Golf may not do the same TV ratings as football, but when it comes to philanthropy, it's the #1 sport by far.
Golfers are generous people, from the PGA Tour on down to the rank and file hobbyists.
Because of that generosity, the Youth on Course 100 Hole Hike continues to gain momentum. Every year, ambitious golfers commit to play 100 holes of golf in a single day, sunup to sundown, to raise money for Youth on Course, an organization that facilitates $5 rounds of golf for kids at thousands of golf courses across North America. GolfPass Managing Editor Jason Deegan participated in a 100 Hole Hike last summer, zooming around the new-look Peter Hay par-3 course at Pebble Beach in August. Read about the experience here.
The 2023 slate of 100 Hole Hike sites was just released, and it is the best yet. In addition to the typically shorter golf courses where the Premier hikes occur, participants also get the opportunity to play a "bonus round" at a nearby course of considerable acclaim as a thank-you for their fundraising efforts. This year, those courses include major championship venues and other top-100-caliber layouts. Here is the schedule:
June 19: Madison Golf Club in Madison, N.J. | Bonus round at Somerset Hills Country Club
July 28*: The Hay at Pebble Beach (Calif.) | Bonus round at Spyglass Hill Golf Course
August 21: The Baths of Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisc. | Bonus round at Whistling Straits
September 11: Sherwood Lakes Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. | Bonus round at Sherwood Country Club
September 19: The Yards in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. | Bonus round at TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course
October 9: The Hay at Pebble Beach (Calif.) | Bonus round at The Links at Spanish Bay
October 30: The Horse Course at Trinity Forest in Dallas, Texas | Bonus round at Trinity Forest Golf Club
November 10 Cloud 9 in Las Vegas, Nev. | Bonus round at Cascata
Premier hikes require raising at least $10,000 or more (the July 28th is even more), while the Champions ($5,000 fundraising minimum) and Pro ($1,500 fundraising minimum) levels require less. Many of those sites have been announced but not all:
2023 Champions 100 Hole Hikes
- Bobby Jones Golf Course, Atlanta, GA – June 6
- Olympic Club Cliffs Course, San Francisco, CA – June 12
- Midland Country Club, Midland, TX – August 14
- Briggs Ranch, San Antonio, TX – August 27
2023 Pro 100 Hole Hikes - Miami Valley Golf Club, Dayton, OH – May 8
- Fleming 9 at TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, CA – June 28
- Claremont Country Club, Oakland, CA – August 14
- 3's Greenville, Greenville, SC – August 28
- F.M. Law Park, Houston, TX – September 14
For more information and to get involved with Youth on Course's 100 Hole Hikes, click here.
Other golf course news and notes
5 FOR SAUCON VALLEY - Saucon Valley, a heralded 54-hole private club in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, which hosted the 2022 U.S. Senior Open, has signed up for five more USGA championships over the coming decades. In addition to further U.S. Senior Opens in 2032 and 2042, it will also host the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur, the 2038 U.S. Women's Amateur and the 2051 U.S. Amateur. [LINK: USGA]
PUBLIC PLAY AT MILITARY GEM - Previously only playable by those with a Department of Defense ID, come August 2023, the general public will be welcome to play golf at Eglin Air Force Base on the Florida Panhandle. Eglin's golf complement, which will be reduced from 36 to 27 holes, includes the Eagle Course, which dates back to 1927 and was laid out by Golden Age architect William Langford. [LINK: Eglin AFB]
$40M NEW CITY COURSE? - Developers will carve out a portion of Ft. Lauderdale's Orangebrook Golf Club for new commercial real estate, freeing up millions to totally revamp the facility's two golf courses. Rees Jones is on board as the architect. [LINK: South Florida Business Journal]
DISMEMBERED - The Gallery Golf Club, a future LIV Golf host course in Marana, Ariz., is in hot water with local authorities over the removal of century-old cacti as preparation for the tournament. [LINK: Arizona Central]
GOLF-ADJACENT - The newest PopStroke 'golfertainment' facility opened last week in Glendale, Ariz. References to major investor Tiger Woods abound: his TGR Design laid out the two putting courses, one of the 15-time major champ's bags is on display in the clubhouse and the pro shop features replicas of Woods' "Frank" headcover for purchase. [LINK: YourValley.net]
