SMOKE 06/97 - Hitting the Links

Summer 97
Volume II
Issue 3

10 Great Golf Courses you can play for under $100
by Stephen Eubanks

It wasn't too many years ago that golf was considered a respite for well-to-do gentlemen from proper families, who turned up their shirt collars and sipped brandy after playing a quick eighteen. No more. Today, golf is a game for the masses with more than three million new players entering the sport each year, and new golf courses sprouting up at the rate of just under one per day. The U.S. currently boasts over 18,000 golf courses ranging from the stodgy, old private country clubs of the last century, to some of the most renowned and photographed resorts in the world.

Most of the new courses being built are what's known in the industry as "upscale public access courses." These modern courses are definately not for members-only, nor are they the old-style public courses with hack conditions, $2 pull carts, and language that would make Eddie Murphy blush. They are truly upscale facilities, with all the amenities of exclusive private clubs - appealing to a transient, upwardly mobile clientele who expect good greens, good layouts, and good service without any of the messy pretense that goes with club membership...

For the conclusion of this article, see the current issue of SMOKE magazine, available at a tobacconist near you.