Military Golf Courses

[Robert "Cliff" Stanfield]

I grew up playing golf at Langley Air Force Base and surrounding base golf courses.  I want to make a list of the best military golf courses.  My father is retired Army and I have talked about taking him to the best courses on the forts/bases if any.  If anybody has a few ideas and experience with these various courses it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

[THuckaby2]

RCS:  there are a few great ones here in  northern CA, but base closings have meant good news for me (they're now open to the public so I can play them with much less hassle) but bad news for your Dad - military get less and less price breaks as time goes on.  The best are at Fort Ord near Monterey (Bayonet/Blackhorse) and the Presidio in SF (Presidio GC).  There's also a decent course at Moffett Field (about 25 miles south of San Francisco) but that's not worth making a special trip for.

There is a fantastic complex in Colorado near the Air Force Academy - that would be a great one for your Dad to visit.

That's the extent of my knowledge - there are indeed many of these still active I'm sure.

TH

[ed_getka]

If you make it to the San Diego area, check out NAS North Island (Sea and Air GC?), it has some interesting holes and some holes are along the beach on some sandy soil that play interestingly in the wind. Also NE of San Diego is NAS Miramar which also has some very good holes. Neither course is "great", but you won't consider them a waste of time. There are also 36 holes just east of the stadium in S.D. that aren't quite as good as the above courses, but that gives you 72 holes of military golf in one area. Play Barona Creek on top of that and you have a golf trip with perfect weather.  8)Good luck.

[Chris_Clouser]

There is an excellent former military course in Indianapolis now called the Fort.  I believe Dye did some renovation work on it after it was purchased from the DOD.  I don't know exactly what he did with it as I haven't played it since he did his work, but I believe the routing is the same and I have only heard good things about the course.

[RandyC]

Ft. Lewis, near Olympia, WA has a nice 27 hole complex. The original 18 opened in 1930, I believe built using WPA labor (?). It's become open to the public in the last two or so years, but I think they still give good military breaks. A fun, "typical" Pacific Northwest course through huge Douglas Firs.

Whispering Firs GC (Bob Baldock) is at nearby McChord Air Force base. Anybody know anything about this course? I'm planning on playing in the US Mid-Am qualifier there leter this year...

[Bruce_Matthews]

Selfridge ANG Base, Mt. Clemens, Michigan
18 holes, built on a practice bombing field between the runways and Lake St. Clair.  The 18 hole golf course was recently totally rebuilt in 2000.  A few old practice bombs were found during construction.  Another interesting feature is that the highest point on the golf course is at water level.  Turn off the pumps and the golf course and air base are under 8' of water.  

The Air Force Academy's Blue and Silver courses, done by Jones and Phelps, are both excellent experiences.  Trying to find the breaks on the greens with the Rockies in the background is extremely difficult.  

-A Proud Academy Graduate's Dad

[Pete Lavallee]

Ed was right about the many Military courses in the San Diego area. NAS North Island has a great back nine playing right along the beach dunes. MCAS Miramar is flat as a pancake, but has fantastically conditioned greens. But he left out our best Military track, Marine Memorial at Camp Pendelton in Oceanside(50 minute drive from SD). Its' a Billy Bell course from the 50's, nice routing, good topography and decent conditioning.

[Doug Wright]

RC,

Once again it's unfortunate the search engine doesn't work on this site. There have been a couple of reasonably lengthy threads on this topic in the last year. Anyway, the US Air Force Academy Blue Course is an excellent traditional RTJ course, with solid par 4s in particular. The other (Silver) course is pretty short and less interesting, but the setting, with deer wandering about and the mountains in view, is great.

Here's a pretty comprehensive article about military courses:

http://www.travelgolf.com/departments/travelfeatures/ontheroad/military-golf-courses.htm

All The Best,

[Bill_McBride]

Navy-Marine GC on Oahu is one of the best courses on the island - great mixture of lengthy open par 4's and very tricky short par 4's.  Generally open and flattish, the trade winds play hell with the aerial game!  When I was out there in the Navy in the mid-60's, it had the grainiest set of greens I'd ever played.  Watching the tournament at Kapalua now, I see where grain is predominant throughout the Islands.  At Navy-Marine you might have to play 6" one side of a straight putt to allow for the grain!

[Lester George]

RC,

Being a military man myself, I embarked on writing a book on military golf courses back in the 80's.  Business has prevented me from finishing, but you might be interested in the compilation I came up with.  In the very near future, I'll be turning my notes over to Ron Whitten since he has been after me about them for years.  I found out some interesting things about many military courses such as designers, unique features, slope ratings, etc.  E-mail me and I'll fill you in.

Lester George

[Rob Hallford]

There is an excellent former military course in Indianapolis now called the Fort.  I believe Dye did some renovation work on it after it was purchased from the DOD.  I don't know exactly what he did with it as I haven't played it since he did his work, but I believe the routing is the same and I have only heard good things about the course.

The Fort is indeed an outstanding course--my personal favorite in town along with The Trophy Club.  From what I can gather from people I've talked to who played it before renovation, the routing has changed some (e.g., old #4 converted from a long par 5 to a long par 4 and a par 3).  I believe Tim Liddy helped Dye with this one, and while I can't comment on the original, the finished product is pretty special (makes this Mississippi expatriot forget he's in Yankee country...).

indy

[Larry Rodgers]

I am in the middle of an Air Force irrigation project and can tell you the top 2 air force golf facilities are at the accadamy and Eglin. Eglin has over 80 feet of elevation (in Florida) and the accadamy in the Springs is outstanding