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Dale Jones smiles at his Michigan memories but loves his new home in Biloxi<\/p><\/div>\n
says, in a southern drawl through a big smile. He doesn\u2019t remember how much he was paid for the win, but he does remember the course and the town. \u201cWalnut Hills was always in beautiful condition. The crowds in Lansing were very friendly and very enthusiastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Eggeling won by finishing two strokes ahead of Elaine Crosby, who lives 30 miles away in Jackson and finished tied for second place. Jones was buddies with another caddie, Greg \u201cTex\u201d Gallup, who caddied on Tour for Mount Pleasant\u2019s Kelly Robbins. They enjoyed the camaraderie and competition that traveling on Tour brought them.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I got too old to walk six miles lugging a bag,\u201d says Jones.<\/p>\n
So like two war horses taken from the grind of the track to the glory of a stud farm, Jones and Gallup now enjoy caddying, saddled on the power carts of resort guests, at the luxurious Fallen Oak Golf Club in Biloxi, Mississippi. They still banter like Abbott and Costello, delighting vacationers with their humor-enhanced, self-deprecating Tour tales. Jones makes the average Joes he caddies for feel like pros. But the Tom Fazio-designed Fallen Oak, Mississippi\u2019s top-rated resort course, is truly the star of the show. \u201cI just love this layout,\u201d Jones insists.<\/p>\n
Biloxi is near Gulfport, on the Gulf between New Orleans and Mobile \u2013 an area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina \u2013 which pushed the course\u2019s debut back to 2006. \u201cEven having a major storm in the middle of constructing this golf course turned out to be a positive \u2013 for instance, the name \u2018Fallen Oak,\u2019\u201d said Fazio, an acclaimed architect. \u201cYou look out and see that fallen oak on the ground and we built the 18th<\/sup> hole around the tree. It\u2019s in such a natural and logical position it just had to be. I think people will come here and say it\u2019s one of a kind.\u201d The clubhouse bar, with its panoramic, view, is also one of a kind \u2013 voted among the top 50 in America.<\/p>\n Fazio designed gnarly bunkering to match the twisted trees.<\/p><\/div>\n The PGA TOUR\u2019s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic, for the over 50 legends, is held March 23-25 at Fallen Oak in late March. Past British Open champion and Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman won the event in 2011 on his first visit to Fallen Oak. \u201cA lot of the guys out here had been telling me that I needed to come and play here and that I\u2019d love the course. I think they were right,\u201d exclaimed Lehman upon winning $240,000.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Guests of the MGM\u2019s waterfront Beau Rivage Hotel have access to Fallen Oak Golf Club, via complimentary limo from the hotel! To visit, see www.FallenOak.com<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Travel writer Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at InviteYourself@aol.com<\/a> or via www.TravelTattler.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2012\/03\/Golf-bunker-300x225.jpg\")