Execution on approach shots and placement into the proper segments of the demanding putting surfaces at the Country Club of Jackson will be imperative for success when the PGA Tour’s Fall Series continues at the Sanderson Farms Championship from Sept. 29-Oct. 2 on the northeast side of the capital of Mississippi.
The Country Club of Jackson, with its course designed by John Fought, has hosted the championship since 2014. The tournament is one of only two professional sports events in the state (the other is the Rapiscan Systems Classic on the PGA Tour Champions) and has produced a who’s-who list of prior champions including Sam Burns, Sergio Garcia, Sebastian Munoz and Cameron Champ over the past four renditions.
The history
Opened in 1914 with a course designed by Golden Age architect Tom Bendelow five miles west of town, the club moved to its present site in the late 1950s and commissioned Dick Wilson to route a new course that opened in 1964.
Fought and then-partner Mike Gogel updated the layout in 2008. The club has three nine-hole layouts, with the Dogwood (front) and Azalea (back) nines making up the championship course for the Tour players. That layout is ranked by Golfweek as No. 3 in Mississippi among the state’s private courses.
Fought, the 1977 U.S Amateur champion, knows a thing or two about championship golf courses and brought much of that prowess to play at the Country Club of Jackson.
“Through the years, modifications had been made to the club’s courses, but the club members knew they were just stomping out fires and hop-scotching around without a clear vision and plan for a complete renovation,” Fought said. “We were able to bring added challenge and consistency to the course that’s only increased over the past 14 years.”
The course
The Country Club of Jackson is a very open, stadium-style course that meanders through a lowland property with very little elevation change. The course is kept in flawless condition, manicured to the edges and around most of the sporadic trees that form the fairway corridors. There are 56 white sand bunkers that focus shots from the tees and around the greens, and water is in play on just five holes.
One of the things that’s great about the Country Club of Jackson is that the course played by the Tour is almost exactly the same one played on a daily basis by its membership. Conditions will be firm and fast, with tight green surrounds. The course will play to almost 7,500 yards and is a par-72 for the Sanderson Farms Championship.
When Fought and Gogel re-designed the Country Club of Jackson, they put a real strategic value on finding the fairways and not just hitting greens but hitting the putting surfaces in the proper spot. The greens are above average in size at about 6,200-square feet so hitting them won’t be a problem.
It’s a course on which playing to the middle of the greens is not always the place to be, as small contours in the putting surfaces are the real defense of the golf course. Making that challenge even tougher is the course’s deep Bermuda rough that’s been made even thicker this season by torrential rains in central Mississippi last month and warmer than normal temperatures.
Success at the Country Club of Jackson is achieved by being the most accurate from tee to green than making putts on surfaces that roll as quickly as 15 on the Stimpmeter. The putting surfaces will be challenging, especially inside of 10 feet; the course has earned one of the highest three-putt percentages on the PGA Tour.
The club also sports the Cypress course, which serves as the facility’s “Open Family Nine,” with multiple tee boxes ranging from 1,400-3,500 yards. This nine can be utilized as a par-3 course, and Executive Nine, or Regulation Nine, and is a great place for the club’s beginners, seniors, and juniors.
Dancing Rabbit Golf Club
Lots more great golf in Mississippi
You will likely need to get an invite from a member to play the private Country Club of Jackson but there are plenty of really great public access golf courses in the Magnolia State. We will highlight a trio of destinations below, all of which are tied to Mississippi’s gaming industry,
Dancing Rabbit Golf Club, Philadelphia
Two Tom Fazio-designed golf courses, the Azaleas and the Oaks, at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club are one of the myriad amenities at the Pearl River Resort, located about a 90-mile drive northeast of Jackson. The resort is owned and operated by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Both courses were fashioned with the help of former U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate, and each is ranked consistently among the best in the state and in the South. Nestled quietly among ancient pines and hardwoods, the two tracks embrace the gently rolling hills and valleys indigenous to this part of the world, an exquisite setting that accentuates the beauty of the course while adding to the difficulty of play and a feeling of serenity and isolation.
Tunica National Golf Club and River Bend Links, Tunica
Tunica, set about 45 minutes south of Memphis on the Mississippi River, has six casinos – including members of the Hollywood, Horseshoe and Sam’s Town families of resorts, the Gold Strike, and the Fitz Casino.
Tunica National Golf & Tennis Club, a Mark McCumber-fashioned track, is the alpha course in the region. Water impacts more than two-thirds of the property, and the course’s four par-3s are stunning, with only the 181-yard 11th giving the golfer a hazard-free look at the putting surface. Numerous strategically placed hazards and bunkers are balanced with often-generous landing areas, which are especially needed on the course’s final three-hole gauntlet.
River Bend Links, a rough-and-tumble Clyde Johnston routing with Big Muddy a constant presence, is a solid B-side here. The “field of dunes” created in this former cotton field may be as close to Scotland as you will get in this part of the country as native grasses and natural hazards provide the beauty and the majority of the challenge.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast
Once you hit the Gulf Coast in Biloxi, there are more casinos and golf courses than you could ever play on one trip (so make a few). The most lauded is Fallen Oak, owned by MGM Resorts International and available exclusively to guests of the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino. The Fazio-designed gem has consistently ranked as the best course in Mississippi by Golf Digest and Golfweek.
The Preserve Golf Club in Biloxi is owned and operated by the Palace Casino Resort and was designed by Pate. The course is routed over 245 acres of pristine land surrounded by an 1,800-acre nature preserve. A third great option in Biloxi is the Windance Country Club, which is owned by Island View Casino Resort. Designed by McCumber, it is one of the top resort golf courses in the region and plays at just over 6,600 yards from the back tees, with tight fairways and average size greens with less undulation than most.
Other courses in the 18-track roster of the area are Grand Bear, designed by Jack Nicklaus, the home of the aforementioned Rapiscan Systems Classic; Shell Landing Golf Club, by Davis Love III; and The Club at Diamondhead between Biloxi and New Orleans, with 18-hole courses fashioned by Earl Stone and John LaFoy.