- Florida has around 1,250 golf courses, how do you find the better ones?
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A worthwhile stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway
- The Swannanoa Country Club, a stunning setting for golf
The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the more scenic routes in America. It runs for a total of 469 miles from Virginia to North Carolina over the ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with elevation changes from 649 feet at James River in Virginia to almost 6,050 feet at Richland Balsam, south of Mount Pisgah,North Carolina.
Swannanoa CC is one of the more worthy stops along the Blue Ridge Parkway
The Swannanoa CC is definitely not the best golf course in the Charlottesville area by any stretch, conditioning is rough, the layout’s old and worn, but it’s a very special place to play golf, and at a reasonable rate. It’s on top of Afton Mountain Pass on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just south of the I-64 exit. It was designed by one of the master architects of the 1920′s, Fred Findlay, but updated over the past 20 years by Pete Land. It’s a short par 70 layout of 6,000 yards from the back tees, with a 67.0 course rating and a 112 slope, but you’ll not shoot your handicap here.
The greens are mowed every other day, shirts must be worn in the clubhouse...it's not your upscale daily fee!
It’s very basic golf and the conditioning leaves a lot to be desired. It’s purely an old course for the player that truly loves the game of golf with spectacular views everywhere you look. On one side is the Shenandoah Valley and on the other spreads the Piedmont. The layout features tight fairways but gently slope for every shot and nothing but contented golfers, many who walk along, carrying their “Sunday” bags. I play it about once a year for the terrain, solitude and quirkiness of its humble pro shop/trailer. Back in the day it was a prime venue, if only to play and escape the heat and humidity in the valley below. Convenient to I-64 if you’re just passing through, and worth a stop.
Marshallia Ranch, Vandenberg AFB, CA
Marshallia Ranch Golf Course, one of the military's top golf courses
Marshallia Ranch is one of the top golf courses in the Air Force, but it’s not the most convenient golf course out there. If however you happen to be driving the Pacific Coast Highway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, make time to play this hidden gem of a course. It’s on the Vandenberg AFB on the north side of Lompoc, off US1 at San Antonio, then west to the golf course a few miles. It’s now open for public play, and the greens fees were reasonable, when compared to other high end courses in the area. Conditioning was excellent, and the golf course quite a challenging layout. The course is isolated on the north side of the base with each hole separated and unique, yet walkable. It is a shot maker’s type of course, designed by Bob Putman in the 1950′s, and is regarded as one of the military’s best golf courses. It can play to 6,845 yards with a 130 slope from the back tees, we played from the white tees at 6,388 yards, 71.1 course rating and a 124 slope. The fairways are tight and tree lined with spots of ice plant throughout, the winds always in play, all in all a good test at a reasonable rate. Nice clubhouse, restaurant, practice facility, a well run golf course operation. While you’re in the area, be sure to see Jalama Beach, the Foley or Melville wineries.
Muskeg Meadows Golf Course, Wrangell, Alaska
Muskeg Meadows on the Inside Passage, Alaska
There’s not a lot of golf in Alaska, what with the short season, the population, and the general feeling that with four hours to spare there’s plenty to do than play golf! In fact the Forelinksters directory of best golf courses. only had 9 golf courses in the state directory until one of our correspondents published Muskeg Meadows this week.
Muskeg Meadows is in Wrangell, 180 miles south of Juneau, 90 miles north of Ketchikan. It’s on the northern tip of Wrangell Island in the Alaska Panhandle, across the Zimovia Strait from the Stikine River on the Alaska mainland. It’s on the Inside Passage and is a small ship port of call.
The golf course is just south of the airport on the Stikine River
The area has a couple of main features, the largest spring concentration of bald eagles, and Petroglyph Beach, in addition to an abundance of fishing, wildlife viewing, hiking and kayaking.
A rain forest in Alaska? Muskeg is routed through one!
The golf course is a 9 holer just south of the airport, built by the local golfing enthusiasts in the mid-1990s that counts over 600+ members worldwide. Unique layout through muskeg, which is a bog or marsh with layers of moss through meadows through a rain forest of spruce, hemlock, and cedar trees. It can play to 2,950 yards, 70.2/119 course and slope, and has a covered 8-station, 250-yard practice range as well as a practice putting green. Golf in Alaska is always special with the views, and Muskeg has some of the best with sea and mountain views surrounding the course, with plenty of wildlife. In fact, they have the “Raven rule” here, any ball taken by a raven can be replaced with no penalty!
Pecan Valley Golf Course, San Antonio
- Pecan Valley Golf Course, a victim of the recession?
Pecan Valley Golf Course, just 6 miles from downtown San Antonio, was recognized as one of the best upscale daily fee courses in the region. It was the venue of the 1968 PGA Championship where Julius Boros edged Arnold Palmer by a stroke for a $25,000 first place finish. It also hosted the Texas Open from 1972-1976, won by Mike Hill, Ben Crenshaw, Terry Diehl, Don January, and Butch Baird respectively. The last ”major” tournament held there was the 2001 US Amateur Public Links Championship, won by Chez Reavie. This proud course with its rich history closed for good on January 8th, unless the City of San Antonio can figure out a way to rescue the course.
A Press Maxwell original with a redesign by Bob Cupp
