Iconic Carlsbad Resort to Host NCAA Division I Championships
We are now in the heart of the holiday season and we hope that all our friends will enjoy these days to the fullest. Golf travel wasn’t so easy in this pandemic year, but we’re sure that better days are ahead.
Len Ziehm on Golf wanted to remain on your radar when it came to providing the latest from travel destinations. To do that we have made three driving trips in 2020, visiting seven states after the pandemic clicked in big-time on March 12.
Spending 37 days on the road for those jaunts isn’t much, compared what we’ve done in our previous 10 years driving around the country to report on golf travel. We have one trip, albeit a short one, remaining in 2020.
Next week we’ll be going to Sebring, Florida — a great place for golfers who want to play a lot and still enjoy the many benefits that a small town offers.
IN THE MEANTIME, here’s updates from some of our favorite places that we visited recently.
DESPITE THE problems caused by the pandemic there were three big stories in the world of golf travel in 2020. Two involved long-famous destinations, the other a Texas town that is certain to become one.
Back in the day Ohio’s Firestone and California’s LaCosta were among the very best PGA Tour stops. Firestone, a long-time private club, hosted big tournaments since the 1950s and LaCosta was on the pro tour calendar from 1968 through 2007 before focusing on resort play.
Now things have changed.
Firestone, now open to non-members, is offering stay-and-play packages, and LaCosta, with its 36 holes, is back in the tournament business – or at least it will be soon. Following a renovation of its Champions Course by Gil Hanse – the game’s hottest architect at the moment, the resort will host the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s championships from 2024 to 2026.
We’ve been to both places, but not in recent years. I’ve played the Firestone courses and reported on tournaments there. LaCosta was a key part of a five-week driving trip through western states in 2015 that included stops at prominent destinations in California, Washington and Arizona.
LaCosta was a name from the past even back then. It had hosted 25 PGA Tour events and two LPGA tournaments in those more high-profile times. More
