Source: Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal Sentinel
So you're planning your next golf vacation, you've got all those slick brochures spread out in front of you and you?re going through a checklist.
Phoenix? Great golf, too expensive.
Myrtle Beach? Great variety, too much tourist kitsch.
Florida? Great weather, too much sameness. Every hole has condos on the left and water on the right, or the other way around.
Here's an option you might not have considered: Mississippi. Those other destinations all have their pluses, but the Magnolia State has no minuses. The golf is affordable and very good, the sun shines more than 300 days a year and the Southern hospitality will take those knots right out of your shoulders.
Mississippi is on track to become one of the country's prime destinations for the golf traveler. The state has about 145 courses -- Wisconsin has almost four times that number -- but is opening new ones at the rate of nearly one a month.
"Our advertising agency has determined that golf is a good niche market for us because of the increase of golf courses in Mississippi," said Janet Leach, golf marketing manager for the state's Division of Tourism.
"We've determined that we can attract the golfer to Mississippi because of the championship golf courses and the value. The green fees at most of our courses are in the $40 to $75 range. You very seldom pay $100 here."
Even a certain quarterback for the Green Bay Packers touts his home state's affordable golf.
"It's some of the best golf you'll find anywhere," said Brett Favre, who lives in Hattiesburg. "And you can't beat the prices."
Add in gaming, great food, a diverse culture and fascinating history, and Mississippi has something for everyone.
It's no wonder that the International Association of Golf Tour Operators in conjunction with the Golf Travel Writers Association named Mississippi a "top emerging golf destination" in 2003. It was the only U.S. destination on the list.
On a four-day trip last fall, the weather was fabulous and the golf was as good as it gets. I played Grand Bear Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course just 20 minutes north of the Gulf Coast; Canebrake Golf Club in Hattiesburg; and the Oaks and Azaleas courses at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club in Choctaw.
Grand Bear is accessible to guests of the Grand Casino hotels in nearby Gulfport and Biloxi. The well-maintained course winds through thick stands of yellow pine and along protected cypress wetlands rimmed with live oaks, gum trees and old magnolias.
Grand Bear has Bermuda grass fairways and greens and measures 7,204 yards from the tips. The course played host to a Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match between Jesper Parnevik and Paul Azinger.
Canebrake was ranked the second-best affordable new course (under $50) in America by Golf Digest in 1999. Designed by former U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate, Canebrake played host to the 2002 Mississippi State Amateur.
The par-71 course is built around a large brake of cane and features five sets of tees and fast, smooth greens. It's fairly wide open, but 56 bunkers and four lakes do come into play.
Favre lives just a wedge shot away from Canebrake and plays there often.
I saved the best for last. Dancing Rabbit Golf Club at the Pearl River Resort is ranked No. 34 on Golf Magazine's biennial list of the "Top 100 Courses You Can Play."
It's the highest-rated facility not only in Mississippi but also in the region that includes Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama.
The Oaks and Azaleas courses were designed by Pate and Tom Fazio and built on the ancestral lands of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. The Choctaws have a reverence for the land that is obvious at this splendid facility. There are no houses on either course and the grounds are immaculately maintained.
Dancing Rabbit is on the same latitude as Augusta National to the east and the similarities are eerie, from the dogwoods and azaleas to the pine straw and flowers. Like all great courses, Dancing Rabbit gives you the unmistakable feeling that you're someplace special.
The Azaleas opened in 1997 and the Oaks opened two years later. Both courses have five sets of tees and wind through towering yellow pine and exposed red clay ledges. Dancing Rabbit is one of few facilities in the Deep South with bentgrass greens, and they roll great.
The clubhouse, built on the headwaters of Wolf Creek, is a replica Southern plantation mansion. The impressive two-story building has wraparound porches and eight guest rooms upstairs.
The stay-and-play package is a great deal. For about $150, you get all the golf you can play, practice balls and continental breakfast.
Three-bedroom rental houses also are available.
If you prefer a hotel, the Golden Moon Hotel and Casino and the Silver Star Hotel and Casino are one block away. The hotels feature 13 restaurants, a full-service spa and a 20-acre water park.
Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka summed up Dancing Rabbit and the Pearl River Resort this way: "If you don't enjoy Dancing Rabbit, you probably won't enjoy heaven, either."
There are a number of courses I didn't get to play, including Davis Love III's signature design, Shell Landing Golf Club in Gautier; The Bridges in Bay St. Louis, designed by Arnold Palmer; The Oaks in Pass Christian; and Timberton Golf Club in Hattiesburg.
A Donald Ross course, The Great Southern Golf Club in Gulfport, also is on the must-play list. I'm saving it for my next trip to the Magnolia State.
