Author Archives: Jay Bastian

Perry Maxwell’s only design in Illinois

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Fairways Golf Course

Fairways was designed by one of the luminaries of golf course architecture, Perry Maxwell.

Maxwell was a partner with Alister MacKenzie until MacKenzie’s passing in 1934. They collaborated on Melrose CC, Crystal Downs, The University of Michigan Course among others. Maxwell individually, is known for Southern Hills, Prairie Dunes, and the Old Town Club with redesign assignments at Pine Valley, Augusta National, and Colonial.

He was in the minimalists club of architecture where using the land as it is was as paramount as keeping costs down. He carefully sculptured the greens in generous size with undulation and swales as his trademark. He was also the first to introduce “greens” which were previously browns, or oiled greens utilized in the Great Plains region where most of his work resides.

Fairways Golf Course is one of Maxwell’s more simplistic designs given the topography and environment he had to work with. It’s a little over an hour from the Loop and an hour west of Oakbrook just off I-88 in Rochelle.

The layout is a classic parkland design over generally level terrain and easily walkable. The fairways follow narrow, mature hardwood lined corridors leading to raised greens with 24 sand bunkers mostly green side. There’s a creek running through three holes on the north side and a pond in play on a couple of holes. It’s a drill of the short game with 8 par 3s and a total yardage of 4,649 yards, par of 66, 64.4/104, course/slope ratings.

Kickingbird golf course reimagined for $17 Million!!

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Kickingbird is a municipal golf course located 20 minutes north of Oklahoma City off US 77 at Danforth to the west. It’s a 1971 design that been recently re-imagined to the tune of $5 Million and includes a Trackman range and short game area as well as an 18 hole, championship course. It’s been under a $17 Million renovation over the past two years It was redesigned by Matt Dusenberry, whose municipal work has included Keney Park renovation of the Devereux Emmet many has received various honors as well as his Sandhill Crane update.

The course is a parkland design with generally broad fairway corridors bordered by mature hardwoods with a couple of ponds in play and a scattering of sand bunkers. There’s variety of interesting green complexes including punch bowl, Biarritz, lion’s mouth in addition to a number of greens with false fronts, and undulating swales. There’s four sets of tees from 5,051 yards to 6,922 yards, the white tees are 5,758 yards, 67.6/111, course/slope ratings, originally designed by Floyd Farley and redesigned by Matt Dusenberry in 2023.

Haig Point, an island off the South Carolina coast, private yes, but also accessible

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Haig Point is available to outside play through their “Member for the Day” program or book one of the rental homes on the island. It’s located just off Hilton Head Island on Daufuskie Island and only accessible by ferry.

The layout is over level terrain with the initial 3-4 holes of the front nine and most of the holes on the back through tree lined fairways. The balance of the holes move out along the marshland with views over the Harbor River and Calibogue Sound to Hilton Head Island and the Harbour Town Lighthouse and beyond. The pristine setting with the marshes, ocean forests, tropical vegetation combine with the elements the Calibogue Sound and the Atlantic Ocean throws at you provide all the elements for a round ensconced in nature. The green complexes vary in size and undulation, there’s 55+ sand bunkers, pot, conventional, and waste areas defending fairways and greens, and a generous amount of water features in play. There’s multiple sets of tees from 5,121 yards to 6, 735 yards, the white tees play to 6,330 yards, 73.1/131, course/slope rating, designed by Tom Fazio.

The Virginian

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The Virginian is on the northeast side of Bristol off I-81 on Old Jonesboro Road and is open to outside play to guests of the nearby Nicewonder Farms & Vineyards Resort.

The layout is on a sprawling, hilly tract of land in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains within an upscale residential community featuring massive homesites dominating the margins. The fairways are generous, but sloping and hilly, while the greens are of varied sizes with tiers and undulating surfaces, and there’s 70+ sand bunkers lining the fairways and defending the greens. There’s tees from 5,073 yards to 7,025 yards at the tips, the white tees are 6,022 yards, 69.2/127, course/slope ratings, designed by Tom Fazio.

The Virginian is two hours from either Knoxville or Roanoke off Interstate 81. It is just one of 75 of the best golf course you can play from our guide to the best golf courses in Virginia.

The Patch

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The Patch is 45 minutes west of Knoxville off I-40 at exit 356 north and just north of the I-40/I-75 split. It’s located about a mile south of the decommissioned Oak Ridge nuclear facility, now a museum among other uses. It’s in The Preserve, a 1,400 acre mixed-use development between the Cumberland Plateau and The Great Smoky Mountains on a bend of Watts Bar Lake in Oak Ridge. A convenient 1 1/2 hour golf fix if you’re traveling along either Interstate in the area.

Owing to the growing popularity of short courses and golf entertainment, it’s a combination 12 hole, par 3 golf course and driving range. It includes a learning center with indoor/outdoor hitting bays, practice chipping and putting greens, and a pro shop. It features a variety of interesting hole designs including pitched greens, rock outcroppings, mountain and Watts Barr Lake views, and #6, a rock quarry carry. There’s a variety of holes from 69 yards to 108 yards, designed by Bill Bergen, (McLemore, Chariot Run, among others)

Carlisle Barracks Golf Club

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Carlisle Barracks Golf Course is on the US Army’s Base on the east side of Carlisle off I-81 at Trindle Road and is open to outside public play.

The Barracks is the second oldest Army Base in the U.S. The U.S. Army War College is its primary use with 2,300 active duty personnel and over 1,000 civilians. It’s a convenient location for travelers as it’s basically at the intersection of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 81 just west of Harrisburg. The golf course is on one of the main roads on the installation, and named for Jim Thorpe who attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School here.

The layout features generous, tree lined fairways over easily walkable topography with 30 sand bunkers in play. It’s mostly straightforward with numerous slight doglegs and mid-sized, oval greens. There’s four sets of tees from 5,056 yards to 6,484 yards, 70.8/120, course slope ratings from the Blue tees, designed by Col. Murphy.

Capon Springs Resort

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This time of year we’re all looking for somewhere cooler to play and The Capon Springs Resort might be a good solution for those living in the Mid-Atlantic region. It is 45 minutes west of Winchester, Virginia near the West Virginia/Virginia state line. It is typically 10-15 degrees cooler than anywhere in the D.C. to New York corridor. It’s a unique, 4th generation, family resort originally established in the mid-19th Century to serve those visiting mineral springs in the area. It consists of a 115 room, all-inclusive hotel set on 4,700 acres of tumbling land. It’s billed as a family resort with fishing, spa, pickelball and tennis, swimming, hiking, and a 9 hole golf course.

The golf course is a scenic, mountain layout featuring hilly and sloping fairways and approaches along tree lined corridors. The course was developed in the 1930s with three par 3s and one par 5, the balance par 4s for a par of 34. There’s three sets of tees-the tips play to 2,913 yards, 34.4/112, course/.slope ratings, designed by Lou Austin.

Marion Golf Club, a bicoastal brethren of royalty

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Marion Golf Club

We only list a few 9 holers on the @bestgolfcourses guide, but thanks to our Twitter pal, @Bschneider126, we’ve added another, The Marion Golf Club. It’s known to the local residents as “Little Marion” likely given that it’s overshadowed by nearby Kittansett. The course sits just inland from Butler Point on Buzzards Bay about 1 1/2 hours due south of Boston.

The course is a step back in time so to speak, and was George Thomas’s (L.A. CC, Bel-Air, and Riviera) first course, designed in 1904. Its photo would likely be prominent in Websters for the definition of “quirky golf course.” There’s a unique combination of design features such as as the original rock and turf walls, à la North Berwick, which surround fairways and greens on most of the holes. There’s blind shots, driving chutes through the forest, 90 degree doglegs, lilliputian greens, and OB. Its along mostly generous fairways dotted with trees on the interior with an array of 10 sand traps in some unusual positions and shapes including a horseshoe. It’s eminently walkable and at times scenic with peeks of Sippican Harbor. It’s also reasonably inexpensive, maybe challenged a bit on conditioning, but an enjoyable, unique round at 2,695 yards, par of 34, 33.6/122, course/slope ratings.

An alternative Sand Hills Golf Trip through western Nebraska

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You won’t be playing the Sand Hills Golf Club

A classic Sand Hills golf trip may include the Sand Hills Golf Club which is exclusively private in addition to Dismal River, also private, but less so, and The Prairie Club, fully open to public play. Along the arduous journey from either Denver or Lincoln, you may add in potentially Bayside, Wild Horse, and Aware Dunes.

We’d like to make the case for an “alternative” Sand Hills expedition that’s more budget conscious and about the same amount of driving. We utilize our Nebraska map of the best golf courses you can play along I-80 which traverses the state from east to west to identify the best prospects. At the eastern end after leaving Lincoln, there’s the classic, York Country Club which Jim Engh had a hand in a resdesign 1/15 hours west your find the Jim Engh designed Awarii Dunes near Kearney. Another hour west is Wild Horse in Gothenburg. Maybe you’ll then rest overnight in North Platte which has an ample selection of lodging and restaurants where you’ll also find Rivers Edge Golf Course and Lake Lake Maloney. You may/may not linger here for golf as the best is yet to come!

Bayside Golf Course

Next up and another hour or so west is the créme de la créme, Bayside on Lake McConaughy-an Irish sounding lake in Nebraska! Another 1 1/2 hours west you’ll hit the town of Bayard where you’ll find a couple of interesting named courses, Court House and Jail Rock and Chimney Rock, a couple of small town 9 holers worth your time to pull of I-80. Finally, a bit further west, but worth the drive if only for the setting is Monument Shadows in Scottsbluff in the shadow of the Scottsbluff National Monument.

Soule Park Golf Course

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Soule Park Golf Course

Soule Park is municipal golf course located 15 miles north of Ventura off the 101 in the Ojai Valley just a few miles inland from the pricey Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. 

The course moves over relatively level topography along generous tree lined corridors with a barranca and Thacher and San Antonio Creeks bisecting and frequently in play. There’s +/- 45 sand bunkers defending the generous landing zones and greens of varying shapes and contours. It’s rated as one of the best municipal golf courses you can play in the U.S. and with green fess at less than $40 it’s hard to disagree. There’s five sets of tees from the Lemon tees at 5,236 yards to Oak tees at 6,856, the the Avocado tees are 6,159 yards, 69.5/120, course/slope ratings, originally designed by William Bell in 1962 with a 2005 redesign by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner.