Sunil Tanna asked:


The United States is blessed with many wonderful public golf courses, including several in the state of North Carolina. In this article, we will review some of the best public golf courses in the North Carolina, and what they offer.

1. Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Course in Southern Pines, was laid out by the Scottish born golf architect, Donald Ross. The course, which has always been lovingly maintained, has in recent years been restored back towards the original Donald Ross design, while the greens’ foundations have nevertheless been rebuilt to USGA specifications.

2., 3. and 4. Pinehurt Resort and Country Club in the village of Pinehurst is home to no less than 8 different golf courses as well as the Pinehurst Golf Academy. The most highly rated are No. 2, No. 4 and No. 8. The No. 2 course was designed by Donald Ross in 1907. The No. 4 and No. 8 courses are both designs by Tom Fazio (2000 and 1996 respectively), although the No. 4 course owes a great debt to an earlier Ross course on the same site. The No. 2 is especially known as a challenging course, not because of any individual feature, but because of the combination of features that it offers, and hence is a popular site for golf championships, more in fact than any other course in the country, including having hosted the 2005 U.S. Open Championship.

5. Rivers Edge Golf Course is an Arnold Palmer Signature Course in Shallotte. The course is home to spectacular landscapes, and six of the holes sit upon bluffs which overlook the Shallotte River and surrounding marshlands.

6. Ocean Ridge Plantation in Sunset Beach is home to four courses: “Lion’s Paw”, “Panther’s Run”, “Tiger’s Eye”, and new in 2007, “Leopard’s Chase”. While all the courses have something special to offer, perhaps the best known and most highly regarded is the “Tiger’s Eye” which has been rated as one of the best public golf courses in the country by Golf Digest.



Clarence

Andy West asked:


A common dream for golfers is to be able to manage their own golf course. Imagine having the freedom of being surrounded by your favorite sport 365 days a year and also being in complete charge of an entire golf course. Sounds like an impossible dream doesn’t it? With the proper schooling and training you can make this dream your reality. Having knowledge about golf course management is a must.

Owning a golf course isn’t something that you should jump into without first considering all of the possible angles and difficulties that you may face along the way. Managing a golf course is quite a bit different than managing a convenience store. There are many things that you will need to become familiar with before going ahead with your decision. It is not solely a nice looking course with vibrant greens that makes a golf course successful. Everything from choosing the proper employees, to the layout of the golf course must be considered in excruciating detail.

Thankfully, there are ways to familiarize yourself with the topic of golf course management. A good starting point would be to take a general business management course. With this course you will learn how to manage the everyday aspects of a typical business, which will certainly come in handy later on if you are planning on moving on to golf course management. You will learn about the financial aspects of running your own business such as taxes, employee wages, renting a building as well as the day to day duties of any business owner. This could deal with employee management, how to ensure that your business goes up in value or even how to scout a location. All of these skills will be crucial to managing your course and need to be understood before taking the next step.

Once you are familiar with the prospect of managing your own business, you can start working on your plan to own and manage a golf course. You are of course first going to have to figure out the finances for this project and for this you will need to develop a business plan. A business plan simply outlines all of your plans and estimated costs of golf course management. This could include the location, the cost for upkeep of the grounds, cost of the pro shop, employee wages and the total cost of the property among many other things. In order to get a loan for this type of endeavor, you will need to prove to the bank that your idea will become profitable in the long run and that you will be able to repay your loan.

Once the financial portion is figured out, there are a variety of companies that you can hire who specialize in golf course management if you feel you need the help. They will send representatives to your location to help you with every aspect of setting up the golf course of your dreams. From the grass maintenance all the way to every last nickel and penny, a proper golf course management firm will definitely improve your chances of success.

Deciding to hire these types of firms depends on the scale of your golf course as well as how much you are already familiar about the industry. Therefore, if this in your first experience with golf course management, it would be advisable to hire one of these firms to help with the start up phase. Owning your own golf course can be a dream come true. With hard work, education and hiring experienced help when you need it, this can happen, and you’ll be on your way to living, working and playing in your own paradise.



Frank

bill h asked:


I am thinking about building a mini golf course in new york state, and I am having trouble finding any literature stating any specifications I must meet. If you have any experience or knowledge on this topic, please share.

Ruben