Golf
Tee I
f you enjoy watching your golf heroes battle it out on TV on some
of America’s top courses, just imagine the thrill of playing those very same fairways and greens. A surprising number of the USA's
top golf clubs that host the Majors and other PGA Tour events welcome visiting golfers. Several are even municipal golf
courses, among them New York State’s Bethpage Black course, which hosted the 2002 and 2009 US Opens, 2008 US Open venue Torrey Pines near San Diego, California – dramatically won by Tiger Woods with a broken leg – and the Robert Trent Jones Jr-designed Chambers Bay course in Tacoma, Washington State, which will host the 2015 US Open. Your local council-owned muni, these are not. Whether you want a stern challenge or a leisurely round on a well-groomed resort course, the USA
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Fancy following in the spike marks of Tiger, Rory, GMac and co on your next holiday across the Atlantic?
offers golfers more choice than any other country.
A course in every state According to the US National Golf Foundation, there are almost 16,000 golf courses throughout America, more than 11,500 of which are open to the public. Florida has the most facilities, with
over 1,000, followed by California (928), New York (832), Michigan (825) and Texas (808). But you can find golf courses in
every state; even Alaska has several, including America’s northernmost, the 18-hole North Star Golf Club in Fairbanks. Played on grass but with underlying permafrost, it plays like a links course and has an interesting local rule which states: “When a raven or fox steals a golf ball, a replacement may be dropped without penalty.” You might even be lucky enough to spot a lynx on the links.
"Tee it up with pizzazz right on the Las Vegas Strip. There are two courses in the shadow of its iconic mega resorts, with many more in the surrounding area."
www.visitusa.org.uk
From deserts to Disney Some destinations are synonymous with golf, for the plethora of courses they offer year-round. Among them is Scottsdale in Arizona. Part of Greater Phoenix, which has over 200 of Arizona’s 300-plus courses, it has everything from manicured fairways at lavish resorts to layouts in desert settings on Native American reservations. California’s Palm Springs, South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach and Florida’s elegant Palm Beach are others. If you want to take in a few rounds
on a family holiday, Central Florida’s 150 courses include four 18-hole, championship-quality golf courses at Walt Disney World plus the family- friendly, nine-hole Oak Trail course, where a round costs $38 for adults and just $20 for under-17s, walking the course. Golf buggies, or carts as they are known there, are obligatory at most
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