This Week at TravelGolf.com: Feb. 20, 2007

Rees, Bobby Jones, Jr. take golf course design, sibling rivalry to new heights

If you're one of those golfers who pays attention to the golf course architect who designed the layout you're trudging around on, you may know about the bitter rivalry between two of the best known golf architects, Rees Jones and Bobby Jones, Jr.

The fact they're brothers makes it all the more poignant and, I hate to say it, interesting. They're both sons of the late, great Robert Trent Jones. Sr., and reportedly neither speaks to the other.

It isn't exactly the kind of story that makes the tabloids but it is fairly well known in the golf industry, and especially among the competitive and comparatively closed world of golf course architects.

Golf World has a good story by Jim Moriarty on the feud between the two brothers, in which the magazine points out the two had separate receiving lines after their father's memorial service in 2000, after his death in Florida.

Rees, 65, reportedly filed a lawsuit against his older brother in 2005, alleging that Rees is owed nearly $100,000 from the estate of his mother, Ione, who died in 1987. Rees also claims that Robert Jr. owes him half the royalties from an agreement Robert Jr. made from licensing the name Robert Trent Jones Sr. for a clothing line.

Junior sued back, trying to persuade the courts to stop Rees from using the nickname "The Open Doctor," which he claims belongs solely to their father and - by extension - to him, since he insists he owns all rights relating to his father's name.

This is a family that seemingly squabbled among themselves as hard as they worked at designing golf courses. Sources told the magazine that they frequently communicated with each other only through their mother. When she died there was no peacemaker and the ill feelings eventually became raw and public.

The elder Jones struggled financially in his earlier years but his sons never knew privation, both going to Yale on their father's dime. They learned from him and, according to the magazine, competed against him when they went out on their own. Old Man Jones wasn't exactly gushing in his praise for his sons.

That may be something else they learned from their father.

"There's no connection between the two of us right now," Rees Jones told the magazine, describing the cold relationship between him and his brother. "He has his business, and I've got mine."

Here's hoping your family golf outings are more pleasurable.

As always, TravelGolf.com welcomes your comments.

Top Carolina golf resorts: Start
at Pinehurst, then go to the coast

"Carolina golf" has become part of golf's lexicon, a term for courses with dramatic elevation changes and floral flourishes. But Carolina golf isn't just about hills, mountains, valleys and fall foliage. There's that big coastline, for one thing. Both North and South Carolina have terrific golf resorts. Here are our top picks, with setting given only slightly less emphasis than quality of golf. Pinehurst leads the way, but Kiawah Island, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach each make a strong showing.

Also: Barefoot's Fazio course delivers wows

Author David Wood golfs around
the world, Gary Wiren on golfing
for fun, Biloxi courses rebounding

Podcast host Dave Berner talks to author David Wood about the soon-to-be-released "Around the World in 80 Rounds." Hall of Fame instructor Dr. Gary Wiren talks about how to have more fun on the course with his new "Golf Enjoyment Scorecard." National Golf Editor Tim McDonald reports that golf courses in Biloxi, Miss., are bouncing back nicely from Katrina. And in the "On Course" commentary, Ron Montesano takes a look at golfers' love/hate relationship with technology.

Review: Mississippi's Diamondhead Country Club

Golf course realty: Specialty
keeps Ga. course broker Hilda
Allen ahead of the competition

Hilda Allen, founder of the Georgia-based Hilda W. Allen Real Estate brokerage, sells golf courses for a living. And as she is quick to point out, she's good at it: "I am the competition," Allen will say. She is quick to disclaim any boastful intent, however, and a look at her resume bears out the claim. Allen has brokered more than 20 deals worth nearly a billion dollars. Last year she closed nine properties and already has four courses under contract for 2007.

Also: LPGA-USGA girls golf clubs rock