This Week at TravelGolf.com: May 10, 2005

Golfers are some of the most opinionated people in the world. The sport seems to attract the stubborn, the strong and yes, the self important (that's you, golf instructors). So it's no surprise that golf and the Internet have meshed together to serve up a smorgasbord of golf views from around the world.

National Golf Editor Tim McDonald details some of the most insightful, hilarious and just plain boring golf blogs out there in his latest Inside Media.

We at TravelGolf.com contribute to this rash of instant opinions with our stable of bloggers. But it's the regular golfing readers who really give this source for honest opinions bite. The average golfer has a bigger voice than ever and TravelGolf.com is proud to be a part of that.

Golfers who are sick of years of taking gruff are the ones who will really bring down the ripoff artists of the golf industry. With more and more golfers being able to raise their voices in cyberspace, shady operations will find it harder and harder to skate by.

Golfers who've been wronged over the years have a platform.

Here at TravelGolf.com, we'll always be on the lookout. And as usual, you'll be a large part of getting that word out.

Helping your fellow golfer is an essential lifeline of this online blogging community as well. As always, your comments are welcome on any topic, including letting everyone in on any ripoff courses you've been to subjected to lately.

Muirhead's Pine Course
at McCormick a look
inside a mad design mind

The Pine Course at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., would be worth playing if only for the look at Muirhead's architectural evolution. This track stands on its own merits, though, and surpasses any history lesson. In a Scottsdale area obsessed with spectacular desert shows, Pine sticks out as an almost unique take. The service at McCormick gives the Pines another boost - the staff goes out of their way to please.

Full story | Where to golf in Arizona

Harding Park falls short
of its renovated hype

Certain San Franciscans regard Harding Park Golf Course with such reverence that any criticism is decried as blasphemy. Well, here's blasphemy: This course is getting seriously overrated. Harding Park's renovation is nice - maybe even worth the $16 million it cost. But to call this the third-best muni in the country behind New York's Bethpage Black and San Diego's Torrey Pines, as some publications have done, qualifies as pure fanciful lunacy, writes Chris Baldwin.

Full story | A better option than Harding

Grande Pines Golf Club: More
than the name has changed off 'I-Drive'

The "grande" pines at Orlando's Grande Pines Golf Club still aren't quite grande enough to hide the ugly roller coaster at nearby Sea World, and traffic from International Drive can often be heard from the course. But Grand Pines' interior holes are peaceful, some even serene enough to make you forget the scores of $2 T-shirt outlets, cheapo dining spots and discount ticket vendors that plague I-Drive just around the corner.

Full story | Reader: TravelGolf.com 'invaluable'