HAMMOND — The parent company of Hammond's Horseshoe casino is being purchased in a $17.3 billion deal that will create the nation's largest casino operator, and bring five of Indiana's. HOURS OF OPERATION: NOVEMBER & DECEMBER SPECIALS - CLICK HERE Pro shop is open 7 days a week 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. Hours vary based on weather. First tee - 9:00 am Last tee 9 holes - 3:00 pm Last tee 18 holes - 1:00 pm.Golf cart rentals must be back by 5:00 pm.Last tee times may vary daily without notice. Times based on weather or course conditions.

by Sam Joseph

 Golf courses were well established in Mississippi long before the advent of casinos 12 years ago. With the rise in popularity of legal casino gambling in the Magnolia State, golf has kept pace and offers a wide and wonderful variety of challenging layouts from the north Delta region to the Gulf Coast.
There are dozens of beautiful courses to choose from with famous designers like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Fazio, Hale Irwin, Mark McCumber, and Davis Love III, in this article, we concentrate on the courses that combine the gaming and golf experience.

Starting in the northern part of the state, we look at the South’s Casino Capital, Tunica Resorts. It is the largest gaming destination between Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and provides over 6,300 rooms and suites, 40 restaurants, first-class entertainment, museums, shopping, spas, trap and skeet shooting and even a paddle wheeler, the Tunica Queen.

When Mississippi legalized gambling in 1990, one of its mandates was that investment for gambling facilities be matched with a 25 percent investment in hotel rooms and non-casino attractions. This helped promote capital spending and led to the development of more golf courses.

When the first casino, Splash, opened in 1992, there were no golf courses in Tunica connected to casinos. It took a few years before RiverBend Links opened at Casino Strip where Hollywood, Sam’s Town and Harrah’s Casino’s are located.

With 13 million visitors traveling to Tunica each year for gaming, outside amenities were needed to complement the casinos. RiverBend, designed by Clyde Johnson, was the first course to step up to the challenge. He took several cotton fields and designed a marvelous Scottish links-style layout with the support of Hollywood, Sam’s Town and Harrah’s.

In an area where cotton, rice, soybeans and catfish ponds still thrive, RiverBend boasts 6,900 yards curving around swamps and wetlands with strategic knolls, deep sand and grass bunkers.

“The course is set up with professional, championship, advanced, senior and regular tees to make it challenging and fun for players of all levels,” says Riverbend PGA professional Jesse Weeks. “With three casinos just minutes from our club, it is a great place to relax and enjoy golf.”

Next, we travel through the cottonfields to Grand Casino Tunica and the Hale Irwin-designed Cottonwoods Golf Course. The course is located behind the Veranda Hotel, one of three hotels on Grand’s property, and boasts a 7,000-yard layout. With over half of the holes bordering water and more than 80 traps, this fully-sodded course has a Scottish-links style and is great for an array of talent with distances ranging from 5,216 to 7,000 yards.

The last, but definitely not least, Tunica golf course we have to mention is the new county-owned Tunica National Golf & Tennis Club, a new and exciting third option for golfers and gamers to enjoy. This course supports players from Fitzgerald’s, Gold Strike, and Horseshoe Casinos. Managed by Bob Wolcott of KemperSports Management, the course is open to the general public and located on Highway 61 near all of the Tunica casinos.

The opening of Tunica National coincides with increasing recognition of Mississippi’s prestigious golf courses. The Golf Insider, the industry’s leading golf-travel-rating publication, has recognized Mississippi as the “Best Up-and-Coming Domestic Golf Destination of the Year.” Mississippi was honored for its high performance, quality offerings and rapidly increasing number of attractions and value it offers golf travelers.

The Mark McCumber-designed course is 7,210 yard long and includes a beautiful 8,000 square foot clubhouse. It also features four tennis courts with the only shock-absorbing Hydro-Grid Har-Tru indoor clay courts in the South. The course is maturing but conditions were superb when we recently played its zoysia fairways. Although the course was built on a cotton field, McCumber shaped it to include rolling terrain with strategically placed water hazards and bunkers. Five sets of tees provide an enjoyable experience for players of all abilities and each cart comes equipped with a Global Positioning System. A national golf academy for personalized lessons, using the latest in video golf instruction, is also in the works.

Next, we head south on Interstate 55 toward Jackson to the Pearl River Resort in central Mississippi, the home of the Dancing Rabbit Golf Courses. You owe it to yourself to make a side trip to one of the most heralded courses in the south, if not the nation. Nestled amongst the piney woods, red-clay cliffs and rolling streams of the Choctaw Nation lies an agricultural masterpiece designed by Tom Fazio and Jerry Pate. The complex is made up of two stunning courses, The Azaleas and The Oaks, with each of the 36 holes bearing their own creative touch.

Opened in 1997, the Azaleas Course boasts immaculately manicured Mississippi Choice Bermuda tees and fairways and Bentgrass greens complete with the highly-coveted Sub Air System for temperature regulation. Masterfully carved out of the Southern woodlands, it is consistently listed amount the nation’s finest courses by many leading golf and travel publications.

The Oaks Course came into play in June 1999 and was an instant hit with golfers. It matched, if not surpassed, the scenery and landscaping of The Azaleas Course.

Managed by the personable Tim Tubby, Dancing Rabbit’s plantation-style clubhouse exudes charm and hospitality. However, this is more than just a clubhouse. It actually houses eight rooms for golfers who might want to reside at the course. There is also a private, three-bedroom house on the third fairway of The Oaks Course that can be rented by golf parties. Dancing Rabbit also offers PGA golf instruction and a 15-acre practice range that includes target greens and practice bunkers.

Be sure to book your packages early at these luxurious courses. The Clubhouse package provides a cozy room in the elegant clubhouse, unlimited golf with a private cart for commuting to nearby casinos. You also receive unlimited use of the practice facility, a private locker and a daily golf clinic with a PGA pro.

After we pried ourselves away from the Dancing Rabbit facilities, it was a beeline to the exciting Gulf Coast of Mississippi. There are 26 miles of coastline and beaches offering some of the finest courses and casinos in the South.

One of the top courses on the coast would have to be the Nicklaus-designed Grand Bear. This is a relatively new course and has been already acclaimed as one the most spectacular layouts in the South, helping to make the “Golf Coast” a premier golf destination. Guests at the two Grand Casinos on the Gulf, the Biloxi Grand and the Gulfport Grand, have access to this challenging course. The wide array of hole layouts takes you through sculpted, protected cypress wetlands in a pristine forest of towering pines.

Grand Bear golf packages include deluxe hotel accommodations at either Grand Casino, 18 holes daily, food and coin credit, shared golf cart, comp range balls, use of the clubhouse and complimentary Bellissimo Spa and Salon wet room and workout room for after the round.

Another nice stop on the gaming and golf tour is Casino Magic-Bay St. Louis, only 40 miles from New Orleans. This facility offers 24-hour gaming and Mississippi’s only Palmer-designed golf course. Carved from protected wetlands, the rolling terrain covers 6,841 yards with 17 bridges to cross with gorgeous views of the Bay. The greens are large, fast and slightly sloped. The signature par 4 eighth hole is only 283 yards but with the Bay as a backdrop, it makes it one of the most memorable ones on the course.

You can find out more about Gulf Coast courses and packages through www.GolfCoast.com. They will send you a complimentary Gulf Coast Golf Trail map that has all of the information on the courses from Bay St. Louis in the west to Mississippi National in the east. For a free guide call 1-866-383-GOLF or visit www.GolfCoast.com.

Grand Victoria Casino Indiana Hotel

In addition to the excellent facilities in Mississippi, we could never end a golf article without mentioning our friends in Indiana. Belterra Casino Resort, Grand Victoria Casino & Resort and Caesars Indiana all have wonderful facilities as well as challenging golf courses.

Belterra Casino Resort boasts a course rivaling some of the best links in the world. With three years of maturing, this Tom Fazio designed course has a unique layout that will keep you coming back for more. In the construction of the course, Fazio moved 1.2 million cubic yards of earth to create 69 feet of elevation change from flat farmland in Indiana. Belterra’s hotel and casino are also the best of anywhere. With a new hotel, with an outdoor pool, recently completed in May 2004, Belterra now boasts 608 hotel rooms and 33,000 square feet of meeting and convention space making a perfect alternative for a company golf outing.

Grand Victoria Casino Indiana Jobs

Just 23 miles from Belterra lies another jewel of Indiana, Grand Victoria Casino & Resort. Here you can play at The Links Golf Course and be within a short wedge shot of the hotel and casino. Play the only Scottish Links style course in Southeast Indiana, located in Rising Sun, Indiana. Although it may take a few extra minutes to get to, remember the best things come to those who wait.

Next we head West down the Ohio River to Caesars Indiana’s Chariot Run Golf Course. This facility is minutes from downtown Louisville, KY and the riverboat is actually the largest in the nation. The clubhouse and course has an equestrian-theme and over 7,000 yards of exciting golf. It features bent grass greens, fairways and tees, and sparkling lakes.

So get out on the range, practice your swing and head to the casino for your next gaming golf trip.