Columnist: Mike May
Florida Historic Golf Trail’s Memorable Par 3s
By Mike May Named Golden Bell, the par-3 12th is the shortest hole at Augusta National, a mere 155 yards from tee to green. During any given round at the Masters, every player’s score can be greatly impacted by their ability to hit their tee shot over Rae’s Creek and find the 12th green. Tiger Woods will never forget the quadruple bogey he made at No. 12, during the final round on Sunday last month. In honor of the […]
THE WARREN GOLF COURSE: WAKE UP THE ECHOES OF NOTRE DAME
By Mike May There is much more to the athletic scene at the University of Notre Dame than visiting ‘Touchdown Jesus,’ attending football games, or watching basketball games inside the Joyce Center. You will also find the Fighting Irish spirit at The Warren Golf Course, perched on the northern edge of Notre Dame’s campus. This […]
THE PFAU GOLF COURSE AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY: A STUNNING MASTERPIECE
By Mike May Thanks to a very generous gift, the golf program at Indiana University has received a huge ‘shot in the arm.’ The championship golf course at Indiana University, which first opened in 1955, has re-opened after a complete re-design by highly acclaimed golf course architect Steve Smyers. “We built a brand new golf […]
Back Home in Indiana On the Pete Dye Golf Trail
By Mike May The late hall-of-fame golf course architect, Pete Dye was the Donald Ross of his generation. Dye’s footprint on U.S. golf is prolific and some of his best designs can be found in Indiana. Jack Nicklaus, himself a world-renowned golf course architect, was a fan of Dye’s creative genius, “I think Pete Dye […]
A BOYNE MOUNTAIN GOLF BONUS: World Class CART GIRL, Jerri Lee Richards
By Mike May When playing golf at either The Alpine, or The Monument courses at BOYNE Mountain, you will be intrigued by each respective layout, the creativity of each hole’s design, and the overall quality of the two golf courses. In addition to the fantastic golf at Boyne Mountain, Cart Girl Extraordinaire, Jerri […]
BELVEDERE GOLF CLUB: A TIMELESS TRADITION
By Mike May Refreshingly pure, fundamentally sound, and forever relevant. Those are three ways to describe the Belvedere Golf Club that opened for play in 1927. The course was designed by golf course architect William Watson, who also served as the course’s first professional. In 2017, Belvedere’s membership rededicated the course to the memory of […]
RIVIERA COUNTRY CLUB: A PURE GOLF EXPERIENCE
By Mike May Those who truly appreciate the creature comforts of home will experience that same feeling at the Riviera Country Club, in Ormond Beach, Florida, very near Daytona Beach. The course originally opened as a nine-hole layout in the 1930’s, but was later expanded to 18 holes in 1954 and is now listed as […]
A Train Runs Through Florida’s Historic Golf Trail
By Mike May Over the last 100+ years, Florida’s development can largely be attributed to the ambition of the late Henry Flagler and Henry Plant, plus their strategic use of the railroad. Not only did the railroad bring visitors to Florida, it was the key to the growth of many of its golf courses, as […]
THREETOPS AT TREETOPS: AN EXPERIENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER
By Mike May Threetops at Treetops, in Gaylord, Michigan, packs 18 holes of drama into just 9 holes, yet every hole is ‘simply’ a par three. There are not enough superlatives in the English language to provide a fair and accurate description of the beauty, diversity, and the amount of fun to be enjoyed at […]
THE FROG: SIMPLY SERENE AND SENSATIONAL
By Mike May There are many public-access golf courses in the U.S. that have creative names such as Osprey Point, Threetops at Treetops, The Schoolmaster, and Covered Bridge, but one Georgia golf course is named after an amphibian. The Frog, a stop on the Georgia Golf Trail, is located in Villa Rica, near […]