I received and published today a comment from one of our readers, Vic, praising the Rock Harbor Golf Club in Winchester, VA, adjacent to Interstate 81.  Even though I had not played the course, I mentioned Rock Harbor last September in an article about a local bed and breakfast place. 

    Here are  Vic's comments in full, which have also been posted with the original article: 

    "Rock Harbor is possibly the most beautiful course I have ever played, bar none.  Hat's off to Mr. Denny Perry and his vision.  The ee boxes are in better condition than most of the greens on most courses and the landscaping is simply incredible.  I drove 180 miles round trip to play this course when I lived in Fredericksbug, and since I moved to Florida two years ago, I have made the trip 3 times.  I can't say enough good about this course.  Keep up the great work, Mr. Perry."

    Here is what I wrote last September as an add on to my review of the Long Hill B&B in Winchester:

    "The closest course is Rock Harbor, just a few miles away from Long Hill.  The 18-hole course was designed and built by Denny Perry, a local paving company owner, who draws water from his adjacent quarry to keep the Bentgrass greens and fairways in nice shape.  The course is a little weird in that it throws two par 3s in a row at you on the back nine, but such idiosyncrasies can have a rough charm to them when the course designer is a neophyte.  Compensating touches are two 600-yard plus par 5s with water that runs the length of the fairways to the green, an island green on a short par 3, and the customary off-the-beaten-track green fees of less than $50 on weekdays (slightly more on weekends).   Rating and slope are 72.1 and 127, respectively, from the tees at 6,700 yards.  Rock Harbor's web site has a nice tour of the course with advice from pro Jerry Wampler on how to play it.
    Rock Harbor Golf Club, 365 Rock Harbor Drive, Winchester, VA. (540) 722-7111.  Web site: www.RockHarborGolf.com"

    Winchester is on my way south to visit my son at college, and you can bet I will put it on our list to play soon.  Look for a review and photos in the coming months.  Thanks, Vic, for your comments.

Southwest Airlines offers service to Jacksonville, FL, for those who contemplate a home on Amelia Island and membership at the resort's only private club, Long Point.

    The latest University of Michigan customer survey data is in for U.S. airlines, and it confirms what even the infrequent flier knows - the airlines stink in terms of the most basic customer service, such as depositing you on  time where they promise to get you, your baggage included.  U.S. Airways and United were at the bottom of the dismal list, scoring 54 and 56 respectively on a scale of 1 to 100.  This is bad but not surprising news to those of us who fly U.S. Airways to southeastern U.S. destinations.  These two bottom dwellers, by the way, are planning to merge, prompting the UM business professor who supervised the survey to comment in an AP story that, "When it comes to mergers, combining two negatives doesn't make a positive."  
    There wasn't much positive about my experience with Delta Airlines on a flight from Newark to Atlanta last week.  Delta scored a dismal 60 in the survey and confirmed it for me.  According to the ticket agent at the airport, my early afternoon flight to Atlanta had been cancelled because of "bad weather" several hours before it was set to leave.  I had received no phone call or email about the flight's status.  When I arrived -- two hours before my scheduled flight -- it was barely raining in Newark, the cloud ceiling was high and the winds were blowing at perhaps 20 to 25 MPH, certainly within the range of safe takeoffs.  Miraculously - I mean that tongue in cheek - Delta had already placed me on a plane two hours later.  In the waiting area for

Southwest offers nonstop service from Hartford, CT and other locations to Austin where you will find the dramatic River Place Golf Club. 

From tee to green, conditions at the Fazio-designed Thornblade Club are immaculate. 

    The final round of the BMW Charity tournament in the Greenville, SC, area will be played today on the Tom Fazio layout at the Thornblade Club in nearby Greer.  It marks the first time that the eight-year-old event has not been played on Cliffs Communities courses.
    The Cliffs is the big kahuna in golf community development in upstate South Carolina, and a marketing machine with few equals in the corporate world (and none in the real estate development arena).  In a bad year, the Cliffs spends more than $10 million on advertising and marketing, and the celebrity-studded BMW event was at the core of the firm's strategy, attracting the likes of hockey great Wayne Gretsky and his wife, actress Janet Jones, Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Samuel L. Jackson, "professional" amateur golfer Joe Pesci (he seems to play every pro-am) and other recognizable names from the entertainment and sports fields.  People with the capacity to spend more than $1 million on homes appreciate the cachet of rubbing elbows with the quasi-famous, and the Cliffs marketing folks are particularly astute at cachet building.  Their communities offer expensive amenities to beat the band, none more touted than the first Tiger Woods course design in the U.S., to debut next year in one of the Cliffs communities.
    But the switch of the annual BMW Charity Pro-Am from the Cliffs Valley, Keowee Vineyard and Walnut Cove courses to Brights Creek, Carolina Country Club and Thornblade reveals one of the Cliffs few weaknesses in attracting urban(e) residents; Cliffs Communities are, for the most part, remote from any cities of consequence.  Cliffs Valley is a good half hour from Greenville, and Keowee is more than 45 minutes.  In making the announcement last year of the switch of venues, Bobby Hitt, president of South Carolina Charities, Inc., and Chairman of The BMW Charity Pro-Am, said, "The new courses will attract more fans and sponsors...It will be a much more community-based tournament."  The Cliffs are essentially communities unto themselves.
    In a visit to the area a few years ago, I played the Thornblade Club, which is at the core of a neighborhood of nice homes, mostly brick, whose market values average in the mid to high six figures. Professional golfer Jay Haas owns a home adjacent to the course; his son, Jay Jr., is trying to make his way on the Nationwide Tour, and he may have no better chance than at his home course.  PGA tour player Lucas Glover also honed his early golf game at Thornblade and former LPGA player Dottie Pepper is a member.  
    Some of the homes with the best views of the course and the nicest acreage fetch over $1 million.  The course is classic Fazio, with funneled fairways and strategically placed bunkers to catch only the most errant shots.  The club is family oriented, and membership initiation fees of $20,000 seemed reasonable for the quality of the golf and the other customary club amenities, including an excellent clubhouse with wonderful food; the membership cost is about $100,000 less than at The Cliffs (although Cliffs membership includes eight courses).
    The 5,000-acre Bright's Creek community also features a Fazio layout and is located just over the SC line in North Carolina (oddly, farther away from Greenville than is Cliffs Valley).  Lot prices start just below $200,000, with homes starting in the high six-figure range.  Carolina Country Club is located in Spartanburg, home to the BMW plant that is responsible for so much positive economic activity in the area.  It features an older Tom Jackson design (1984) in a planned community of homes that range in size from 2,400 to 8,000 square feet.
    Thornblade is wonderfully manicured, with mature trees that give it the feel of a classic course, as does the architect's layout.  And although the houses are very much in view on most holes, the out of bounds stakes were not obnoxiously close.  Tournament leader David Mathis shot a 68 yesterday at Thornblade after two 65s on the other courses.  If you have cable television, you can see the course for yourself today on The Golf Channel during the final round.
    We know a fantastic real estate agent in the area, a member of Thornblade actually, and can put you in touch if you would like to know more about the neighborhood and the golf course.

After seven years, the BMW event, and the celebrities it attracted, has moved closer to Greenville.