Golf
WITH THE EXCITING RYDER CUP, STAGED AT A SUNNY MEDINAH COUNTRY CLUB NEAR CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND RORY MCILROY’S SECOND MAJORWIN AT THE US PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AT SOUTH CAROLINA’S KIAWAH ISLAND, AMERICA’S FABULOUS GOLFING PRODUCT HAS BEEN FIRMLY IN THE SPOTLIGHT
heaven Fairways to I
f watching Rory and his European teammates has got you itching to hit the fairways
across the pond, you’ll be spoiled for choice. Every state in the union – from
Vermont to Hawaii – offers visitors a fabulous golfing experinece. While Medinah, host of the 2012 Ryder Cup, is off limits to non-members, visiting golfers are welcome on more than two- thirds of the 16,000 golf courses across America. They include many of the top facilities where key tournaments are played. Some are part of upmarket golf
resorts, such as Kiawah Island, where the tough Ocean Course hosted the US PGA event in 2012, as well as the infamous ‘War by the Shore’ Ryder Cup in 1991, is one of five designer-label courses with an opulent on-site hotel. Perhaps the course that features
most on golfers’ wish list is California’s sublime Pebble Beach Golf Links, draped over cliffs edging the Pacific Ocean on the stunning Monterey Peninsula. A five-time host course of the
US Open, including in 2010 when Rory’s fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell took the crown, it is open to visitors – as long as you don’t mind paying the $495 green fee. Even then, you have to stay at
one of the Pebble Beach Resort hotels, with rooms at The Lodge at Pebble Beach starting at $715 per night. But dedicated golfers will find it difficult to put a price on golfing Nirvana!
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TEE FEES The average peak-season green fee for America’s 100 top-rated courses is $200, with the top 25 averaging nearly $270. However, many other fabulous
courses offer fantastic quality golf at prices that won’t break the bank – a lot of them municipal courses. A world away from typical pay and play council courses in the UK, many ‘munis’ in the US offer serious golf. New York State’s Bethpage Black Course, one of five courses in Bethpage State Park, has staged two US Opens and hosts the annual FedEx Cup event The Barclays. It is so tough, a sign at the start warns it is recommended ‘only for highly skilled golfers.’ The green fees for non-state
residents start at $130. Play a round on one of its siblings,
however, and prices tumble. The Red Course costs $86 and $96 for weekdays and weekends respectively while the Green, Blue and Yellow courses will set you back just $45 at weekends. Washington State’s Chambers
Bay, another municipal course near Seattle, was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr and will host the 2015 US Open. A round in high season tops $200, but out of the peak the price drops by half. The same applies to many other
top American courses. Even in peak months a round on weekdays often costs less than one at weekends. Enjoy golf at even cheaper rates
on many courses through twilight green fees, which usually kick in a few hours before sunset. Playing a course designed by a famous architect does not always
www.visitusa.org.uk
send the price tag soaring, either. Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Trail is a state-wide network of courses, paid for by the state's pension fund, that offers some of the most affordable quality golf in the country (see box next page).
HORSES FOR COURSES You can play golf just about anywhere, and across every terrain. For example, Furnace Creek in California’s Death Valley offers desert golf on the world’s lowest course, at 214 feet below sea level, while Colorado’s Mount Massive Golf Course is America’s highest, at 9,680 feet. Even Alaska has courses,
Pictured: Above - The Watson course at Reunion, near Orlando; Ross Bridge, on the Robert trent Jones Golf Trail, Alabama
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