Golf courses all over Asia are often anchored by a great hotel. Until now, however, no club could boast of having not just one, but two of the region’s highest rated resorts within a well-struck iron shot of the clubhouse. Such a scenario has just come to pass at Laguna Lang Co in Central Vietnam.
Angsana Lang Co and Banyan Tree Lang Co were both ranked among the top 20 resorts in Asia, as recognized by Conde Nast Traveller’s Readers’ Choice Awards.
The resorts are part of a wider integrated property—one of Asia’s most expansive—that also encompasses Laguna Golf Lang Co, a signature design by Sir Nick Faldo that is rated as one of Vietnam’s finest golf tests.
Angsana Lang Co, which commands an extended beach frontage and features 229 stylish suites, more than 100 of which come with their own private pools overlooking the East Sea, was ranked at No. 2 on the list. Banyan Tree Lang Co, a multi-award-winning all-pool villa resort, meanwhile, was rated No. 13 in Asia by readers of the publication, regarded by many as the world’s leading authority on luxury travel.
“That travellers, particularly those who read one of the world’s preeminent travel magazines, have recognised Angsana Lang Co and Banyan Tree Lang Co as among the best in Asia is incredibly exciting and is testament to our efforts to put the overall experience first,” said Adam Calver, Director of Golf at Laguna Lang Co.
“Not only is it a boost for tourism in general in Central Vietnam, it’s also really good news for golf tourism in this part of the country,” he said. “It’s very rare that you can play golf on one of Vietnam’s best courses and then take your pick of two of the best resorts in Asia just a couple of hundred yards down the road.”
Family Golf Week, which includes the Father-Son Team Classic, will call Barefoot Resort & Golf home in 2020.
Home to courses designed Tom Fazio, Davis Love III, Greg Norman and Pete Dye, the resort will host Family Golf Week July 15-18. Barefoot is an ideal hub for an event that attracts golfers from across the nation and celebrates the familial bonds the game helps create.
Family Golf Week, a four-day event highlighted by the playing of the Father-Son and the Parent-Child team classics, will be held July 15-18, 2020 on seven of Myrtle Beach’s best courses. The 23rd annual event is again expected to attract 350 teams and 700 golfers from more than 40 states and three countries.
Moving the tournament’s base of operations to Barefoot, which was recently ranked among America’s Top 100 Golf Resorts by Golf Magazine and was named the International Association of Golf Tour Operators North American Golf Resort of the Year in 2017, will be a popular one with participants.
Barefoot, which has a pair of clubhouses featuring ample meeting and dining space, will host pre and post-event functions, including the tournament awards luncheon, one of the highlights of week.
“We are thrilled to have Barefoot Resort join the Family Golf Week team as our host property,” said Mike Buccerone, president of East Coast Golf Events. “Barefoot is one of America’s premier golf resorts and will be an ideal host venue, helping us deliver an unforgettable week of golf and good times to the families that participate in the tournament.”
“We have hosted tournament play during Family Golf Week for years and are excited to take our relationship to the next level,” said Dave Genevro, Barefoot Resort’s general manager. “We look forward to showcasing everything Barefoot has to offer and contributing to the success of an event that attracts golfers from across the nation.”
The benefits of Barefoot serving as Family Golf Week’s hub extend off the course, including an expanded two-day check-in window beginning on July 14. The Resort is part of a community that includes on-site accommodations, Barefoot Landing, a 2,300-acre shopping and dining complex, the ever-popular Putter’s Pub, and it provides easy access to host courses and North Myrtle Beach’s abundant attractions.
The Father-Son and the Parent-Child Team Classic, which has brought mothers, daughters and grandparents into the tournament fold, are both 54-hole events.
Entry fee is $995 per team and includes three rounds of golf, daily lunch, pre- and post-event functions, and a gift bag valued at $300. Included among the gift bag items are a $150 tournament gift card that can be used at host courses for food, merchandise and golf, a logo’d polo shirt, a dozen golf balls and more.
Both Family Golf Week tournaments require participants to have a USGA approved handicap and feature new formats of play in 2020, beginning with best ball followed by a Texas scramble and captain’s choice in the final round.
Following an 18-month total renovation, Great Waters at Reynolds Lake Oconee has re-opened. The completely rebuilt, modernized, and reconditioned version of the 1992 original is a visually breathtaking 18 holes of championship golf along Georgia’s Lake Oconee shoreline that looks almost exactly the way Jack Nicklaus first designed it—but better.
“’Spectacular’ is a pretty good word for the golf course,” said Nicklaus, the living legend who devoted considerable time and attention to taking Great Waters back to the future. “We created a little more of an exciting golf course with more variety, a golf course that is really strong again.”
Working within the guidelines of the original routing and strategy, the Nicklaus Design team rebuilt Great Waters from beneath the ground up, including new drainage and irrigation systems, as well as updated bunker designs that are a major part of the modern infrastructure.
“Every golf course has a life cycle, like a car,” said Chad Goetz, the Nicklaus Design associate who oversaw the Great Waters project. “Things wear out and things change a lot in 30 years. Technically, we rebuilt the golf course. It is the same golf course, but now it is really polished.”
Extensive tree clearing took place to reduce shade and improve overall turf quality. This also allowed for wider fairways (Zeon zoysia) and rough (TifTuf Bermuda). Greens complexes are all new and have been converted to TifEagle Bermuda, a grass that should perform better in the shade and hold color in the fall. The grasses were selected for their ability to remain in top condition year-round.
The “wow factor” is stronger than ever with the opening of lake views on the 9th, 11th, and 13th holes. For all that, the par-3 8th is the only completely remodeled hole: It now plays over or along bunkers to a more receptive green.
New back tees were added to modernize the course without moving many fairway bunkers: As a result, Great Waters now plays to 7,400 yards, which should challenge the top college players in the annual Linger Longer Invitational. A new set of forward tees—at about 4,500 yards—will increase playability, improve pace of play, and encourage all players to move forward.
“The nuts and bolts of the golf course were fantastic,” Goetz said. “We tried to distill the essence of the original golf course with a new one that accents the amazing land features that were already there.”
Great Waters has been a favorite course of both members and visitors to Reynolds Lake Oconee since it opened in 1992. The course has been highly praised and is regularly rated as the #2 course in Georgia—second only to famed Augusta National.
“The first time I went to Reynolds, I knew we had the potential to have a great golf course,” Nicklaus said. “I think we found it then, and now, more than a quarter of a century later, a wonderful golf experience remains but was in need of a little updating. It’s one of the really great pieces of property with which I have ever had the experience to work.”
Located between Atlanta and Augusta, Reynolds Lake Oconee is considered one of the country’s most diverse golf experiences, with courses designed by legendary architects: the aforementioned Great Waters by Nicklaus, The National by Tom Fazio, The Oconee by Rees Jones, The Landing, and The Preserve by Bob Cupp, as well as the Members-only Creek Club by Jim Engh.
Along with its highly-regarded golf courses, Reynolds Lake Oconee features a full range of sporting activities, with access to more than 350 miles of Lake Oconee shoreline and four marinas; shooting sports at the Sandy Creek Sporting Grounds; hiking trails; and an award-winning tennis center, together making it one of the most impressive community and golf destinations in the world.
The only resort golf course on the Las Vegas Strip returns to Wynn Las Vegas on Friday, October 11, with the grand reopening of the Wynn Golf Club.
The original 18-hole championship course established in 2005 has been reimagined by legendary golf course architect Tom Fazio to give players a new golf experience from the first drive to the last putt.
“Tom Fazio has outdone himself designing a beautiful and unique new course that is even better than the one before,” said Marilyn Spiegel, president of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. “We look forward to welcoming players back with a world-class golf experience that captures both the luxury of our resort and the excitement of Las Vegas.”
Fazio, this time joined by his son Logan, took special care to create a course suitable for players of all skill levels. New golfers will find it approachable and fun, while more experienced players will be tested by the movement of the land, locating the proper angles, and getting close to the pins on the large flowing greens.
“We are so excited about the return of the Wynn Golf Club,” said Tom Fazio. “The quality of the Wynn golf experience matches the ultra-high level that everyone expects from a Wynn resort. The playability of the course is second to none and the challenge of play for all golfers is exceptional. We are so pleased with the end result that I believe the players of the Wynn Golf Club will place this course in the category of their favorite places to play, and will agree that the Wynn Golf Club is a fabulous environment to enjoy the game.”
The course sits on 129 acres of the resort’s private backyard, with eight all-new holes and 10 revamped holes. Lush landscapes unique to desert golf include several water features and streams, 100,000 shrubs, and 7,000 mature trees, many of which date back to the 1950s when the land was home to the historic Desert Inn Golf Club.
Par is 70 with three par 3s and two par 5s on each nine, and a total yardage that stretches from 4,810 to 6,722 with a choice of four tees. A new 6,500-square-foot practice putting green sits adjacent to the first tee, along with a netted full swing warm-up area.
Significant changes begin on the first hole, which has been rerouted from its original design to dogleg right instead of left. Highlights include a 486-yard par 4 (no. 16) and a par 5 (no. 11) that tops out at nearly 600 yards. The signature 18th hole has been transformed from a par 4 to a par 3, which can be stretched to 249 yards, culminating on a green framed by a 35-foot-tall by 100-foot-wide waterfall for a truly spectacular finish.
More than 400,000 cubic yards of earth and 300 trees were relocated to accommodate wider landing areas, contours, and elevation changes to fairways throughout, as well as bunker alterations that make for easier access and egress. Each hole received an approximate 300-square-foot green expansion as well as a redesign and recontour to create new hole locations, while green surrounds were made more receptive with the addition of collection areas shaped to feed balls toward putting surfaces.
Completing the experience is a professional caddie program staffed with several PGA members, new on-course culinary program, lithium-powered golf carts, expansive pro shop, and luxury clubhouse.
Green fees are $550 in season. Golfers with a room reservation at Wynn Las Vegas or Encore can secure tee times 90 days in advance. Non-resort guests can reserve tee times 30 days in advance. For tee times and green fees please call 702-770-GOLF (4653).
Fall is golf’s “second season” throughout the Carolinas. High temps in the 70s and lows in the 50s mean course conditions are peaking from the beach to the mountains. Bermuda and Zoysia grass fairways are hanging on to their green hue while bentgrass greens are flourishing.
With more than 220 days of sunshine, and average precipitation below four inches each fall month, golfers are almost guaranteed a full-18.
What’s more, North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina serve up some of the Southeast’s most stunning fall foliage. These five golf destinations offer bang for the buck, sublime conditions and are easily accessible via the Carolinas’ highways and byways.
Greensboro, N.C.: This 36-hole resort with its recently re-imagined hotel conveniently located off I-85 is one of the state’s best kept golf secrets. Golfers can experience both the East and West courses—wrought by Gary Panks—over the course of two days while bedding-down in elegant AAA Four Diamond digs.
Lake Lure, N.C.: A short drive from most major North and South Carolina cities, Rumbling Bald’s two mountain-style courses are the epitome of fall golf. Apple Valley is a Dan Maples design that’s spacious off the tee but demanding on approach shots. Bald Mountain is shorter, sporty and conveniently located near onsite lodging.
Rumbling Bald is also perfect for side trips deeper into the Blue Ridge Mountains for hiking or sightseeing. Situated on the north end of Lake Lure, water sports are still in-play well into October. The resort offers a fall-foliage focused golf package, starting at $290 and including two nights’ lodging, two rounds of golf, range balls and breakfast.
Pinehurst, N.C.: Okay, so the longleaf pines of North Carolinas’ Sandhills region aren’t exactly resplendent with fall color. But hey, it’s the Pinehurst Resort. This timeless golf haven, one of the top golf destinations in the world, isn’t resting on its reputation, either. The new No. 4 course re-opened to rave reviews in the fall of 2018, and the like-new Cradle short-course is perfect for families, couples and settling bets.
Home to 10 courses and three AAA Four Diamond hotels, Pinehurst’s Manor Inn just reopened following a multi-million-dollar facelift. Now, golf groups have a true place to call home. It features two private hospitality suites with room for 20 that can be reserved for the entire length of stay. The new North and South Bar serves a curated selection of whiskies, cocktails and craft beers from the PBC.
Travelers Rest, S.C.: New ownership has Cherokee Valley positioned as one of the Upstate’s only true stay-and-play destinations. Cottages conveniently situated across from the clubhouse are ideal (and affordable) for golf packages.
A new, full-service restaurant is opening this fall featuring a Blue Ridge Mountain gastropub theme. Just 30 minutes from Greenville, S.C. and 45 minutes from Asheville, N.C., Cherokee Valley is an optimal basecamp for exploring the Western Carolinas.
Clemson Walker Course
College Courses
Greenville, Clemson, S.C.: – For golfers looking to experience two of the best college courses in South Carolina, school is in session. Both the Furman Golf Club and Walker Course at Clemson University are open to the public and are incredible values (especially if walking 18 in the afternoon). Located 45 minutes apart, visitors can spend the night in Greenville or Clemson and soak up fall in two of the Upstate’s most eclectic cities.
Ireland is home to some of the world’s most outstanding and masterful golf course designs. With over 300 courses to choose from, Ireland golf is high on every traveling player’s list. Golfscape highlights seven of Ireland’s top golf courses, as well as how to get to the Emerald Isle and where to stay during your visit.
GETTING TO IRELAND
Getting to Ireland can be done in two ways; by flight or ferry. Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland, flying internationally to destinations all over the world and offering in-flight entertainment and Wifi. On the other hand, getting to Ireland by ferry, whether from England or Europe, can be an exciting adventure and you get to bring your golf clubs along with no hassle. A ferry from England takes approximately two to three hours.
On the seven-minute drive from the clubhouse to the first tee of the memorable East Course at TPC Dorado Beach in Puerto Rico, you pass through a meticulously landscaped garden of tropical plants, by the $1,500-a-night AAA five diamond Ritz-Carlton Reserve (one of three in the world) and under the oddity of a 10-foot long two-inch-by-six-inch piece of lumber driven through the trunk of a palm tree like an arrow might be shot through an apple.
The board could easily be cut down, but it is left there as a reminder of the wrath of Mother Nature and just how ferocious she can be when she gets her dander up like she did two years ago, when Hurricane Maria ripped across the island packing 200 mph wind gusts capable of lodging a board in a tree trunk. There’s no telling from how far away Maria might have carried that piece of wood to its violent end, but what is clear is the distance Puerto Rico has come since Maria, and it is remarkable.
A lot of lives were disrupted, and many native Puerto Ricans were forced to move to the U.S. Life still isn’t completely back to normal in some of the small southeastern Puerto Rican towns where Maria came ashore. Even in the island’s economic center of San Juan there are still buildings boarded up and plenty of reminders of Maria’s destruction. But Puerto Rico today is a study in the resiliency of human nature.
“It’s a high five to humanity when you can get through something like that, something that is so far away from the norm and what you are used to,” says Eric Krahn, golf course superintendent at Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Golf & Beach resort.
TPC Dorado Beach brings the best of Robert Trent Jones II to Puerto Rico
Despite questionable support from the federal government, some sectors of Puerto Rico’s economy — the tourism industry for one — have bounced back better and stronger. Much of the tourism industry actually used the storm as a reset button, adding capital investment to insurance dollars and rebuilding bigger and better to make the island more attractive as a tropical getaway.
So for mainlanders, arriving in Puerto Rico is that exotic tropical island vacation, different enough to think you need a passport, but no customs clearance required. There is an easiness about traveling here. Many major East Coast markets offer direct flights, and when you get here, there is the familiarity of home but the distinct feeling of not being in Kansas anymore.
You can get a Budweiser, but you’ll probably want to try Medalla. You’ll hear natives call it the peso, but they are talking about the U.S. dollar, which is the official currency and spends everywhere without having to calculate an exchange rate. Your cell phone works here without an international plan. And Spanish may be more widely spoken, but English is the co-official language and spoken almost everywhere.
Rio Mar is a Puerto Rico classic
Following Maria, the island has rebuilt its identity, clearly with an eye on its heritage but thinking about its future. A new marketing strategy moves away from emphasis largely on beaches and the San Juan metropolitan area toward a broader focus on the island’s many tourist offerings, among them golf.
It is true, some courses didn’t reopen after Maria, leaving the island with 17. So if Puerto Rico were to become a state, it would rank dead last in number of golf courses (Alaska has 24) despite its golf-friendly tropical climate. In terms of quality, however, it would be hard to argue that Puerto Rico would not be near the top. Way upscale resorts like Dorado Beach, Coco Beach, Bahia Beach Resort (photo at left) and the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Golf & Beach Resort near San Juan, and Royal Isabella on the west side of the island, measure up nicely with golf resorts around the world.
Most of the island’s resorts include private club components that are rapidly growing thanks to Act 22, a tax law designed to attract high net-worth residents by providing exemption from Puerto Rico income taxes on all interest and dividends.
Jeff Willenberg, director of golf at the resort community of Dorado Beach, where entry-level real estate carries a price tag of about $1.5 million, says Act 22 had spurred development and membership at the resort community. But then came Maria.
“Immediately after the storm everyone was in shock and wondered what the future might bring. We knew Dorado would overcome this, but the big question was would the new growth leading up to the hurricane evaporate as people would be hesitant to move to Puerto Rico from the damage to the island.”
Coco Beach: Classic island golf in Puerto Rico
By early 2018 those worries evaporated, the program resumed and people continued to move to the island. At TPC Dorado Beach membership grew by 85 in 2018.
Two of the Dorado courses — the West and Pineapple — didn’t reopen after Maria, not entirely from the destruction of the storm. There is so much growth within the community that more room was needed for condominium construction.
Still, that leaves the resort along the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles west of San Juan with 36 holes, including the fabulous East Course, clearly one of the best in the Caribbean. From its ocean-side opening hole the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design recently upgraded by RTJ Jr. darts in and out from the turquoise water and includes a stretch of holes on the back nine that move up into some hills, offering a much different look.
About 30 miles on the other side of the historic city of San Juan (where among the blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan you can eat at the Barrachina Restaurant, which claims to be the birthplace of the Piña Colada) the Coco Beach Golf Resort has been home to the Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour since 2008. The event wasn’t played in 2018 while the island cleaned up after Maria.
The PGA Tour event opposite the World Golf Championships event in Mexico is held on the resort’s Championship Course. A few holes play on a peninsula that juts out into the aqua blue ocean, but unlike many seaside courses, there are no truly memorable individual holes here where you might rinse a shot in the ocean. Instead the Tom Kite design relies on the sum of its 18 parts to add up to a wonderful tropical seaside experience. A second course at Coco Beach, The International, was also designed by Kite. It moves up into hillier terrain and through mangrove-lined swamps.
With a high-end resort on property, Bahia Beach is a popular spot.
A little farther along the north coast of the island in Rio Grande, the Wyndham Rio Mar Golf and Beach Resort is the epitome of oceanside luxury. The beach is a quiet strip of sand where guests can relax with almost no one else in sight at times. The two courses are about as different as can be playing from the same clubhouse on a tropical island.
The Ocean Course teases and taunts with tropical breezes, salty air and the occasionally glimpse of the ridiculously blue ocean, but makes you wait until the 16th hole to play along side it. That turns out to be okay because from the elevated first tee that looks out to the ocean, the holes George and Tom Fazio built leading up to the 16th sit largely by themselves with no intrusion from condos or real estate. Just don’t expect your brief golf visit with the ocean to be pleasurable. Yes, an iguana encounter is possible, but it’s the 238 yards of a windy par 3 that is more likely to spoil your visit.
On the other side of the property, the River Course, designed by Greg Norman, snakes its narrow fairways and small greens through a tropical rainforest-like setting as it plays along the serene Mameyes River, at times offering eye candy views of the mountains of the El Yunque Rainforest.
A neighbor of Coco Beach, the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort course plays through lush tropical foliage with thick canopies of maritime forest. Natural lagoons meander through the layout like a lazy river, and the omnipresent ocean breeze is as menacing as it is refreshing.
Palmas Athletic Club is a 36-hole complex in Humacao hard on the island’s East Coast. It is home to 18-hole creations from Rees Jones (Flamboyan) and Gary Player’s Palm Course. On the southern coast in Ponce lies the 27-hole Costa Caribe Golf and Country Club. Oceanfront holes, 14 lakes, mountain range views, and an island green ensure players are alternately entertained and engrossed.
On the west side of the 126-mile wide island, choices are fewer — the down-home pleasures of a place like Punta Borinquen Golf Club or the modern luxury of the Links at Royal Isabela, where golf is played on cliffs 200 feet above the ocean. It is there that brothers Charlie and Stanley Pasarell — Puerto Rican natives and former tennis champions, no less — said no thank you to big name designers and in the early 2010s routed the layout themselves on property Charlie’s investment group had purchased years earlier. After tackling their 7,538 yards, you’ll appreciate the pampering of Isabela’s modern luxury resort hotel.
Royal Isabela sits on what may be the most spectacular piece of golf real estate on the island, but it also bore the brunt of Maria, the eye of the storm traveling almost directly over the course as it left. Isabela, like the game itself, persevered. There are stories about the great lengths people went to restore golf on the island — like the one Rio Mar’s Krahn tells about wading through waste-deep water in the days following Maria trying to unclog drains on the River Course. Or the one Dorado Beach’s Willenberg likes to show you in person of the board blown through the trunk of the palm tree.
Maria is just two years in Puerto Rico’s rearview mirror, but judging by the quality of the island’s restored golf economy, she is a distant memory.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the world-famous Harbour Town Golf Links, and The Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, is giving out the gifts—its best values of the year. Golfers and their guests may choose from a wide selection of packages with special savings and accommodations at the luxurious Inn & Club at Harbour Town or in a Harbour Town one-bedroom, resort-view villa.
Select from a variety of golf and dining options, play the resort’s three championship courses, enjoy dinner at a resort restaurant – the choices are nearly endless.
Starting as low as $400 per night for two guests at the Inn & Club at Harbour Town, the Golf Champions package includes lodging and a round for two at the Pete Dye-designed Harbour Town Golf Links, the No. 1 rated course on Hilton Head Island and annual home of the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing. This package offers a food credit if only one guest is playing golf.
The Golf Players package, starting at $300, includes a round for two on either of The Sea Pines Resort’s other award-winning courses, the Davis Love III-designed Atlantic Dunes or Pete Dye-designed Heron Point, with a king or double-queen room at The Inn & Club. Packages offer a food credit if only one guest is playing golf.
The Inn is famous for its elegant décor, coupled with legendary service and a host of premium complimentary amenities. Guest rooms are fitted with modern furnishings and conveniences, accented by crisp Egyptian cotton linens and design elements inspired by the natural beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Multi-night golf and dining packages are also available with accommodations in Harbour Town one-bedroom, resort-view villas.
Harbour Town Golf Links 50th Anniversary packages are available Sunday through Wednesday, through October 21, 2019, and Monday through Sunday from October 22 through February 29, 2020.
If you’re looking widen your hackin’ horizons, consider Asian golf. It’s more beautiful, bountiful and boast-worthy than ever in Southeast Asian nations like Thailand and Vietnam, and further north in Korea. Here’s a rundown of recent news from the far side of the planet.
VIETNAM: HOIANA SHORES
Hoiana Shores Golf Club will welcome its first players starting on 23rd September 2019, to preview the completed, 18-hole design from architect Robert Trent Jones II.
The golf course will be the first facility within the new Hoiana Integrated Resort to welcome the public.
The 985-hectare, US$4 billion Hoiana complex is the most ambitious resort development ever undertaken in Vietnam. Its first operational phase, which is nearing completion, will eventually integrate more than 1,000 rooms, suites and villas (managed by Rosewood Hotel Group), 4 kilometers of pristine beach, a suite of beachside pools and restaurants, a stand-alone beach club, an entertainment facility managed by Suncity Group, and a wide array of retail partners.
The 10th hole at Hoiana Shores.
“Hoiana Shores Golf Club will indeed be the first component of this larger development welcoming both domestic and international tourism to our shores,” said Steve Wolstenholme, Group COO at Hoiana. “As a group we intend to showcase the vibrancy and economic potential of not only Hoi An and Central Vietnam but this region in general.”
“It all starts with the golf,” said Ben Styles, Vice President of Golf for Hoiana. “What we have tried to achieve at Hoiana Shores GC — with help from the design team at Robert Trent Jones II— is something specific and nuanced: a traditional links that proudly builds on local traditions, which, if we are honest, is what all great golf courses do.”
Hoiana Shores Golf Club began construction since late 2017, under direction of experienced, Hong Kong-based course builder Linksshape, led by Australian, Stuart Stone. “It’s been an amazing experience to be entrusted with this extraordinary piece of land,” Stone said, “almost the dictionary definition of what ‘linksland’ should be.”
Six of the 18 holes at Hoiana Shores come into direct contact with the beach. According to Styles, this illustrates both Hoiana’s vision and ambition. “It speaks volumes about our ownership group — to allow so much interaction with the shoreline. That’s a rarity. The beachfront could have been otherwise developed,” he said. “But this decision will ultimately pay off, as this part of the course is uniquely unforgettable… There is nothing quite like playing those holes — playing shots from the beach itself! It is proof you are playing a proper links. There aren’t many courses in Asia that serve up that type of experience.”
I don’t know a lick of French, but I finally know French Lick.
I actually do know a few French words and phrases, as many Americans do, and I made an effort to become bare-bones conversational by digging into one of those language apps in the months leading up to a visit to France in 2018.
I made some headway, though it didn’t stick.
But French Lick will stick with me for a long time, and draw me back one day.
After a summertime visit to Larry Bird’s hometown, occasional early 20th-century hangout of Al Capone and his Chicago mob, and the modern home of several top-notch professional and amateur tour events, the muddled mental picture of a popular and storied lower Midwest destination I’d harbored for years is now filled out, sharpened, enhanced and illuminated.
