• ASU Karsten
• Raven GC 
• Ahwatukee CC
• Club West

If there’s a course, resort or region you’d like to see featured in a future newsletter, drop us a line and we’ll make sure to include it!

Featured Course:UpscaleStrawberry Farms GC  Irvine, Calif. From $160 With apologies to John Lennon, we’d love to play Strawberry Farms forever. Such is the charm of this Orange County dazzler, whose every nook and cranny screams “must-play!” The rural setting is lovely and sublime, while the holes themselves form one of SoCal’s most challenging tests. The water-heavy finish of 16 — 18 is a doozy. Featured Course: Mid-rangePalm Valley GC  Las Vegas, Nev. From $55 Golf great Billy Casper spent a lot of time in the Las Vegas area, mostly designing golf courses like Palm Valley. The 51-time PGA Tour winner was known as a deadly putter in his playing days, but he showed keen eye for golf’s other elements, too – witness Palm Valley’s elevated, view-enhancing tee boxes and carefully pitched fairways.

Featured Course: Mid-rangeThe GC at Johnson Ranch Queen Creek, Ariz. From $42.12 Johnson Ranch is really two courses in one. The front nine is a desert-golf delight tracing a broad path across the base of the San Tan foothills. The homeward half elevates the experience into a mountain setting, completing an excellent 18-hole adventure through the best of Arizona golf. Lesser-known designer Kenny Watkins must be mighty proud of this one. Featured Course:ValuePalisades CC  Clermont, Fla. From $19 Architect Joe Lee knew the Sunshine State like the back of his hand, so his description of the Palisades CC site as “the most spectacular piece of golf property I have seen in Central Florida” carries some weight. The course’s rolling terrain offers honest-to-goodness views, not to mention shot variety, while Spring Lake is an ever-present joy-slash-nuisance.

Robert Trent Jones II, the original designer, filed down some of Princeville’s sharper teeth, reshaping green contours, widening fairways and trimming back overgrown areas to make the course a bit more player-friendly. New grass was installed on the greens, too, and bunkers filled with new sand.

To top it off, the Princeville clubhouse underwent a much-needed refurbishing. All the work should only strengthen the course’s reputation as Hawaii’s best, and one of the country’s finest. It ranks 97^th on Golf Digest’s current listing of America’s 100 Greatest.

The Prince Course re-opens March 1, so check back soon for discounted rates at TeeTimes.net.

Featured Course:UpscaleSunRidge Canyon GC  Fountain Hills, Ariz. From $124.20 You know Lombard St. in San Francisco – the one that winds back and forth down a steep hill? SunRidge Canyon is a lot like that, only it starts on the rim of a canyon and descends to the floor. It comes back up, of course, dishing out a double dose of spectacular views and scintillating golf. Trust us, it’s more fun than navigating Lombard St. Featured Course: Mid-rangeFalcon Ridge GC  Mesquite, Nev. From $60 Mesquite offers some of the most amazing terrain ever dedicated to golf, and Falcon Ridge fits perfectly with its picturesque neighbors. Some holes on the 6,550-yard course slide between red rock ridges, while others open wide across the high desert mesa. The scenery alone is worth the visit, but we suggest packing the clubs, too.

Featured Course: ValueWestridge GC  La Habra, Calif. From $36.50 Robert Muir Graves and Damian Pascuzzo massaged an interesting, challenging course from LA’s southeast slopes. The topography is varied, the Pacific breezes nearly constant and the bunkers plentiful at Westridge, which finishes in high style on holes 16-18. A favorite local wedding spot thanks to the stellar views and meticulous landscaping. Featured Course:ValueBoca Dunes G&CC  Boca Raton, Fla. From $39.99 Bruce Devlin and Robert von Hagge teamed up to design a course that’s less water-intensive than many in these parts, relying on thorough bunkering and Atlantic winds to defend par. Boca Dunes can play long at 7,094 yards, but four sets of tees and broad fairways ease its sting. There’s a nine-hole executive course on site as well.

Here’s an order of merit, though, that really intrigues us:Golf World’s ranking of the PGA Tour host sites as judged by the men who make a living playing them. The magazine got 81 pros to participate in the anonymous survey, the first to go this in-depth on America’s most famous tracks.

The results are at times predictable, at times surprising, and provide great insight into how the world’s best grade a golf course.

Not much drama at the top, as Augusta National (the Masters) ranked No. 1. Next up was Harbour Town Golf Links (RBC Heritage), followed by Riviera CC(Northern Trust Open), Pebble Beach (AT&T National Pro-Am) and Colonial CC (Crowne Plaza Invitational).

Notice a theme? Yep, Tour pros like their courses old and classic.

The TeeTimes.net database features a pair of current PGA venues: No. 28 TPC Scottsdale (Waste Management Phoenix Open), and No. 32 TPC Blue Monster at Doral (WGC Cadillac Championship). Regardless of how you score, it’s always a blast playing in the footsteps of golf’s greatest.

Check out the entire list, including a slide show of the top 10.

If a round on a Tour-caliber course isn’t in the offing this week, no worries. TeeTimes.net has you covered with huge discounts at fantastic golf facilities across the globe. As always, you’re invited to peruse this week’s spotlight courses, featured below.

Until next week, hit ’em long and straight.

Featured Course:UpscaleShingle Creek GC  Orlando, Fla. From $135 This is no cookie-cutter Central Florida golf course. Shingle Creek owes its natural ambiance to its position at the headwaters of the Everglades. The intricate, interesting design is man-made, of course, with David Harman doing the honors. His creation blends scenery and challenge into one of Orlando’s must-play stops. Featured Course:Mid-rangeBlack Mountain G&CC  Henderson, Nev. From $65 Situated 25 minutes from the Vegas Strip, Black Mountain is close enough for convenience, far enough to provide a respite from all the neon and noise. The setting takes center stage, but Black Mountain’s 27 stellar holes more than hold their own. Each nine offers a unique set of challenges, so the short trek is well rewarded.

Featured Course: Mid-rangeColdwater GC  Avondale, Ariz. From $50 There’s no better place for the golfer on a budget, according to the local papers, and Coldwater indeed makes a great case. Just 10 minutes west of downtown Phoenix, it’s a fun, fetching test with mountain framing and room for all types of golfers. Bombers can take on the Deep End tees (6,758 yards) while others swim in shallower waters. Featured Course:ValueSkylinks at Long Beach   Long Beach, Calif. From $20 What’s a beach without sand? Skylinks added 70 bunkers in 2004 to accentuate the course’s linksy flavor. Cal Olsen’s design is a longtime local favorite, from low handicappers who trudge to the 6,909-yard back tees, or juniors who march along the learning curve at 5,376 yards.

Case in point: The venerable La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif., former host to the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions. Its two Dick Wilson-designed courses, the Champions and South, were refurbished by the crack team of Damian Pascuzzo, Jeff Brauer and Steve Pate, earning a spot among LINKSMagazine’s Top 5 Renovations of 2011.

The architects overhauled many of Wilson’s massive fairway bunkers to restore their visual impact, and moved others to ramp up the risk-reward quotient. They also installed a set of “family tees” to attract those traveling with young golfers.

Of course, some things never go out of style – like the great discounts offered at hundreds of award-winning resorts and daily-fee facilities at TeeTimes.net. Check out this week’s featured foursome below.

Until next week, hit ’em long and straight.

Featured Course:Value

IMG Academies G&CC 
Bradenton, Fla.
From $35Gene Bates remodeled the original El Conquistador CC into a genuine Southwest Florida gem. A thought-provoking trek winding through pines and ponds, the course is the home track for students at the famous IMG Academies. Their ranks have included Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie and Sean O’Hair, so you know the golf course is first-rate.

Featured Course:UpscaleLaughlin Ranch GC  Bullhead City, Ariz. From $94 Lying just inside the Arizona border, this spectacularly scenic course is an easy drive south from La Vegas and well worth the effort. Designer David Druzisky laid down expansive fairways that leave room for golfers – and their eyes – to roam. Laughlin Ranch is more than one big photo op, though; it’s a solid test from any of its five tee sets.

Featured Course: Mid-rangeGrey Rock GC  Austin, Tex. From $50 This Hill Country beauty stands as an ode to the oak. Hundreds of the majestic trees line Grey Rock’s fairways, though architect Jay Morrish was kind enough to clear wide paths around them. Trees carry the day, but five lakes, a marsh and plentiful bunkers have their say as well. The course is just 15 minutes from downtown Austin and a must-play, period. Featured Course:Value IMG Academies G&CC  Bradenton, Fla. From $35 Gene Bates remodeled the original El Conquistador CC into a genuine Southwest Florida gem. A thought-provoking trek winding through pines and ponds, the course is the home track for students at the famous IMG Academies. Their ranks have included Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie and Sean O’Hair, so you know the golf course is first-rate.

Without Joe, how would we know where to go?

We’re referring to Joe Passov, aka “Travelin’ Joe,” Golf Magazine’s been-there, played-that course reviewer and senior editor. The affable Passov is quick to offer honest takes on the game’s best-known destinations as well as those hidden gems, and his assessments usually hit the mark.

Recently, for instance, Passov was asked to namethree of Las Vegas’ best affordable golf courses, and he rattled off a trio of our favorites: Angel Park,Coyote Springs and Stallion Mountain. Jackpot!

Passov also scored with an article ranking his top courses, holes and more, listing Las Vegas his No. 1 Bachelor Party Golf Destination; Miami the No. 1 New Year’s Golf Destination; and The Boulders (Carefree, Ariz.) No. 1 for a Couples Trip. Yes, yes and yes.

OK, we’re done with our ode to Joe. Check out this week’s featured courses below, and remember: Always book through TeeTimes.net to get huge discounts on these and hundreds of other great courses.

Featured Course:UpscaleStarr Pass
Tucson, Ariz.
From $120

You might say Phil Mickelson got his professional start at Starr Pass, where he won the Tucson Open as an amateur in 1991. You might also say the resort’s three nines rank among the state’s finest, folding natural elements into 27 holes that trundle through cactus-laden desert at the foot of the Tucson Mountains.

Featured Course: Mid-rangeThe GC at Glen Ivy
Corona, Calif.
From $40.50

More interested in testing golfers’ minds than their muscles, Ted Robinson designed aesthetically pleasing courses whose strategic elements made them more challenging than meets the eye. Case in point: The Golf Club at Glen Ivy, a visual knockout where playing the proper angles pays off.

Featured Course:Mid-rangeThe GC at Fleming Island
Orange Park, Fla.
From $58

Architect Bobby Weed obviously had some fun at Fleming Island. You will, too, thanks to the course’s variety. The front nine is an open, links-flavored affair while the back nine trots through massive pines and native wetlands. Fleming Island offers five sets of tees, the longest of which have hosted U.S. Open qualifying.

Resolve to Play More Golf
(for Less) in 2012

So, how are your New Year’s resolutions holding up?

For us, it’s so far, so good (as far as golf is concerned, anyway). See, every January we simply repeat the same resolution — to play more golf in the coming year than we did in the one just completed.

Admittedly, we’re fudging a bit and counting rounds played after Christmas toward our 2012 total. It’s our resolution, and we can cheat if we want to.

We’d never take that attitude to the links, of course, especially not the likes of Hunter’s Creek (Orlando) and Duran Golf Club (Viera, Fla.), where we had the good fortune to tee it up the last week in December. A quick take on each course:

• Hunter’s Creek: Choose the right tees and you’ll thoroughly enjoy this old-school layout, not far from the Orlando airport on the city’s south side. Conditions are excellent and the fairways wide enough to accommodate the driver on most every par 4 and par 5. The scorecard shows lots of water, but it’s usually non-invasive and easily avoided. Great prices, too.

• Duran Golf Club: This Melbourne-area track was our Featured Course (Value category) inlast week’s newsletter, and we must say we got it right. Catch it when the wind is down, as we (mostly) did, and you’ll think Duran is a pretty easy touch. On the flip side, the wind rarely relents for long, putting some real teeth in Chip Powell’s inventive design.

Remember to book through TeeTimes.netto get huge discounts on these and hundreds of other fantastic courses.

Prices quoted below represent the lowest available onSaturday, January 7, unless otherwise noted, and may have changed by the time you read this. Please checkTeeTimes.net for updated rates or different days.

Featured Course:UpscaleSilverRock Resort, Arnold Palmer Classic Course
La Quinta, Calif.
From $95

As a former host to the Bob Hope Classic (2008-2011), SilverRock’s Arnold Palmer layout boasts stellar bona fides. As the Coachella Valley course that sits closest to the Santa Rosa and Coral Mountains, it delivers panoramic views to rival any of its neighbors. As a municipal course – SilverRock is owned by the city of La Quinta – it ranks among the very best in America.

 

Featured Course: Mid-rangeLansbrook GC
Palm Harbor, Fla.
From $55

No architect makes better use of Florida’s natural gifts than Ron Garl, who touched up Lansbrook in 1991. With water in play on 16 holes, plus a bevy of bunkers and trees galore, Lansbrook may sound like a chamber of horrors. It’s not. The course tips out at 6,846 yards and offers four sets of tees, becoming more difficult by degrees as you step farther back.

 

Featured Course:Mid-rangeRed Mountain Ranch
Mesa, Ariz.
From $55

Say this for Pete Dye — he doesn’t do boring. At Red Mountain Ranch, the legendary designer utilized trademarks like railroad ties and Scottish-style mounding without detracting from the stunning scenery. The course is shorter and wider than many Dye efforts, but beware the pot bunkers and Sonoran Desert cacti. Their prickly clutches can prove difficult to escape.

 

Featured Course:ValueDesert Rose GC
Las Vegas, Nev.
From $39

The architectural team of Dick Wilson and Joe Lee made their bones in the South (Bay Hill, Doral), but successfully imported their style to Vegas at Desert Rose. The 47-year-old layout is on the short side, but narrow fairways demand focus. Desert Rose may lack the bells and whistles of its whipper-snapper siblings, but sometimes old-fashioned can be downright refreshing.

 

TeeTimes.net can help you do that, often at discounted rates. Our massive golf course database features dozens of tracks that regularly host professional tournaments, including three on the 2012 PGA Tour schedule and another that’s a regular Champions Tour stop.

• PGA Tour: Humana Challenge – PGA West, Nicklaus Tournament Course (La Quinta, Calif.); Waste Management Phoenix Open – TPC Scottsdale, Stadium Course (Scottsdale, Ariz.); World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship – Doral Resort, TPC Blue Monster (Miami, Fla.)

• Champions Tour: Tampa Bay Pro-Am – TPC Tampa Bay (Lutz, Fla.)

Regardless of where you drain the final putt of 2011 or blast the opening shot of 2012, here’s hoping you play well and, most of all, enjoy yourself on the golf course.

Until next week, Happy New Year from everyone atTeeTimes.net.

Key: Upscale — $80 and up; Mid-range — $40-$79; Value — Less than $40

Featured Course: Mid-range

The Duke at Rancho El Dorado
Maricopa, Ariz.
From $40

Scottsdale splendor minus the Scottsdale price tag – that’s the Duke in a nutshell. Golfers of all calibers consider this one of the area’s most fun tracks, thanks to an abundance of risk-reward holes. There’s always a safe line for the timid, while bolder players are tempted to bite on birdie opportunities. The Santa Rosa Wash and surrounding mountains complement the course’s lush green hues.

Featured Course:Mid-range

Red Rock CC, Arroyo Course
Las Vegas, Nev.
From $69

Arnold Palmer’s Arroyo Course stitches together the varied elements of Vegas golf into one seamless whole. Spectacular Red Rock Canyon buffers some holes, while others overlook Sin City itself. Arnie went easy on length (it’s 6,883 yards from the deepest of five tees), but heavy on sand and water hazards. He left lots of room to negotiate the trouble while enjoying the scenery.

Featured Course:Value

Duran GC
Viera, Fla.
From $28

Architect Chip Powell may lack name recognition, but locals rave about his work at Duran GC. Routinely voted tops on the Space Coast, the course is thoughtfully laid out to present a proper test from each set of tees. Powell moved more than a million cubic yards of earth to create naturalistic humps and rolls reminiscent of a seaside links. The wind comes with the territory.

A number of clubs in our vast database made news recently. Here’s a quick look at two noteworthy items:

• Golf Digest names 75 toughest courses: While most are from the private club ranks, a handful of resort tracks made the infamous list, including four from the TeeTimes.net stable: No. 8 PGA West, TPC Stadium Course (La Quinta, Calif.), No. 25Ko’olau GC (Kaneohe, Hawaii), No. 46 (tie)Princeville, Prince Course (Princeville, Hawaii) and No. 50 Doral Resort, Jim McLean Course(Miami, Fla.).
• Architecture corner: Over at Golfweek, Bradley Klein offers an interesting article titled “Crash course in great architecture.” Klein explains how a working knowledge of course design can enhance one’s enjoyment of golf. Klein’s list of 10 exemplary tracks includes aforementioned PGA West, Pete Dye’s artful torture chamber, as well as Alister MacKenzie’s exquisite Pasatiempo GC (Santa Cruz, Calif.).

Key: Upscale — $80 and up; Mid-range — $40-$79; Value — Less than $40

Featured Course: Mid-range

Oak Valley GC
Beaumont, Calif.
From $35

Two things to know about Oak Valley: It annually hosts stage two of PGA Tour qualifying school, and consistently rates as SoCal’s best-conditioned course by Greenskeeper.org. It’s a straightforward, no-frills test free of blind shots and funky doglegs, but full of fantastic views of the San Jacinto and San Gorgonio Mountains. A must-play at any price, especially this one.

Featured Course:Mid-range

Vista Verde GC
Rio Verde, Ariz.
From $52.11

Here’s a Hollywood-style pitch for Vista Verde: Think Pinehurst, without the pines. Architect Ken Kavanaugh imported elements of the Carolina classic to the Sonoran Desert, emulating Pinehurst No. 2’s crowned greens and playable natural areas. The course features just one water hazard but sprawls across the land in two large loops, exposing holes to winds from all angles.

Featured Course:Value

Casa Blanca GC
Mesquite, Nev.
From $25

As time goes by, delightful Casablanca GC becomes further entrenched as a staple of this golf mini-hotbed. The 7,011-yard layout is a visual feast, its deep-green fairways traipsing through wetlands, wildflowers and white sand bunkers as mountains loom in the background. When your round is over, don’t be shocked (shocked!) to find gambling going on in the resort. It’s the main reason folks visit Nevada, after all.

We hope you enjoy the more reader-friendly design, the new emphasis on fresh, noteworthy items about courses in the vast TeeTimes.net database, and weekly features highlighting great plays in three separate price categories.

As always, we’re open to suggestions on how we can make the newsletter even better – drop us a line anytime.

And now, on with the news:

You can count on Golfweek to put out a new best-of list about every other week or so. The latest is their ranking of America’s Best Casino Courses, featuring five members of the TeeTimes.net family: No. 8 Atlantic City CC (Atlantic City, N.J.), No. 26 Grand Bear GC(Saucier, Miss.), No. 38 Oasis GC, Palmer Course(Mesquite, Nev.), No. 49 Inn of the Mountain Gods(Mescalero, N.M.) and No. 50 Badlands GC (Las Vegas, Nev.).

Likewise, Southland Golf magazine lists a half-dozen of our favorites among the best of California’s Inland Empire. Making the cut for “A Tantalizing 20” areThe Links at Summerly, Shandin Hills, Menifee Lakes, Oak Quarry, Oak Valley and Indian Hills.

Key: Upscale — $80 and up; Mid-range — $40-$79; Value — Less than $40

Note: All prices within this newsletter represent the lowest available on Saturday, December 17, unless otherwise noted, and may have changed by the time you read this. Please check TeeTimes.net for updated rates or different days.

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The Strip’s very own championship track, Bali Hai is suitably glitzy and glamorous. It’s got soul, too, thanks to the provocative design work by Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley, who trucked in some 4,000 trees, 100,000 tropical plants and tons of contrasting white sand and black lava to make it all pop, Vegas-style.

 

Featured Course: Mid-range
Legend Trail GC
Scottsdale, Ariz.
From $42.12  Everyone seems to love Legend Trail, including the 10 TeeTimes.net reviewers who’ve granted it a cumulative 4 ½-star rating. It’s easy to see why. The course delivers exquisite views and conditions to match. Landing areas are generous, but scruffy punishment awaits those who stray.

Featured Course:Mid-range

Indian Springs GC
La Quinta, Calif.
From $60       

Not the longest course in these parts, but the locals aren’t complaining. Indian Springs tips out at 6,771 yards and offers enough room off the tees to earn the “player-friendly” tag. Don’t let it lull you, though; water frequently enters the frame to demand attention.

 

Featured Course:ValueBent Tree CC
Sarasota, Fla.
From $25       Bent Tree wears the settled-in look of an old-school course, and wears it well. Woodlands and wetlands give shelter to native critters, if not golfers, while Bent Tree’s oval-shaped bunkering pleases the eye. The course hosted the LPGA from 1977-86, producing winners like Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez and JoAnne Carner.