In a telling sign of the times, Forest Dunes was purchased in January 2012 by Lew Thompson, a trucking company executive from Huntsville, Ark. The reported price tag? Roughly $2 million. For that amount, Thompson acquired seven model homes, a handsome 23,000-square-foot Adirondack-style clubhouse, and a golf course described by Weiskopf as “the best I’ve built on U.S. soil.”

Moral: To those with cash at hand, the bargains currently available in the world of golf are unprecedented.

To his credit, Thompson has implemented plans to broaden the appeal of Forest Dunes to existing members, potential investors and daily-fee players. A 22-room hotel with four luxury suites has been proposed. Thompson hopes to open the facility this summer. The hotel will enable the remote club to accommodate players in their travels up, down and across one of the finest states for public golf in the nation.

The golf course, which I toured in 2002, is a knock-out. Buffered by 400,000-acre Huron National Forest, Forest Dunes sprawls across a large tract of land that was cleared for farming in the 1930s. (It failed due to the site’s infertile sand base).

The risk-reward par-5 18th at Forest Dunes

Shelving his blueprints, Weiskopf built the 7,141-yard, par-72 layout out the back of a pick-up truck, redistributing sand to fabricate 20 acres of rolling “dunes” and create other features commonly found at a seaside links. Weiskopf then took his crew to Crystal Downs, the Alister Mackenzie – Perry Maxwell gem on the west side of the state, there to size up its gaping bunkers and rolling greens. The Downs style is replicated in places, but Forest Dunes is Weiskopf all the way. Framed by bracken, wildflowers and tall red pines planted by work relief crews 80 years ago, this firm, fast course was intended for purists who like to walk. A world away from Motown, there is total solitude in sleepy Roscommon, Mich. Other than golfers, the area’s most notable residents are the majestic bald eagles.

I loved each and every hole on the course, but the final three, faced into the prevailing breeze, are as good as anything Tom has done since he won the British Open nearly 40 years ago. The 16^th is a long par 3 that plays across a Hell’s Half-Acre-style wasteland to a large green with an elephantine hump at its entrance. The 17^th, 302 yards from the tips, is a dandy short par 4 that parallels an old landing strip used by bootleggers to import Canadian whiskey during Prohibition. Big hitters can try for the green, but the smart play is a lay-up that avoids the vast sandy hazard that eats into the left side of the fairway. The target is a slippery, well-bunkered green crowned with muffin tops.

The 18^th, “Eagle Chance,” is a short par 5 that proceeds from the dunes to a sloping fairway bounded by a tawny native sand bunker on the left and more formal bunkers to the right. The peninsula green, perched above Lake Ausable, spells doom for those who overcook their approach shots. Match all square? Weiskopf built a 117-yard “Bye Hole” that plays over the lake to a convoluted green with a bunker in its center. Traveling with kids? The IV tees are ideal for juniors eager to cut their teeth on a modern classic.

Classically-styled, Forest Dunes is a pristine north woods spread that plays plenty tough from the tips but presents a fair, friendly test from the forward pegs. With its optical illusions, clever angles and slippery greens, it’s one of the very best daily-fee tracks in the nation.

For a mere $2 million, Mr. Thompson was able to back up his truck and haul in one of the golf bargains of the century.

No Santa or wreaths or reindeer on the cover of this year’s card. There’s a picture instead of the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. Why? Because Renaissance Golf is one of eight firms competing to design the golf course for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “We are busily at work over the holidays this year, trying to design the ideal championship course,” reads the card. “The jury’s decision is expected in February.”

To its credit, the Olympic review committee has come up with eclectic list of finalists for the design commission. In addition to Doak, there’s Gil Hanse, Martin Hawtree, Robert Trent Jones II and Gary Player, plus the design teams of Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam; Greg Norman and Lorena Ochoa; and Peter Thomson, Ross Perrett and Karrie Webb.

Rio's iconic Christ the Redeemer

The site for the course is reportedly as flat as the fee–$300,000, small potatoes in the lucrative golf design business. But that hasn’t stopped some of the biggest names in the industry from throwing their hats in the ring.

It’s too soon to handicap a winner, but look for a political insider who knows how to move people as easily as he does earth to secure this coveted plum in the New Year.

All that changed 10 years ago, when casino gambling was legalized along the state’s Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Huge floating casinos, several of them replicas of old Mississippi River paddle-wheelers, are today moored to docks in the corridor between Gulfport and Biloxi, creating Vegas-style action with a festive New Orleans ambience.

Within a 30-minute drive of the neon facades of these giant multi-story barges, more than a dozen golf courses that have sprung up to accommodate the growing wave of golfers seeking an alternative to the usual Sun Belt destinations.

The best and brawniest among them is Grand Bear, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course that occupies a vast tract of land 20 minutes north of the coast. With the possible exception of Fallen Oak, a newer Tom Fazio layout outside Biloxi, the acreage set aside for this immodestly titled beast may be the finest ever made available for a resort course in the Magnolia State. Unveiled in 1999, this is the track that catapulted the region into the national spotlight and staked a claim for the Mississippi Gulf Coast as a bona fide golf destination.

Encased in a thick stand of yellow pine adjacent to De Soto National Forest, this majestic spread, its broad, gently rolling fairways trimmed in pine straw, offers exceptional pace and variety. From the Grizzly Bear tees at 7,204 yards (par 72), the challenge is firm but fair; from the Teddy Bear markers at 4,802 yards, the layout is downright cuddly for seniors, women and novices. Three additional sets of tees offer a good range of choices based on a player’s ability. Kicker slopes on the far side of bunkers add extra yards, while artfully curved slopes and ramps tend to feed the ball to the green on this player-friendly spread. Even the large scalloped bunkers, filled with bright white river sand, are fun to hit from.

A bird's eye view of Grand Bear's back nine

Originally built by Grand Casinos for guests of its nearby Gulfport and Biloxi properties (Grand Bear is now operated by Caesars Golf), the developers wanted a venue that would make their high-roller clients feel good about their games. Nicklaus, who moved fewer than 250,000 cubic yards of dirt on a diverse site with a 40-foot elevation change, was more than happy to comply. Grand Bear is no pushover from the tips–Jack has yet to build a creampuff for anybody–but forward tees tend to widen the field of play and marginalize the hazards. There are no gimmicks. There is no chicanery. The golf is honest, straightforward and pristine.

From a purist’s point of view, the outgoing nine, which skirts the oxbow loops of the Little Biloxi River, boasts more superior golf holes than the incoming nine. But Grand Bear’s back nine is truly grand and very memorable. Cypress wetlands rimmed with live oaks, gum trees and old magnolias give way to the Big Biloxi River, its brilliant white sand banks girding three of the final four holes. Along the way is the 14^th, a spectacular par 3 enclosed by subtropical vegetation, its bunkerless green perched several feet above a river backwater that holds a pair of nesting alligators; the brawny 15^th, a colossal par 5 flanked by sand on the left and a bayou on the right; and the splendid par-4 17^th, where better golfers stationed on the Grizzly Bear tees must launch their drives over a loop in the river to a scooped fairway that swings left to a skewed green. The river’s broad sandy bank serves as a waste bunker behind the undulating putting surface of this stellar Cape-style hole. The long par-4 18^th, a classic closer, leapfrogs a wetland and plays uphill to a lodge-style clubhouse built with giant Montana logs that’s every bit as handsome and welcoming as the course that changed the destiny of the coast.

Other attributes have helped to define the Mississippi Gulf Coast as an alternative ‘Playground of the South.’ The weather–mild in winter, moderate in summer, perfect for golf in spring and fall–is a big draw. Fishing in the Gulf, from inshore to deep-sea, is excellent. The 26-mile strip of white sand beach fronting the Gulf is the longest man-made sand beach in the world. It looks natural despite the hit it took from Hurricane Katrina.

There’s also Dixie culture and regional cuisine available. Civil War buffs can visit Beauvoir, the final home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Art galleries, antique stores and antebellum mansions can be found in and around Biloxi. With a tip of the hat to nearby New Orleans, the zesty Creole and Cajun fare served along the Mississippi Gulf Coast is authentic, from crabmeat-stuffed red snapper and spicy gumbo to blackened shrimp over dirty rice.

And then there’s barbecue. As in B-B-Q. An observation: The funkier the pit, the spicier the sauce.

Finally, for golfers who enjoy revelry, there’s a Mardi Gras held each February in the Biloxi-Gulfport area that’s just as colorful (and a little saner) than the Bourbon Street celebration.

In tribute to Hazel Grove’s centenary, slated to begin in October 2012, the club wished to commemorate the life and work of the good Scottish doctor, a Renaissance man and camouflage expert who built strategic, aesthetically–pleasing courses. “All the artificial features should have so natural an appearance that a stranger is unable to distinguish them from nature itself,” he wrote in Golf Architecture, his seminal book on the subject. And this: “There should be infinite variety in the strokes required to play the various holes.” His design tenets were simple. He believed every ideal course should have two loops of nine holes; that every hole should have a different character; and that there should be little walking between greens and tees. He disliked long grass beside the fairways. He knew that searching for lost balls in the rough was annoying, irritating and slowed down play.

While I am partial to the work of C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, there is no doubt that Mackenzie produced some of the finest courses ever built. Among my favorites are Titirangi in New Zealand, where several deep ravines were utilized to great strategic advantage; Crystal Downs, a rippling layout in northern Michigan co-designed with Perry Maxwell; and Lahinch in Ireland, where Mackenzie transformed a previous design by Old Tom Morris into a links masterpiece.

Hazel Grove's statue of Alister Mackenzie

Back to Hazel Grove, a Manchester-area course described by the AA Golf Course Guide as a “testing parkland course with tricky greens and water hazards coming into play on several holes.” To honor the course designer, wall plaques, foundation stones and other commemorative ideas were discussed. In the end, the members of Hazel Grove agreed that a life-size statue of Mackenzie, carved from wood, would be best. According to Cook, “We (wanted) to try and heighten the awareness of the name of Dr. Alister Mackenzie across the world, as his courses are special and he was a true genius when it came to golf course architecture.”

Tim Burgess, a local champion woodcarver, was hired to perform his magic on a solid piece of oak trunk set in concrete behind the club’s 18^th green. Work began in mid-September, with “Tim the Carver” brandishing nearly 40 different chainsaws. With assistance from club members who kept the tea flowing and the wood chippings to a minimum, Tim worked for up to eight hours per day for three straight days. The statue stands in front of the clubhouse, gazing down a fairway Mackenzie created 100 years ago. Players who pop up to the 19^th hole balcony are treated to a panoramic vista of the statue and the golf course.

Somewhere, the good doctor had to be smiling during the Presidents Cup matches contested at Royal Melbourne in Australia, a course he co-designed with Alex Russell in 1931. Geoff Ogilvy, who grew up a mile from the club and who was one of the few International players to distinguish himself during the competition, commented that while the U.S. team emerged victorious, “the course was the real winner.” This was especially true when the brisk north wind turned the greens into skating rinks.

With or without a statue to commemorate the architect who authored its wide fairways, upswept bunkers and slick, undulating greens, Royal Melbourne proved itself a test for the best. Is it better than Augusta National as a tournament venue? To hear Tiger, Phil and the others tell it, yes, it is.

However, there is another New Jersey far removed from the densely populated settlements clustered in the vicinity of the bridges and tunnels that connect the state’s bedroom communities to New York City. Tucked away in the state’s northwest corner is the little-known “Sussex Skylands” region, a rural oasis marked by glacier-carved lakes and wooded mountain ridges where black bear sightings are common. Here, a mere 50 miles from the George Washington Bridge, is Crystal Springs Resort, a far-flung complex totaling 4,000 acres with a diverse array of seven golf courses totaling 117 holes, a new David Leadbetter Golf Academy and a handful of restaurants that could hold their own in Manhattan.

First, the golf. The top track course at Crystal Springs and arguably the finest public-access course in the state is Ballyowen, a links-style layout stretched across a plateau surrounded by rolling farmland and craggy knolls. Built by Roger Rulewich, Robert Trent Jones’ man in the field for over 35 years, this nearly treeless layout proceeds through massive fescue-covered dunes near the Wallkill River. Ballyowen takes on all comers, but on a breezy day the course asks better players to shape shots and cheat the wind. A Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, the course is home to many bird species. The birds chirp cheerfully, but for me the highlight of a recent round was watching a pair of black bear cubs climb a tree below the second fairway. I kept my distance: momma bear was probably close by. As the only venue at Crystal Springs that permits walking, Ballyowen, the first choice of serious players, has an excellent caddie program. Tee off after lunch and be regaled at sunset by a kilted bagpiper who performs outside Ballyowen’s Irish-style pub.

Ballyowen is a burly links-style layout

Wild Turkey, unveiled 10 years ago, is a sturdy 7,202-yard layout with a multiple personality. Course designer Rulewich artfully fused links, parkland and quarry styles into a seamless whole at this well-liked venue. Sharp elevation changes and fine long views of the Delaware Water Gap characterize the layout. The putting surfaces are enormous, but reaching the green a regulation is only half the battle. Depending on pin position, two-putting is a major accomplishment on many of them. Wild Turkey’s most memorable hole is the par-3 seventh, which calls for a forced carry over a quarry lake to a shallow green perched on a rocky cliff.

Crystal Springs, the resort’s best-established 18, is a Robert von Hagge layout with more mounds and moguls than the nearby Mountain Creek ski area. Ranked among the nation’s toughest public-access courses, this penal test has narrow corridors, vast waste bunkers and wickedly contoured greens. Crystal Springs is a good match-play golf course, which is a nice way of saying that the layout’s looming train wrecks can shred a scorecard pretty quickly. The signature hole at Crystal Springs is the par-3 seventh, its clifftop tees set 80 feet above a green fronted by the former Windsor Quarry, which is now flooded.

In 2008, Rulewich returned to build a third nine at Crystal Springs, called the Cascades. Blasted from a former gravel pit, the 3,627-yard Cascades drops into a valley at the start but climbs to higher ground at the sixth hole, a gargantuan par 5 that stretches to well over 600 yards. Cascades is the perfect choice for an “emergency nine.” It also features a set of junior tees at 1,538 yards intended to make the game more enjoyable for novices.

It's all-or-nothing at Wild Turkey's quarry hole

The resort’s least heralded course is the 27-hole layout at Great Gorge Country Club. While attributed to George Fazio, resort owner Gene Mulvihill says a young Tom Fazio (George’s nephew) did most of the legwork on this low-profile design marked by broad fairways and inverted saucer greens. Opened in 1970 as an amenity to Hugh Hefner’s famed Great Gorge Playboy Club, the layout boasts three distinct looks. The Quarry nine rambles around impressive rock outcrops; Lake drops 100 feet to gently rolling holes routed beside Black Creek; and Rail brings players to an eroded remnant of the railroad era at its par-3 third hole. The Playboy bunnies may be gone, but the golf course is a poignant reminder of a simpler time when architects tended to fit their designs to the existing landscape.

Another of the golf options at Crystal Springs Resort is Black Bear, a short, sporty layout intended for pleasure that juxtaposes a player-friendly front nine with a more challenging back nine.

Traveling with children who want to try their hand at the game? Minerals Golf Club, a Robert Trent Jones-designed executive nine-holer set at the base of Hamburg Mountain, has two holes cut in every green: a large one for kids and a regulation cup for adults.

With so much golf on tap, it came as no surprise to see a David Leadbetter Golf Academy make its debut at the resort earlier this year. The academy’s one-, two-, and three-day mini-schools are the most popular offerings, with sessions conducted in relaxed group settings designed to establish a blueprint for on-going improvement. Private instruction is also available, as is a Ladies Two-Day Golf & Spa Retreat.

Lodging options abound at Crystal Springs. Families tend to gravitate to Minerals Resort & Spa, which offers comfortable accommodations and casual restaurants. The big draw is the Mineral Sports Club: seven indoor/outdoor heated pools, a 6,000-square-foot fitness center and multiple sports courts. Elements Spa offers treatments featuring indigenous minerals (the region was a major mining center years ago).

Golfers and couples usually lean to Grand Cascades Lodge, a 250-room condo hotel that serves as the resort’s golf hub. Commanding a ridge overlooking Wild Turkey and a beautifully landscaped 18-hole putting course, the Adirondack-style lodge has studios as well as fully-equipped one- and two-bedroom suites. With its copper accents, exposed stone and burgundy color scheme, the décor is decidedly masculine.

The resort's Biosphere Pool Complex

Attached to the lodge is the Biosphere Pool Complex, a 10,000-square-foot translucent glass conservatory that is heated year-round and has indoor/outdoor pools, a spacious hot tub, a water slide and tropical gardens designed to simulate a rain forest. The lodge also offers Reflections Spa, a haven of relaxation where several of the treatments tap the resort’s wine cellar for essential ingredients, from the Chardonnay Vinotherapy Massage to the Pinot Noir Signature Body Glow. The entrance to the spa is alone worth a visit. Dangling from the ceiling are 8,000 quartz crystals “containing healing powers from the earth,” according to the spa’s literature. Red is not often used as a dominant color in spas, but the fire-inspired art glass throughout the interior of Reflections Spa somehow works here. And what other spa offers guests a complimentary hot salt foot soak, chocolate truffles and pink champagne after every treatment?

Of the 11 restaurants and cafes at Crystal Springs Resort, one bears special mention. On the top floor of the clubhouse adjoining Grand Cascades Lodge is Restaurant Latour, a 40-seat dining room offering panoramic views of the distant Kittatinny Mountains. Locally grown produce is taken from the resort’s gardens and local farms, while breads, cheese, meat and fish are sourced from the Hudson and Delaware valleys as well as the resort’s organic ranch in Colorado. The three-course table d’hote menu and seven-course tasting menu split the difference between classic French and regional American cuisine.

The wine cellar at Crystal Springs is world-class

Rated ‘Excellent’ by the New York Times, Restaurant Latour has a wine list as thick as a telephone book, a veritable oenophile’s bible listing over 7,000 labels and more than 100,000 bottles at every price point. Mark-ups are moderate and bargains abound, but for masters of the universe who are feeling masterful, there are more than 100 vintages of Chateau Latour dating back to 1863 (many in large format), plus all the best vintages from all the great chateaus of Bordeaux and Burgundy, not to mention hard-to-find California “cult” wines and Italy’s most sought-after labels. The resort’s temperature-controlled, catacomb-like cellar is a stellar showcase for a wine collection that has earned Wine Spectator’s Grand Award since 2006. Very few private collections in the U.S. can match it. Afternoon tours are available.

For a more casual dining experience, authentic northern Italian fare is served in Springs Bistro in Grand Cascades Lodge. In the summer months, guests can dine al fresco at The Chef’s Garden, which is set within an organic garden filled with vegetables and herbs. Fresh Sangia and well-chosen Argentine wines are paired with delectable entrees cooked on the Rodizio grill.

Jersey is the butt of many jokes, many of them courtesy of New Yorkers. But for players who want to truly relax at a full-service resort with great golf and an exceptionally friendly staff, Crystal Springs Resort rises well above the stereotypes.

Details: http://crystalgolfresort.com

View from the Romanos at Costa Navarino

Given this sand-in-the-hourglass scenario, it was very surprising to find out that a new resort golf course opened in late September in the Greek region of Messinia, in the southwest Peloponnese. The area, considered one of the most beautiful seaside landscapes in the Mediterranean, has been shaped by 4,500 years of history. Maybe that puts the nation’s recent euro snafu in perspective. (Greece has been a member of the EU since 1981).

Known as the Bay Course and attached to a resort development called Costa Navarino, the new layout, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., joins the Dunes Course, a venue laid out by Bernard Langer in partnership with European Golf Design that opened last year.

Jones, who writes verse in his spare time, waxed poetic about his latest creation.

Costa Navarino is the new showpiece for golf in Greece

“At Costa Navarino, golfers can commune with the spirits of the ancient Greeks while pursuing the Royal and Ancient game,” he enthused. “Our new Bay Course is sculpted out of the earth and rock of Greek soil, much like the marble statues of the ancients.” He went on to say that the Bay Course, like Costa Navarino itself, is a sustainable facility that emphasizes and protects the natural environment. The building footprint for the resort development will be less than 10% of the total land area. For sophisticated travelers, the ultimate luxury is space. Unspoiled space.

Overlooking the historic bay of Navarino and the town of Pylos, the Bay Course was laid out to maximize the panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and the Ionian Sea. Jones placed two holes directly along the bay, notably the par-4 17^th, a short, strategic gem that may soon takes its place among the finest risk-reward holes on the Continent. The layout’s diversity is evident as it moves inland, with holes flanked by box canyons and ancient olive groves. (Players can sample Kalamata olives from 500-year-old trees preserved during course construction). Extensive practice facilities and a golf instruction program are expected to be available soon.

Along with a balmy year-round climate, Costa Navarino currently offers a handful of luxurious hotels along with 36 holes of golf in this authentic, undiscovered corner of Greece. There’s The Romanos, a Luxury Collection Resort, and the Westin Resort, both five-star Starwood properties; as well as other facilities at Navarino Dunes. In future, the development will be home to Europe’s first all-pool-villa resort to be operated by Banyan Tree, one of the hospitality industry’s leading global brands. Luxury residences, conference facilities, and spa and thalassotherapy centers are also in the works.

Now if only the resort’s far-sighted developers can help to sort things out in Athens.

Details: http://www.costanavarino.com/

I don’t know how he tracked me down, but last week, a retired 70-year-old in Wilmington, Del. sent me a brief note.

“I finished the top 100 courses,” it read. “Thanks for writing the book. I enjoyed it and the courses. There a story today (Sept. 22) in the Monterey Herald.” Sean McKinley.

And so I read the attached newspaper story on the man’s feat.

McKinley received a copy of my coffee table book, Top 100 Courses You Can Play, for Christmas in 1999. While flipping through it, the soon-to-be-retired engineer, an avid golfer with an 18 handicap, dreamed up the idea of playing every course on the list.

McKinley's world was rocked by Bethpage Black

He took a golf vacation to the No. 1 course on the roster, Pebble Beach, on Sept. 5, 2000 and returned to play there again on Aug. 31 of this year, completing an amazing circle.

According to the Monterey Herald report, McKinley thoroughly enjoyed his round at Pebble, but his favorite course on the Monterey Peninsula was Spyglass Hill (No. 5). He ranks Spyglass only behind Bethpage Black on Long Island as the best public-access course in the nation. A glutton for punishment, he managed to played the Black four times. As a native New Yorker, I marveled at the tale of his craftiness.

While anyone can tee it up at Bethpage—it’s a state park with 90 holes of golf—securing a tee time on the Black, a two-time U.S. Open venue, usually requires a big commitment. Green fees on the Black for New York residents are a relative bargain at $65/$75 weekday/weekend, with non-residents charged $130/$150. However, securing a tee time on the Black, especially on a weekend, often requires queuing up and sleeping in the parking lot overnight for the privilege of wrestling a man-eater.

McKinley found a loophole in the system. He “figured out through a friend that he could make a tee time by calling the pro shop directly—via a hospital phone,” according to the story. “A friend’s sister booked the tee time from the hospital, which evidently has priority over the flood of calls trying to get through.”

McKinley’s first round at Bethpage Black was a 99, but he said he felt much better about how he played after watching the world’s best golfers struggle at 2002 U.S. Open held there.

“The toughest course (among the Top 100) was Bethpage Black, but it was also the most enjoyable,” McKinley said. “It was incredible, but it was just brutal.” Proving once again that most campaigners with double-digit handicaps are masochists.

The best value on McKinley’s 11-year golf odyssey? Pinon Hills in Farmington, N.M., which I described in the book as the “Best Bang for the Buck in America.” In the late ‘90s, this high-desert muni was priced at $12.50 on weekdays, $15 on weekends. The rates are a bit north of that now, but it’s still among the best courses for the money anywhere. Just be sure to top off the tank—Pinon Hills is nearly 200 miles from either Albuquerque or Santa Fe.

Spanish Bay was the retired engineer's final Top 100 course

McKinley’s latest trip to the Monterey Peninsula included rounds at Pasatiempo (No. 17) and Spanish Bay (No. 45), the latter his final course on the list. As McKinley walked up the 18^th fairway at Spanish Bay on Aug. 30, he was serenaded by the resort’s bagpiper and followed by a gallery of his friends and family. Everyone in his gallery wore green hats that read, “McKinley Golf March 1,800 Holes,” but his journey was longer than that.

Wisely, McKinley made a detour to Bandon Dunes after playing Pumpkin Ridge – Ghost Creek (No. 13), Sunriver – Crosswater (No. 15) and Sandpines (No. 72) to sample the courses that were built after the book was published. I did devote a page to Bandon Dunes based on a day spent with David McLay Kidd in May, 1998 on the site of the resort’s eponymous first course. It was abundantly clear that developer Mike Keiser’s dream of building a walker’s-only retreat on the remote southern Oregon coast was destined for greatness. Were my book to be updated today, Bandon’s four courses would dominate the top of the list.

Similarly, McKinley teed it up at newer Whistling Straits when he visited Kohler, Wis. to play the River and Meadow Valleys courses at Blackwolf Run. Here again, I devoted a few pages to preview to the Straits and was fortunate to have Pete Dye take me around the former military encampment on the shores of Lake Michigan to witness one of the greatest earthmoving campaigns ever undertaken for the purposes of building a golf course. I noticed during our tour that the bulldozer operators seemed unusually young. I asked Pete about it. “Most of these kids are just out of high school,” he whispered. “I didn’t want to hire anyone who actually knew what they were doing. All I told them to do is ‘Push and dump, push and dump.’” Which is why the Straits looks and plays the way it does.

Back to McKinley. His scoring average at the Top 100 Courses You Can Play was 94.4, which is pretty respectable. “I got down to a 15 or 16 handicap, but I never could do much better than that,” he said. A decent game, slightly better than bogey golf, and more than good enough to roam the country to complete a bucket list. Proving once again that golfers, regardless of ability, dwell in the realm of hopes and dreams.

Now if only McKinley will give me the name of that hospital on Long Island.

In a rambling discourse, Mickelson told The Scotsman, “Most of the greatest holes that have ever been designed have been designed 60 to 100 years ago. I don’t see that type of greatness in a lot of modern-day architecture.” His main point was that fun, thought-provoking courses are in short supply as modern-day architects continue to build longer, tougher courses to counteract advances in equipment and player ability.

“Longer and harder is just longer and harder,” Mickelson went on to say. “It’s monotonous and ultimately not very thought-provoking. (The game) is about fun and creativity, and it doesn’t have to beat you up all the time.”

Metropolis is a Weschester County standout

Mickelson’s comments call to mind a recent round I played at Metropolis CC in White Plains, N.Y. Now, I’m a native of Westchester County, the leafy suburb north of New York City. I caddied at many of the top clubs throughout the county as a teenager, including Westchester CC. I even went to high school in White Plains. And yet somehow Metropolis had escaped my notice.

What a revelation to play a genuine classic, a majestic spread with rolling, tree-lined fairways, subtle doglegs and slippery greens. This well-groomed course relies on natural contours, not excessive length, for its challenge. Founded in 1922, the club’s golf course, routed up, down and across a large hill, was designed by Herbert Strong, with later revisions by A.W. Tillinghast. It is utterly free, as my friend Jim Finegan might say, of chicanery, though there is just enough caprice to keep things interesting. In other words, the course is not standard-issue great, like a Winged Foot or a Quaker Ridge. The short, sporty front nine has a few decidedly funky holes. (The members probably would prefer to have them described as eclectic). Chief among them is the par-4 sixth, one of the great holes in the New York metropolitan area.

From an elevated tee, the fairway at No. 6 tumbles down a narrow corridor, with a thick forest to the left and well-placed bunkers cut into a hillside on the right. The approach shot, usually played from an awkward downhill or sidehill lie, is played to a two-tiered green defended in front by a deep sand pit. There’s also a little creek and a small pond to the right, but only career slicers need worry about them. This naturalistic gem is the number-one handicap hole on a course that stretches to 6,784 yards (par 71) from the blue tees, but which gave our group all it could handle from the white markers at 6,518 yards.

The back nine at Metropolis displays its grandeur and grit, with longer, more spacious holes routed across higher ground. Several of these holes serve up unobstructed views of wooded ridges free of development. For example, the par-5 11^th, 587 yards at full stretch, is a true three-shotter that proceeds uphill off the tee and then plays downhill to a green that, were it not the club’s expert Jamaican caddies, would  be impossible to read.  There is no evidence of earthmoving at this one-of-a-kind goliath. From the high points of the course, it’s hard to believe the club, originally founded as a “country adjunct” of the Metropolis City Club, a Manhattan social organization circa 1879, is a scant 20 miles from Gotham as the crow flies.

"Lighthorse" Harry Cooper

There’s something else about Metropolis that sets it apart: its roll call of legendary head professionals, many of them World Golf Hall of Fame members. The first of note was Paul Runyan, a.k.a. “Little Poison,” the short game whiz who won the 1934 and 1938 PGA Championships while on staff Metropolis, including a memorable 8 & 7 victory over Sam Snead in the 1938 event. Jack Burke Jr., a two-time major winner, served as the club’s head pro from 1948-50 and won the 1949 Met Open by six shots over Gene Sarazen. “Lighthorse” Harry Cooper, a perennial U.S. Open contender in his prime nicknamed for his quick pace of play, was head pro at Metropolis from 1953-1978. (Cooper also gave lessons at Westchester CC during the time I caddied there. Active into his nineties, he was one of golf’s great gentlemen).

Of course, Mickelson at Metropolis would be a mismatch. Even if he left his driver and hybrids in the trunk of his car, there isn’t enough golf course at the Golden Age course for a big hitter like him. But it is fun, thought-provoking and rewards creativity. Few modern layouts can say as much.

Taconic GC is the home course of Williams College

Seeking to complete your education as a golfer? An entire semester of advancement can be had in the course of a single round at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass.

This is especially true in the fall, when the forested peaks surrounding the course are ablaze with the colors of autumn.

According to the club’s website, “Of the 375 courses judged by the Boston Globe, Taconic was voted number one in scenic beauty in the state.” No argument there. For character, charm and jaw-dropping views, Taconic, a jewel-like layout walled in by the Berkshires in the state’s northwest corner, has few rivals in New England.

There is more. Located on the campus of Williams College, Taconic got its start in 1896, when “three men with three tomato cans” laid out a rudimentary course. In 1927, Wayne Stiles of Stiles & Van Kleek, a Boston firm, was brought in to expand and refine the course. Two years ago, Gil Hanse, a classicist with a light touch, completed a much-needed restoration of the original design. His nips and tucks have resulted in a near-flawless layout that now takes its place among the very best collegiate golf courses in the nation. (Among the vintage venues, Taconic in my opinion is second only to Yale).

For his part, Stiles found his ideal canvas at Taconic, molding holes to the glacier-carved terrain and taking full advantage of the abrupt elevation changes. The course, like Williamstown itself, sits in a bowl, with tall, curved ridges dominating views from the topmost holes. On a clear day, the Green Mountains of Vermont crowd the horizon to the north.

Seemingly innocuous on the card–the black tees are listed at 6,808 yards (par 71)—Taconic, like studying Latin, is anything but easy. The front nine, short and tight, offers scoring opportunities,  but the corridors tend to be narrow and nearly every approach is defended by clumps of trees,  grassy swales and deep bunkers. Many of the putting surfaces are perched above fairway level, further complicating the issue. When these greens are rolling fast, as they are now after the makeover by Hanse, an approach shot placed above the pin is in three-putt territory. By the way, if you have a complaint about the false fronts on the greens or the numerous sidehill lies, there’s a suggestion box fixed atop a pole in a weedy stream at the fourth hole.

In the wake of a recent Gil Hanse restoration, Taconic is a well-groomed classic.

Taconic’s longer, grander back nine proceeds to higher ground, with lofty mountain backdrops for many of the tee shots. There’s a little history here, too. An engraved rock behind the tee at the par-3 14th commemorates a hole-in-one made by Jack Nicklaus during the 1956 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. (Jack, 16 at the time, was eliminated in the semi-finals). It’s a feat worth attempting to duplicate, although the hole plays a little tougher than it looks from 163 yards.

While many older courses simply cannot give muscular underclassmen wielding high-tech equipment a proper tussle, the final holes at Taconic were designed to test the varsity. Both the 441-yard 15th and 460-yard 16th holes are major par fours that invite players to have a rip off the tee but are very unkind to offline shots. The magnificent par-3 17th, 246 yards at full stretch, rewards canny veterans who can bounce the ball off a hillside to the right to gain access to a  green that is sharply pitched from back to front. The 18th, a straightaway par five recently lengthened to 545 yards, has OB left and tends to produce as many double bogeys as birdies.

In addition to its expansive pastoral beauty, what I like most about Taconic is its appeal as a match-play golf course. And its adherence to tradition. A sign outside the golf shop reads: “No Preferred Lies–We Play Golf Here.” There is also a firm expectation that a round of golf at Taconic should not exceed four hours. Lastly, only the home club of a distinguished liberal arts college would print a Latin inscription from Ovid on its scorecard: “medio tutissimus ibis,” which translates loosely as “you will go more safely down the middle.”

When the ancients exhort you to hit the ball straight, it’s worth bending an ear.

If a scenic test replete with Yankee quirkiness suits you, Taconic is the perfect place to earn your a dimpled diploma. http://taconicgolf.net/

In the wake of a 10-year restoration led by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina, Pasatiempo, described by Doak as “the most personal of (Alister) Mackenzie’s designs,” is like a fuzzy photograph that’s been brought into focus by an expert restorer. The golf course, one of the finest classically designed courses in the nation, is a worthy tribute to the Scottish doctor’s genius.

Situated at the top of Monterey Bay less than an hour’s drive north from the peninsula’s more famous venues, Pasatiempo (loosely translated as “passing the time” in Spanish) is one of the few public-access layouts built by Alister Mackenzie. When his s working days were done, Mackenzie retired to a modest home alongside the sixth fairway. The club, opened in 1929, remained one of his favorite places in golf. Were he to return, he’d be happy to see his design principles embodied in the makeover completed in 2008 by Doak and his team, who used old photographs and drawings to recreate long-lost features.

Routed on sloping terrain in the Santa Cruz hills, Pasatiempo’s tree-lined fairways serve up magnificent views of coastal mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Don’t be deceived by the scorecard: This semi-private club plays much longer than its listed yardage from the championship tees at 6,500 yards, par 70. The tip-off is the course and slope rating (72.3/140) from the tips. Unless you’re a single-digit handicapper, stick with the middle tees at 6,125 yards. From any set of markers, the layout delivers one intricate, fascinating hole after another. Nothing can touch the seaside splendor of Cypress Point, but in truth, the rollicking greens and risk-reward scenarios at Pasatiempo are as good, if not better.

Mackenzie, who mastered the art of camouflage while serving as a field surgeon during the Boer War, applied what he knew about concealment and optical illusion to golf course design. The first hole, a long downhill par 4 flanked by huge cypress and eucalyptus trees, looks hard but in fact is rated one of the easier holes on the course. In his book, Golf Architecture, Mackenzie writes, “…it is an important thing in golf to make holes look much more difficult than they really are. People get more pleasure doing a hole which looks almost impossible, and yet is not so difficult as it appears.”

The par-3 third hole, 214 yards from the tips, is justly rated the toughest one-shotter on the course. The tee shot is played uphill to a topsy-turvy green embraced by deep bunkers. Mackenzie’s bunkers, both in their aesthetic flair and clever positioning, are both eye-catching and naturalistic. They remain the envy of modern-age designers. It’s no accident that Doak and his team at Renaissance Golf were responsible for the creation of several world-class courses while working on the Pasatiempo restoration, including Pacific Dunes, Barnbougle Dunes, Cape Kidnappers and Ballyneal.

Alister Mackenzie's magnificent bunkers have been restored at Pasatiempo

Mackenzie, no shrinking violet when it came to his work, said, “…good golfers consider the second nine holes at Pasatiempo the finest in existence.” This stretch moves to higher ground and presents a sequence of one thrilling hole after another, the fairways spliced by deep, wooded ravines grazed by goats rather than a traditional maintenance crew. Several of the greens are wickedly contoured. Clearly, Mackenzie wanted players in possession of a good short game to have a fair chance against big hitters.

For me, the par-4 11th, a slight dogleg to the left, belies the yardage at 392 yards and shows how Mackenzie cleverly used the terrain to create a backbone for each hole. The broad, listing fairway here climbs a hill and asks players to vault a ravine (usually from a sidehill lie) and find a lolling, oblong green skewed to the line of play and well-defended by bunkers.

Even by Mackenzie’s discerning standards, the best two-shot hole at Pasatiempo is the 16th, a down-and-up par 4 rated the number one handicap hole. After a blind, downhill tee shot, the approach is played over a ball-swallowing arroyo to a restored triple-tiered green defended by gaping sand pits. This splendid conception demands two fine long shots and two well-gauged putts in return for par. “It is the successful negotiation of difficulties, or apparent ones, which give rise to pleasureable excitement and makes a hole interesting,” Mackenzie wrote. He added that memorable holes are “usually those in which a great advantage can be gained in successfully accomplishing heroic carries over hazards of an impressive appearance.”

The barranca at the 16th certainly qualifies as an impressive hazard, though what the architect described in his writings as the “long handicap man” can lay up short of the chasm and hit his third shot to the green. This option fulfills Mackenzie’s notion of a versatile golf hole. “An ideal hole,” he wrote, “should provide an infinite variety of shots according to the varying positions of the tee, the situation of the flag, the direction and strength of the wind, etc.” By any measure, Pasatiempo’s 16th is an ideal hole.

With characteristic iconoclasm, Mackenzie concludes Pasatiempo with a heroic par three, a 169-yard finale that plays across a deeply-incised ravine to a large putting surface replete with subtle undulations. It’s a grand stage on which to conclude a match, and adventurous match-play golf is what Mackenzie had in mind when he laid out Pasatiempo. Because greens and tees are close together, this rugged course can be walked by fit players. Caddies can be arranged through the golf shop.

Annual site of the Western Intercollegiate Invitational (Tiger Woods competed here while attending Stanford), Pasatiempo is revered by Californian-born players ranging from Johnny Miller to Juli Inkster. Every hole on the course has a different character, yet all 18 mesh together. The grandeur of the layout’s hilly terrain and perilous hazards, coupled with the exquisite surroundings–towering trees, shaded glens, ocean views–combine to provide a majestic setting for the game. Even local surfers set their boards aside on occasion to sample its delights. Details: http://www.pasatiempo.com/web/