Golf Digest's Ten Best Golf States

On the Golf Digest website there's an interesting slideshow which includes the ten best U.S. golf states. The states are ranked on the number of great public golf courses per capita. These are Golf Digest's top 10 U.S. states for golf:

1. Hawaii
2. South Carolina
3. Nevada
4. Michigan
5. Wisconsin
6. Colorado
7. Vermont
8. Nebraska
9. Arizona
10. North Dakota

As such, the Pacific islands of Hawaii tops their rankings. Hawaii has up to 46 golf courses among which is the Kapalua. With golf resorts such as Kiawah Island South Carolina is second. Nevada also has some golfing gems such as Shadow Creek, a course that extends some 7,560 yards, and Wolf Creek.

I am surprised that North Dakota, with only six golf courses, is included in the rankings. Dakota is included ahead of California which is a state that has some highly ranked golf courses, such as Pebble Beach and Cypress Point, along its coastline. Check out the slideshow here.

20-Hole Golf Course

How many 20-hole golf courses are there? Not many, but at the Haig Point Club you will find one. It is there that you can play at the Rees Jones Signature Course.

This is a golf course that has 20-holes on which you can play. However, you will only play 18. The golf course includes two hole eights, and a couple more 17th holes.

When you reach the par-3 eight holes you choose to play one of two hole eights. One is a 170 yard par-3 that has a small wetland in front of the green. The other is a longer 200 yard par-3.

The 17th hole is another double. They are also both par-3 holes that have a yardage of up to 196 yards. However, one of the holes includes a short fairway leading up to the green, whilst the other does not. Pick one of the holes to play, and then wrap up the round at the 510 yard par-5 that has marshland and an elevated green.

The innovate addition of an optional eighth and 17th hole certainly gives the course some variety, and increases the number of holes at the course to 20. Check out this page for further details on the Rees Jones Signature Course. Click on the Rees Jones Signature Course Tour link at the bottom which includes maps of each hole.

Royal County Down Golf Course

The great Royal County Down golf course is one of the top ranked golf courses the United Kingdom. This is a 7,204 yard links golf course set alongside the Mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland. It's certainly an exhilarating setting for golf. Check out this Royal County Down video slideshow.

What if Your Ball Lands in Casual Water?

Casual water is accumulated water on a golf course. It's not the water that's always in the pond, which is surrounded by yellow stakes, but rain water puddles. During the winter more substantial puddles might emerge on the course which can submerge your golf ball in water.  

If your ball lands in one of those puddles you can play it, and get a little wet. You can also drop the ball out of the puddle without a penalty. That's a free drop which must be dropped just behind the casual water.

However, casual water can also build up in bunkers. With heavy rain small bunkers can become flooded with water. If you land in casual water within a bunker you can still drop your ball, no nearer the hole, to another position in the bunker. It will still be a free drop.  

It's worth noting that you cannot make a free drop outside the bunker. Consequently, if your ball lands in a flooded bunker the free drop still has to be in the bunker. If you drop the ball outside of the bunker, as you might have to, then a one shot penalty will have to be added to the scorecard.

If you ask me that's something that should be altered. A flooded out bunker is, after all, still filled with casual water. As there are no yellow stakes around them they cannot be considered the same as lakes or ponds; yet you still have to drop a ball out of them, with a penalty, in much the same way.  

Teeth of The Dog Golf Course Video

The Teeth of The Dog at Casa de Camp is ranked 43rd in Golf Magazine's golf course rankings. This is a golf course that stretches some  7,471 yards from the black tees. It is located beside the Caribbean Ocean, and includes a variety of coastal holes. Check out this video that includes a Teeth of the Dog slideshow. 

 

The Golf GameBook

Digital scorecards aren't exactly new. Those are electronic scorecards which save your scores. However, they do not include official signing options.

The GameBook is a Samsung phone golf scoring application that includes a digital scorecard. Its scorecard is the first to include digital signing. That is thanks to its S Pen which is included with this scorecard app. With that it can be signed in much the same way as a paper scorecard. This ensures that it can be taken to golf championships.

The Golf GameBook and S Pen

The GameBook also has other additional options such as a Live Leaderboard and Game Site. It supports various built-in game formats such as matchplay, Stable ford, Scramble, Best Ball etc. With the Game Manager you can set up your own golf championships. The Gamebook has provided livescoring for numerous golf championship in Europe and the United States

If you have a Samsung S you can add this application to your phone. It is a free app that you can find at the Samsung Apps and the iTunes AppStore. Check out the GameBook website for further details.

Golf Digest Hot List

Each year Golf Digest updates its Hot List. The Hot List is a list of hot golfing gear that you could, and probably should, include in your golf bag. The Hot List includes golf balls, irons, wedges, putters, fairway woods, golf bags etc. Each item included has a gold, silver or bronze medal depending on points that are allocated to them. Check out the Golf Digest Hot List website for further details on some great golfing gear. Below is the Inside 2013 Hot List video that is also on their site.