the terrain, and he allowed those holes to dictate the remaining
traces. Something not seen as much on classic nor neo-classic
courses, is the early-break dogleg. Packard utilized this technique
frequently on Copperhead, so love it or hate it, you shall play it!
On this type of hole, a 430-yard par four would dogleg around
the 200-yard mark, rather than the more common distance of
240 yards. As a result, the golfer needs to place the tee ball over
a corner, in order to reach a spot from which to access the green.
Packard used this element on par four and five holes across the
course.
Not too far away from Innisbrook, in Palmetto, one finds the
unassuming Buffalo Creek. About seven minutes off the interstate,
the Ron Garl-designed course flies quite under the radar of
course in the sunshine state. What it offers is an interesting
blend of open, windswept holes, both with and without water;
a few tree-lined fairways for those who miss northern courses,
and a sampling of the ubiquitous, over-the-water tee shots
and approaches (there are at least a handful.) The golf course
maneuvers beautifully through a generous stretch of property. At
no time does it ever feel constrained or hemmed in.
Being from western New York, any name with the word “Buffalo”
in it is sure to catch my attention. I wasn’t certain what to expect
when I arrived on a crowded weekday afternoon. My host had
warned me that snowbird season was in full bloom, and that I
would be sure to encounter massive crowds of deliberate golfers,
nearly anywhere I played. Buffalo Creek was no exception,
although I must admit that the golfers negotiated the layout with
a certain dexterity, at least until the sun began to set. By that time,
I recognized that I would not finish my round, and that securing
photographs of the entire course took precedence over my
scorecard.
I’ll make this assertive statement: with the approach shots into
the first two greens, Buffalo Creek had my attention and my
support. The opening hole runs leftward a bit, toward a fairwaylevel green that accepts low and high approach shots with equal
glee. I bumped a mid-iron under the wind, toward the flag, and
was pleased to find it on the putting surface when I arrived. The
second hole continues westward, playing along a course boundary
on the left and a bit of brush on the right. The green sits elevated
above the fairway, protected in a manner by four bunkers. You
see, they occupy the slope that leads to the green, but none cuts
into the putting surface in the classical manner. Instead, they rest
below the green surface, like moon craters meant to punish a
wayward approach. Place on top of a mesa, the putting surface is
the highest point on the course and a joy on which to roll a ball.
The Tunica National sits quite north in Mississippi, over the
border from Memphis in southern Tennessee. To the west, the
great Mississippi river twists and turns, making westward passage
difficult. To reach Arkansas, which lies closer to Tunica than does
Tennessee, one returns northward to Memphis, then turns to port
to resume the journey. More on that later, as we’ve an interesting
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