Golf and our National Parks

[John Kavanaugh]

What are the best golf options near our National Parks?  Your answers need not be limited to only the parks listed in the following article.

Seems to me the Devil's Tower may lead the pack for interesting courses available.  Never seen it myself. http://devilstowergolf.com/

http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/the-best-of-america-s-national-parks.html?page=1

Sadly, the nearest park to my home is Mammoth Cave.  Sad because back when I could fit I never visited.  Nine inch high tunnels, Really?  I did find the following profile of a course nearby.  Would love to meet J.C. Ramsey.

The 18-hole "Shady Hollow" course at the Shady Hollow Golf Course Facility in Cub Run, Kentucky features 6,100 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 71.  The course rating is 70.0 and it has a slope rating of 113 on grass.  Designed by J.C. Ramsey, the Shady Hollow golf course opened in 1997.  J.C. Ramsey manages the course as the Superintendent.

[Bill Seitz]

The park itself is pretty small, but Bully Pulpit (Hurdzan) sits on basically the same land as Teddy Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND.  It's just outside the border of the park, plays along the Little Missouri River, and has a few holes that play through the Badlands which are the Park's main feature.  It's a pretty decent golf course, and the scenery is stunning.  You can drive the scenic loop of the South Unit of the Park in about an hour and a half, and there's a good chance you'll see a herd of wild bison.  Not sure if there's a lodge, but there's plenty of lodging in Medora, which does a big summer tourist business.
http://www.medora.com/bully-pulpit/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt_National_Park

It's also about two hours from Hawktree in Bismarck, and three hours from the Links of North Dakota in Ray/Williston. 

[Cory Lewis]

Caverns Country Club in Luray is a fun course to play very close to Shenandoah National Park.

[Kalen Braley]

Probably the leader in the clubhouse is Zion National Park, which is a fantastic park by the way.  Been there a couple of times now.

All of these are 1/2 hour at most from the main entrance to Zion:

Coral Canyon
Sand Hollow
Entrada
Sky Mountain

[Phil McDade]

Kebo Valley, which adjoins Acadia National Park in Maine. A Leeds course that originated in the 19th Century.

http://www.kebovalleyclub.com/

[John Kavanaugh]

Kebo Valley, which adjoins Acadia National Park in Maine. A Leeds course that originated in the 19th Century.

http://www.kebovalleyclub.com/

Thanks, the 8th oldest course in the United States, amazing.  Looks a bit expensive for Maine.

[Phil McDade]

Kebo Valley, which adjoins Acadia National Park in Maine. A Leeds course that originated in the 19th Century.

http://www.kebovalleyclub.com/

Thanks, the 8th oldest course in the United States, amazing.  Looks a bit expensive for Maine.

Not for Bar Harbor -- one of the true old money haunts of the Northeast.

[Garland Bayley]

Probably the leader in the clubhouse is Zion National Park, which is a fantastic park by the way.  Been there a couple of times now.

All of these are 1/2 hour at most from the main entrance to Zion:

Coral Canyon
Sand Hollow
Entrada
Sky Mountain

Probably the leader in the clubhouse is Glacier National Park, which is a fantastic park by the way.

http://www.golfnorthwestmontana.com/

Another contender might be Hot Springs Arkansas

[Kalen Braley]

Probably the leader in the clubhouse is Zion National Park, which is a fantastic park by the way.  Been there a couple of times now.

All of these are 1/2 hour at most from the main entrance to Zion:

Coral Canyon
Sand Hollow
Entrada
Sky Mountain

Probably the leader in the clubhouse is Glacier National Park, which is a fantastic park by the way.

http://www.golfnorthwestmontana.com/

Two thumbs down...   quantity != quality.

 Most of those courses look like stuff I wouldn't play even if it was next door, much less in the middle of nowhere   

[JC Jones]

Sorry guys, Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Crystal Downs
Kingsley Club
Arcadia Bluffs

On and on

[Kalen Braley]

Sorry guys, Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Crystal Downs
Kingsley Club
Arcadia Bluffs

On and on

I thought we were talking about these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_the_United_States


Not others like these: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Lakeshore

 

[JC Jones]

That first list is biased!

[Garland Bayley]

Probably the leader in the clubhouse is Zion National Park, which is a fantastic park by the way.  Been there a couple of times now.

All of these are 1/2 hour at most from the main entrance to Zion:

Coral Canyon
Sand Hollow
Entrada
Sky Mountain

Probably the leader in the clubhouse is Glacier National Park, which is a fantastic park by the way.

http://www.golfnorthwestmontana.com/

Two thumbs down...   quantity != quality.

 Most of those courses look like stuff I wouldn't play even if it was next door, much less in the middle of nowhere   

So how about
The Wilderness Club featured at http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41190.0.html ?
Or Eagle Bend? Or casting a little farther away, the Idaho Club?

Gotta say your response is pretty snooty for a guy who promoted cheap Utah courses for years that were mainly that, cheap.

[Mike Hendren]

Langford's Gatlinburg CC at the gateway to the Smokies covers some hilly terrain and features 3 consecutive par fives routed through narrow valley floors, followed by a huge drop-shot par three.  Haven't played it in 30 years and I believe it has been renovated if not ruined.

Mike

[Joe Stansell]

Not a contender, I suppose, but "relatively" close to Mesa Verde:

* Pinon Hills, Farmington NM
* Hideout, Monticello, UT

[Garland Bayley]

Not a contender, I suppose, but "relatively" close to Mesa Verde:

* Pinon Hills, Farmington NM
* Hideout, Monticello, UT

Hideout belongs to Canyonlands you Piker!

[Joe Stansell]

Garland, that a course can belong to two different National Parks tells you what a fabulous area of the world that is down there in the four corners. And for the record, Canyonlands was not on the list to which we were limited by the original poster.

[Will MacEwen]

On behalf of Canada I am going to lead with a pair from the Rockies - Banff and Jasper.

Edit:  Adding in Highland Links.

[Garland Bayley]

Garland, that a course can belong to two different National Parks tells you what a fabulous area of the world that is down there in the four corners. And for the record, Canyonlands was not on the list to which we were limited by the original poster.

Yep it is a fabulous area of the world until it strands you for several days with a flash flood.
I guess you just want to exclude Kalen and my posts.
Any list that does not have Yellowstone and Glacier on it as America's best is lacking. Zion, I can do without.

[Kalen Braley]

I think the other key word in JK's original post is "near"

Idaho Club is nowhere near Glacier Nat'l Park.

Even The Wilderness Club is over a 1.5 hour drive to the main entrance for Glacier.

[Kris Shreiner]

The Wawona Golf Course in Yosemite, near the Wawona Hotel, is a sporty little 9 holer. The setting is superb, and with some TLC and a few tweaks could be pretty decent. As it is...it's worth a romp. Tell 'm John Muir sent ya!

Cheers,
Kris

[Garland Bayley]

I think the other key word in JK's original post is "near"

Idaho Club is nowhere near Glacier Nat'l Park.

Even The Wilderness Club is over a 1.5 hour drive to the main entrance for Glacier.

"near" is in the eyes of the beholder. In Montana distances The Wilderness Club is next door. In KY distances as evidenced by JK's post, it is on the door step. JK's example course is over 100 miles from Mammoth Cave. In Montana distances that is like going to the Idaho Club. Actually, I only mentioned the Idaho Club as it was a course you had played. I duly noted it was "farther away".

For the National Park list policing on this thread, JK's first example is Devil's Tower which does not make his list you claim we should adhere to.
For that matter, it is not even a National Park!

[Greg Chambers]

Rocky Mountain National Park...Denver is less than 70 miles from the east gate.  And there are quite a few nice mountain courses on the west side of the park.

[Garland Bayley]

I kind of have been waiting for someone to mention Joshua Tree National Park the neighbor of Kings Putter site Stone Eagle.

[Peter Ferlicca]

Actually Garland,

Stone Eagle is built in a National Park. 

Every time you go up the hill right before you get to the range it says you are entering San Jacinto National Park.  That is a reason why no homes will ever be built up there on the course because it is in a national park.