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I was heading for another career year when it comes to golf travel before life got in the way.
I almost lost my dad to a stroke in October. Tragic events like that will change your perspective in a hurry. I had to cancel trips to Cabot St. Lucia and Pebble Beach to focus on his recovery. It was the best decision I ever made.
Being present for my dad in his time of need helped me realize what's most important: not playing golf, not my job, but my family and friends. I'm thankful that he's made a wonderful recovery, and I'll never take our relationship for granted again. He's 79 and time is fleeting.
Given that this past year was filled with wonderful highs and one life-altering low, I head into 2025 with renewed enthusiasm. I'm more appreciative than ever about my life's journey, including this career and those who have supported me the past 25 years.
I look forward to the next 25, God-willing. For now, here are my 2024 golf travel awards. Thank you to everyone who made these special experiences possible. I won't take you for granted ever again.
JASON SCOTT DEEGAN'S 2024 GOLF TRAVEL AWARDS
World-Ranked Courses Played
Pacific Dunes, North Berwick, Kingsbarns, Bandon Dunes, Bandon Trails.
Other Top 100-caliber U.S. Courses Played
Martis Camp, Karoo and The Roost at Cabot Citrus Farms, Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Pasatiempo, Newport Country Club, Old MacDonald.
Best U.S. Course
Pacific Dunes will always be my favorite at Bandon Dunes. Getting to play six of the resort's seven courses during the 25th anniversary celebration was a special memory.
Best International Course
Playing North Berwick's charming West Links for the first time in a decade reaffirmed its status among the top 10 courses I've ever played.
Best U.S. Private Course
(tie) Playing Newport Country Club, host of the U.S. Senior Open in Rhode Island, and Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia, host of the Solheim Cup, were special East Coast treats for this left coaster. Honorable mention: Martis Camp
Most Scenic Course
I got to play Kingsbarns by happenstance. The playing partner I met on the first day in Scotland won the new Old Course singles daily draw and gifted his spot at Kingsbarns the next morning to me. Honorable mention: Pacific Dunes
Best Clubhouse
The mansion at Newport Country Club will forever be my favorite. I haven't seen them all, but this one was a true classic. Honorable mention: Martis Camp
Best Short Course
The dunes make the day at Shorty's, the new 19-hole course at Bandon Dunes. Honorable mention: The Preserve Sporting Club & Resort in Rhode Island.
Best New Course
This was a tough choice between two courses that are actually officially opening in 2025 - The Roost and Scarecrow at Gamble Sands. Scarecrow wins for its incredible setting above the Columbia River and the fun shot-making bouncing approaches into greens.
Honorable mention: The Roost and the North Course at La Costa, home of the Division I NCAA men's and women's championships.
Best New Course (to me)
I had so much fun hitting so many thrilling shots on Lido at Sand Valley despite it being such a benign piece of land.
Best Municipal Course
Triggs Memorial in Rhode Island has all the Donald Ross bones it needs to charm anybody who tees it up. Honorable mention: Crossings at Carlsbad
Best Tournament Attended
I got my first taste of the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Larry the Cable Guy threw my wife a souvenir ball and Charles Woodson and I took a selfie. We spent all day Saturday watching the action at the 17th hole along the water. Madness, I say. Honorable mention: Attending the Pebble Beach Pro-Am never disappoints, plus the American Family Insurance Championship in Wisconsin has grown into one of the best events on the PGA Tour Champions.
Most Surprising U.S. Course
The Club at Lac La Belle blew me away in terms of its variety of holes and unique shot values in what's essentially the middle of nowhere an hour east of Madison, Wis. It edges out Sedge Valley, the new course at Sand Valley that plays nothing like a sub-6,000-yard golf course. Tom Doak's new course punches above its weight class for sure.
Most Surprising International Course
Dukes St. Andrews doesn't get the love it deserves because it's not a link and not part of the St. Andrews Links Trust. It's a gorgeous heathland that rivals Scotland's best. On a sunny, clear day the views stretched out to the bay.
Hardest U.S. Course
Thank goodness my first time teeing up the Stadium Course at PGA West was a shamble format in The American Express pro-am with PGA Tour winner James Hahn. If I was hitting hybrids into those greens like I normally do, I wouldn't have broken 100. Using the group's best drives on every hole, I managed to make two birdies. Honorable mention: Martis Camp
Hardest International Course
The Stadium Course at Camiral Golf & Wellness outside of Barcelona is on the short list to host a future Ryder Cup. It plays like the love child of Le Golf National, host of the 2024 Olympics and 2018 Ryder Cup, and the PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. There's water, rough and narrow, twisting fairways everywhere.
Best U.S. Golf Resort
Bandon Dunes is the best golf resort in the world when you take everything into consideration - the number, quality and variety of the courses, the price, the accommodations and scenery, etc.
Best U.S. Resort Hotel
The Omni Homestead overtakes the Breakers as the best classic golf resort hotel I've ever stayed in. Multi-million-dollar restoration efforts have paid incredible dividends. I loved every creak in the floorboards and every crooked stairway.
Best International Golf Resort
Luxury doesn't begin to describe the Nobu Los Cabos, its restaurants, rooms, pools, services and especially its spa. It's also just a short shuttle ride away from the best resort course in Cabo, Solmar Golf Links.
Best International Golf Resort Hotel
(tie) It's too close to call between Rusacks St Andrews and the Old Course Hotel in Scotland. I liked the rooftop 18 restaurant best at Rusacks but my incredible suite at the Old Course Hotel was so comfortable, I could have moved in permanently.
Best Golf Casino Resort
Pechanga Casino Resort in Temecula get so lost in the shuffle of all the trendy private clubs and fancy resorts in SoCal, but its restaurant, golf course and hotel add up to five stars. The Journey at Pechanga has made the Golfers' Choice National top 10 two years running.
Coolest Resort Amenity
As a tennis player who played a single season in college, I like to think I've got a little bit of skill with a racquet in hand. That false bravado got the better of me trying court tennis for the first time at Sand Valley. Court tennis, or royal tennis, is an indoor game that's fast-paced and hard to find. This new facility is only one of 12 in America. Any golf buddies trips would be entertained by signing up for a group lesson.
Best Golf Food
The Pebble Beach Food & Wine made a post-pandemic comeback that grew bigger and better than ever with special events at both the Inn at Spanish Bay and near the main campus close to the Lodge. I wish I had two stomachs for this one.
Best Non-Golf Activity
A guided e-bike adventure with my wife and daughter touring Barcelona, one of the great cities of the world, ended with a ferry boat ride along the coast. Honorable mention: A guided tour of the La Sagrada Familia Barcelona wasn't far behind.
Best Shot
(tie) Hitting it to three inches on the famous 18th at Pasatiempo was both thrilling and deflating. Why couldn't it have gone in? That would have been the greatest walk-off golf experience a golfer can have. As cool as that moment was, this sand shot on the 17th at North Berwick has to be the best up and down of my life.
Lowest Score
Shooting 79 at Keswick Hall was one of the rare times I broke 80 all year, so the fact I did it on a Pete Dye course felt like a miracle.
What are your greatest memories from the 2024 golf season? Let us know in the comments.
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