Naples Golf News

ESTERO, Fla. - Golf Magazine has named Old Corkscrew Golf Club to its list of "Best Courses Near You." It is the magazine's first ever ranking of the best courses you can play in every state. The list includes 30 courses in Florida, but only two courses from Southwest Florida made the list: Old Corkscrew and Tiburon.

"This recognition from Golf Magazine is a terrific honor," said Mark Iwinski, manager of golf operations for Old Corkscrew Golf Club. "Old Corkscrew is a spectacular Jack Nicklaus Signature design course with beautiful vistas of lakes and nature preserves. What makes this course so special is that there are no residential homes surrounding the course, so the golf experience is incredibly serene." 

During the final round of the ADT Championship, scheduled for November 23 at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach a few lucky finalists will be shooting for a million dollar hole-in-one.

The National City Millon Dollar Shootout has announced four ways to qualify for the contest along with corresponding qualifying sites.

Golfers can qualify four different ways: Win a finalist spot at any of the six sites open to the public; win a finalist spot in an official designated charity golf tournament; qualify on the range during the ADT Championship or look for the enter-to-win sweepstakes display at any participating South Florida Publix beginning in mid-October. 

By Ron Green Sr.
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Inc.
Pub. Date: April 2008
ISBN-13: 9781584796947

In The Masters: 101 Reasons to Love Golf’s Greatest Tournament, longtime sports writer Ron Green Sr. shares his take on historic moments, legendary players and time-honored traditions that he has experienced during his 50-plus years covering the tournament.

The book is easy to navigate and is appealing to both readers familiar with the Masters or Augusta National and those parties interested in getting acquainted with golf’s first major and the famed club that hosts it.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Some of golf’s most influential leaders and members of the game’s most prominent associations converged on the nation’s capitol to celebrate a bipartisan Congressional resolution which declared April 16, 2008 as National Golf Day.

The golf leaders discussed the game’s impact on society, in particular its role to the U.S. economy.

The golf industry is the sports and entertainment worlds’ largest contributor to our economy, generating $76 billion in direct economic impact according to a recent study, the 2005 Golf Economy Report, commissioned by World Golf Foundation’s GOLF 20/20 initiative completed earlier this year and released at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla. 

ESTERO, FL – It is only one year old but the accolades have poured in for one of Southwest Florida’s newest golf courses: Old Corkscrew. Since late February of 2007, when the legendary Jack Nicklaus played 18 holes in a course opening exhibition round, to today, the course has been recognized with a Florida course-of-the-year award, named to a prestigious golf magazine best-of list, earned its Audubon certification and lured Southwest Florida’s best known golf instructor to relocate his golf academy to the site.

“It’s been a great year for Old Corkscrew, that’s for sure,” said Mark Iwinski, manager of golf operations for Old Corkscrew Golf Club. “We are gratified by the recognition and awards we’ve received, but more important is the satisfaction we get in providing to our members and guests the best golf experiences in Southwest Florida.”

ESTERO, FL -- The National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) has named Old Corkscrew Golf Club its 2008 Florida Course of the Year. Old Corkscrew is an 18-hole golf facility designed by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, and is located on a magnificently wooded and secluded 275-acre site on Corkscrew Road between Fort Myers and Naples, Florida.

The Course of the Year award is presented annually to an NGCOA member facility that is setting new standards in golf course design and club management by demonstrating exceptional quality, excellence of ownership and management, outstanding contributions to the community, and significant contribution to the game.

ATLANTA, GA – LastMinuteGolfer.com has announced that it plans to step up its efforts to help each of its participating courses to reduce their fixed costs. The company, currently representing that nation’s largest community of golfers (413,284 members), is offering 500 dozen range balls to each new LastMinuteGolfer course that joins the program before March 15, 2008.

LastMinuteGolfer’s growing family of over 575 golf courses continue to benefit directly from this effort as well, receiving monthly range ball rebates of up to $167/ month.

PGA Art Soderholm Scholarship Fund
The Southwest Chaper of the PGA has established a scholarship fund to assist youth in Collier, Charlotte, and Lee counties to obtain college educations. The scholarship fund will be designated for graduating high school seniors in Charlotte County, one-third in Collier County and one-third in Lee County.

Pole-Kat Golf, which made its name with a long-shaft putter in 1985, has a new club line this year – the 3DTM – designed to help golfers play better.

With the factory being in Fort Myers, local folks can buy the driver and other golf equipment at manufacturer direct prices.

The 3DTM, which stands for 3 wood/driver, has the big “sweet spot” of a driver and a spring face, which drives the ball farther than a 3 wood. It also has an offset to help most golfers that have a tendency to slice, said Jason Walden, one of the owners.Golfers can try out the 3DTM in the store’s computerized driving cage, then check the playback and swing analysis on a computer screen. The club can than be custom fi t for the golfer. Matching fairway woods are also available for the 3DTM.

John Feinstein
(Hardcover) Little, Brown and Company
ISBN 978-0-316-01430-4
$26.99

The best-selling author of “A Good Walk Spoiled,” is back with another look at the triumph and tragedy of this most personal game, this time from the perspective of golf’s most nerve-wracking weeks, Q-School. “Tales” chronicles the survivors and victims of golf’s most cruel rite of passage through the eyes, some laughing, some fi lled with tears, of the men who wanted to play golf with the big boys on the PGA TOUR in 2006.