http://bradkingwrites.com Great Golf and Travel Writing Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:25:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en PENSACOLA, FLORIDA — With an eye toward transforming the area’s only municipal golf course into a more profitable operation, the City of Pensacola and the Parks and Recreation Department invested $750,000 on what many would call a long overdue, “extreme makeover” to Osceola Municipal Golf Course. Its new marketing slogan is: “Come Play Osceola Again For The First Time.” The First Tee facility now includes a full-service, 70-person practice facility — complete with a massive, new putting ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/golf/222/new-old-golf-course-reopens-in-northwest-florida AUSTIN, TEXAS — Despite the record-breaking heat, historic drought and wildfires that severely impacted Bastrop, Texas a dozen miles to the east, the Wolfdancer Golf Club at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa proudly sports its best-ever playing conditions since it first emerged onto the Austin golf scene five years ago. In fact, the resort’s picturesque setting played a major role in not only allowing the golf course to survive the summer elements, but ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/partner/austin-golf-trail/219/wolfdancer-golf-club-overcomes-mother-nature DAVIE, FLORIDA (November 2011) — Out of commission since December 2008 as part of an Interstate 595 expansion, the former Arrowhead Golf and Country Club near Ft. Lauderdale has reopened following a complete redesign by golf course architect Harrison Minchew. The course’s new owner, The Town of Davie, announced the course will now be called Davie Golf and Country Club. The 10.5-mile, I-595 corridor in the highly urbanized and congested Broward County is being reconstructed as ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/golf/208/former-arrowhead-golf-club-reopens-with-new-name (MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2011) — From former Masters, PGA and U.S. Open champions to the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers to numerous military and government officials, the stars have come out in full support of today’s inaugural GOLF 9/12 celebration of unity. At 50 courses around the country, more than 4,000 GOLF 9/12 patrons will tee off simultaneously at 2 PM EST in what can eventually become the largest multi-venue golf event in the ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/golf/personalities/179/honoring-the-spirit-of-freedom-and-uniting-through-golf WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Maybe one of North Carolina’s most famous products, the brilliant novelist, Thomas Wolfe, had it all wrong. Perhaps a fella really can go home again. For the second consecutive weekend in the state’s Triad region a pair of native Tar Heel sons returned home to capture historic professional victories. Last week it was up-and-coming golf sensation Webb Simpson — Raleigh native, Charlotte resident, Wake Forest grad — finally breaking through and winning his first ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/163/native-tar-heel-sons-return-to-their-roots-to-capture-important-titles GREENSBORO, N.C. — Webb Simpson is going to win on the PGA Tour. Chances are, Webb Simpson is going to win many times on the PGA Tour. I say this because the last thing anyone would want to do is put any extra pressure on Simpson as he enters today’s final round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club with a two-shot lead over a host of pursuers including a couple of other sentimental faves: 2008 ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/golf/personalities/153/simpson-win-at-wyndham-would-resonate-throughout-tar-heel-state GREENSBORO, N.C. — When PGA TOUR rookie William McGirt stood on Sedgefield Country Club's fifth tee box Friday with five holes remaining in his second round of the 2011 Wyndham Championship, he figured he was likely positioned somewhere around the tournament cut line. McGirt also knew there was a whole lot more riding on his final five holes than just making the cut. The ruddy, 32-year-old Wofford College grad entered the week as one of the ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/golf/personalities/141/mcgirt-picks-perfect-time-for-one-of-his-best-rounds-of-the-year GREENSBORO, N.C. — One of the bigger buzzes around Sedgefield Country Club during the first few days of PGA TOUR’s Wyndham Championship this week has been the inaugural issue of a bimonthly, Greensboro-based magazine called, “O.Henry," which includes a lengthy story about the club and the tournament titled, "Birthplace of Champions: How the Wyndham Championship came to symbolize the revival of a region." A major factor behind all the magazine launch excitement is that "O.Henry" is being ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/golf/personalities/123/bestselling-author-jim-dodson-generates-wyndham-championship-excitement-with-debut-of-new-magazine GREENSBORO, N.C. (August 18, 2011) — Olafur Loftsson, a rising senior at UNC-Charlotte, became the first golfer from Iceland to compete in a PGA TOUR event this morning during the Wyndham Championship at Greensboro's venerable Sedgefield Country Club. Battling a bit of shaky nerves at the start of his 8:50 tee time Thursday morning, Loftsson double-bogeyed his first hole of the day, Sedgefield's par-4 10th, but played the remaining 17 holes in 4 under par to finish ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/golf/personalities/116/wyndham-championship-welcomes-first-icelander-to-pga-tour GREESNBORO, N.C. — There was a palpable buzz throughout the corridors of historic Sedgefield Country Club on Monday during the annual Media Day press conference for the 2011 Wyndham Championship, as 10th year tournament director Mark Brazil stepped to the podium and announced that the PGA TOUR and Wyndham Worldwide were extending their title sponsorship of the event for four years through 2016. "It's a win-win situation, and it's great news for the region," Brazil said. ... ]]> http://bradkingwrites.com/golf/golf/personalities/108/wyndham-championship-receives-four-year-extension-of-title-sponsorship