The GolfCourseHome Life

Abundant Performing Arts Offerings Enrich the Lifestyle at These Southern Communities

~ GolfCourseHome® Network ~
New Communities Newsletter
Vol. 14, No. 682   Friday Jan. 20 2012  Circulation: 27,655

        -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Brier Creek, NC: Close to Raleigh's performing arts.

Good Morning! Today's newsletter takes a look at communities near four Southern cities with strong performing arts portfolios. Many communities provide bus trips and special outings to take advantage of live local events, making the ability to attend dance, theater, music and the like an important community--and lifestyle--benefit. See below for details.

New to GolfCourseHome Network This Week

FLORIDA
> Stuart Yacht & Country Club, Stuart
Private, gated golf & waterfront country club living, tennis, fitness, Yacht Club, homes from $125,000

>   In This Issue   
    * Where the Performing Arts Take Center Stage for Community Residents    
    * Best Travel & Real Estate Deal Shorts
    * Discovery Package& Travel Deals
    * Florida Communities
    * North Carolina Communities

    * Coastal Communities
    * 2011 GCH 'Best of the Best' Golf Communities
    * 2011 GCH Dream 18 List of Great Residential Golf Holes
    * Watch for our Next Issue, coming Tuesday, Jan. 24th

> Where Performing Arts Take Center
   Stage for Community Residents 

 The performing arts are vital to quality-of-life for residents of GolfCourseHome communities. Many not only actively patronize live entertainment, but also support local performing arts centers by serving on boards and helping to raise funds.

Moving to a luxury golf community does mean you can play plenty of golf. But days that begin with 18 holes can easily make way for enjoyment of music, theatre, dance, literature and intriguing lectures—if you live somewhere conducive to these rewarding pleasures. Here are four cities from Florida to Texas where the arts are alive and communities are nearby enough to enjoy them...continued.....

Best Deal Shorts

> Sanctuary Cove, St. Simon’s Island GA's significant price reduction on a 3-acre estate homesite with marsh views and water frontage on the Little Santilla River and now listed at $199,000 (reduced from $209,000). Loaded with mature hardwoods, the site is suitable for a private dock.  Send me more info!

> Hilton Head Plantation, Hilton Head SC's 4BR, 3-BA riverview home at the reduced price of $590,000 (down from $630,000). A second-row home just steps from Port Royal Sound, this 5,200 sf residence is extensively renovated and features a bonus room. Send me more info!

> Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton SC's riverview lot in the South Wilson residential neighborhood on which builder will construct a luxury guest cottage for just $579,000. Cottage would serve as 2-BR, 2-BA fun vacation home (with garage) while you plan for later construction of a permanent residence. Available for signing now is a pre-negotiated, fixed-cost contract to build the main house. Send me more info!

> Hampton Lake, Bluffton SC’s 3 days/2 nights Sneak-a-Peek visit starts at just $295/couple. Package includes award-winning accommodations, lunch and/or dinner, choice of spa treatments for two or a round of golf for two at the Pete Dye Signature course next door at Hampton Hall. Send me more info!

Coming Soon to GolfCourseHome

• Frederica, St. Simons Island, GA
• Amelia National, Amelia Island, FL
• The Resort at Eagle Mountain Lake, TX

======================================
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Online Since 1999 - Featuring Golf & Waterview Communities on 44 Network Member Sites

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Blackstone, AZ Lot Professionally Graded for Construction, Available at New Price

> Blackstone, Peoria AZ has an unprecedented value available to the savvy buyer on a building lot along the golf course. This lot originally sold for $475,000 and is now listed for just $179,000. It measures one half acre in size and is professionally graded for construction. Send me more info...

Enjoy Hilton Head Island, SC This Summer - Courtesy of Palmetto Dunes

> Palmetto Dunes, Hilton Head Island SC invites you to book your last-minute Hilton Head Island Summer Vacation and receive a 20% discount if you book by July 23 for stays through Sept. 5, plus receive 2 hours of complimentary tennis along with preferred rates on all Palmetto Dunes activities including golf, kayaking, fishing charters and more. Available homes range from $718 for 3 nights in a 2-BR up to $3,436/week for 5-BR home with pool near the ocean. Send me more info...

What You Should Know About a Community's HOA, Part 2

The Georgia Club: United inside and outside the gates.

by The GolfCourseHome Editors

Just as you would tour the golf course, visit the fitness center and sample the cuisine of any community you may buy a home in, you should also take a close look at the community’s governing body, its HOA. We laid out five targeted questions on this topic last month. Here are five additional questions:

1. How well suited is the HOA to the task of conversion of ownership to members/residents as the original developer departs?

One of the most basic functions of an HOA is, in fact, to facilitate conversion of ownership once the developer’s business interest in the community ends. In most cases, the promotional material seen in brochures, mailings and the community website will not include details about the developer’s build-out or sellout schedule. When researching a planned community that is still developer-owned (with the developer operating the HOA and taking receipt of its dues), expect that you will have to make a specific, direct inquiry regarding turnover. In cases where a community’s website does include this information, it will probably be included under the “Frequently Asked Questions” tab.

2. How able is the community to recruit and elect new candidates to rotate onto the governing board?

As is so often the case, quality personnel is vital to operating a golf community. The Palm City, FL community of Piper’s Landing goes out of its way to stress the importance of member service on the Piper’s Landing board of directors. The community website lists all board members by name and rank, and even includes biographical information like their profession, hometown and the college and graduate schools they attended. Another notable facet of the Piper’s Landing form of self-government is its practice of holding open-forum “town hall” sessions before each scheduled meeting of the board. In those sessions, club members can voice their views and perhaps show their interest and aptitude for eventual board service.  

3. Does the HOA do a consistent, reliable job of communicating to residents and members?

A well-designed, well-written community newsletter that is published in a timely manner goes a long way toward to keeping all interested parties well-informed about what’s happening with events, projects and fiscal matters. Some communities are even starting up blogs, a medium that is sure to improve the timeliness of new information. One of the most thorough and conscientious communities when it comes to transparency and keeping information current is the south Florida-based Jonathan’s Landing. The newsletter put out by Jonathan’s Landing contains important HOA matter divided into several categories. It even publishes the minutes of committee meetings.

4. Does the HOA interface adequately with local government outside the community gates?

Statistics show that new buyers in planned communities are drawn by the benefit of superior services and maintenance. It only makes sense that well-run HOA’s would not only stay on top of the services directly provided by the HOA in the community, but would also monitor road projects and other municipal matters that directly affect the immediate vicinity of club property. 

Wakefield Plantation, in Raleigh, NC, is particularly adept in this area. It was recently honored by The Community Assocation Institute (CAI) of North Carolina as the state’s best-run large scale homeowners’ association.

5. Is the community you’re investigating involved in good works?

It’s been noted by many that a community that’s united to help good causes does a particularly fine job of working together inside the gates to handle the immediate needs of the property and its amenities.The Georgia Club, in the town of Statham, GA, is a model of goodwill and good marketing in its region. Particularly at the year-end holiday season, The Georgia Club Foundation, a 501(c)(3) established by the community’s HOA, is highly visible conducting tour-of-homes events that raise money for good causes and add to the prestige and value of homeownership there.

What You Should Know About a Community's Homeowners Association (HOA), Part 1

by The GolfCourseHome Editors

A homeowners' association (or HOA) is a legal entity built into virtually all master-planned residential projects. Essential to these communities are the covenants, codes and restrictions (CC&Rs) that the HOA structure is set up to enforce.

A trade group called the Community Associations Institute recently reported that 23 million American homes and 57 million residents were governed by HOAs. In upscale golf communities, the daily activities of HOAs also include organizing clubs, events, recreation and entertainment. 

So, even if a community you are considering still has its developer on-site and in charge of operations, there’s an established HOA alongside that is likely to be collecting dues now and expecting to do all the governing later, once the developer deeds over the common amenities and departs.

For the prospective home buyer, the management style and strategy of a community’s HOA is important to understand. Just as you would tour the golf course, visit the fitness center and sample the cuisine, you should also take a close look at the community’s governing body, its HOA.

Here are some specific questions and considerations that will help you do that:

1. Can the HOA offer a clear statement of its fiscal approach and financial conditions?
When we see a prominent nation like the United States lose control of its financial structures, it’s obvious that any governing entity could do the same—including a master-planned residential community. The HOA of Daniel Island –still supported by the development firm The Daniel Island Company—has employed a fiscally conservative plan from the start of development more than a decade ago and says that philosophy now provides residents the best assurance of their community's ongoing stability.

"We haven't reacted to the current economic situation with specific measures other than to restate our belief in the value of good old-fashioned conservative planning practices," said Carolyn Lancaster, vice president–marketing for The Daniel Island Company.

"We prudently budgeted for the ongoing maintenance of common areas, we put in place reasonable and sustainable infrastructure plans, and we've operated largely without debt. That philosophy helps ensure that our residents' contributions to POA dues continue to represent strong value relative to the level of amenities and programming they enjoy," Lancaster added.

2. How Does the HOA Oversee Membership Process? A great advantage of club membership is knowing that like-minded, well-mannered people will be your companions on the links and in the dining room. But selectiveness for club membership needs to be balanced against the free flow of buyers and sellers into and out of the community.

Quail Ridge, in Boynton Beach, Florida, clearly states in its bylaws that “two Quail Ridge members are required as sponsors” for any new member to gain entrance. That’s a reasonable level of filtering from both standpoints. In the case of Mirabel, a Scottsdale, Arizona, community, it is clearly stated that club memberships “may be transferred through the Club to the subsequent purchaser of a member's residence or homesite.”

3. How will the HOA handle the sale of your home? The building and selling of homes in a planned community will involve any number of construction firms and realty companies, depending on the developer’s business model and the custom’s of the real estate market in that region. When a developer has severed ties and moved on, the question of who handles the resale listings will fall to the community homeowners.

In some instances, they will work through their HOA to establish a dedicated real estate sales entity through which all transactions will be conducted. The Florida community of Mariner Sands, member-owned with 36 holes of golf, is an example of the one-agency approach. Find out what advantages this approach conveys, and weigh it against any possible disadvantages.

4. Is the structure of the HOA sufficient to meet the complex tasks of management? A well-functioning HOA is composed of committees governing specific and important facets of community life. For example, the HOA at Admirals Cove, in coastal Florida, has committees covering Architectural Design Review, Landscape, Lakes, Legal & By-Laws, Finance, Security, Communications. For a community with so much waterway frontage and boat use by members, special expertise is needed on the committee that covers those issues.

5. How Does the HOA Balance Quality of Administration with Quality of Life Issues? Despite all the self-governing and legalistic concerns of an HOA, most of the time when you hear of their activities, it’s in reference to organized social events. Ideally, the community you buy property at would achieve an easy balance between the nuts and bolts of maintenance and the social interactions that give community life that extra measure of enjoyment.

A good example of that balance is River Landing, a North Carolina community that takes pride in its crowded social calendar and its creative energy in bringing members together for fun and competition. The mindset of a River Landing is that self-government comes more easily when there is plenty of group synergy to begin with. 

To read Part II in this series, click here.

Eight Questions to Ask When…Evaluating a Community's Golf School

Amelia Island Plantation, FL has a low-key atmosphere.

As you contemplate buying to a community, has the thought “my time has come” for getting into golf or lowering your handicap? That golf could now be waiting around the corner in the form of an excellent championship course and a top-notch learning facility is the clear inspiration.

Among the planned communities in the GolfCourseHome Network, most, if not all, can provide wonderful golf and caring, professional instruction. A few communities take golf improvement a step farther, building and staffing full-time comprehensive golf academies. If you are one of those my-time-is-come types, here are some questions you might ask in searching out a community with top-rank instruction or golf school.

1. Does the school have a truly complete “curriculum” that addresses all aspects of the game for every type of player ?

The program of activities at Barton Creek Resort & Spa’s famed Chuck Cook Golf Academy is the ultimate example of skill-by-skill instruction and player-specific training. Cook, a longtime Golf Digest instructor, includes such offerings as a Half-Day Putting School, a Two-Day Short Game School, a VIP program with on-course teaching, and a Low Handicap Two Day Specialty School.

There are also specially designed school of various lengths for beginners in groups, juniors, ladies and families. The Cook Golf Academy is also headquartered wonderfully, in a classic Hill Country stone house beside the Fazio Canyons course. Known as the Rock House, it is equipped with day lockers, a large classroom with big screen TV, a refreshment area and an outdoor patio next to a creek.

2. Is budget as important as a lower score?

Learning golf is a lifelong enterprise—and for that reason a student may want to budget his expenditures along the way. The Black Gold Golf Academy at Vista Del Verde understands this element of the equation.

Study the academy’s catalogue of offerings and you will find bonuses like a 50-percent-off card for practice range use anytime; five rounds of golf (off-peak) for just cart fee, and an automatic Player’s Club membership that brings with it a whole other package of value and savings for golf practice and play.

3. Does the schools’ setting and golf atmosphere provide inspiration for game-improvement?

Chip Beck made himself into a tour winner by beating balls into a garage net, while Lee Trevino learned to play on rutted fairways and rolled-sand greens. But most golfers are inclined to thrive in a place that inspires excellence and has the facilities to back it up. PGA National, where a Ryder Cup, a PGA Championship and multiple Senior PGA Championships have been played, is steeped in modern golf history and gets the competitive juices flowing like few other American golf settings that include residential membership.

4. Does the school offer golf diagnostics and performance measurement such as high-tech body-mapping and equipment fitting?

The PGA Learning Center at the Florida golf community PGA Village is about as high-tech as it gets. This 35-acre golf park features state-of-the-art video analysis, computer imaging and complete clubfitting services on-site.

PGA Village offers high-tech golf instruction.

The PGA Learning Center is also one of seven sites worldwide to feature the Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade (MAT-T). This system provides a revolutionary advancement in clubfitting and golf instruction.

This academy is also one of a select number of locations that utilize Titleist's proprietary launch monitor, the TPM, developed to measure minute differences in ball flight and help optimize trajectory and distance.

5. Does the golf complext include not only an excellent teaching academy but also several courses with a variety of challenges?

If so, you should find plenty of options. That’s because communities that emphasize golf training also tend to offer more than 18 holes of golf. GolfCourseHome communities that have golf schools plus a choice of courses include PGA National which has five layouts—two by Tom Fazio, one by Arnold Palmer, one by Jack Nicklaus and one course by Karl Litten.

Communities with a golf school plus four courses include Barefoot Resort & Golf (architects: Fazio, Greg Norman, Davis Love III and Pete Dye); Barton Creek (Coore-Crenshaw, Arnold Palmer and two by Fazio) and Amelia Island Plantation (Pete Dye-Bobby Weed; Fazio, Tom Jackson).

Property owners at PGA Village have access to three courses—Fazio (36 holes) and Dye are the designers. And there’s a private equity course there by George Fazio. At the Daniel Island Club, you can test what you’ve learned on a new Rees Jones course or the original Fazio 18.

6. Is there a smooth transition from skill work to execution and from range to golf course?

All serious golf academies emphasize scoring and on-course performance. At the Daniel Island Club's Golf Learning Center, students sharpen their skills on a top-notch, 14-acre practice facility that directly adjoins the club's Beresford Creek and Ralston Creek courses.

The Learning Center’s range, which measures more than 400 yards from front to back, is contoured and treed to resemble the adjacent courses—which helps a golfer visualize on-course play vividly as he or she practices. Mature live oaks define practice fairways and bunkers and swales frame many of the target greens.

7. Is relaxation and a low-key atmosphere important to your learning style?

Tension is the foe of efficient golf swings, which is why golfers steer clear of pressure and overly serious environments as much as possible. The golf school at Amelia Island Plantation, designed and led by Ed Bowe, truly addresses the needs of golfers who are eager to improve but prefer a serene setting to do it in. The Amelia Island Plantation Golf School is located at the prestigious Long Point Golf Course. Nestled between ancient live oaks, the school overlooks its own private driving range and practice green.

Barefoot Resort & Golf, SC fosters a sense of spirituality.

8. Are you looking for more of an earthier or New Age experience?

Barefoot Resort & Golf might be just the place for golf school graduates who want to be challenged in a holistic manner. The director of the Barefoot Resort & Golf Academy, Nick Bradley, is an English-bred teaching professional whose students include tour star Justin Rose and whose teaching technique takes in elements of human spirituality.

Having been mentored by some of the leaders in the field of human potential, Bradley’s appreciation of “spirituality over psychology” in sports performance is a fundamental belief.

Hammock Dunes Features Many Homemade Dishes, Including Warm Apple Charlotte

Hammock Dunes, FL: Jason Hall offers many homemade items

Vacationing to Florida and taking up golf might be as American as apple pie.

Or Apple Charlotte, if you are at the Hammock Dunes Club in Palm Coast, FL. Executive Chef Jason Hall molds these little treasures in his kitchen there. Warm Granny Smith apples are tucked into charlotte molds, enveloped with buttery white bread crust, and baked. When served to the lucky recipient, the charlotte is topped with a cherry sauce made with pinot noir.

Chef Hall says that like many other dishes at Hammock Dunes, the Apple Charlotte is made in house. “We don’t buy any pre-made sauces, and everything is hand-made from scratch,” he says. This seems a priority for him. While learning to become a chef, he says he felt privileged to work under Certified Master Chefs who believed in scratch cookery and weren’t afraid to push the culinary envelope.

Jason Hall has certainly made the rounds during his 14 years in the industry. He graduated from Le Cordon Bleu partner, the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. With this under his belt, he went on to work in private clubs and restaurants in the Carolinas, Ohio and Napa Valley, CA.

Now, as Executive Chef at Hammock Dunes, he continues the culinary legacy of his prestigious teachers. The Apple Charlotte is surely just a taste of what his restaurant has to offer—pair it with a chat about tomorrow’s golf game, and you’re in American heaven.

Apple Charlotte from Hammock Dunes, FL

Apple Charlotte
6 portions

6 granny smith apples
1 cup sugar (may need more depending tartness of apples)
2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt and nutmeg
4 tbsp. butter
1 loaf of white bread
½ stick unsalted butter, melted (this is for the bread)
Special equipment: a 2-inch round cookie cutter; 6 (5- to 6-oz) ramekins

Preparation
Peel and dice the apples.  In a pan warm the butter, then add the apples.  Stew the apples at medium heat.  Add sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.  Cook until apples are soft.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut out 12 rounds from bread slices with cookie cutter, then cut 42 (2- by 1 1/2-inch) rectangles from trimmings and remaining slices. Coat 1 side of each round and rectangle with some of remaining butter. Put 6 rounds, buttered sides down, in molds and line sides with rectangles (5 to 7 per mold), buttered sides against mold, arranging them vertically and slightly overlapping, pressing gently to adhere. Trim any overhang flush with rims. 

Divide filling among molds and top with 6 remaining bread rounds, buttered sides up, pressing gently to fit inside bread rim.

Bake charlottes in molds on a baking sheet in middle of oven until bread is golden, about 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, then invert plates over charlottes and invert charlottes onto plates. Serve warm with cherry sauce. Recipe follows

Cherry Sauce
3 cups dried cherries
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup pinot noir
1 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp. water 

In pan bring cherries, sugar and water and wine to a boil. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to sauce, stirring. Simmer sauce 2 minutes and cool to room temperature. Sauce may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring sauce to room temperature before serving.

'Best of the Best' Golf Course Rankings--Where Living & Golf Are No. 1

Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro GA: Most decorated.

The GolfCourseHome Rankings Compendium

Our modern culture is all about creating lists of who or what
is tops in its field. Golf courses and golf communities have
had various rankings systems for decades, as you know.
What’s hard to know is which communities and courses have
earned which honors—the "rankings season" extends from
October to February.

If you look at all the different kinds of ways to rate or rank
a golf course, you'll discover quite an array. From Best New
Course to Best Residential to Best Public to Best Private to
Best Classic to Best Modern from Top 100 to Top 50, there
are multiple ways to shine.

To all courses and communities, these annual and biennial
awards mean a great deal. There's great crowing when a top
ranking is achieved and much soul-searching when it’s lost.

GolfCourseHome does not send out field researchers and
raters in pursuit of its own, proprietary ranking system. But
we thought we could do the next best thing--look at all the
current rankings and identify all GolfCourseHome communities
that have received more than one or two accolades and
arrange them in a suitable 'Rankings Compendium.'

Topping our compilation is a fabulous Front Nine, with the
most dynamic of them all being Reynolds Plantation, which has
received honors of every sort for its many golf courses and for
the community in general.

The Front Nine  (or The Divine Nine)
1. Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro GA uses a rare and
impressive blend of quality and quantity to rise to the
pinnacle of the golf rankings, both for its courses and its
overall amenities. 

• Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, The Creek
  Club, by Jim Engh
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• No. 61 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (Great Waters course)
• No. 95 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (Oconee course)
• No. 38 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
  (Great Waters course)
• No. 61 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
  (Oconee course)
• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
  (Great Waters and National courses)
• No. 43 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine (GW)
• No. 60 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine (Oconee)
• No. 97 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
  Golf Digest
• No. 5 on the 50 Top Courses for Women by Golf for
  Women (Oconee)
• Top 100 Community by Where to Retire Magazine
• Click here for more information about Reynolds
  Plantation!

2. Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, SC, is perhaps the most highly
lauded new community in the U.S. Current awards for this
20,000-acre resort/residential Lowcountry property:

• Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, May River Golf
  Club, by Jack Nicklaus
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• A Golfweek Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
• No. 31 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
• No. 53 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine.
• Click here for more information about Palmetto Bluff!

3. Sea Pines, Hilton Head SC is a landmark community on a
huge waterfront site with a long list of great amenities but
one in particular that garners close attention from the raters—
Pete Dye’s Harbour Town Golf Links.

• No. 29 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
• No. 13 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
• No. 15 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
  Golf Digest
• No. 93 on America’s 100 Greatest Courses by Golf
  Digest
• No. 40 on 100 Top Courses in the U.S. by GOLF
  Magazine
• No. 15 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine
• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
• Click here for more information about Sea Pines!

4. Homestead Preserve, Warm Springs, VA benefits from the
combined glory of the lofty rankings and ratings garnered by
the famed Cascades Course and a sister course at the historic
Homestead resort property.

• No. 2 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (Cascades)
• No. 12 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
  (Cascades)
• No. 61 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
  (Cascades)
• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
  (Cascades and Old Course)
• No. 16 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
  Golf Digest (Cascades)
• No. 97 on America’s 100 Greatest Courses by Golf
  Digest (Cascades)
• No. 61 on 100 Top Courses in the U.S. by GOLF
  Magazine (Cascades)
• No. 18 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine (GW)
• Click here for more information about Homestead
  Preserve!

5. Barton Creek Resort & Spa, Austin, TX, did more than
other other area property to put Austin on the national golf
map. The residential component of Barton Creek is a golf-
and spa-lover’s way of enjoying this award-winning community
on a daily basis.

• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
  (Fazio Foothills and Fazio Canyons courses)
• No. 83 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
  Golf Digest (Canyons)
• No. 68 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine (Foothills)
• No. 69 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine (Canyons)
• No. 40 on the 50 Top Courses for Women by Golf for
  Women (Foothills)
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• Click here for more information about Barton Creek
  Resort & Spa!

The Powder Horn, WY: New clubhouse & plenty of awards.

6. The Powder Horn, Sheridan, WY earns its list of honors
without benefit of being an easy visit for the traveling raters.
Of course, once a visitor does arrive at this grand Western
community, they are sure to agree it has earned its awards.

• No. 24 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
• No. 68 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
• No. 21 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
• Top 100 Community by Where to Retire Magazine
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about The Powder Horn!

7. Desert Mountain, Scottsdale AZ, is an upscale and highly
influential Arizona enclave that can provide six excellent
reasons (and courses) for visiting.

• No. 55 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (Chiracuhua course)
• No. 75 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (Renegade course)
• No. 76 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (Geronimo course)
• No. 97 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (Cochise course)
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about Desert Mountain!

8. Barefoot Resort, No. Myrtle Beach, SC, is a community
that’s had to work to stand out from the crowd of excellent
Myrtle Beach venues. Here’s how Barefoot did it:

• No. 87 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
  (Love course)
• No. 97 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
  (Fazio course)
• No. 53 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
  Golf Digest (Love course)
• No. 92 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
  Golf Digest (Fazio course)
• No. 95 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine (Love course)
• Click here for more information about Barefoot Resort!

9. Cuscowilla, Eatonton GA is a highly ranked community with
a distinctly down-home feel that visitors and residents alike
keep returning to—and golf that keeps earning kudos.

• No. 2 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
• No. 33 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
• No. 21 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
• No. 19 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine
• Click here for more information about Cuscowilla!

The Next Tier --

Colleton River Plantation, Bluffton, SC, is spread across a
romantic landscape of marsh and woodland—terrain that
inspired two great modern course designers to do some of
their finest work, as the rankings prove:

• No. 44 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (Nicklaus course)
• No. 67 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (Dye course)
• No. 35 on America's 50 Greatest Golf Retreats by Golf
  Digest Index
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about Colleton River
  Plantation!

Paa-Ko Communities, Sandia Park, NM, burst on the golf
scene in 2000 (it has recently added an excellent new nine
to complement its original 18) and set the stage for build-out
of attractive residential neighborhoods.

• No. 5 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
• No. 40 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
• No. 38 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
  Golf Digest
• No. 30 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine
• Click here for more information about Paa-Ko Communities!

Suncadia, Roslyn, WA, represents a finely honed blend of
resort ambience with a distinctive private golf club secluded
within it. Its honors reflect that versatile profile.

• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
  (Prospector course)
• Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Prospector
  Golf Course, by Arnold Palmer
• Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Tumble Creek
  Golf Club, by Tom Doak
  
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about Suncadia!

Best of the Rest

Belfair, Bluffton, SC, is a double-Fazio venue in the pristine
Lowcountry of South Carolina.

• No. 63 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (West)
• No. 72 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
  (East)
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about Belfair!

Daniel Island, Charleston, SC, the winner of untold awards for
overall community plan and design, also does well in the golf-
rankings category.

• Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Ralston Creek
  Club, by Rees Jones
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Top 100 Community by Where to Retire Magazine
• Click here for more information about Daniel Island!

Horseshoe Bay, Marble Falls, TX, is a must-visit for any
aficionado of Robert Trent Jones, Sr., whose designs here
rank among his finest.

• No. 79 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
  (RamRock course)
• No. 99 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Golf Courses
  (AppleRock course)
• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
  (RamRock course)
• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
  (AppleRock course)
• Click here for more information about Horseshoe Bay!

Spring Island, Spring Island, SC, is one of the great
environmentally planned golf communities in the U.S., with
a standout golf course by Arnold Palmer.

• No. 27 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
• No. 89 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Golf Courses
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about Spring Island!

Grande Dunes, Myrtle Beach, SC, is a 2,200-acres coastal
property that continues to build its reputation as a golf jewel
between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway.

• Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Members
  Course Club, by Nick Price and Craig Schreiner
• No. 100 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
• A Golfweek’s Best Course You Can Play in the U.S.
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about Grande Dunes!

Oldfield, Okatie, SC, is an emerging jewel still adding to
its stock of awards.

• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Top 100 Community by Where to Retire Magazine
• Click here for more information about Oldfield!

Mirabel, Scottsdale, AZ, is perched above the distant city
lights of Scottsdale and admired as a top-echelon private
desert golf community.

• No. 91 on Golfweek’s Top 100 Residential Golf Courses
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about Mirabel!

The Cliffs Communities, Travelers Rest, SC, is a leading
innovator among Southeastern U.S. communities, as
evidenced by these honors.

• Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Walnut Cove
  Club, by Jack Nicklaus
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about The Cliffs!

The Villages at Tullymore, Stanwood, MI, is not yet as
famous as some of the Northern Michigan properties are, but
the rankers and raters know it well, as these fine
achievements show.

• No. 14 on America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by
  Golf Digest
• No. 83 on America’s 100 Greatest Courses by Golf
  Digest
• No. 96 on 100 Top Courses You Can Play by GOLF
  Magazine
• Click here for more information about Tullymore!

Tesoro, Port St. Lucie, FL, is a Ginn Club community
offering two Signature golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer
and Tom Watson—and honored with:

• Golfweek Top 50 New Courses for 2006, Tesoro Club
  course by Arnold Palmer
• Top 100 Golf Community by Travel + Leisure Golf
• A Premier Property by LINKS Magazine
• Click here for more information about Tesoro!

New for the New Year--Golf Course Openings, New Home Models, New Phases & More

Huntsman Springs, ID: New golf, skiing nearby.

With the advent of the new year, we have been receiving
news about communities forging ahead with plans to add
new amenities, announcing golf course openings, new
products and new offerings. Despite what you hear about
the real estate market, these communities know that if
they are to attract new homeowners, they must stay
competitive and invest in their facilities. That's good
news for those looking for signs of a healthy and growing
community.

For example, Huntsman Springs, Driggs, Idaho, has just
released its first photos of its new golf course and its
spectacular mountain surroundings. Tampa Bay Country Club,
Florida, just announced it has 12 new single-family home
plans to choose from, with prices ranging from $179,950 to
$300,000. And Quail Creek at The Ridges, Tennessee, has
just informed us that its single-family model home is now
complete and ready for people to come and see. Spring may
be months away, but community activity is already heating
up. Watch for next week's newsletter for the first batch of
new communities to be added to GolfCourseHome in 2008!

COMMUNITY NEWS & UPDATES

1. River Landing, NC announces plans to develop a 10-acre
vineyard within its newest neighborhood, The Vineyards.
The concept is intended to provide a rare and contemporary
amenity to homebuyers. The new neighborhood is sited on
a 300-acre tract featuring large, half-acre homesites
starting at $80,000, lakes and ponds, walking paths, a
recreational amenity, a winery facility and the 10-acre
vineyard planted with muscadine grapes. Click here for
more information about River Landing!

2. Lake James, NC, is accepting bookings for two
new rental cabins, currently under construction in the
neighborhood known as 1780. One of the cabins is a 1,700-
square-foot cabin in Hully Gully. The other is a 2,800-square-
foot retreat at Camp Lake James. Both properties will allow
guests to use Camp Lake James. Click here for more
information about Lake James!

3. Black Bull, MT, is pleased to announce that its director of
golf, David Baucom, has received the 2007 Bill Strausbaugh
Award from the Rocky Mountain PGA. The Strausbaugh award,
given annually, recognizes service to the professional
community. Baucom was previously honored as Rocky
Mountain PGA Golf Professional of the Year. Click here for
more information about Black Bull!

4. Mount Vintage Plantation, SC announces that it is building
a nine-hole addition to the community’s original 18-hole
championship course. Renowned architect Tom Jackson, who
created the original 18, has designed the new nine holes on
land deemed to contain the most dramatic topography in the
community. The addition, to open by early summer, yielding
a collection of premier homesites with prime views.
Click here for more information about Mt. Vintage Plantation!

5. Frenchman’s Reserve, FL, announces that parent company
Toll Brothers has promoted Alex de Chabert to assistant vice
president at the prestigious country club community. De
Chabert moved to Florida in 2001 to join Toll Brothers,
initially as an assistant project manager. He has contributed
significantly to the success of Frenchman’s Reserve, where
home prices now start at $1 million. Click here for more
information about Frenchman’s Reserve!

Winning Contest Entry Creates the Portrait of a Perfect Day

Here's the winning entry in our 'Perfect Day' contest in
which we asked GolfCourseHome visitors to describe
their ideal golf/waterview community and what the
perfect day there would be like. We've provided links
to some of the GolfCourseHome communities that might
fit her description. Thanks to all who entered and
congratulations to Evelyn!

A Perfect Day in a Perfect Community
by Evelyn K., NY

As the sun rises on another beautiful day in my golf
community by the lake, I sit on my deck, sipping my
steaming hot coffee and admiring the beauty of the
white swans who add to the calmness and peace that
this beautiful lake provides. 

To the left, I look out at the majestic mountains, with
their brilliant autumn leaves of orange, red and gold.
To the right, I see the green rolling hills of the golf course-–
ready to welcome the early morning golf enthusiasts. 
Who says that utopia doesn’t exist?  Well, it does….it’s
just a matter of time before you find it.

We have a full day of activities planned, but I don’t
feel hurried or rushed, as I did most of my hectic working
life. I’m now in a community of retired or semi-retired
folks who have learned to take life a little slower, to
admire the beauty of the lake and countryside around
them, and who know how to enjoy every moment they
are given on this earth.

My friends here are mostly from the big city and, like me,
had their fill of traffic and crime. Here we are, only 30
minutes to a big city, where we can find employment,
entertainment, the arts, concerts and major sports events;
however, our little town of quaint shops and delectable
restaurants, make it feel like we are hours away from
the maddening crowds. Unlike the crammed feeling you
get in the city, the homes here are spaced apart, each
with their own beautiful manicured lawns. We are close
enough to see and talk to our neighbors, yet far enough
to enjoy privacy. We are also foruntate to have a lakefront
home, where we can enjoy the serenity of the lake.

On to the day's events. With the multitude of activities
going on around us, my husband and I are able to enjoy
both individual activities that interest us, and then meet
up later in the day to enjoy time together. My husband is
heading out for a round of golf with his friends, as I first
head off to the tennis courts for my weekly tennis lesson. 

Afterwards, I’ll head back home to change, and then on to
our clubhouse. Being one of the few women in our community
who enjoy fishing, our clubhouse activities director has
provided me with a local fishing guide who will take me out
on the lake to catch what I hope is a record breaking bass.
Later in the afternoon, my husband and I have agreed to
meet up at the spa in our clubhouse, to spend time being
pampered with his and her massages.   

As evening begins to arrive, it’s time for our neighborhood
evening cocktail hour. It’s our turn for the neighbors to
congregate back on the deck where I started the day. 
Our friends talk about their successes and failures of the
day, the holes in one and the one that got away (my bass)!

We talk about our families, the changing climate, politics
and just how much we appreciate the beauty of this land.   
After our cocktails we are ready to head over to one of the
many fine restaurants in our clubhouse. Tonight we will dine
in the restaurant run by a graduate of the Culinary Institute
of America and enjoy one of the fine bottles of wine from
one of our local wineries.

After dinner, we have the option of joining in one of the
many activities in our clubhouse, but we choose to go back
to our deck and have a nightcap as we listen to the silence
surrounding our home, watch the moonlight reflecting off
the lake and thank God we found this heavenly place we
now call home. 

'Win a GolfCourseHome Weekend' Contest Sparks Dreams

The entries are coming in for GolfCourseHome's
"Win a Weekend at Your Dream Community Contest."
We've asked subscribers to our New Communities
Newsletter to write us describing what they would
imagine their perfect community to be. We've received
some excellent entries making us think there are a lot
of aspiring copywriters out there.

There is still time for you to email us your entry:
Tell us what your dream community would be like
and describe a perfect day there. The winning entry
wins 2 days/3 nights at the GolfCourseHome Featured
Community of his/her choice. Details of the stay depend
on the rules governing the community.

Here's one of the recent entries:

The Perfect Community
by K R.

Imagine a place that is the antidote to the stress of
daily life; one that fosters family relationships and a
creates a deep sense of community - a sort of “Leave
It To Beaver” atmosphere, where children are safe…
life is simple, and “home” is permanent.

How do you create that environment?  First, by creating
a barrier between the community and the outside world –
a protected place where the air is clean and the surroundings
are green.  Where better to do this than within a golf
course community?  Rather than homes surrounding a golf
course, surround the homes with the course!  Create a
“decompression zone” for people of the community to
drive through on their way home -  a meandering road
through lush green and natural spaces.  This will begin
the daily transformation from life’s “rat race” to a slower,
calmer pace.

After the drive has imperceptibly eased your tensions,
you will come upon a neighborhood of homes that are
not built merely to impress, but built to last, with a
sense of history and permanence. Not “McMansions”
designed with the latest “fad” in mind, these homes
will seem as if they were built many years ago and nature
has grown and worked its special magic around them
with moss and ivy-covered stone walls, mixed with
beautiful architectural details – stately and classic,
but welcoming.

Now add to that ambiance, hidden technology - an
intranet for neighbors, where they can easily become
acquainted and communicate with one another,
inviting one another to meet at the clubhouse to
begin an easy 9-hole afternoon on an impeccably
manicured course…or for an invigorating walk through
the nature trails or exercise class at the community
fitness center…or for a relaxing evening meal in
the fire-lit dining room at the clubhouse, where you
can plan your next neighborhood gathering around
the fire pit so children and adults alike can enjoy the
old-time pleasure of roasting marshmallows over an
open fire.  This is the best of both old and new worlds.
This is the perfect community.

Win a Weekend at a GolfCourseHome Featured Community!

The new GolfCourseHome blog is called The Golf Course
Home Life. There's a reason for that--keeping you
informed about what's going on in our featured golf and
waterview communities is a full-time job, and these
communities represent the kind of activity and fun-filled
life you'd like to lead.

But we shouldn't assume too much.

That's why we are inviting you to write us about the kind of
community you'd like to live in, what you imagine the perfect
day would be like and the kind of activities, friends and
environment you'd enjoy.

The best ones received by midnight this Friday will be
posted on our blog and the overall best entry will be
rewarded with a two-night, three-day stay at the
GolfCourseHome Featured Community of your choice.
Details dependent on the various rules governing the
selected community.We await your entries!

Women- & Family-Friendly Golf Communities: Where Everyone Counts

Vista Ridge, CO: Community center embraces all family members.

The times they are a' changing at today's golf course
communities. While once they were simply golf courses
with homes around them and geared mainly toward the
sport and the men players, today the emphasis is on
a sense of community and the family. And that means
not just men, but women and children members as well.

Today's buyers expect to find a lifestyle at the community
that is more diverse and well-rounded, with women in
particular finally having their the tastes served and
their preferences recognized. Media outlets geared
toward the female side of the market—Golf for Women
magazine, for example—make a point of evaluating
golf resorts and golf communities in terms of how
well they appeal to that audience.

Emphasis on Community
In addition, greater emphasis on "community"
means providing programs and facilities that bring
families together for quality time and "memory
making." Learning about nature and the outdoors
with a staff naturalist is a typical example of the
organized togetherness now being promoted. That
sort of opportunity can bridge multiple generations,
inspiring a greater sense of community within one's
own family.

Women sizing up a golf community are also looking
for programs their children can do on their own—swim
lessons, kids clubs and camps—so that Mom can take
time out for cooking class, computer club or a
relaxing half-day at the spa.

Golf for Women
Of course, many women living in golf communities
are golf nuts themselves, and expect the courses,
clubhouses, locker rooms and lounges at top-tier
golf communities to accommodate women as
luxuriously and spaciously as they accommodate men.
And increasingly, they do. Where do you find these
communities? See below as the first installment in
our new, multi-part series, "Women- and Family-
Friendly Golf Communities," begins.

COLORADO: Vista Ridge, Erie
The accolades have been generous for this mountain
community’s golf program. Designed with families
in mind, Vista Ridge offers all the amenities of a five-
star resort including spectacular mountain views
and miles of parks and trails. Recently, the community
was named the “Most Female Friendly” Golf Course
in the annual readers-choice awards conducted by
Colorado Avid Golfer magazine in recognition of
such Vista Ridge features as year-round women’s
clinics, a women’s golf league, Moms Play Free policy
on Mother’s Day (the course is public) and a course
design with six sets of tees and generous wide
landing areas for drives and long approach shots.

FLORIDA: Willoughby Golf Club
Given the wide array of special golf experiences
that Willoughby offers its women members, the
members at this Treasure Coast community must
need their clubs regripped regularly. Events include
a 60-member, 18-hole group and a 70-member nine-
hole group with both holding weekly competitions.
Ladies Day on Thursdays offers a wide variety of
tournaments including Rally for the Cure, a
Grandmothers Tournament, Guest Days and other
team and individual events.

Willoughby also participates in a four-club Fun
Interclub League, a four-club Competitive Interclub
League and also sends teams to the 18-club Treasure
Coast Challenge Cup. Club events include a Member-
Member Tournament, Club Championship and Ladies
Cup. Mixed events include a one-day mixed member
guest days, Mars vs. Venus Tournament and a three-
day mixed member guest weekend each spring.

VIRGINIA: Belmont Country Club
The lifestyle of the woman golfer at Belmont suits
the serious golfer who is also into fitness, fashion
and fun/socializing. The community’s golf calendar
for women covers the spectrum from beginner
clinics to the member-member championship and
from trunk shows of the latest golfwear to seminars
on the rules of golf and intelligent “course management.”

Belmont competitions and fun participation days in
both tennis and weight training are also part of the
regime. To unwind, Belmont CC women get together
for Ladies’ Night Out, a Mother’s Day Spa Brunch,
a regular Mom’s Group and the Bridge Club.

NORTH CAROLINA: St. James Plantation, Southport
At St. James Plantation, where golf shares the marquee
with recreational centers, private beach club and a full-
service marina, more than 250 women play in weekly
golf tournaments and enjoy social events sponsored
by two community golf associations. The women-only
tournaments are held every Tuesday and rotated among
the community’s four courses spread over 81 holes.

In addition, 10 major tournaments held annually at
St. James Plantation are either women-only or mixed
couples. While women are welcomed any time at the
community’s golf school, the  St. James Golf Academy
also conducts two weekly schools that are reserved
exclusively for women.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Grande Dunes, Myrtle Beach
Setting aside an age-old distinction which to many
seems no longer appropriate, this luxurious ocean-
to-Intracoastal master-planned resort community
eliminated the “women’s handicap” tees on its
new Members Club Course, instead inviting players
of both sexes to play from the tees appropriate to
their individual ability.

Nick Price and Craig Schreiner designed the new
Members Club Course with setup options that
allow all Grande Dunes members and guests to
“test their athleticism and shot-making ability
on every hole or just relax and enjoy themselves.”

How Nicklaus Name on a Golf Course Adds Immediate Value to Real Estate

Sea Pines, SC: First golf community & first Jack Nicklaus course.

Whether you play golf or not, when you consider buying
real estate in a golf course community, the designer of the
golf course can affect the price you pay. Today, no other
golf course architect impacts real estate values like Jack
Nicklaus. (Some of Nicklaus' courses are featured here.)

Once the king of the golf course, the Golden Bear is now the
king of golf course design and sits atop the leader board in
regard to the value his signature imparts to his creations
and the surrounding real estate.

Colin Hegarty, president of Golf Research Group, studies
how a course architect’s name and reputation affects
property values in golf communities. Hegarty recently
equated the homes in communities built around Nicklaus
courses with “blue chip stocks” whose “value grows
dependably.”    

    FLORIDA: Reunion, Orlando

In the past six, Nicklaus has designed more than 80
residential golf courses. Golf Research Group puts their
average net value—course and real estate combined
—at a cool $246 million per community. Run the same
calculation for other leading U.S. course designers and
none of them matches up with Jack.

     NORTH CAROLINA: Governors Club, Chapel Hill

Nicklaus got his start in golf course design in 1968 as co-
author (with Pete Dye) of the famed Harbour Town Golf
Links at Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island—perfect
symmetry considering it’s the same place where golf-course
real estate was first invented.

Nicklaus has since designed some 250 additional courses,
of which 35 have been listed on national and international
Top-100 rankings. His achievement as a designer is such
that the Nicklaus name will be forever revered in golf
circles, even if he had never picked up a club.   

FLORIDA: Grand Haven, Palm Coast

A fine example of the Nicklaus approach to residential
course design is his new layout at Bay Creek Golf & Marina
Resort in Cape Charles, VA. Measuring 7,417 yards with
Tifsport Bermuda fairways and smooth A-4 bentgrass greens,
this Nicklaus course is characterized by large waste areas
and more than 100 boldly shaped bunkers.   

SOUTH CAROLINA: The Reserve at Lake Keowee, Lake Keowee

Of all golf communities with Nicklaus-designed courses,
Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, AZ, has the deepest
Bear tracks. It is home to no fewer than six 18-hole
layouts bearing the Nicklaus signature with their
openings stretched over a 15-year period. Some call
it a Nicklaus Design Museum, showing the evolution
of his style and beliefs.

GEORGIA: Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, Lake Oconee

Despite his lack of formal training in course design,
Nicklaus had several advantages when he started. He
knew the game well and he was given bigger construction
budgets than the average architect. His courses have a
fine, finished look to them—no corners are cut and it
shows. In fact, the quality-control standards Nicklaus
applied to his own early courses quickly became adopted
industry-wide.

Early on, Nicklaus courses were discouragingly difficult,
especially on shots into the greens, which were wide, but
shallow—often just a few paces from front to back—which
frustrated all but the most accomplished golfer.   

SOUTH CAROLINA: Woodside Plantation, Aiken

With experience, designer Jack learned to accommodate the
average player by building in more options and bailouts.
His courses took on softer lines and avoided the sharp edges
that sent impure shots careening sideways upon landing.   

DELAWARE: Bayside, Selbyville

Today, Nicklaus retains a fondness for the split fairway, using
that feature to add character and a sense of fun to the tee shot
on par-5s. As more and more architects have squared off their
tee boxes in a nod to the formal-landscape look of the early
20th century, Nicklaus has bucked the trend, preferring to keep
his teeing grounds "free-form."   

To see a complete list of the 23 Jack Nicklaus-designed golf
courses on GolfCourseHome.net, click here. To see the
complete list of the 75 golf course architects (and their
courses) featured on the GolfCourseHome Network with links
to the golf communities for which they were built, click here.

The Dream 18: Great Golf Holes from World-Class Golf Communities

Teton Springs, Idaho: No.3 Hole on the Dream 18.

If you were to play 18 of the best, most memorable
golf holes--a Dream 18--that can be found within today's
best golf course communities, which ones would you
choose? That's the hypothetical question we posed to
ourselves if we had to choose from among the 200 golf
communities featured on GolfCourseHome.net.

These havens of the country club lifestyle represent
more than 5,000 golf holes, 300-plus championship
golf courses and over 75 different golf course designers.
A lot to choose from. Furthermore, many of the courses
are highly ranked by the various golf publications
and have been crafted by the greats of golf course
design. That's only part of the story, however.

The Lucky Ones
The crux of the matter is that all these courses
are home courses to the lucky ones who live around
them. Whether you play their carpeted fairways,
traverse around them on your morning walk or just
have them as a lovely background as you go about
your day, each help create a beautiful environment
that makes you glad you live there.

Thus, you could go mad trying to select the "best" 18
holes. Instead, we select 18 of the ones we'd most
like play with the full knowledge that if we paused
and started over, we'd most likely pick another
group of 18, and then yet another.

A Happy Solution
Which gives us the happy solution of saying that
this group is the first of what will be an annual
selection. If you'd like to add your own favorite
golf hole to this list, please email us and we will
publish your selections at a later date.

Each entry includes a parenthetical denoting which
number hole on the original course our selected hole
represents. For detailed information on any of these
courses or communities, just click on the name of
the community. For the sake of saving space, we
present a few of the Dream 18. You can go to the
Dream 18 page on GolfCourseHome.net for the
full list.

Hole No. 1,  The Cliffs at Glassy (1st), Travelers
Rest, SC. Sophisticated cuisine and high-tech wellness
facilities are a theme at each of the eight Carolina
communities bearing The Cliffs brand. Our Dream
18 starts there with an inspiring tee shot courtesy
of architect Tom Jackson.

This tight and dramatic par-4 at Cliffs at Glassy plays
to a narrow landing area beside a steep wooded hillside.
Drives that steer clear of it flirt with water on the right.

Hole No. 3, Teton Springs (11th) Teton Valley, WY.
Rocky Mountain snow-splashed peaks, mountain-fed
stream and lakes and vast green fairways make golf
at Teton Springs a continually memorable event.
The community's 11th hole takes advantage of great
mountain views from allalong its straightaway 460-yards.

Two ponds lie in perilous locations along the fairway
and up by the green. The front of the green is open
to allow a long second shot to bounce in front and
run in, proving that yes, you can you can build a
great par-4 without doglegs or elevation changes.

Hole No. 6, The Founder’s Club (14th), Sarasota, FL.
Inside a guarded sanctuary accented by 90 acres of
picturesque lakes and shaded by stands of pines,
palms and old oak hammocks, there is a “core”
golf course (not lined by housing) by Robert Trent
Jones, Jr. that represents some of his finest work
in recent years. Our highlight hole is a monster par-5
that plays from a narrow chute of trees.

This 570-yarder plays along water for half its length,
and a mistake off the tee will make getting home
in a decent score a difficult task. The large green
provides plenty of rippling contour, so par will be
well earned.