George: No, you’ve got to do better than that.
I’m not normally a golfer even though I’m trying to play one on TV this week but there are millions of men and women who do play the game and they may wonder where the best places to go. So I’m going to the expert, John Atwood, he’s the editor in chief of Travel and Leisure Golf.
He and I got together at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta.
John: This course is famous because it was the home of Bobby Jones who was the only player to win all four of golf’s majors in one year. The grand slam and he brought golf to America in a way that had never been brought before. He really was a national hero. The first and I believe only golfer today to have a ticker tape parade down Broadway. He was the sports star of his age or one of the great sports stars of his age and not only did he put golf on the map in this area, he popularized it around the country in a way that had never been before.
George: Bobby Jones likeness, his trophies and his memory permeate the club house. To some who visit, this is hallowed ground. But now it’s time to tell you about the crème de la crème of the courses. John Atwood’s list of the places you must play if you’re a serious golfer. Number one, St. Andrews in Scotland.
John: For this kind of thing, you really have to begin at the birthplace of golf which is St. Andrews Scotland. Home of the old course which is the earliest place where golf is known to have been played. It is a magical course.
George: Like John Atwood, most historians agree the sport began in Scotland in the mid 15th century. The earliest reference to golf is attributed to King James II of Scotland who in 1457 issued a ban on golf and soccer. He said people engaged in those sports were preventing archers from practicing. By 1744, the first written rules of golf appeared in Edinboro. That said, there’s evidence there were stick and ball games in France, Germany and the Netherlands as well. Number two Royal Dornoch in Scotland.
John: Which is another great old course. It may be the third oldest course in Scotland and it dates back to the 1600s. It’s probably the most beautiful golf course I’ve ever played, laid out along the Dornoch firs there with spectacular views of the north sea and hills and banks of course lining the left side of the course is really a special magical place. You can spend a lifetime in Scotland and never get bored.
George: Number three, Valley Bunion in Ireland.
John: It’s hard to stray too far from the area because Ireland also offers such fantastic golf experiences and I would say my favorite golf course there, of those that I’ve played is the old course at Valley Bunion. On the west coast of Ireland, a charming little town that has this wonderful old golf course that goes back too far to know even who the architect of it was and that has famously an old graveyard on the side of the fairway on the first hole and some of the most beautiful links land in golf and you’ll find that it’s just such beautiful scenery that even people who don’t play golf, love to walk the courses.
George: Number four, Royal County Down Northern Ireland.
John: Also in Ireland, one I haven’t been to but it’s on the top of my list of places I want to go play is Royal County Down in Northern Ireland. On the east coast, another course that old town Morris had a hand in designing and the pictures I’ve seen of it are spectacular. The people I know who played it just rave about it. Again, there are a lot of courses to choose from in Ireland but that one is known to be iconic just for the spectacular views.
George: Worldwide 50 to 61 million men, women and children strike little balls with big sticks and pay big bucks for the privilege. In the United States, there are as many as 37 million golfers. They play at 20,000 courses public and private all across the globe. Number five, Pebble Beach.
John: Cross the pond to America and go to the Monterey Peninsula in California which is the home of Pebble Beach of course, one of the—always one of the highest rank courses in the world. The Monterey Peninsula is just one of the most spectacular special places in the world that I’ve been too in terms of just natural beauty and it’s an ideal location for golf and this course just has spectacular holes along the cliffs. It comes down to the water. It goes back up into the hills. It’s a real special place where many great championships have been played and often the history of place will lend to the aura of it and all these courses that I’m telling you about have special histories and things happened there. Major championships that make it especially fun to go and play on.
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