The NGCOA named the Resort Club at Grand Dunes in Myrtle Beach, S.C., its 2009 Golf Course of the Year. Grande Dunes has been ranked one of the best daily fee courses in the U.S. by Golf magazine and last year was ranked by Golfweek as one of South Carolina’s 10 “Best Courses You Can Play.”
NGCOA will also honor the following facilities and people on Feb. 4 at its Annual Conference in New Orleans:
• The PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla., as winner of the Jemsek Award for Golf Course Excellence, which honors the world’s top championship-caliber courses.
• The Dedman family, owner of Pinehurst Resort, as winner of the Award of Merit, which is given to an individual or family who has made significant contributions to golf.
• Henry DeLozier, a former president of the NGCOA, as winner of the Don Rossi Award, which goes to an NGCOA member who has served the association with distinction. DeLozier, a principal with Global Golf Advisers, continues to serve on the association’s board of directors.
• Dudley Darling of Juniper Hill Golf Course in Northborough, Mass., and Bob MacDonald of Brookmeadow Country Club in Canton, Mass., as winners of the Champion Award, which recognizes work that improves opportunities for fellow course owners. The two course owners led an initiative to allow alcoholic beverages on Massachusetts golf courses. When the new law took effect on Nov. 7, Massachusetts became the 49th state that allows sales of alcoholic beverages on the course. The law is expected to create significant incremental revenue opportunities for the state’s golf courses that choose to sell alcoholic beverages from beverage carts.