{"id":304,"date":"2009-09-04T18:08:47","date_gmt":"2009-09-05T01:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeffwallach.com\/?p=304"},"modified":"2011-03-02T17:48:56","modified_gmt":"2011-03-03T00:48:56","slug":"animal-magnetism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/304\/animal-magnetism","title":{"rendered":"Animal Magnetism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bear

Bear Mountain Roars in Victoria, BC<\/p><\/div>\n

Golf is full of animals\u2014and not just the ones you notice ducking for cover in the shrubbery when they see you addressing your ball.\u00a0 If you ever watch golf on t.v. you can catch the Golden Bear (Jack Nicklaus) the Walrus (Craig Stadler), the White Shark (Greg Norman), and, of course, Tiger.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Or how about Tim Herron, Ian Baker-Finch, Jonathan Byrd, Ben Crane, and, of course, Steve Elkington?\u00a0 Following are a few courses worthy of the variety of species attracted to the sport.<\/p>\n

Dancing Rabbit, Crouching Plumb-bob<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you think a rabbit\u2019s foot is more auspicious than a dogleg, the Choctaw Tribe\u2019s Dancing Rabbit Golf Club, 70 miles from Jackson<\/strong>, Mississippi offers opportunities to try your luck on two highly-ranked Tom Fazio\/Jerry Pate courses: Oaks and Azaleas.\u00a0 Brian McCallen wrote in GOLF Magazine, \u201cFazio and Pate have joined forces to develop the state\u2019s greatest asset since Elvis came of age in nearby Tupelo.\u201d \u00a0www.dancingrabbitgolf.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

German Engineering<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A half-day\u2019s drive south of Berlin<\/strong>, lies the rarely seen German Jaguar\u2014actually the Jaguar Course at the enormous Hartl Golf Resort in Bad Griesbach.\u00a0 Three of the courses here were designed by Bernhard Langer\u2014and one is named for an even more ferocious animal: soccer great Franz Beckenbauer.\u00a0 Don\u2019t miss the renowned chewy pretzels in the clubhouse. www.hartle.de<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stripe a Few Great Drives<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Just outside Puerto Vallarta<\/strong>, El Tigre Golf Club prowls the Paradise Village Resort.\u00a0 Designed by Von Hagge, Smelek, and Baril, the 7,239-yard course features water on twelve holes and three \u201cbeach\u201d bunkers that run right down to the H2O.\u00a0 Tropical styling, all-Bermuda grass, and an island green par three make this the perfect place for a Mexican standoff with your opponent (or spouse). \u00a0www.eltigregolf.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Business in the Front (nine), Party in the back (nine)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Superseding the haircut of the same name by decades, St. Maarten\u2019s<\/strong> Mullet Bay Golf Club was designed by Joe Lee in 1971.\u00a0 The short (6,300 yards) layout has been in some disrepair since Hurricane Luis in 1995, but still offers some of the best scenery on the island.\u00a0 The front nine rims Simpson Bay Lagoon and the entire course features small greens that are even harder to hit due to frequent stiff breezes. www.stmaartengolf.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Grizzly Round<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

With tees called Black, Golden, Grizzly, Spirit, and Cinnamon, Bear Mountain\u2019s golf courses could only have been designed by\u2014no, not Gentle Ben: Jack Nicklaus (and co-designed with son Steve).\u00a0 Located outside Vancouver, BC<\/strong>, the Mountain Course offers mountain, city, and ocean views from a muscular track set in lush forest. \u00a0 www.bearmountaingolf.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wild Horses Couldn\u2019t Drag You to Par<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Approximately 250 miles west of Omaha<\/strong>, in Gothenberg Nebraska, Wild Horse Golf Club rears and bucks with a design that Golfweek called the best golf course in the US for under $50.\u00a0 The 6,805 yards stretch across native grass prairies without trees or water but punctuated by natural sand blowouts that serve as bunkers.\u00a0 The high-horsepower greens (meaning: fast!) may put a hitch in your giddyup. \u00a0www.playwildhorse.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bucking a Trend<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

While many golfers wouldn\u2019t associate legendary Scottish golf architect Donald Ross\u00a0with Pennsylvania\u2019s Pocono Mountains, The Donald created Buck Hill Golf Club, 50 miles from Allentown<\/strong>, in 1922.\u00a0 Ross\u2019s signature open, sloping greens and use of mounding around bunkers and putting surfaces make this course a delightful surprise.\u00a0 The stone clubhouse adds to the rustic, old school feel. \u00a0www.buckhillfallsgolf.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Fish Named Wander<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jose Ganced\u2019s Costa Dorada Golf Course, south of Barcelona<\/strong>, invites you to wander across open fairways, many of which are laid out on the side of a hill.\u00a0 Avoid the occasional olive trees for an easy day.\u00a0 Peugeot Golf Guide has said, \u201cIn the family of golf courses for everyone, Costa Dorada is right up there with the best.\u201d In keeping with the fish theme here, go to school on your partner\u2019s putts. \u00a0www.golfcostadoradatarragona.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Sheep\u2019s (plaid) Clothing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

While the wolf may well be at the door, he stepped away from it long enough to design the putting surfaces at Wolf Creek Golf Resort, south of Salt Lake City<\/strong>.\u00a0 Just when you figure out that all the greens slope severely from back to front, one doesn\u2019t\u2014the perfect \u201cnya nya\u201d from architect Mark Ballif, who designed this as the Patio Springs Country Club back in 1965. www.wolfcreekresort.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Golf is full of animals\u2014and not just the ones you notice ducking for cover in the shrubbery when they see… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4907,5048,17],"tags":[5503,5790,312,5791,5784,3182,5785,37,3230,5786,5787,158,5788,43,72,3805,5789],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oregon-golf-assoc","category-alternative-golf-assoc","category-courses-and-travel","tag-el-tigre-golf","tag-costa-dorada-golf","tag-joe-lee","tag-wolf-creek-resort","tag-dancing-rabbit-golf","tag-jerry-pate","tag-hartl-golf-resort","tag-front-nine","tag-bernhard-langer","tag-mullet-bay-golf-club","tag-bear-mountain-golf","tag-jack-nicklaus","tag-wild-horse-golf-club","tag-tom-fazio","tag-donald-ross","tag-robert-von-hagge","tag-buck-hill-golf-club"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2009\/09\/Bear-Mountain-View-from-8th-Floor-of-Finlayson-Reach.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions\/306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jeffwallach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}