Travel Notes - golf-related travel - Brief Article

Golf Digest, Dec, 2000

Which are the best states for course conditioning, and which are the worst? The top three, using ratings from Golf Digest's Places to Play guide: Wyoming (average 3.952 out of a possible 5), West Virginia (3.906), Vermont (3.799). And the bottom three: Delaware (2.974), Nebraska (3.130), New Jersey (3.164).

Planning your 2001 vacation? The most popular National Park in America, by far, is the Great Smoky Mountains site on the edge of Tennessee and North Carolina, with more than 10 million visitors a year. The best place to play nearby? We suggest Willow Creek Golf Club (865-675-0100) in Knoxville, Tenn., less than an hour away. And don't miss Dollywood, either.

The Lucayan on Grand Bahama Island has become a 36-hole resort with the opening of its new Lucayan Reef Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. A Butch Harmon School of Golf opens at the facility on Dec. 1.

Golf in the Northwest has received a boost with the opening of Washington National, just south of Seattle. Green fees at the John Fought design, which is the new home course for the University of Washington, run $64 to $94 (phone 253-333-5000). A second course, to be a tribute to the British Open, debuts in 2002. Those of a nervous disposition are advised to play from the "Freshman" tees.