I’ve always had a fondness for golf clubs with three 9-hole layouts, it’s like having 3 18-hole golf courses at your disposal. Each course seems different when played as the front nine one day and the back nine the next. And for me, the course never plays the same way twice, whether I play it every day or once a year. Such is the case with the River Club of Mequon, a private club in the northern Milwaukee suburb of Mequon, Wisconsin. River Club offers three distinct nine-hole layouts with numerous challenges and Midwestern beauty amidst the southeastern Wisconsin scenery.…
Author: David Theoret
David Theoret
The Golfin’ Guy aka David (or Dave, but never Davey) Theoret grew up in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, where it was naturally assumed he would play hockey. Beginning at the age of 3 and continuing into his late 30's, he did just that. However, after one too many pucks to the head, he realized that golf was a lot easier on the body and took the game up. Whoever said hockey players were slow? Since that time, golf has become his passion – just ask Belinda. From 2003 until 2009, David ran the sales and marketing department of TravelGolf Media and took his team to over $1M in annual advertising revenue. While at TravelGolf, an editor told him he had a flair for writing and the lightbulb came on. He started writing articles about anything golf related: courses, destinations, resorts, shoes, apparel, equipment and training aids and sending them to websites and magazines. At first, his articles were picked up by a few golf websites and magazines, but the number steadily grew – enough that he could call it a career. Most days he’s on a course somewhere, either working or playing. Actually, to him playing IS work. Occasionally you’ll find him on the practice range reinforcing bad habits. David plays to a 12 handicap - unless there is money involved in which case it goes considerably higher. He currently resides in Lakeland, FL with his wife Belinda and their two "kids", Louie and Molly.
Del Ratcliffe, Managing Partner and COO of Pinnacle Golf Properties in Charlotte, NC, has an interesting story to tell about one of the company’s managed properties, Highland Creek Golf Club. Del’s grandfather was a very prolific moonshiner/bootlegger back in the days just before prohibition and well into it. The success of his moonshining business allowed him to open a premier steakhouse in uptown Charlotte. Upstairs from the restaurant was a speak-easy with gambling operations. The location of his moonshining operation is now the 16th hole of Highland Creek GC and remnants of the original stills are still visible to this day.…
Over the past 10 years, The Golfin’ Guy’s travels have taken us to over 400 golf clubs including more than 100 private clubs. Each of these private clubs has something that makes them special in their own right; maybe it’s the practice facility, the practice area, or dining. Maybe it’s a memorable hole. There’s one particular club in Monroe, LA that seems to do everything right, especially listening to their members. In a town best known for Delta Airlines and the Biedenharn Candy Company, the first bottlers of Coca-Cola and Delta, Bayou DeSiard, a private country club in Monroe, Louisiana…
Almost 100 years ago, local railroad and coal magnate John Sutphin Jones was looking for something that would be a good compliment to his Granville Inn. He decided that a golf course would make the most sense, so he hired world-renowned Scottish golf course architect Donald Ross to design and build his golf course. The new Granville Golf Course opened for play in 1925 and is still very popular to this day. The Granville Golf Course – better known these days as Denison Golf Club – has long been recognized as one of the best public courses in the Midwest. …
What do you get when you mix golf and bourbon? For most players, it’s a forgettable score, but in Kentucky, it’s a winning combination for tourists! Here, you can mix the golf courses at several Kentucky State Parks with nearby members of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and create memorable results. The Kentucky State Parks have a lot to offer golfers with challenging and scenic golf courses all over the state. Many offer lodging and several are within easy driving distance of each other. The Kentucky State Parks website has made it easy for you to plan your next round of…
As Florida increases in appeal to those searching for warmer weather year-round, housing in and around many of the major cities is getting harder and harder to find. And when you do find something, there’s a good chance it will be priced out of your budget. Traffic is in a league all its own; just make sure you leave yourself enough time to get anywhere. Amenities in the Sunshine State such as golf are getting expensive too; it’s not uncommon for a so-so course to command daily greens fees in the triple digits. That severely limits many people – especially…
Depending on your perspective – or favorite season – Crystal Mountain is either a ski resort with 59 well-groomed downhill runs or a golf resort with 36 holes of championship golf. Yet, regardless of the season, it’s one of Northern Michigan’s best resorts. Crystal Mountain has the most unique history of any resort I have ever written about. It began as a school project when a geography teacher at Benzonia High School tasked his students to find the best place in Benzie County, MI to start a ski area. After much research and debate the class determined the Buck Hills…
When a golf course melds seamlessly with its surroundings, that’s Nature’s Golf. When environmental preservation and forward-thinking course design come together, that’s Nature’s Golf. When you play Old Waverly and Mossy Oak Golf Clubs in West Point, MS, that’s Nature’s Golf. It’s Southern Golf at its finest. When most golfers think of golf in Mississippi, they are probably thinking of the Gulf Coast and the Biloxi area. But if you want to experience the best golf in the state, you’ll need to head about four hours north, past Jackson and Hattiesburg, to the little town of West Point, MS. That’s…
Many people believe that Treetops Golf Resort in Gaylord put Northern Michigan on the map as a great golf destination. Although there are several golf resorts in the area with multiple courses, Treetops emerges each year as one of the most recognizable golf resorts in the state. With 81 holes of spectacular golf at two locations (Treetops North is about a 7-minute drive), 226 guest rooms and suites, a spa, a salon, and more than 25,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, it’s easy to see why Treetops Resort is a popular venue for golf getaways, weddings, and business conferences. If…
Jimmy Lynn – President of Lifestyle Management Group of Florida – has come a long way since we first met in 2011. After spending 10 years in the golf industry, running sales and marketing for the largest publisher of golf travel information in the world, I had taken a position outside of golf but was still doing a little writing about golf courses and equipment. On the occasions I was sent some equipment, I would head to the driving range at The Club at Gateway. I had worked out a deal with General Manager Jimmy Lynn, mentioning his club’s facilities…