A reader writes in to ask advice on what golf courses to play in Myrtle Beach. He and his buddies, who shoot in the 90s, will be in the area May 6-10 and are looking for courses that are “reasonable but nice.” He says he wants to spend around 50 bucks a day on golf. Here are my picks: Possum Trot: You can unload your clubs from the back of your pickup and no one bats an eye. Conditioning is good, if not excellent. The owner makes sure they have money for 100 new palm trees every year. The Witch: I’ve always ... full post »

The Reynolds Plantation, one of the biggest and best golf resorts in Georgia already, is getting a fifth course. The new course will give the plantation 99 holes. Note to marketers: why not throw in an extra practice hole and call it an even 100? The new course will be designed by Jim Engh, who did the Club at Black Rock in Idaho, named best new private course in 2003 by Golf Digest. A number of other Engh designs have won awards. The new course will be private and is scheduled to open some time this year. full post »

Have you been to one of the PGA Tour’s Superstores yet? It’s like walking into a Home Depot, except with golf clubs instead of plywood. No surprise there, since the stores are owned by the same people who brought us Home Depot. Their motto is “This is big,” and for once, that’s not hype. I went to the one in Atlanta, and I traveled through two zip codes, starting with shoes and ending with a real bunker with real sand. In between, there was pretty much everything and anything to do with golf for sale. Oh yeah, and tennis. They have six simulators. Businessmen ... full post »

Maybe Tiger Woods is indeed the greatest golfer ever to breathe air on earth, but he doesn’t exactly take your breath away with stirring, dramatic finishes, does he? Unless he’s trying to let someone else in the back door because of his own fear. I mean, seriously, he never really knows where his driver will take him, does he? Woods laid up on No. 18 twice on Sunday – twice! – on a par-4 – a par-4! – to win the CA Championships at Doral. If Woods is out playing with his buddies, he gets called every girlie insult in golf for doing ... full post »

When I was a teenager and worked construction, I used to take speed. For three straight weeks, on the job of a major building project, I took speed and was the best worker the foreman had ever seen. Then I ran out. The next day was like trying to work on a planet with twice the gravitational pull of earth. I remember looking up at the clock, praying it was near the end of the day: It was barely 10 a.m. I’m a recent convert to the 5-Hour Energy drink. I tested it on a recent golf trip and – against my ... full post »

I miss Michelle Wie. She was so easy to pick on,. Now that she’s gone, who do we have to mock? It gets old picking on Phil Mickelson. Of course, Wie isn’t exactly gone, she’s just injured. She’s now ranked 18th in the official world rankings, which is a good place for her. She may be out til May, which means her ranking will plummet even further. I wonder if Nike is docking her. I find myself enjoying the LPGA much more this year without the Wie sideshow. I just need to find another easy target. full post »

Pinehurst No. 2 is celebrating its 100th birthday this year with a nine-month party, starting in April. Everybody who plays No. 2 this year will sign the archival registry – so people 100 years from now will know you shot 102 – and received a “commemorative gift of the course’s greatest stories.” That includes Ben Hogan’s first pro win and Walter Hagen’s win at Pinehurst after an all-night drunk. You have to admit, even if you’re one of those who thinks No. 2 is overrated, that it has withstood the test of time. With all the advancing technology, the stars still say they ... full post »

Everybody’s predicting Tiger Woods will mop up the field in this weekend’s CA Championships at Doral. I don’t think so. I think he’ll struggle. Golf is a game of feel, even at Tiger’s level, and he ain’t feeling it right now. Woods blew up at Arnold Palmer’s tournament at Bay Hill, finishing with a double bogey, bogey and triple bogey on his way to a 76. That included a 43 on the back nine, matching the worst of his pro career. True, he’s dominated these World Golf Championship events, winning 12 of his 23 WGC starts, and he’s traditionally played well at Doral. But, ... full post »

I like to tell you about good restaurants in my global travels. Now let me tell you about a bad one, or at least one to be careful with. Vickerys in Mt. Pleasant has a lot going for it. A great view of the marsh through floor to ceiling glass windows. You look out on working shrimp boats, mixed with a few tourism boats. There’s a lot happening here, and it’s one of the better restaurant views you’ll see. It has excellent service, too, and a nice ,coastal ambience. There are a lot of young people here, and they seem thrilled to ... full post »

If you’re planning a visit to Charleston, and especially if you’re a fan of lowcountry cuisine, make sure you stop in at Jestine’s Kitchen. I got lucky: it’s right across the street from the King Charles Inn, where I’m staying, and I more or less blundered into it. It’s soul food, lowcountry style. The restaurant is named for a former laundress and housekeeper named Jestine Matthews, born in 1885, the daughter of a Native American. Her father was the son of a freed slave. This being Charleston, epicenter of southern fried, you’ll find the sort of food all around the city you ... full post »

Most people think of history tourism when they think of Charleston, S.C. If you walk around downtown and the historic district on this peninsula city, it’s easy to see why. There are beautiful buildings dating back to the 1600s here. You can spend a bittersweet day just walking around the cemeteries. They’ve taken preservation seriously here since the start of the century and it’s achieved the status of high art, in that the viewer is drawn into another world. But, there is also golf. There are 20 courses in the Charleston area, if you include the courses on Kiawah Island, about ... full post »

I used to think the best job in pro sports was being a mediocre, starting pitcher in the Major Leagues. Let’s say you’re one of those guys who goes 15-12 in any given year. Not a superstar, obviously, just a solid starter. You’re highly valued by ownership because you’re giving them 15 wins a year. But, there isn’t that much pressure on you because you’re not a superstar. Just go to work every fourth or fifth day, and win your 15 games. Cash your obscene paycheck. Play golf. Now I’m not so sure. Pro golfers may have the best gig. Consider that the ... full post »

By now, you’ve probably heard a ton about “atypical” elevation on Florida golf courses. Those Florida courses lucky enough to have a little high ground underneath them love to market themselves as unlike all those “other” Florida courses. Tallahassee doesn’t seem to crow about this a lot, even though the city is located on some rare Florida elevation. Every course I played there on a recent, short swing, had some nice, though not radical, up and down. Southwood, for example, is one of the better courses in the region, a superb Fred Couples and Gene Bates design. Seminole, Summerbrooke, Killearn, even the ... full post »

Coeur d’Alene Golf and Spa Resort in Idaho is offering a “Scotch Open Golf Package,” which “allows golfers the opportunity to sample fine Scotch whiskey on the Resort Course and play as many golf holes as they wish from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.” Select distilleries from Scotland will be at each of the par-3s helping to get the golfers snot-flying drunk. This is a pretty swank place, where guests can take the custom, mahogany boat shuttles along the lake from the resort to the resort course, sit for a warmup sports massage and be “assisted” by a personal group forecaddie. The Scotch ... full post »

Rio Secco Golf Club has introduced what it calls “one of the most compelling and unique golfer-friendly programs if all of golf.” They’re called “T-Mates” and they’re “part caddie, part model, part host and all fun and professional.” Question: How can you be both “fun” and “professional” at the same time? I think we know where the priority personality trait is. They’re both male and female and trained in the art of forecaddying, like keeping score. Rio Secco has a picture of the T-Mates. I’ve had a few caddies. They don’t look like this. They’re mostly older or middle-aged guys who have obviously enjoyed ... full post »