The Many Links Of Racer Golf

In the game of golf it's not all about how you're playing, but it's also about where you're playing. The Murray State women's and men's golf programs have played at some of the game's best venues over the years and we decided to find out the best-of-the-best from Velvet Milkman and Eddie Hunt, the coaches that guide the women's and men's teams.

With 36 combined seasons at Murray State, we figured Velvet and Eddie would be able to produce quite an impressive list of the best courses the Racers have played over the years.

Here is their take on the best places they've taken the Murray State Racers to. Some of these courses were picked because of how the Racers played, or a certain significance of why the Racers played there. Others were picked because, well, they're just awesome championship courses and locations.

Top-10 Racer Women's Golf Venues
The top pick for Coach Milkman was hands down Old Waverly Golf Club, the home course for the teams from Mississippi State.

"Old Waverly is a fantastic place," Milkman said of the course they've played at the last three seasons. "The course is great and so is everything around it. We're talking about a course that has hosted the U.S. Women's Open. And they recently hosted the women's senior version of the Curtis Cup. It's our favorite place by far to play at."

Other top picks on Coach Milkman's list included the Fighting Joe Course at The Shoals Golf Club where the Ohio Valley Conference has held its championship in Muscle Shoals, Ala. The Shoals is one stop on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. The Hattiesburg Country Club in Hattiesburg, Miss., Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Eagles Landing in Stockbridge, Ga., also get high marks. MSU has played a couple head-to-head matches at Dalhousie against Southern Illinois there and Eagles Landing has hosted an LPGA event.

MSU's three NCAA venues also made the top-10 including: The Scarlet Course at Ohio State, Otter Creek in Columbus, Ind., and the place MSU competed in the NCAA's in Tallahassee at Southwood Golf Club last spring.

"The NCAA's is a special tournament and the golf course you play should be special," Milkman added. "Those three are very good venues. Ohio State's Scarlet Course has hosted so many big events. Our goal at Murray State is to play in an NCAA regional every year.

That's the unique thing about collegiate golf at Murray State. The experience our student-athletes get is enhanced by the great places we get to play," Coach Milkman added. "We're proud that our golf program is at a level that we can get these opportunities."

Top-10 Racer Men's Golf Venues
Coach Hunt stated emphatically his top-two venues the Racers have played was easy to pick. At the top was Makai Course at the Princeville Resort in Kauai, Hawaii, with the runner-up being the famed TPC at Sawgrass course in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

"Anytime you see the best resort courses in the nation, you're going to see Princeville and it was just amazing to take the Racers there in 2006," Hunt said. "And then to be able to play Sawgrass was an honor because not only is it a great course where we see the PGA Players' Championship each May, but we were part of the first collegiate event held there in 2010."

Other courses that made the Racer men's team top-10 was the Boilermaker course in West, Lafayette, Ind. The Racers played there in 2007 and later that season, the Purdue course hosted the NCAA's. Vanderbilt's Legends Course in Nashville also made Coach Hunt's list and it's also a course that has hosted an NCAA Championship. The Palm Valley Course in Goodyear, Ariz., also drew high praise.

"All of these places are by invitation only and it speaks to the level of our program when you look at this top-10," Hunt added. "We've been very fortunate to get to play at these great courses. The field of teams at these events have been very strong as well. Yes, it was interesting to sit down and take a look at all the places we've been to."

Murray State University Athletics

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