This Week at TravelGolf.com: Oct. 31, 2007

Developers may rule southwest Florida, but there's still room for outstanding golf

Every time I travel to southwest Florida, I'm depressed by how different it looks from when I was a kid and used to fish the Ten Thousand Islands. Florida sold its soul to developers decades ago, and Southwest Florida is a prime example. Any place they could put concrete, asphalt and fill dirt, they did.

There is a glimmer of good news, though: They at least had the good sense to build a lot of good golf courses.

There are some outstanding golf courses in Naples, including Tiburon. The Rookery near Marco Island is one of the most scenic tracks anywhere, and what birds are left in Florida are all there on brilliant display.

In fact, that area from Naples north to Tampa is chock full of great courses. The Venetian Golf and River Club is one of my favorite courses anywhere.

The Copperhead course at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club near Tampa is one even the PGA Tour pros rave about, and the new resort owners are pouring money into the Island course, trying to bring it up to par with Copperhead. By the way, if you've been to Innisbrook in recent years and were disappointed, you might want to think about giving it a second chance. The new owners are determined to restore it to its glory days.

But, by far the biggest surprise from my recent trip to the area was a new course in Estero, which is in Lee County near Ft. Myers.

I'm going to go ahead and use the word "magnificent" here for the new Old Corkscrew Golf Club. It's a Jack Nicklaus design, and you will be hearing more about it. To me, it is already one of the best courses in Florida and even the South.

Old Corkscrew is in a wild, beautiful Southwest Florida setting with nary a home around it, with wetlands, palmetto groves and even a bit of farmland thrown in. The marsh juts into gracefully contoured fairways and the hard-sloped green complexes are a serious challenge. This is not an easy golf course, at nearly 7,400 yards with a slope rating of 142 from the tips.

They're putting the finishing touches on the clubhouse now, and the carts are all under a temporary tent, but don't let that put you off. This course is so good it's worth a visit now.

As always, TravelGolf.com welcomes your comments.

With Emerald Greens Private Resort, Tampa Bay gets a "boutique" golf getaway destination

Tampa, Florida's premier boutique golf resort, Emerald Greens, has been around for well over three decades under different names. The "new" facility boasts 27 holes of Dan Maples-designed golf (and positively decadent air-conditioned golf carts!), plus a spa, restaurants, tennis and aquatic centers, and more. Located in the upscale Tampa neighborhood of Carrollwood, Emerald Greens will eventually have 50 luxury villas with all the amenities. People here are calling the project the first of its kind in Tampa.

Blog: Praising the new Old Corkscrew Golf Club is in Estero, Fla.

Mississippi's best golf resorts mix high stakes gambling with superb courses

Mississippi was the home of riverboat gamblers in the Old West, floating casinos in the modern era and, in post-Hurricane Katrina, land-based casinos. As the state has developed, so have its golf courses and golf resorts. It's one of the few states where you can mix golf and gambling, though all the resorts mentioned here don't have casinos. Here is our list of the best golf resorts in Mississippi.

Blog: PGA Tour players helping to re-build Biloxi

Golfer Supremacy Rankings' Halloween special scares up the competition

With Halloween right around the corner, the Golfer Supremacy Rankings would be remiss not to handicap the world's scariest golfers. Because you haven't seen fright until you see how golf writers react around Vijay Singh. And you don't know anything about fear until you look into the heart of a golfer staring down Tiger Woods during the final round. Heck, even Rory Sabbatini is kinda scary.

Video: What's scarier than lousy golfers?