The year 2024 was a banner year in terms of number of courses played.  Before this year, I had never played 200 new courses in a year.  This year I blew way past that number and ended up with a staggering 262 new courses played.  I was incredibly aggressive this year because I knew what would be coming in 2025.  More on that later.  The major highlight of the year was the bucket list trip to New York I took with my wife in July to revisit some of the best courses in the world that I hadn't seen in 20 years.  It was very emotional getting to play one of my favorite ..read more

There's a very popular saying "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life".  I've been a golf professional for 26 years now and I haven't always loved my job. However, the three-and-a-half years I spent working at Yeamans Hall Club in Charleston, South Carolina really did feel like a dream come true.  I left Yeamans in the fall of 2024 to begin a new chapter in my life, but I felt that I needed to sit down and express my thoughts about what an amazing experience it was for me working at such a special place in the world of golf. Sunrise at Yeamans Hall.  ..read more

St. Louis is a place I visited briefly about fifteen years ago.  I was on a driving trip, and stopped in town to play St. Louis Country Club before I continued my trip in other states.  Bellerive Country Club has been on my to-do list for a very long time because of its presence in the various magazine rankings over the years, as well as its major championship history.  In 2024 I was finally able to dedicate an entire trip to the St. Louis area.  Bellerive was the obvious target of the trip, but I also enjoyed many great classic designs as well as a few modern marvels.  ..read more

Week two of our July trip to New York was all about Donald Ross.  I am on a quest to play every course that Donald Ross worked on in his life and western New York was one area where I could tick off several new to me Ross courses.  Ross courses weren't the only highlight of the trip as we discovered a couple wonderful Walter Travis courses, and one of Robert Trent Jones' best designs. CC of  Rochester, a Donald Ross classic *Note-This write up focuses on the highlights of this trip and doesn't cover every single course played or day of the trip.  You will notice m ..read more

Tennessee is a state I have enjoyed many excellent trips to in the past.  The trip I took in May of 2024 was motivated by trying to get to the significant courses around the Nashville area that I had yet to play, including a Donald Ross course.  I also enjoyed some golf in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, and made a side trip to Kentucky to check out a brand new course, and a highly rated state park golf course.   Belle Meade Country Club My trip to Tennessee began in the Smokey Mountains.  I was driving there from home, so a stop to enjoy some mountain gol ..read more

Depending on how you feel about my annual Florida trip profiles, you may or may not be happy to learn that this will likely be my last Florida trip write up for a very long time.  The reason being that we are moving to Florida in October, and I will likely not be doing lengthy trips within my home state.  This trip served as a scouting trip for potential places to live, as well as the usual task of playing lots of golf.   The Backyard Course at McArthur. My favorite course played on the trip One thing I found kind of funny is that looking at apartments without your ..read more

I say this every year, but 2023 was a great year in golf for me.  It was my second full year as a resident of the Charleston area and I took full advantage of the area and my extended breaks from work.  This year my wife and I would leave the country in search of great golf, and return to our favorite place on earth after a long absence.  I also took memorable trips to Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as my customary trip to Florida.  The end of the year provided a very unexpected highlight that I never thought I would get to experience as well.  Cabot Cliffs, my ..read more

It seems like every year I end up taking one trip I hadn't planned on at the beginning of the year.  This is a very good thing, yet it's also challenging for me.  I'm a meticulous planner, and taking a trip I didn't have as much time to plan for can stress me out.  Luckily the trip I ended up taking to Wisconsin in October of 2023 was not as stressful or hard to plan as I had feared.  The entire trip was built around playing in The Renaissance Cup, an annual gathering at a course designed by one of the greats, Tom Doak.  My partner and I had last played in a Renaissanc ..read more

Michigan is one of the best golf states in the United States.  Northern Michigan has amazing places like Crystal Downs and The Kingsley Club along with many top notch public courses, and Detroit has one of the best championship courses of all time at Oakland Hills South course.  My trip to Michigan in 2023 focused on playing all the Ross courses I had left to play in Michigan, as well as many other great courses in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and a few in between. Meadowbrook Country Club One day one in Michigan I landed in Detroit and drove about an hour west to the town of Bat ..read more

Nebraska might prove to be the hottest state in golf in the next few years.  With new courses that just came online, and more planned that will open in the future, people are realizing that the land in Nebraska is ripe for great golf.  We returned to Nebraska for the second year in a row, to finally re-visit our favorite place on earth where we spent our honeymoon thirteen years ago.  We also discovered some great new courses, and a few old ones with a ton of character. Sand Hills, my favorite place on earth! We landed in Omaha on day one and began our trip at a very c ..read more