People used to spell the state's name M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i, now they just spell it G-O-L-F. New courses coming online coupled with top amateur and professional events being hosted at existing courses and best-of acclaim for golf clubs throughout the state has made this a golf season of particular note.
Mississippi's newest public course - The Preserve Golf Club in Ocean Springs on the Gulf Coast - is scheduled to open July 14. Designed by world-class designer and former U.S. Open Champion Jerry Pate, The Preserve is located on Mississippi 57, two miles north of Interstate 10, and will cost $90 to play a round.
Pate is no stranger to crafting Mississippi masterpieces - he was co-designer along with Bob Cupp on Old Waverly, which is ranked as one of Golf Digest Magazine's elite "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses."
The Preserve is an upscale, core golf course with no homes built around it. A par-71 championship layout it offers superior service, unprecedented course conditions and five sets of tees measuring 6,774 yards from the back tees. As an Audubon International Signature Course, The Preserve is required to meet high standards to protect the local environment.
The Sandhill Crane Refuge and Nature Conservancy - all 1,800 unspoiled acres of it - border the club's 245 acres. Old Fort Bayou hugs the east side of the course. Deer, sandhill cranes and hawks are seen on the property, and pitcher plant bogs, cypress swamps, long leaf pine savannah, live oak groves and native grass prairies have been integrated into the design.
Pate is one of the most decorated golf course designers and arguably has a collection that, property for property, is the equal of any. While he may not be as prolific as Tom Fazio, like Fazio virtually all of his designs are considered top notch. They include Canebrake (Hattiesburg, Miss.), Kiva Dunes (Gulf Shores, Ala.), Dancing Rabbit with Fazio (Philadelphia, Miss.), Rancho La Quinta and Steelwood (Loxley, Ala.)
For more information or tee times at The Preserve call 228-386-2500.
If you hear buzzing don't be surprised because Fallen Oak Golf Course, the much-anticipated Tom Fazio design which is projected to open near Biloxi on the Gulf Coast Nov. 6, is creating a swarm-like reaction among golf course aficionados.
Owned by the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Fallen Oak is a "sister" course to Shadow Creek, MGM MIRAGE's hyper-luxurious course in Las Vegas. The cost to play Fallen Oak will be in the $150-$200 range.
Fallen Oak measures a muscular, PGA Tour caliber 7,480 yards from the tips and is characterized by a lush, rolling landscape covered in oak and pine ridges, magnolias, pecan groves, large lakes, winding streams and wetlands. The course features 10 bridges and concealed cart paths to protect the natural features of the terrain.
MGM MIRAGE spared no expense in building Fallen Oak, including:
- A SubAir drainage system, which alternately heats and vacuums moisture out of the greens to keep them consistent and healthy
- Tiff eagle Bermuda grass (greens), 419 Bermuda grass (fairways), zoysia grass (flanking the bunkers and creeks) and native Bahia grass (flanking the course)
- Transplanting more than 1,000 oaks, magnolia, pine and other hardwood trees
- More than 3,500 tons of Ohio-based, Tour Grade Signature Blend bunker sand, which was brought by barge down the Mississippi River to Mobile, Ala., and trucked to the site
- Approximately 125 acres of sod, enough to cover 96 football fields
"When Beau Rivage contacted us about moving forward with the Fallen Oak Golf Course project, we were understandably excited, knowing the potential for the chosen site to produce a truly world-class golf experience. Couple that with a commitment to the highest quality by Beau Rivage, and this project promises to be viewed as one of the best new courses in America," Fazio says.
Fallen Oak's 12,000-square-foot clubhouse will resemble an Acadian-style Southern mansion, featuring a 1,000-square foot pro shop, locker facilities and a 70-seat lounge and restaurant. The back veranda offers panoramic views of the 9th and 18th holes and the majestic live oak that gives Fallen Oak its name.
Fallen Oak will be a public course for which Beau Rivage guests enjoy priority access. For more information, visit www.beaurivage.com , or for reservations, call 888-567-6667.
A third new Mississippi course is making its debut this year - The Dogwoods at Hugh White State Park in Grenada in the Northwest part of the state. A Gary Roger Baird design, The Dogwoods is the third public course at a state park (the others are Mallard Point in Sardis and Quail Hollow in McComb).
Thirty-foot-tall dogwood trees grace the course, which is set on tranquil, sloping property overlooking the 63,000-acre Grenada Lake in north-central Mississippi. The newest addition to the Magnolia Golf Trail, the Dogwoods is built on an impressive scale, with greens as large as 10,000 square feet and fairways up to 80 yards wide, all garnished with rough-edged Alister MacKenzie-inspired bunkering and mounding. The Dogwoods is a par-72 layout measuring 7,300 yards from the back tees. For more information call 800-373-2571.
In addition to these new courses, Mississippi will host the USGA Women's Mid-Amateur Oct. 21-26 at Old Waverly (Bob Cupp-Jerry Pate design) in West Point, and Annandale Country Club (Jack Nicklaus) in Madison will host the PGA Tour's Southern Farm Bureau Classic Sept. 25-Oct. 1.
Old Waverly and the two celebrated 18-hole courses at Dancing Rabbit - both Fazio-Pate collaborations which hosted the state amateur this summer - are ranked in Golfweek Magazine's "America's Best State-By-State" top 5 for Mississippi, and like Old Waverly, the Azaleas Course at Dancing Rabbit is a member of Golf Digest Magazine's America's Greatest Golf Courses Top 100 list.
"Mississippi is committed to offering great golf, great gaming and much more," says D. Craig Ray, MDA tourism division director. "We hope our Southern hospitality and many tourism amenities and choices will continue to bring people to our great state."
A free Golf Mississippi Travel Guide and more information about Mississippi golf is available by calling 866-801-8551 or visiting www.visitmississippi.org.