We had a six-day itinerary of golf courses to hit on this trip, starting with a Monday visit to Shell Landing Golf Club in Gautier. Shell landing was designed by Davis Love III— who counts Birdwood Golf at Boar’ s Head Resort and Belmont Golf Course among his Virginia designs— and features generous tree-lined fairways winding through pine savannah, leading to large undulating greens. Water comes into play on eight holes. Unfortunately for our group, we played right after a line of severe storms |
Tunica National Golf & Tennis
Shell Landing Golf Club
blew through the area, leaving much of the course waterlogged. By the back half of the inward nine, though, you could tell how well the course drained, as the conditions dried considerably as the afternoon wore on.
Afterward, we settled into the Beau Rivage for dinner at Coraline’ s, where a seafood feast awaited. It’ s tempting to fill up on Coraline’ s excellent array of oysters and other appetizers, but save room for two highly recommended mains— the Redfish Court-Bouillon or the Snapper Coraline’ s. The White Chocolate Bread Pudding was a dessert hit at the table.
The Beau Rivage( an MGM property) offers everything you’ d expect from an upscale casino property— table games, slot machines, sports book, spa, pool and excellent views of the Gulf of Mexico from some rooms.
It also offers guests the chance to play Fallen Oak, which is exclusive to Beau Rivage guests. Per Golfweek, Fallen Oak ranks second on a list of nationwide casino courses, only behind Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. Fallen Oak, however, will cost you a fraction of the price of its Vegas brethren.
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A par-72 Tom Fazio layout, Fallen Oak is about a 20-minute ride north from the Beau Rivage and features a stately clubhouse and a locker room where they make you feel like a member for a day. Shoes are cleaned and left in your personalized locker, opposite some permanent lockers occupied by the likes of Peyton Manning, Frank Thomas and longtime college basketball coach Cliff Ellis.
Playing in the spring, we found Fallen Oak to be in immaculate condition. The finishing 18th hole was a fabulous test as you start from elevated tees to a fairway that slopes gently left. Avoiding massive bunkers along the left side of the fairway is key, but your reward when you finish is a trip to Fallen Oak’ s restaurant, where you can enjoy ceiling-to-floor window views of the 18th green and possibly one of the best Bloody Marys this writer has ever sampled.
We returned to the Beau Rivage to clean up, then walked across the street to Catch 110, one of Biloxi’ s newest seafood restaurants, featuring fresh seafood, seafood-inspired pasta dishes and interesting cocktails, including two different smoked Old Fashioneds.
Before heading north, we played one more Gulf Coast round at The Bridges Golf Club, next to Hollywood Casino and offering several views of adjacent Bay St. Louis. This Arnold Palmer design features plenty of water, along with 21 bridges spanning nearly a mile in length. The consensus afterward was that this was an extremely fun, unpredictable course( one with two interesting short par 4s and one extremely long par 3) that would improve with each play as you gain course knowledge.
Heading North
There certainly are enough courses, casinos and activities to fill a Mississippi itinerary simply by hanging around the Gulf Coast. But we had music to see and a ton of fried food to consume, so we packed up and headed toward Jackson, the state capital. Our destination was the Sheraton Flowood, set in an affluent suburb near Jackson’ s airport. The draw? Stay at the hotel and roll out of bed and to the first tee at The Refuge in minutes.
Before we get to the golf, let’ s talk entertainment. Prior to heading downtown to check out the iconic Hal & Mal’ s for dinner, drinks and music, we headed to the top floor of the Sheraton for a cocktail at Missy Sippy’ s, the hotel’ s rooftop bar offering views of the golf course and downtown Jackson in the distance. While inside, it’ s worth checking out some of the art on the walls celebrating Mississippi’ s blues culture.
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CHRIS LANG, PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE COURSES |
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