{"id":2246,"date":"2014-02-04T11:53:07","date_gmt":"2014-02-04T11:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/?p=2246"},"modified":"2023-12-01T01:01:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T01:01:09","slug":"the-golf-course-bucket-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/the-golf-course-bucket-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Golf Courses You Want to Play If You Get the Chance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though we may not all be members at historic venues like Olympic Club or Augusta National, it doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t take in the \u201cpro golfer\u201d experience. There are literally hundreds of courses littered throughout the U.S. that only require a set of clubs, a collared shirt and a couple hundred dollars to play.<\/p>\n

The list below is compromised of a few of these courses. So next time you\u2019re planning a golf trip with your buddies, take a detour, splurge a little bit and get a chance to play a course where history was made.<\/p>\n

\"Pebble<\/p>\n

Pebble Beach Golf Links \u2013 Monterey Peninsula, California \u2013 <\/strong>In terms of history, Pebble Beach is second-to-none. Host to five U.S. Opens and one PGA Championship, Pebble continuously ranks as the top public golf course in the country. Even if you\u2019re not playing, you can drive up and walk the entire course and if you can\u2019t get on, there are some pretty nice courses in close proximity.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Bethpage State Park \u2013 Farmingdale, New York \u2013 <\/strong>Host to two past U.S. Opens, the Black Course at Bethpage State Park is among the hardest venues in the country. There usually is a waitlist of some type to get on and if your handicap isn\u2019t low enough they may suggest that you play an easier course in the park. In the 2002 U.S. Open, one player finished under par, his name was Tiger Woods.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The Ocean Course \u2013 Kiawah Island, South Carolina \u2013 <\/strong>Another course known for its difficulty, The Ocean Course stands at 7,600 yards long from the back tees and if you watched the PGA Championship last year you know how difficult it can be. Luckily there are other sets of tees that are more appropriate for the average golfer. The course also was the site of the War by the Shore (1991 Ryder Cup). So if you do play, tee it up on hole No. 17 and get the feeling that all those pros got when they fell apart over 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

\"TPC<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>TPC Sawgrass \u2013 Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida \u2013 <\/strong>From a design perspective, TPC Sawgrass is in a league of its own. Put together by the famously cynical Pete Dye, this course is a must-play if you\u2019re a serious golfer and the par 3 17th<\/sup> island green is unlike anything you\u2019ll ever experience.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Pinehurst Resort No. 2 \u2013 Pinehurst, North Carolina \u2013 <\/strong>This course dates back to the 1800s and with a rich history of tradition, it shouldn\u2019t be passed over if you’re playing golf in the state of North Carolina. The resort also includes seven other extremely high-end venues, so if you can\u2019t get on No. 2, you\u2019ll have somewhere to go. It will host the US Open this year so if you’re going to try to get on, you better do it soon.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Torrey Pines Golf Course \u2013 La Jolla, California \u2013 <\/strong>Play the course that Tiger Woods has made a living at since he was a youngster. Nestled on the cliffs of La Jolla, CA, Torrey Pines has provided players with great golf and breathtaking views for over 50 years. When you get on the 18th<\/sup> green, drop a ball in the spot where Tiger hit arguably the most clutch putt in the history of golf, you\u2019ll get chills down your spine.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>PGA West (Stadium Course)\u2013 La Quinta, California \u2013 <\/strong>You don\u2019t hear too much about PGA West and it’s for a good reason. In 1987 it hosted the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and after the tournament, a large group of professionals petitioned to have it removed from the PGA Tour. From then on it\u2019s widely been known as the only course that was too hard for the professionals. If you\u2019re ever in La Quinta, tee it up and see how you do.<\/p>\n

\"ST<\/p>\n

St. Andrews \u2013 Scotland<\/strong> \u2013 The game of golf was born here. Enough said.<\/p>\n

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Though we may not all be members at historic venues like Olympic Club or Augusta National, it doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t take in the \u201cpro golfer\u201d experience. There are literally hundreds of courses littered throughout the U.S. that only require a set of clubs, a collared shirt and a couple hundred dollars to play. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,249],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-travel","category-destinations","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2246"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7932,"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246\/revisions\/7932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shipsticks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}