Haversham & Baker

Golf’s Ultimate Smackdown: St. Andrews vs Pinehurst

This never would have happened to my friend Pat at Pinehurst. By the way, he managed to hit the infamous "Shell Bunker" twice ths round, on two different holes, out and back.

Okay, the first thing I have to say in this debate is: I wish it had been my idea. But… Read more »

Memo to Golf Digest: The Rest of the World Plays Golf – and Drinks – Too. Building a Better 19th Hole

I love this view of the Old Course at St. Andrews while sipping a wee dram of malt whisky neat after a memorable round. The editors at Golf Digest would rather stare at downtown Seattle.

I don’t usually read Golf Digest but today I went to their website to try to look at their rankings… Read more »

Ireland’s Ballyliffin is Far More Than “Just” A Hidden Gem

You literally cannot play golf any further north in Ireland or Northern Ireland then at Ballyliffin, where the fifth hole touches the sea with views of famous Glashedy Rock.

Remember those old Remington electric razor commercials where entrepreneur Victor Kiam used to boast that, “I liked the shaver so… Read more »

Discovering Golf in Lisbon

Oitavos Dunes, just outside Lisbon, showcases its setting on the Atlantic Coast, and does not waste any time: the very first green overlooks the ocean.

What fewer visitors discover right outside Lisbon are arguably the two best golf courses in the entire country – and Portugal has a lot of golf courses.

The Best Golf Vacation You’ve Never Heard of. Play Portugal by Pousada.

That's no church, at least not anymore. Tonight it is your hotel.

Very few people know that Portugal has pousadas. That is a real shame.

Join the world’s oldest course on the cheap!

Not surprisingly, the oldest golf course in the world is an authentic Scottish links.

Age is not the course’s only claim to fame: it also hosted golf’s first Major, the Open Championship, six times.

The Best 12 Hole Course on Earth

Shiskine may be a small course, but it has big and dramatic features at every turn.

Shiskine may be the only 12 hole course in the world

The Best Opening Hole in Golf?

Many pundits consider Battery, the first at Scotland's Machrihanish, to be the finest opening hole in all of golf. Most visitors play the standard men's red tees.

But it is the first hole that makes Machrihanish so famous

The World’s Largest Golf Resort

The Faldo course at MissionHills is the resort's best, and visitors can try this island hole for themselves.

Play the World’s Largest Golf Resort

Golf Spelled Backwards is Fun: The Old Course in Reverse

When you play the Old Course in Reverse, you do not simply play the holes in backwards order. You play from the first tee to the 17th green, using the 18th fairway along the way. Then you play from the 18th tee to the 16th green, down 17. It is crazy.