Sandia Golf Club in Albuquerque comes in at No. 21 on GolfWeek’s 2009 list of the nation’s best casino courses. The Inn of the Mountain Gods near Ruidoso ranks 33rd on the top 40 list for 2009, which was released Dec. 9.
Both courses fell several spots from the 2008 rankings. Steve Wynn’s Shadow Creek in Las Vegas topped the list again this year. Click here for the entire GolfWeek list.
Herb Kohler, Chairman and CEO of Kohler Co., through a subsidiary, The Old Course Limited, has purchased Hamilton Hall of St. Andrews, Scotland, one of the most photographed buildings in the world of golf.
The building, to the right of the Swilken Burn Bridge and the Old Course’s 18th fairway, was featured in the film “Chariots of Fire” and in global television coverage of tournaments played on the Old Course, which will be the venue for the 2010 British Open.
Kohler, who built Whistling Straits and the Irish Club in Kohler, Wis., has restored other historic buildings. He plans to restore the former hotel and one-time St. Andrews college dormitory as a lodging establishment. the four-story red-brick building opened as a hotel in 1895.
Sierra del Rio Golf Course in Elephant Butte, N.M., is offering a $40 special for an 18-hole round, cart included, through February. The golf course also offers a $250 special for all the golf you can play between now and March 1, provided you buy before Jan. 1. For more information click on Sierra del Rio’s website or call (575) 744-4653.
Occasional Sun Country Golf contributor Patrick McGreevy, a Seattle personal injury attorney, sent us this news release:
“Patrick McGreevy will take an indefinite break from his family until he straightens out his golf game.”
We assume that unlike those of Tiger Woods’, the windows of McGreevy’s Cadillac Escalade are intact — for now, at least.
Unheralded Katie Kempter of Albuquerque finished strong in the final round of the LPGA Q School to tie for second, winning full exemption to the 2010 LPGA Tour.
Kempter, a Denver University and Sandia High School graduate, finished with a final 68 to card a 353 (70-69-73-73-68) in the rain-delayed five-round event in Daytona Beach, Fla., two shots behind Amanda Blumenhurst. Roswell’s Gerina Mendoza, with at 362 (77-72-72-70- 71), finished 30th, winning limited exemption for the 2010 season. Albuquerque’s Dorothy Delasin had a horrendous Q School and won no status for the 2010 season. Click here for the LP GA Tour’s final 2009 Q School Leaderboard.
Kempter told the story of her quest for a card in the winter issue of Sun Country Golf. Click here for that issue of the magazine, and scroll to Page 15.
At the PGA Tour Q School in West Palm Beach, Fla., players with New Mexico connections did not fare as well. Shane Bertsch won his 2010 Tour Card, tying for 15th, but Tim Herron, D.J. Brigman and Madalitso Muthiya fell short. Bertsch rallied from a tie for 50th in the sixth and final round of that rain-delayed event to shoot 65 and leapfrog much of the field. Click here for the PGA Tour Q School Leaderboard.
