Journey to 2000 Golf Courses Played: 2023 Year in Review

I say this every year, but 2023 was a great year in golf for me. It was my second full year as a resident of the Charleston area and I took full advantage of the area and my extended breaks from work. This year my wife and I would leave the country in search of great golf, and return to our favorite place on earth after a long absence. I also took memorable trips to Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as my customary trip to Florida. The end of the year provided a very unexpected highlight that I never thought I would get to experience as well.

Cabot Cliffs, my favorite course of 2023

I also set a new personal record for rounds played in 2023- 264 rounds. This included 106 rounds at work!

106 round at work this year!

FLORIDA SPRING TRIP
One last spin around the Blue at sunrise!

I once again began my travel in 2023 with a trip to Florida. This trip was more emotional as I was saying goodbye to my regular visits to Streamsong Resort, a place I have visited every year since it was built in 2011. Read all about my last round on the wonderful Blue course here: Florida Spring 2023

Belleair Country Club, West Course

TEXAS TRIP

Brook Hollow Country Club

I returned to Texas in 2023 to play a bucket list course in Dallas, but the big surprise of the trip came from just over the border in Oklahoma, with a newly restored Perry Maxwell design. Check my adventures in the Dallas area and side trip to Oklahoma here: Texas Trip

Lakewood Country Club

WESTERN PA TRIP

Pittsburgh Field Club

I planned a trip to Pennsylvania in 2023 around playing one of the top 10 courses in the country that I hadn't seen in a very long time. What ultimately happened that day was something even more interesting than I could have anticipated. Read about my trip to the golf rich state of Pennsylvania here: Western PA Trip

St. David's Golf Club

OTHER COURSES

Old Barnwell Golf Club

I played two courses this year that weren't part of a big trip that I wanted to mention because both were definite highlights. Old Barnwell near Aiken, South Carolina, designed by Blake Conant and Brian Schneider, is an exciting addition to the South Carolina golf scene. The other highlight course I played was Wicker Point in Lake Martin, Alabama designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The course sits right on the aforementioned lake and is everything you love about C&C designs.

Wicker Point Golf Club

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS

New Courses Played: 165

States Played in: 18

9 Hole Courses played: 18

Top 10 Courses by Architect

34 Donald Ross

7 Nicklaus

7 Robert Trent Jones

4 George Cobb

4 Colt/Alison

3 Bendelow

2 20 Architects

Top 10 Courses by State

24 Michigan

16 South Carolina

14 Wisconsin

12 Alabama

12 Florida

12 Texas

11 Nova Scotia

10 Maine

9 Illinois

9 Massachusetts

9 Pennsylvania

Milestones Reached

1. 200 courses played in SC

2. 50 courses played in MI

Favorite Course: Cabot Cliffs
Least Favorite Course: Fairlawn
Most Overrated: Lido
Most Underrated: Meadowbrook

Favorite Par 3: 5th Hole-Lost Rail
Favorite Par 4: 1st Hole-Penobscot Valley
Favorite Par 5: 1st Hole-Hooper

What's in a name

A fun breakdown of golf course names from 2023

(43)Landforms: Canyon, Cape, Cliff, Dune, Farm, Field, Forest, Hill, Hollow, Meadow, Orchard, Plantation, Park, Point, Preserve, Ridge, Shore, Valley, Woods, Woodlands

(30)Water: Bay, Beach, Brook, Cove, Creek, Harbour, Lake, River, Spring, Water

(12)Object/Man Made: Arrowhead, Bell, Brick, Gate, Inn, Mine, Nest, Rail, Rock, Star

(11)Animals: Bear, Bull, Cat, Eagle, Fox, Hawk, Horse, Pelican

(11)Directions: East, North, South, West

(9)Trees: Dogwood, Magnolia, Oak, Palm, Pine, Willow

(8)Colors: Blue, Gold, Orange, Red, Silver

(3)The word "Links"

(2)Food/Drink: Cider, Strawberry

(2)The word "Old"

(1)The word "National"

(1)States: Texas

Best Scores

64-Detroit Golf Club(South)

65-Yeamans Hall
66-Brightwood, Dedham, Field Club of Omaha, Meadowbrook, Sand Hills, Yeamans Hall

Worst Scores

80-The Lido, Yeamans Hall
79-Yeamans Hall

78-Avila, Yeamans Hall

CANADA TRIP

Me at Cabot Cliffs

My wife and I took a very ambitious two week trip to New England and Canada in 2023. I broke the trip into sections by country. Here you can read about our journey to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick, with an incredible achievement for my wife at Cabot Cliffs: Canada Trip

Cape Breton Highlands Golf Club

NEW ENGLAND TRIP

Dedham Polo & Golf Club

The New England portion of our big trip featured a ton of Donald Ross courses as well as one of the best nine hole courses in the country. Our trip to New England can be found here: New England Trip

Penobscot Valley Country Club

NEBRASKA TRIP

Sand Hills Golf Club, my favorite place on earth

In August of 2023 my wife and I returned to our favorite place on earth, Sand Hills. It's impossible to top the experience at Sand Hills, but I was also very surprised by a new course in the Omaha area that I think has big potential. Our emotional return to Nebraska is here: Nebraska Trip

Lost Rail Golf Club

MICHIGAN TRIP

Meadowbrook Country Club

I am very fortunate to have a two week break from work in late September and early October every year. This year I took two trips to the Midwest during my time off. First up was a trip to the Detroit, Michigan area that was heavy on Donald Ross designs, but also featured some wonderful surprises: Michigan Trip

Orchard Lake Country Club

WISCONSIN TRIP

West Bend Country Club

The second trip of my fall break revolved around a fun gathering at Sand Valley Resort in Northwest Wisconsin. But the highlights of the trip came from a couple courses just north of Milwaukee. My journey through Chicago and Wisconsin is here: Wisconsin Trip

Sedge Valley

PRO-MEMBER

One of the big highlights of the year came very late in the year and was very unexpected. Since I started working at my current course, I had always wanted to play in the annual Pro-Member. Our rule is you have to be invited by a member to play and, even though I play with members quite frequently, as the outside operations manager, my name is not really thought of as a possible partner for an event like this. My club is the type that gets tour pros and pros from top 20 clubs in its Pro-Member, so it was more of a dream for somebody like me to be able to play in the tournament. Through a very unexpected set of circumstances, we had an odd number of teams and the member I play with the most said "let's do it!"

Day one of the tournament was an absolute dream for me. I shot 65, including birdies on the final three holes. We shot 59 as a team and were tied for the lead heading into day two. I beat a couple of actual touring pros on day one, which is something I am usually not capable of doing! We played less stellar on day two, but still finished third ahead of some very good professionals.

During the tournament dinner I got to try Osso Bucco for the first time!

9 HOLE COURSES

North Andover Country Club

I played eighteen new nine hole courses this year including two ranked in the top 50 in the world, Hooper and Castine, and one that should be, North Andover! My New England trip provided the majority of the courses, but a unique course in Nebraska with an honor box, Pelican Beach, was a real treat.

Hooper Golf Course

ECLECTIC EIGHTEENS

Par 3's 1 to 9

From Top L to R: #1-Concession Gimmie, #2-Eagle Springs, #3-The Lido, #4-Belleair(West), #5-Lost Rail, #6-Concord, #7-Ashburn(Old), #8-Ashburn(New), #9-Cabot Cliffs

Par 3's 10 to 18

From Top L to R: #10-Brook Hollow, #11-Meadowbrook(MI), #12-Wicker Point, #13-Antigonish, #14-Cabot Links, #15-Stillwater, #16-Penobscot Valley, #17-Dornick Hills, #18-Pittsburgh Field Club

Par 4's 1 to 9

From Top L to R: #1-Penobscot Valley, #2-Pittsburgh Field Club, #3-Cabot Cliffs, #4-Wanango, #5-St. David's, #6-Sedge Valley, #7-Brightwood, #8-Hooper, #9-Riverside(NB)

Par 4's 10 to 18

From Top L to R: #10-Conewango Valley, #11-Oakland Hills North, #12-ChampionsGate International, #13-Brook Hollow, #14-Woodstock, #15-Cabot Links, #16-West Bend, #17-Lost Rail, #18-Lakewood

Par 5's 1 to 9

From Top L to R: #1-Hooper, #2-Weston, #3-Pittsburgh Field Club, #4-Dundarave, #5-Brae Burn, #6-Cape Breton Highlands, #7-Cabot Cliffs, #8-Birmingham, #9-Brickyard

Par 5's 10 to 18

From Top L to R: #10-Stevens Park, #11-Fox Harb'r, #12-Conewango Valley, #13-Bull at Pinehurst Farms, #14-Orchard Lake, #15-Brook Hollow, #16-Dornick Hills, #17-Meadowbrook, #18-Lost Rail

BALL MARKERS

I continued to collect ball markers from courses I played this year to contribute to our collection at work. Read about the work collection here: A Collection is Born.