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The 13th green at Redlands 

I am writing longer pieces on both, coming soon, but in the meantime here is the skinny on two of the best courses I have ever played or seen. LAKOTA CANYON RANCH GOLF CLUB 1000 Club House Drive New Castle, CO 81647 970.984.9700 www.lakotacanyonranch.com Architect: Jim Engh Par 72 Excitement Level – 11/12 Difficulty – 8/12 Conditioning – Four and ½...

The fossil monument lined 12th Hole. Photo courtesy of Jim Hajek and Jim Engh. 

University of Denver archaeologist Dr. martin Lockley shows the Triceratops fossils that line the 12th fairway at Fossil Trace 

I’ll write more tomorrow, but Jim Engh outdid himself (tough to do…I know! But he did), with the amazing Lakota canyon ranch. Tom Doak wrote that undulation is the soul of the game. Engh did that in spades. I have walked 230 places and I BARELY finished LKR. Its gorgeous. It’s got strategic options. It’s inexpensive. It has it all, jumoping to...

RED HAWK RIDGE G.C. 2156 Red Hawk Ridge Drive Castle Rock, CO 80109 720.733.3500 Architect: Jim Engh Par 72 Excitement Level – 8/12 Difficulty – 6/12 Conditioning – Four stars Cost – $75 high, 3PM twilight $50 Value – Four stars, (four and 1/2 at twilight) Overall – Four stars Castle Rock, Colorado has four superlative course all...

The floating green at Coeur D’Alene resort.
Photo courtesy of CDA Resort.

COEUR D’ALENE RESORT GOLF COURSE On the Lake Coeur D’Alene, ID 208.667.4673 www.cdaresort.com Architect: Scott Miller Par – 71 Excitement Level – 11/12 Difficulty – 5/12 Conditioning – Five stars Cost – $185 peak, $99 reduced Value – Five stars Overall – Four and ½ stars Tees Yards Rating Slope Tournament 6309 69...

Starting tomorrow, the A Walk in the Park public golf travel team will being playing eight consecutive great western US public golf values by more than four preeminent architects. There will be interviews as well. Stunning settings, brilliant strategic designs and an unbeatable price will all combine in courses you should run to play for your next vacation. See you...

The public golf value airplane is fueled up and on the runway, which means Tour Journal reports from around the U.S.A opn some of the best public golf values. This fall we will visit New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Cali, Texas and The Midwest. There will also be interviews with golf architects coming soon as we report from the road. The summer “Honor Roll”...

Pine Needles Resort, Pinehurst, NC Par 72 Architect – Donald Ross, restoration by John Fought Excitement Level – 8/12 Difficulty 5/12 Cost – $95 in high season, many half price packages available Conditioning – Four Stars Value – Four and One-half stars Overall rating – Four stars Here is a terrific example of great value. You can...

First things first: here’s the poll question: Bulle Rock or Beechtree? Its time for a side by side taste test of Maryland heavyweights. Like two champion prize fighters trading haymakers, Tom Doak’s classic and beautiful minimalist design at Beechtree slugs it out admirably with Pete Dye’s strategic gem at Bulle Rock. Send in your...

Geoff Shackelford is building the new Prairie Club near Valentine, Nebraska. Geoff writes the following on his website: “The design will mark a reunion of the Rustic Canyon team, headed by Gil Hanse with support from Geoff Shackelford and Jim Wagner. The private club and retreat is being developed with the goal of building a land-based design incorporating the...

Scotland can be conveniently divided into four parts by the discerning golf traveler. First, there is the St. Andrew’s area which occupies the middle one-third latitudes of Scotland on the eastern half of the country. The will be plenty of coverage at this site and at my future site on this year’s British Open venue and the birthplace of the game, so we...