NEWS

Best golf courses in America named after people | A Quick Nine

By T.J. Auclair, Interactive Producer
Published on
Best golf courses in America named after people | A Quick Nine

Golf courses have all kinds of names. Some are funny -- like Hombre Golf Club in Panama City, Fla., which features three, 9-hole courses known as, "The Good," "The Bad," and "The Ugly."

Some golf course names are more distinguished -- like National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y.

Golf course names can come to be due to a distinctive feature on the course -- like Fallen Oak Golf Club in Saucier, Miss.

GALLERY: Even more amazing golf course photos on Instagram

And then, there are many, many golf courses around the country that are named after people. Those are the ones we were interested in for this week's, "A Quick Nine."

As we're known to do, we reached out to the best experts we know in golf -- you, the 194,000+ strong in PGA.com Facebook Nation (click here to join the masses!) -- to ask a simple question: What are the best golf courses in America named after people?

Here's the list of the best answers we received:

9. Custer Hill Golf Course in Fort Riley, Kansas. Named after Gen. George Armstrong Custer, United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.

8. Kenny Perry Country Creek in Franklin, Ky. Perry -- a 14-time winner on the PGA Tour and a five-time winner on the Champions Tour, including two majors -- built this golf course in his home town, "to make the game of golf accessible to anyone who wishes to play and designed the layout to make the game fun for players of all handicap levels."

READ: Winter golf can be done and enjoyed | Best winter golf destinations

7. Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. This special place has hosted seven U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship. It will host the PGA Championship again in 2016. Baltusrol is named after Baltus Roll, an apple farmer who farmed the land that the club resides on. On Feb. 22, 1831, Roll was murdered in his farmhouse by two thieves who believed Roll was hiding a small treasure.

6. Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, W. Va. This former coal mine in the mountains of West Virginia was transformed into a breathtaking golf course by legendary golf course architect Pete Dye. There are many Dye-designed courses around the country that bear the legend's name, including The Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Ind.; The Dye Club at Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach; and Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech to name a few.

5. Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis. This Pete Dye-design is named after Chief Blackwolf of the Winnebago Indian tribe, which resided on the land along the Sheboygan River valley in the early 1800s. A collection of framed Native American arrowheads hang on the clubhouse walls at Blackwolf Run -- relics that were collected during the construction of the golf course and were presented as a gift to owner Herb Kohler.

4. Horton Smith Municipal Golf Course in Springfield, Mo. Named after the winner of the first Masters Tournament contested in 1934 at Augusta National. Smith was born in Springfield. He won the Masters again in 1936 and accumulated 32 PGA Tour titles in all. Though he died in 1963 at age 55, Smith was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990. The PGA of America annually grants the Horton Smith Award to a PGA professional who has made "outstanding and continuing contributions to PGA education."

READ: The unwritten rules of golf | Your unwritten rules of golf

3. Chick Evans Golf Course in Morton Grove, Ill. Named after the first amateur to win the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in one year (1916). Evans competed in a record 50 consecutive U.S. Amateurs over his remarkable career, winning his second and last in 1920. Evans is also known for founding the Evans Scholarship, a college scholarship for qualified caddies.

2. Payne Stewart Golf Club in Branson, Mo. The course says, "the Payne Stewart Golf Club is a tribute to Missouri native and favorite son, Payne Stewart. It is difficult not to be affected by the story of Payne's life and to feel his legacy when you play this championship golf course. Each hole at the PSGC is interwoven with a story of Stewart's life and golfing experiences throughout his career."

1. Old Macdonald in Bandon, Ore. From you, our readers, Old Mac had the most votes. This fantastic links course -- part of the Bandon Dunes Resort -- was designed by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina and pays homage to golf course architect and winner of the first U.S. Amateur held at Newport Country Club (R.I.) in 1895, C.B. Macdonald.

Follow T.J. Auclair on Twitter, @tjauclair.