one day and the opposite the next. The pro shop attendant directed me to play counterclockwise on the first tee, and that if I ignored the advice I’d smash a ball at incoming golfers. Hence, I understood the routing of The Loop. Soon after a glance off the first tee, I understood what he meant and poked my drive down the hill of the short par-four first. There are several quirky aspects of The Loop. For one, holes aren’t marked by signs but instead a single six-inch tall flag that directs the golfer to their teeing ground. It took me a hole or two to comprehend this. And although it lies across the street from the property’s original course, Forest Dunes, the two tracks couldn’t be more different. While FD has bentgrass fairways and greens, The Loop is all fescue. Shots bounce differently and it’s a completely different feel. The Loop is also significantly hillier than its sister course. Rugged and bold might be the two best words to describe The Loop. On the Red course, the par threes shine the brightest, most notably holes six and eleven, which couldn’t be any more different. Six is a short, not-so-sweet hole with a massive hill sloping right-to-left and a few daunting bunkers. From the tips, eleven is a 229-yard beast, a forced carry over tall fescue to a green with a massive backstop. The Red is a great golf course with an intriguing concept, and should be treated as one of the crown jewels in a state with so many crown jewels. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/33b268b0-7e9a-417d-a41f-721a2c536248/IMG_7106.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 2. Troon Country Club, Scottsdale, AZ Desert golf is often hit and miss for me. Troon Country Club, nestled firmly in the mecca of north Scottsdale, Arizona, is one of those places I am very lucky to have teed it up. Conditions are great, and the layout is very interesting. The Tom Wieskopf design, the first in his decorated career as an architect, sports a stellar back nine and a stretch of four holes, beginning at thirteen, that rank with Arizona’s best. The thirteenth—and the name of the course—is a tip of the cap to Scotland’s very famous and very original postage stamp green. The fourteenth is an excellently designed par four played along the McDowell Mountains over a severe drop littered with saguaros to a protected, fidget-spinner shaped green. The front nine is no slouch, either. The sixth is a 463-yard par four that showcases the entire Phoenix valley as its backdrop. The green slopes severely from back to front, and if the pin is situated in the front of the green you’ll know exactly why it is the first ranked handicap hole. Obviously being situated partially in a housing development, Troon’s visuals are hampered a bit by encroaching homes. Scottsdale is one of the best spots in American golf, and Troon Country Club is a key piece to the puzzle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/5fc25393-c905-4158-a5a7-1871829a179d/IMG_9979.jpg Blog - The Best Golf Courses I Played in 2024 - 1. Forest Dunes, Roscommon, Michigan The title of best new golf course I played this year goes to Forest Dunes. The course is split into two distinct nines, predictably tagged the forest and the dunes. Tom Weiskopf designed the routing in 2002, and the track is stellar. The color wheel is on full display here, from the lush greenery to the contrasting purple and golden fescues. Forest Dunes’ front nine meanders through tall evergreens and hosts only a few homes, creating an experience of pure Michigan solitude. The back nine runs through natural sand dunes featured heavily on eight holes. The green complexes are riveting, and the speeds felt like an eleven or twelve on the stimpmeter when I teed it up. Conditions scored a perfect ten out of ten. Some might complain about the lack of elevation changes at Forest Dunes. In contrast to The Loop across the street, or even the Bootlegger nine situated just north of the clubhouse, Forest Dunes is virtually flat. I’ve written before at length regarding featureless terrain and how it can affect a course’s memorability. In Forest Dunes’ case, there are a litany of interesting features. Holes six through nine comprise the most appreciable stretch of golf on Forest Dunes’ first half. Six is a 344-yard par four with two fairways. The more aggressive route is right, over a penal bunker, while a layup to the left is less risky off the tee but significantly further away from the back-to-front sloping green. The hole is aptly called “Gamble”. The approach to the 414-yard par four eighth is beautiful, and a preview of what is to come to the north in the sand dunes. The ninth is a par three with a forced carry over water playing toward the gigantic clubhouse. Forest Dunes’ back half is also littered with quality golf holes. The 278-yard seventeenth, named “Wild Dunes”, is a phenomenal drivable par four lined with sand. The green filters to the left and back, and the surface can play a little like a punchbowl on days where the pin is tucked in the corner. The fairway is wide open for those looking to hit 200-yard irons and have a short wedge in. Forest Dunes is full of fun, playable golf holes, and a property I wouldn’t dare missing. There’s a reason it is consistently ranked among the top public golf courses in the United States. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/forestdunes-michigan monthly 0.5 2024-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/1fd2fc13-03e3-41df-aebc-bab389070be8/IMG_9984.jpg Blog - Forest Dunes Golf Club, Michigan - Make it stand out The ninth at Forest Dunes in Roscommon, Michigan is the best par three on the course. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/083379e1-a3e8-4903-94d1-7a5087f205fc/image0.jpeg Blog - Forest Dunes Golf Club, Michigan Holes six through nine comprise the most appreciable stretch of golf on Forest Dunes’ first half. Six is a 344-yard par four with two fairways. The more aggressive route is right, over a penal bunker, while a layup to the left is less risky off the tee but significantly further away from the back-to-front sloping green. The hole is aptly called “Gamble”. The approach to the 414-yard par four eighth is beautiful, and a preview of what is to come to the north in the sand dunes. The ninth is a par three with a forced carry over water playing toward the gigantic clubhouse. I mentioned this months ago in the Illinois post, but there’s something about striking an iron into a clubhouse backdrop that simply can’t be topped. Forest Dunes’ back half is also littered with quality golf holes. The 278-yard seventeenth, named “Wild Dunes”, is a phenomenal drivable par four lined with sand. The green filters to the left and back, and the surface can play a little like a punchbowl on days where the pin is tucked in the corner. The fairway is wide open for those looking to hit 200-yard irons and have a short wedge in. Funny enough, I really enjoyed the only hole on the back nine without towering dunes, the par four twelfth. The dogleg left par four visually resembles sites like SentryWorld in Wisconsin or The Classic at Madden’s Resort in Minnesota, two Golf Digest Top 100 Public staples I’m proud to say I’ve played. The point is, Forest Dunes has variety. At one juncture there could be five hundred trees in play, and the next there could be zero. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/mossyoak-mississippi monthly 0.5 2024-09-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/e37b9abf-b9e5-4432-8700-7cd0ecc2f8a6/IMG_9450.jpg Blog - Mossy Oak Golf Club, Mississippi - Make it stand out Even soaking wet, Mossy Oak is a beautiful golf course. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/7d383488-4e2c-473c-8e4a-07255474bbcc/IMG_9460.jpg Blog - Mossy Oak Golf Club, Mississippi I flew into the parking lot at Mossy Oak a mere ten minutes before my tee time. Conditions were soggy, and raindrops flew intermittently on the first six holes. Like I said earlier, not exactly a Blind Melon kind of afternoon. That didn’t stop me from opening with five solid pars on the first six holes. We need not discuss the outlying, abhorrent double bogey. Mossy Oak is a hard nut to crack. It’s a very minimalist design—a bit in the realm of Park Mammoth, a course I wrote about earlier this year, or Erin Hills, site of the 2017 US Open—and sports excellent green and bunker contouring. Even though you can see most of the course at any point, there’s a hint of seclusion here. Its neighbor Old Waverly seems to be the type of place that is more community and country club, but Mossy Oak is purely golf. In fact, unless you play for the Misssissippi State Bulldogs and can use their practice facility on site, there’s nothing else aside from dining in the dark and modern-looking clubhouse that can be done at Mossy Oak. The club owns its mission. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/hazeltine-minnesota monthly 0.5 2024-07-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/21c0bbf1-9d20-4f56-8eb9-8ea86807b11d/IMG_8305.jpg Blog - Hazeltine National Golf Club, Minnesota - Make it stand out The tee shot at Hazeltine National’s signature hole, the par four sixteenth. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/027b06d6-b1ad-48c9-8202-1b92b31f8613/IMG_1269.jpg Blog - Hazeltine National Golf Club, Minnesota I suppose I should mention at some point my wedding reception was held at Hazeltine. Come to think about it, the sentence above deserves its own paragraph. My blog, my rules. Anyway, back to the golf at Hazeltine. The 1962 Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design has hosted US Opens, PGA Championships, and is slated to become the only course in the United States to have held the Ryder Cup twice. It was among Golf Digest’s Top 100 courses in America for an impressive thirty-year stretch until its recent departure. Still, Hazeltine is regarded as one of the premier modern parkland layouts in the country by nearly every publication. Accolades aside, Hazeltine is a fine walk because of its stellar conditioning and the fact that it is one of the fairest tests in golf. Nothing is tricked up on the property and there are few subtleties. Hazeltine is hard-nosed, straightforward golf. The course can beat you over the head without flash, and I think that’s a rarity in twenty-first century golf. There are plenty of good holes. My personal favorites are the two on Lake Hazeltine, the tenth and the sixteenth. Standing over your second shot on ten and hitting your tee ball on sixteen are without question the biggest thrills of a round here. The sixteenth butts up against the lake on the right, but your golf ball can still meet its Waterloo in a thin creek on the left side. Driver isn’t always the safest option on the only bunker-less hole at Hazeltine. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/coeurdaleneresort-idaho monthly 0.5 2024-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/651faefa-d5b0-401a-a3f4-fb017b7585f8/IMG_8980.jpg Blog - Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course, Idaho - Make it stand out The iconic fourteenth tee shot at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course in Idaho. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/92e6f34d-9092-4350-ad08-d185bfb4be44/tempImageKRCuOR.jpg Blog - Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course, Idaho When it comes to golf, Idaho is relatively under the radar but can hold its own. Gozzer Ranch, ten miles due south of the resort, is widely considered the best course in the Gem State. The Tom Fazio design is ranked thirty-fourth and thirty-seventh in the nation per Golf Digest and GolfWeek. Other notable courses in the Coeur d’Alene area include The Golf Club at Black Rock, CDA National, and daily fee layout Circling Raven. Tributary in Driggs, over 500 miles southeast, is the most highly regarded track in Idaho outside of Coeur d’Alene. My wife and I had a tee time that Friday morning at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course and a reservation at The Floating Green restaurant just beforehand. I ate a wonderful breakfast burrito, and my wife had a pounding head and an aching back because she was pregnant and didn’t know it at the time. She uttered something about experiencing vertigo, but now we know it was a stone cold case of the first trimester blues. Even still, our in-utero son couldn’t stop her from breaking one hundred. The golf course, owned and operated by the resort, is routinely rated as one of the finest in Idaho. Golf Digest rates it eighth in the state and GolfWeek.com slates it second among public layouts. Any way you look at it, the 1991 Scott Miller design is a must play in the Gem State. If the name Scott Miller as an architect rings a bell, it might be because you’ve played Sandia in New Mexico or the WeKoPa Cholla course east of Scottsdale. The Coeur d’Alene Resort has to be his most desirable layout. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/southshore-nevada monthly 0.5 2024-06-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/5519df22-185b-44eb-89cf-0fd14518d25e/IMG_8098.jpg Blog - SouthShore Country Club, Nevada - Make it stand out The scenic tee shot at the par five eleventh hole at SouthShore Country Club in Henderson, Nevada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/bcfdc625-85ab-4ae6-a328-920c3fef179b/IMG_8101.jpg Blog - SouthShore Country Club, Nevada The atmosphere of the place is warm and friendly. The golf shop attendant helped me select lefty rental clubs and pointed us out to the driving range. We were hosted by Colin, a great guy who logs hundreds of rounds at SouthShore year after year, and one of his friends. Colin asked us if it was all right that his dog Oliver joined us on our loop. My wife and I’s jaws dropped. That dogs are not just allowed but encouraged by members to join them on their rounds is a unique touch. It was a blast to have little Oliver along for the eighteen-hole journey. On the tenth tee box, a friend of Colin’s—and his dog—drove by in a cart, and my host encourage them to play the back nine with us. It took the man all of two seconds to accept the offer. We played the blue tees, which stretch to 6524 yards and play at a 72.5 rating with a 149 slope. Nearing eight months into her pregnancy, my wife understandably opted not to play. To say the golf course at SouthShore is great is to underestimate. I really enjoyed the diversity of holes and utilization of water hazards and fairway bunkers. I have played plenty of desert golf in Arizona in my life, but SouthShore just felt a little different. The variety was stellar, both in the golf holes and the terrain of the property. Conditioning was superb, and I wouldn’t be surprised to know the greens were rolling at an eleven on the stimpmeter the day we played. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/blacksheep-illinois monthly 0.5 2024-05-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/0b6b23b7-44db-4d73-bae4-954b1de84a38/IMG_4117.jpg Blog - Black Sheep Golf Club, Illinois - Make it stand out The beautiful par five eighteenth hole at Black Sheep Golf Club in Sugar Grove, Illinois. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/cecae70f-8245-4fc5-b40b-96bfe5fd2916/IMG_4154.jpg Blog - Black Sheep Golf Club, Illinois GolfWeek rates Black Sheep the eighth best golf course in Illinois and tied for 91st among all modern American layouts. Golf.com has it ranked eleventh in the state, and Golf Digest thirteenth. Any way you look at it, BS is a premier golf course in a state chalk full of premier golf courses. Black Sheep has twenty-seven holes, but in fairness to the other facilities I’ve highlighted we will pick the two best nines. The first and second nines reign supreme in this regard. The property is characterized by its golden fescue, bunker contouring, and wide-open fairways. Such traits might lead a golfer to believe they’re enjoying a links layout. It is certainly more so than any of the other courses I mentioned above. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/parkmammoth-kentucky monthly 0.5 2024-03-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/11fe78f5-df1c-4bec-8042-d825f83722c0/IMG_6915.jpg Blog - Park Mammoth Golf Club, Kentucky - Make it stand out Smiling on the eleventh green at Park Mammoth Golf Club in Park City, Kentucky. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/0d9c15ff-e271-48f1-ba34-9a6514808fd1/IMG_6895.jpg Blog - Park Mammoth Golf Club, Kentucky I played in February, and therefore the Bermuda grass of the fairways and tee boxes were colored brown and yellow. Folks who have never played golf in the south are turned off by it, but I don’t mind. The bold green on the putting surface provides a nice contrast to the marigold. Unlike in the world of Zosia and bent grass golf courses, you may be able to putt off the fringe if the angles allow. I loved the greens here, for they were unpredictable yet very fair. I paid the twilight rate and walked the grounds. Park Mammoth was easily one of the best thirty-five dollar rounds of my life. The golf course plays a mere 6215 yards from the tips, ironic given its name suggests the track is lengthy. It hosts a litany of great holes, perhaps none more encapsulating the Park Mammoth experience like the par four, 394-yard opener. The tee shot goes down the hill and back up to a green that slopes forward to a false front. I hit my approach shot a few yards short, only to have it roll back the hill thirty yards. I understood what Park Mammoth was all about right off the bat. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/chariotrun-indiana monthly 0.5 2024-03-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/54149630-9594-44b9-85f8-efb843c6a758/IMG_6880.jpg Blog - Chariot Run Golf Club, Indiana - Make it stand out Teeing off the par-five 11th at Chariot Run Golf Club in Laconia, Indiana. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/15ea27cb-8e95-41f6-b952-d2d49ea66073/IMG_6884.jpg Blog - Chariot Run Golf Club, Indiana The course is a mammoth 7200 yards from the tips, but I played the blues, which played at a tricky 73.4 rating and stretched over 6700 yards. Chariot Run’s front nine runs a little together in the way the holes play. Though there are many standout holes on the latter portion of the course, the front suffers a decent amount due to lack of memorability. My favorite hole on the first half had to be the dogleg right sixth, the type of hole where you can cut off as much as you please. The line of aim can be confusing if you’ve never been to Chariot Run. Luckily, there’s an uncomplicated bail out area to the left that will leave a mid-length shot to the green. If you’re a bomber, aim right. The ninth is a solid par four that goes down and back up, stretching to 501 yards from the back tees. I’m not sure why, but hitting shots into a clubhouse backdrop always provides a bit more of a special moment heading in. It causes you to forget just for a moment you are walking up the fairway of the number one handicap on the course. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/pinedunes-texas monthly 0.5 2024-02-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/b4b30e34-aead-47cf-9e52-264b9c258f64/IMG_5103.jpg Blog - Pine Dunes Resort and Golf Club, Texas - Make it stand out Enjoying every moment of my round at Pine Dunes in Frankston, Texas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/033e1709-583c-4a84-8642-ca8d0667bc5f/IMG_5089.jpg Blog - Pine Dunes Resort and Golf Club, Texas The course is no stranger to accolades. GolfWeek declares Pine Dunes the fourth best public course in Texas, and Top100GolfCourses.com has it ranked first among daily fee facilities and fifteenth overall. Former Golf Channel host Shane Bacon recently called Pine Dunes “the best hidden gem in America.” Not bad for a course whose greens fees only top $100 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. The 7,117-yard course was designed by the late Jay Morrish, whose most famous designs are the Stadium course at TPC Scottsdale, which hosts the rowdy Waste Management Open every year on the PGA Tour, and Stone Canyon down in Tucson, a member of Golf Digest’s Second 100. A sense of tranquility greets you as you head to the first tee at Pine Dunes, a gentle dogleg left par four lined with longleaf pines. The sand “dunes” of the course don’t really appear until the fifth hole, a par five you could play every day for a year and never play the same way. There is no tee shot I’ve had like this one: a sand oasis to the left, a giant pine tree in the middle, and a skinny fairway down the right side. The second shot is played down a fairway at least twice as wide as the first shot, but a quartet of evergreens will swallow up anything that goes too far right. The eleventh, another par five, also sports an enormous amount of sand and flash. Your second shot must carry a sand area that is at least an acre or two. These two are among the best par fives in Texas. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/spyglasshill-california monthly 0.5 2024-01-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/cd7029ff-f4a0-45ff-a164-7e99773a1c6c/IMG_1510.jpg Blog - Spyglass Hill Golf Course, California - Make it stand out Are the first five holes at Spyglass Hill the best opening stretch on an American golf course? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/3f31e3c8-1eaf-4cdb-a382-6d51dfeec1f6/IMG_1515.jpg Blog - Spyglass Hill Golf Course, California The dunes of Spyglass Hill were the inspiration for Robert Louis Stephenson’s Treasure Island. Most of the golf holes are named after characters and locations from the classic novel. You may have come here for the golf travel blog, but you will leave with a little bit more historical knowledge. Newsletter subscribers of my website got a taste of my best hand at pirate speak in their inboxes this morning. I’m so glad I heeded to the advice of the professional golfer. The first five holes at Spyglass Hill, which I played at 6500 yards, are world class. The first, a par five, is a downhill, dogleg left through the towering pines of the Del Monte Forest. The ocean reveal at the bottom of the hill is exhilarating and is a fun preview of what the next hour has in store for you. The second is an attractive uphill short par four of 321 yards from the gold tees. A deep bunker guards short and right of the pin and the sandy dunes of the peninsula protect the left. One of the best views in golf is the tee box of the downhill, 147-yard par three third. Just to look down and see that green and the rippling Pacific Ocean waves behind is worth the steep green fee. If you are like me, you will consider yourself lucky to be in such a spot. The fourth has the funky, thin green and will probably be the hole you talk about the most for golf reasons. That is, unless you're like me and three putted. It is just a great all-around short par four, though. The fifth is another fun par three that caps your seaside “links” experience at Spyglass Hill. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/best-books-2023 monthly 0.5 2024-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/dcfe12f4-f96c-4668-847c-a3bc3fd5432b/IMG_6440.jpg Blog - The Best Books I Read in 2023 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/fargo-northdakota monthly 0.5 2024-01-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/2c4f9eac-c550-48b1-aa23-461cf698d99d/IMG_8594.jpg Blog - Fargo Country Club, North Dakota - Make it stand out The par four 18th hole at Fargo Country Club in North Dakota is a fine closer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/c4de7662-195e-4c35-948c-6114c8e64274/IMG_8591.jpg Blog - Fargo Country Club, North Dakota Fargo Country Club is one of three private clubs in the area. Moorhead Country Club, across the Red River in Minnesota, and Oxbow Country Club, just south of town in a remote, upscale area, are the other two. Fargo Country Club is regarded by GolfWeek as the second-best private course in the state after Oxbow, and Top100GolfCourses.com currently ranks it fourth after a trio of further west public layouts. In 1995, a Utahn named D. Scott Hailes won the U.S. Junior Championship at the William Watson design. It remains the only USGA championship in the state’s history. The member who hosted me, Dave, was a fellow Minnesota native who had recently made his way to North Dakota. He was the consummate host, a younger guy who, like me, had a keen interest in golf course architecture and the game itself. He was incredibly flexible in accommodating a twilight tee time for me and an all-around great guy. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/thebluffs-louisiana monthly 0.5 2023-12-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/e20bed5e-fe72-4d00-89b0-fbb4e995bfd5/IMG_3891.jpg Blog - The Bluffs Golf Course, Louisiana - Make it stand out The 17th at The Bluffs is one of the trickiest par threes you’ll play. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/b011741f-bedf-489f-beb1-58b6cee15995/image0.jpeg Blog - The Bluffs Golf Course, Louisiana The ninth hole boasts an impressive design. It is a challenging 500-yard par five that strategically places tall, tall trees in the middle of the hole, presenting two distinct fairway options to the left and right. On my second shot, standing 230 yards away left of the fairway, I hit one of the greatest shots of my life, a four iron that landed on the right side of the green and bounced left, coming to rest about six inches from the pin. To this day, it’s the closest I’ve ever come to an albatross. Even a few years later, I can still remember every millisecond of that golf shot. It was the easiest tap-in eagle ever. It was also seconds before we experienced a torrential downpour and had to wait a bit before proceeding to the back nine. The 17th must be one of the very best golf holes in the state of Louisiana. The headline photo of this post features me teeing off on the 231-yard par three. As you can see, there is not a lot of room to miss the green between the penal bunkers, water hazard on the right, and the abyss to the left. I bailed out left and missed a 10-footer for par. A bogey seems like an acceptable punishment here. The par three 13th is another exceptional golf hole guarded by a water hazard on the right. It plays a bit like the penultimate hole but has a completely different look and lacks the downhill elevation change. The 18th is an interesting, sandy 526-yard par five that plays uphill; hitting two shots, no matter how solid, won’t get you to the putting surface unless you are a long driver. Finishing your round by playing a hole with a view up to the clubhouse always adds an enjoyable touch to your golfing experience. I’d be interested to hear in the comment section about other golf courses with this trait. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/blessings-arkansas monthly 0.5 2023-11-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/96224969-9460-4273-826c-412c67dd90eb/IMG_1732.jpg Blog - Blessings Golf Club, Arkansas - Make it stand out The tee shot at my favorite par three, the sixth, at the Country Club of Sioux Falls. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/0f432830-d25b-47d9-9e60-220f0dd9537a/IMG_1747.jpg Blog - Blessings Golf Club, Arkansas “As a matter of fact,” I told him, “I’ll be on my way home next month.” “Excellent,” he replied, “Let’s get something set up.” In short, golf needs more guys like Steve. For late February, the course was in fantastic shape. Don’t let the dormant Bermuda grass colors from my pictures fool you; the Blessings’ turf is immaculate and the yellow is a result of the time of year. The greens had some fun and interesting undulations, and they rolled true. A fun quirk you’ll see on the course is the crossing of the second and 17th tee boxes. During my round, my drive on the second hole went straight over the area where your tee shot on the 17th hole would typically fly past. However, the two shots were far enough apart that they would never have interfered with each other, unless a rare Randy Johnson-bird type freak accident would occur. Golf Digest calls this “a course within a course”. There are a lot of elevation changes at the Blessings, and the track is set up with two distinct tiers of golf holes divided by a ridge that separates them. The golf course is one of the most challenging you’ll ever come across. In fact, the rating from the tips, which measures at a cool 7925 yards, is a whopping 80.9. To put it in perspective, the average golf course has a rating of 70. That means the Blessings is nearly 11 shots more difficult than your public muni. As Ben Bernie would say, yowza! My best shot of the round came at the par three third, a medium length one-shotter with a pond short, when my ball landed six inches from the pin, bounced, and hit the flagstick before rolling three feet away. I leapt at the thought that my first ace might come at this special place. Alas, the wait continues. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/countryclubofsiouxfalls-southdakota monthly 0.5 2023-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/ce85c69e-eff2-41a2-96a8-00cfe527dce0/IMG_5471.jpg Blog - The Country Club of Sioux Falls, South Dakota - Make it stand out The tee shot at my favorite par three, the sixth, at the Country Club of Sioux Falls. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/ab328a5c-8177-492f-a1f7-9bdefd9c928f/IMG_5660.jpg Blog - The Country Club of Sioux Falls, South Dakota My father-in-law is as avid a golfer as they come, and my sister-in-law is a highly accomplished amateur. The family belongs to The Country Club of Sioux Falls, a 7100-yard, 1959 design right in the middle of town. The clubhouse sits at the bottom of a hill; Sioux Falls’ other private golf club, Minnehaha, is situated at the top. Until 2015, when CCSF underwent a clubhouse demolition and rebuild, the club was called Westward Ho Country Club. The club hosted the 1996 U.S. Junior Girls Amateur Championship, which was won by eventual four-time LPGA tournament winner Dorothy Delasin. I’ve been lucky enough to play the course a few dozen times over the years. We’ll start with the amenities. Boy, is this place huge. Aside from the 18-hole championship course, there is a 40,000 square foot clubhouse, a nine-hole par three course, a massive pool, and several dining halls big enough to comfortably host a wedding. I once had the remarkable experience of witnessing a unique event on the short course, a six-hole “playoff.” This playoff unfolded following a draw on the 18th hole of the main course, involving a pair of brother-in-laws who were determined not to settle for a tie. That’s the type of place you’d like to belong to. In fact, The Country Club of Sioux Falls encompasses everything you’d want in a “family club”. The golf course is a little difficult to find if you don’t have directions; cross the bridge and you’ll know exactly where you are. Once you’ve made it, conditions on the golf course are always spectacular. The bentgrass greens roll true and don’t have too drastic of undulations. The layout runs smoothly, and the tall trees separating the holes provide the border. One of the best things about CCSF is that the golf is no frills; there are no blind shots on the course. You get exactly what you bargain for here. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/tournamentclubofiowa-iowa monthly 0.5 2023-10-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/72377b30-e9fa-42eb-b62b-cdc3c4011242/IMG_8222.jpg Blog - Tournament Club of Iowa, Iowa - Make it stand out Smiling on the 17th green at Tournament Club of Iowa just outside Des Moines. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/a4083a78-c538-4a79-90b4-b13f4239e4cb/IMG_3915.jpg Blog - Tournament Club of Iowa, Iowa He answered within seconds; it was a simple three letter response: “TCI.” TCI—Tournament Club of Iowa as it is actually named—is an Arnold Palmer design heralded by most publications as the second-best public golf course in the state. Spirit Hollow in Burlington, two-and-a-half hours to the southeast of TCI, is typically considered the cream of the crop for accessible tracks in the Hawkeye State. I’ll report back when I’m lucky enough to compare them. I don’t know about you, but when I think of Iowa I think of flat land. That stereotype could not be further from the truth in the hilly bluffs of the east and, apparently, some of metro Des Moines. TCI uses some of the best land available around the area for their golf course, and the resulting effort is commendable. I have played many top 100 public designs in the country, and I would be lying if I said I preferred all of them to the Tournament Club of Iowa. The best thing about the Tournament Club of Iowa is its routing. Holes weave in and out of a thick forest seamlessly, and there are massive elevation changes. I guarantee the golfer will forget they’re in Des Moines. I took a cart—which I rarely do—simply because of the effort required to maneuver around the property. Conditions were great here as you’d expect, and the greens had some funky contours to them. I would guess they rolled at a speed of 10 on the stimpmeter. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/sandcreekstation-kansas monthly 0.5 2023-10-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/cbf2139b-8747-45a4-818e-bd96798e28fb/tempImageY0gcCg.jpg Blog - Sand Creek Station Golf Club, Kansas - Make it stand out Admiring my tee shot on the par three 17th at Sand Creek Station Golf Club in Newton, Kansas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/b4c997ff-66e5-4de9-8e00-28438cbd52c5/IMG_1113.jpg Blog - Sand Creek Station Golf Club, Kansas The train theme is quirky, but I like it. If you birdie the par five 10th hole, Sand Creek Station will give you a shirt that reads: “I conquered the beast”. I sighed as my birdie putt slipped three feet by the hole. I rammed home the comebacker for par. Side note: this round was the first with my brand-new Kirkland putter, and it was love at first putt. Aside from being the proclaimed longest golf hole in the state of Kansas, the 648-yard 10thhas two long water hazards that play the entire length, first on the left and then on the right. Another favorite hole of mine is the fourth, simply because of its funky, sweeping undulations. It’s a thrill to watch your golf ball bounce around the complex during your approach; it is at least twice the size of a typical Sand Creek Station green. The next hole is fun, too, as you can see the railroad tracks to your right. The ninth is a demanding short par four with a tough second shot in due to the two bunkers short and the perched green. It’s a pretty view though, with the tree skyline forming a wonderful parkland backdrop. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/landmand-nebraska monthly 0.5 2023-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/cc51dba9-430c-4b47-947d-8ffb544f23df/View+recent+photos.png Blog - Landmand Golf Club, Nebraska - Make it stand out The opening tee shot of Landmand Golf Club in Homer, Nebraska. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/ad88ba65-eda5-4834-bac4-6fed7528bd46/IMG_2842.jpg Blog - Landmand Golf Club, Nebraska The two of us headed from Sioux Falls, South Dakota—where my in-laws reside—and made the 90-minute journey down Interstate 29. The last few miles of your drive will be dirt roads if you’re coming from the north, which I enjoyed. All that alerts you of your arrival is a small brown sign with an “L” on it. The clubhouse is small, and there’s a food truck on the property. Perhaps it’s a temporary deal, but Landmand’s driving range is a literal field. Golf club minimalism at its finest, and I am not complaining. We were later informed we were likely among the first thousand or so golfers to tee it up at Landmand. I don’t love using hyperbole, but in this case, I need to: Landmand embodies the word “massive” more than any other golf course I have ever played. Everything about the property is supersized, from the gargantuan fairways and green complexes to the views of the surrounding area. Simply put, it is a golfer’s paradise of epic proportions. It’s almost as if Lawrence of Arabia was a golf course. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/sandestinraven-florida monthly 0.5 2023-08-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/35e1567b-3720-445b-9084-940c2d386756/View+recent+photos.png Blog - Raven Golf Club at Sandestin, Florida - Make it stand out The par five third hole at Sandestin Resort’s Raven Golf Club in Destin, Florida. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/5e76782a-c158-43a0-8c06-62b2e4fea76a/IMG_3791.jpg Blog - Raven Golf Club at Sandestin, Florida As far as favorites go, I particularly enjoyed the 203-yard island green sixth hole; it would be an excellent match play hole. The green has some interesting contours to it and there are bunkers left and right to scare the golfer even more on the daunting looking tee shot. Two is a possibility here, but so is five. The next hole, a double dogleg par five, is incredibly frustrating for someone who has not yet walked these grounds. There is a major carry required over the water hazard, which for better or worse seems common at Raven. Florida golf places a premium on keeping your golf ball out of the blue stuff. I have highlighted three Robert Trent Jones, Jr. designs thus far in my state-by-state quest—Wisconsin’s SentryWorld and Wyoming’s Three Crowns being the first two—and a recurring peril has been the implementation of water hazards on most holes. I’m sensing a theme here. On the back nine, 14 and 15 are two high-risk, high-reward fascinating par fours. On the former, you can bite off as much as you can chew knowing full well there’s water everywhere left. Watching my ball barely clear the hazard and bounce in the fairway was the single most exhilarating moment of my round at Raven. The 15th is drivable for the longest of hitters but awfully penal if you don’t hit it straight. The 16A/16B is an interesting concept, to say the least. The golfer can play either par three and skip the other before heading to the penultimate hole. I was a tad confused to see 16A/16B written on the scorecard at the beginning of my round. Trust me when I say it all makes sense. There are a few holes on Sandestin’s Raven that are really, really good but also a few forgettable. Another gripe I have is the missed opportunity to utilize bay views. Instead, there are homes on several of the holes and that can take away from the golfing experience. Still, I enjoyed the variety of Raven and would play again without question. As I have made note of before, views are not everything when it comes to determining golf course merit but they can help improve the enjoyability of a round. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/three-crowns-wyoming monthly 0.5 2023-08-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/4be334a8-67c7-40c0-abc9-fb0f3ca7137b/IMG_3455.jpg Blog - Three Crowns Golf Club, Wyoming - Make it stand out My tee shot on the par three sixth hole of Three Crowns Golf Club in Casper, Wyoming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/c9777e0f-ecdd-4f96-87e5-4d09f0460d9f/IMG_6427.jpg Blog - Three Crowns Golf Club, Wyoming The first hole is a tame, straight away, slightly downhill 385-yard par four lined by a quartet of bunkers. Those traps are effectively the biggest roadblock to a par or better; it is a welcome opportunity considering what is to come. Beginning with the tough par five second, you are then smacked by six holes in a row featuring penal water hazards. The closing holes on each side share a large pond. The ninth is a straight 515-yard par five with a ton of bunkers protecting both your first and second shots. Keep your ball right off the tee and birdie is certainly within reach. We both were up near the green after our second shots. 15 is a clever par four sliced by a meandering creek in the middle of the fairway. The conservative golfer can lay back to the left and have a short iron to the green; the bomber can pound one up the right side, but the carry over the creek must be 275 yards from the tips. If the golf ball hits the right spot, the ball may come to rest just shy of the green. The 18th plays like a shorter, par-four mirror image of the ninth, with reachable bunkers on both the first and second shots. The sixth hole is unquestionably the best par three and perhaps the most picturesque look on the course. It stands at 200 yards, but the most difficult part is the carry over the water whilst avoiding three bunkers that guard the back of the green. There is plenty of room to bail out on the right, but four can be brought into play easily with this strategic approach. I know some might not care for them, but I also liked the 360-degree views Three Crowns offered. I enjoyed the high-risk, high-reward holes; many of the RTJ, Jr. golf courses I have played seem to present a good number of these. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/sahalee-washington monthly 0.5 2023-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/77754192-37e8-4792-9347-0a81bf2a8560/IMG_3805.jpg Blog - Sahalee Country Club, Washington - Make it stand out The par three 17th at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/94d2f5f7-71f8-4843-80dd-dca107a5f174/IMG_2458.jpg Blog - Sahalee Country Club, Washington The club has a great collection of par threes; my favorites were holes nine and 17. The ninth is a mid-range par three with a bunker and water hazard left and the clubhouse to the right. Word to the wise: the green slopes more forward than you can imagine! I hit a beautiful second shot from the trap on the right and nailed the uphill six-footer for my greatest par save of the day. My favorite stretch of holes at Sahalee is the 14ththrough the 17th (five through eight on North). This quartet features back-to-back-to-back interesting, medium length par fours, followed by the signature par three. The 17th is a gorgeous, downhill 215-yard hole with water short and right, pine trees behind, and penal bunkers to the left and behind the green. It’s the hole at Sahalee you’re most likely to stand on a tee box and utter to yourself: “Wow.” https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/sentryworld-wisconsin monthly 0.5 2023-07-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/4e410b27-5b7d-434d-a242-ff406ab95ed1/image0+2.jpeg Blog - SentryWorld Golf Course, Wisconsin - Make it stand out The third hole at SentryWorld Golf Course in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/fd1ffaee-0f2a-4d35-82ff-e54023102c05/image1.jpeg Blog - SentryWorld Golf Course, Wisconsin All right, enough with the buildup. Perhaps the finest trait of SentryWorld is its conditioning. We remarked on the first hole, a 423-yard dogleg left, that it felt like we were among the first golfers to ever play the course. The land is relatively flat, but SentryWorld more than makes up for its shortcomings with variety and flat-out fun holes. The stretch of three through five is my favorite on the front nine and compose a few of my favorite golf hole templates: a par three with a gorgeous water backdrop; a high-risk, high-reward drivable par four; and a par five that is reachable if you dare to take on a water hazard. The par five ninth, in which the golfer navigates both the first and second shots over a creek, can surrender scores of three or seven depending on how it is played. Indeed, Robert Trent Jones, Jr. does not mess around. At the U.S. Senior Open, the ninth played as a par four and, surrendering a 4.55 average score, the second hardest hole on the golf course. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/desertforest-arizona monthly 0.5 2023-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/56a1588b-479b-4c15-be88-cdb40c982b0b/IMG_1446.jpg Blog - Desert Forest Golf Club, Arizona - Make it stand out The Arizona golf scene does not become what it is without Desert Forest. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/63d28779-8c10-4735-a2fb-21706f770070/image0.jpeg Blog - Desert Forest Golf Club, Arizona First things first: the turf at Desert Forest was beyond superb. Every fairway was striped and manicured to perfection; I felt the need to beg for forgiveness every time my divot flew into the bright blue desert sky. The bentgrass greens have very subtle movements to them and are well conditioned. Desert Forest is the antithesis of new, tricked-out mock links courses across the United States. That’s not to say the Landmands, Sand Valleys, Bandon Dunes, and Whistling Straits of the world don’t have a place in American golf. They do. It’s just refreshing to see a club like Desert Forest that doesn’t feel the need to beat you over the head with crazy undulating greens, fairways, and fescue. “Fair” is a good word to describe this club. Incredibly difficult, yes, but fair. Every bad shot I hit, I deserved to be in danger. Nearly every great shot, I was rewarded for my effort. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/twinwarriors-newmexico monthly 0.5 2023-06-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/40fb804e-4e89-4ec6-83af-ee2b9233d30b/Twin+Warriors+post+primary.jpg Blog - Twin Warriors, New Mexico - Make it stand out The signature par three fourth hole at Twin Warriors in New Mexico. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/364039d9-9d60-4a90-9aab-35a655ba121f/Twin+Warriors+post+secondary.jpg Blog - Twin Warriors, New Mexico The golf course is played at a high elevation. Even though I teed it up from nearly 7300 yards, Twin Warriors played more like 6700. It is always a treat to play a course that high up; your golf ball flies about 10 percent further as a result. As a flatlander, it is immensely amusing to walk up to your second shot and realize you’ve struck the ball significantly further than you believe. Desert golf is often enjoyed this way. Like all other golf courses of its kind, you need to hit the ball straight at Twin Warriors. Otherwise, you’ll have many sandy or uneven lies. Those sage bushes can swallow a golf ball, too. The fairways are wide and have a lot of undulations. The greens aren’t the most memorable part of Twin Warriors and are relatively tame. I respected the lack of blind tee shots for the uninformed; this is no-frills golf and I appreciate that. Desert courses oftentimes have the golfer scratching his or her head, wondering where to hit the golf ball. Twin Warriors does a fine job with its routing. The fourth, a par three with a forced carry over a water hazard featuring a boatload of rocks and a small waterfall, is the most critically acclaimed hole at Twin Warriors. Many call it the signature hole. I loved it; it is in the upper echelon of my favorite par threes in the southwestern United States. Six and seven are fun, interesting back-to-back par fours. Beyond the former’s green is an almost orange-looking desert hill, adding to the aesthetic appeal of the front nine; the latter is a downhill, almost 500-yard two-shotter with plenty of hazards and speed slots. Par feels like a gift here. I did not mind making bogey one bit. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/southernhillscountryclub-oklahoma monthly 0.5 2023-06-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/a380863d-28cf-411b-a5f9-33e12b62cda4/IMG_2876.jpg Blog - Southern Hills Country Club, Oklahoma - Make it stand out My approach shot to the renowned finishing hole at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/04598097-761c-4faf-b76f-93a6a88d7048/IMG_1922.jpg Blog - Southern Hills Country Club, Oklahoma Onto the course. I would argue the view from the first tee is one of the best in American golf; in the distance above the trees that dot the property, you can make out the Tulsa skyline. Take a deep breath once you’re here—you’ve made it! Smack your driver up the right side to get a good look at the green. Architect Gil Hanse’s latest restoration created a classic look to the bunker hazards, a significant upgrade especially when comparing before and after photos. I thought the front nine was great, but not world-class like Southern Hills’ rankings suggest. The sixth hole, a par three played over a creek, was my favorite offering on the front nine, and not just on account of the birdie I made. Where it all changed for me was the par four 10th. Beginning there, the three-hole stretch culminating on the famous 12th green complex is one of the best I have ever played. 10 is a strategic, dogleg right hole with trouble everywhere due to a creek, some hanging trees on the right, and an uphill brute of a second shot. The 11th is a surprisingly devilish short par three with trouble everywhere not on the putting surface; like the rest of Southern Hills, bunkers and slopes line the green’s routing. 12 is, as Arnold Palmer once said, one of the finest par fours in America. Four bunkers, a creek, and a bridge guard the sloping green, and you’re offered once more a view of the clubhouse. It is a worthy signature hole of Perry Maxwell’s design. Other great holes on the back nine include the closing two: number 17, a short par four guarded by a creek that Justin Thomas famously drove in the playoff of last year’s PGA Championship; and the diabolical finisher, a treacherous uphill par four where bogey no doubt feels like an acceptable punishment. Mito Pereira is not the only one who carded a six here. To be fair to the Chilean, I had but three spectators, my dad and our two caddies; he had millions watching and would humble me Tiger Woods-Stephen Ames style in a match play setting. https://www.joeeganbooks.com/blog/the50statesofgolf monthly 0.5 2023-05-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/1119953c-ff7a-4508-bcfc-ce5ca6fcee24/IMG_2756.jpeg Blog - The 50 States of Golf - Make it stand out In addition to many states, my golf travels have taken me across the world. Here I am at Cruden Bay in northeast Scotland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63af96de40e7e215579cacaf/18650967-3c73-453a-9c70-0f68ca600796/IMG_2755.jpg Blog - The 50 States of Golf The apex of my golfing “career” came at 17 years old, when I won my golf club’s junior championship. I remember walking down the 18th fairway in the final round with a two-shot lead, knowing I could play the final hole safely and walk away with the trophy. After tapping in a putt for the victory, I’ll never forget looking over at the clubhouse and seeing my parents standing there among the crowd of a few dozen. They were—and still are—as enthralled by the sport as I am. That I’ve been able to share many more moments with them on the course since is the magic of golf. 18 months ago, my younger brother shattered his ankle in a freak accident playing his first pickup game of football in years. Half a year later, he parred his first hole back on the course. 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