SCHAUMBURG GOLF CLUB 401 North Roselle Road one of Chicago’s year round golf facilities, is getting ready to open the golf course, for the outdoor season. All 27 holes will soon be open for play, outside or inside on the simulators. So to learn more you can call (847)-885-9000 or visit SchaumburgGolf.com. Chandlers chophouse has reopened. ______________________________________________________________________
THE GOG BLOG by Rory Spears, Director of Content and Creation for Golfers on Golf. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy, or friend him on Facebook and connect on Linkedin. In the Mission Inn pro shop.
MISSION COMPLETE.
So I made it through 4 weeks on the road. The longest golf trip I’ve ever taken, at a strange time in our country’s history.
But the trip could not have come at a better time. With Chicago drowning in cold temperatures and big snow piles when I left, the time was right to get out of town.
Because there was no PGA Merchandise show this year in it’s normal format. I created my own show with a road trip that had a virtual reality. This included, seeing people in person, playing real golf in person, old normal feel, connecting face-to-face with long time golf industry contacts, and making some new friends. There were hugs and handshakes along the way. Covid might not be fully over yet, but as Dr. Fauci said, “the worst is behind us” and it’s hard to disagree with him on that one. Zoom was not allowed, and everything was done the old-fashion way and boy it felt good.
America is gearing up for travel, golf travel and travel in general. Golf is among the industries leading America’s comeback, one where people don’t have to be told to ‘stay home’. There is no longer any reason for that. Because like the old Doobie Brothers song goes, ‘Takin it to the Streets’ is back as part of either the new or old normal.
IF YOUR ONE who believes that the southern states are lax when it comes to masks or Covid precautions, lose that thought. Because it’s plain wrong, in fact they are better in taking precautions in many ways, that we don’t see here in Illinois. If you like golf, you can’t beat having a few bottles of Pinehurst logo’d hand sanitizer to come home with like I did. Because they are neat looking.
ON THE COVID SIDE-all the properties I visited do things the right way during this pandemic era. Because they give you enough freedom, without being stupid enough to put you in unsafely created potential Covid hot spots. I traveled through Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. All get high marks on their approach to Covid and the safety protocols in place.
WHAT YOU WILL NOTICE, is resort rooms and hotels, have cut back daily room housekeeping services, certain items have been removed from rooms, like pens and pads of paper. Many places provide masks if you need one. Your TV remote comes in a sealed plastic baggie with a note that says it has been sanitized. There are limitations on how many people can be in rooms, for dining or otherwise. But while some pools are open, others are closed. The ones that are open, usually have a strong smell of chlorine coming from them.
Hotel and resort staff’s are wearing masks when connecting with guests. In a full month, I never felt threatened or concerned that I was in a situation that could lead to a Covid issue. Because down south it also seems like more people have had their Covid shots, than they have here in Illinois.
IN FLORIDA both Innisbrook and Mission Inn resorts were hosting multiple weddings in recent and upcoming weekends with a fair amount of attendee’s. And they were not alone. Last weekend almost every hotel up and down Interstate 95 from Florida, through Georgia, and into South Carolina was sold out. I had to find that out the hard way. Kiawah Island resort in Charleston South Carolina hasn’t had a room or tee-time available in months. I had to postpone a visit there.
ON THE GOLF COURSE, it was great while in Pinehurst seeing the maintenance crews cutting the plastic off on-course drinking fountains, and putting out ball washers. But even better was seeing rakes in some of the sand traps and bunkers again. Since you won’t catch Covid handling a bunker rake, there is NO reason not to have them back out. Some courses had way too many foot prints in the traps.
The attitude of just rolling it in the bunker to good lie, needs to go NOW. Time to teach all those new to the game how to play it from the sand. So what else needs to go, the plastic PVC pipe or styrofoam in the cups. You can’t catch Covid sticking your hand in the cup to pull out your golf ball. You can’t catch Covid handling a flagstick either, should you elect to pull the stick out before putting. The days of debating whether you made a Covid birdie or par should now be over. So should the need for four golf carts for a single-foursome. One course in Florida had a group behind me with four carts. They appeared to be more into playing ‘race the carts’ than playing golf. Four carts for one group leads to unnecessary cart shortages for other players.
THE NEXT TIME some uninformed national publication writes a real stupid story, about how building or buying homes on a golf course is a bad investment, add that publication to your circular file. Everywhere I went, construction around courses was going on, and homes were going up. There is actually a building-boom going on to have a home on or near a golf course, in several states. Maybe not in Illinois, but just about everywhere else.
A FEW OTHER THOUGHTS on what we learned. The Talamore and Mid-South resort in Southern Pines has some of the best villa’s found at any golf property. The Pinehurst Resort will close Course #8 for the summer in 2022, for upgrades on the 25 year old golf course. Plus the par 3 course the Cradle, will get restrooms and a new food and beverage house on the course. The famed Pinecone beverage cart will find another location on property.
Myrtle Beach has plenty of great hotels on the ocean, well worth staying in them even if they are not right on the golf course.
Mission Inn Resort located 35 minutes northwest of Orlando, might be one of the best kept secrets in Florida. This historic resort has owners who hail from Chicago. It seems many people know about it, but many others don’t. When you want to get away, and don’t need the hustle and bustle of the cities, try Mission Inn where you can really relax.
Mission Inn, Innisbrook and Streamsong are among the three best golf resorts in Florida. So put them all on your bucket list.
Innisbrook is gearing up for the return of the Valspar Championship next month on the PGA Tour. In 2020, the Valspar was the first tournament fully cancelled due to Covid. When Len Ziehm, Dave Lockhart of 360 Golf TV and I played Copperhead last week, the greens were so good, it was like nobody had been on them in months. The pro’s will love them tournament week, and they were in better shape than any greens I saw my entire trip.
STREAMSONG is starting to settle in under the new leadership of Northbrook based KemperSports Management across the board. New GM Kevin Kennedy is working on a list of improvements that should have guests raving about the property by the fall. Stay tuned for more on that.
BACK IN SOUTHERN PINES I met up with architect Kyle Franz who is quickly becoming a name in the industry. Franz started his career, by working with Tom Doak at Pacific Dunes, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw on Pinehurst #2, and then Gil Hanse on the Olympic Course in Rio.
Franz restoration of Pine Needles has it ready for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open. He is also hard at work on another old Ross classic, Southern Pines Country Club. I’ll have more on Franz, in a full feature next week.
The recent improvements in the Mid Pines hotel are really good. The lobby bar and sitting area with the fire place, are great area’s to hang out and enjoy before or after golf.
CATCHING UP WITH. In Southern Pines I caught up with former Callaway/Odyssey putter designer Austie Rollinson who has relocated east to North Carolina. Some major equipment company looking to improve it’s putter line should reach out to this free agent.
IN KENTUCKY I stopped by the new homestead of golf architect Keith Foster, who is rebuilding an old farm from the early 1800’s into his home and office. But while Foster takes a short break from golf to work on his property, his phone for new projects is continuing to ring. Because the smart clubs are still calling one of the best in the business.
I have about 15 stories to add in the next 3 weeks from the trip. So stay clicked in and enjoy. So I hope your ready to travel, because that time is now here. RS