Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2014 - 18

TRAVEL
Crooked Cat
Windance Golf & Country Club
Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge
Diamondhead Country Club
Fallen Oak
courses, " Hazeltine National GC professional Mike Barge says.
" We play 36 holes a day for four straight days. I like them both.
Pine Barrens is more enjoyable for me, but I find Rolling Oaks
just as difficult, especially the 13-16 stretch. "
World Woods also has a 1,800-yard par-3 course, practice
holes and a unique range. It's a great place to get your game in
shape.
If you can't work the winter kinks out of your game at World
Woods, then perhaps a trek northeast to Orange County
National Golf Center and Lodge near Orlando is in order. Home
to the PGA Tours Q-School finals, Orange County National has
two tour-quality courses and a world-class practice facility.
The list of accolades is lengthy for Crooked Cat and Panther
Lake, and they certainly deliver on the billing. The 7,493-yard
Crooked Cat and 7,350-yard Panther Lake courses (each with
a slope/rating of 76.0/139) are everything you, or an aspiring
pro, can handle.
Both courses feature superb conditioning and unique routing
with plenty of elevation changes to keep things interesting.
Panther Lake is more tree-lined, while Crooked Cat has wider
landing areas surrounded by native heather and mounding,
offering a links-style appearance.
Golfer magazine called the Orange County National practice
facility the " best range in America, " and it's not hard to see
why. With the adjacent nine-hole short course (The Tooth
Course), a 42-acre circular driving range with 600 stalls and
a 22,000-square-foot lighted putting green, you can work on
every shot in your game. The facility plays host to many college
golf programs, international teams and the PGA Merchandise
Show Demo Day.
The Tampa area is home to other great golf courses (TPC of
Tampa, Copperhead at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club and
Saddlebrook Resort), so you will never have trouble finding a
game. You can also find great seafood in the area. Sam's Beach
Bar in Hudson has excellent fish tacos, grouper and fried green
tomatoes. Florida is also one of the country's top beef producers,
so a decent local steakhouse is always nearby-Bern's and
Charley's in Tampa come highly recommended.
Mississippi on the Mind
In Minnesota, the weather is often a gamble-but not so much
on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Of course, you can still find
exciting gambling on the gulf, where great golf and miles of
white sand beaches are accented by countless gaming options.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast has long been a quiet and off-thebeaten-path
winter getaway, but the area has transformed itself
into a destination for golfing vacationers looking for gaming
excitement, golfing challenge, fine dining and relaxation away
from the snowy north.
Minnesotans are known for their congeniality, so they will
find themselves at home on the Gulf Coast, where the ubiquitous
southern hospitality should be known as " Mississippi Nice. "
The Mississippi Gulf Coast has 62 miles of shoreline on the
Gulf of Mexico that includes a 26-mile section known as the
world's longest man-made beach. Hurricane Katrina wreaked
havoc on the shoreline in 2005, but the resilient citizens of Biloxi,
Gulfport and other coastal towns have rebuilt the area as a
tourist destination.
Gambling on the Gulf Coast is part of the area's history. After
Katrina (which destroyed a dockside casino owned by people
with ties to Minnesota gaming), laws were changed to build
casinos on shore. The Island View Casino Resort was built
along the coast in Gulfport, and 11 more followed in the area-
including the opulent Beau Rivage Resort and Casino and the
rock 'n roll-themed Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, both in Biloxi.
But the courses near the Gulf are the crown jewels of the area.
16
MINNESOTAGOLFER Fall 2014
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Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2014

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