Nicklaus Design brings home honors

23 courses included in Golf Connoisseur's list of top golf communities

(NORTH PALM BEACH, FL) - Golf Connoisseur magazine's recent list of the "Top 40 Golf Communities in America" made a welcome home for 16 luxury communities that feature at least one Nicklaus Design golf course. Jack Nicklaus sat atop the list of designers represented within these high-end communities with a total of 23 golf courses represented.

Among those listed in the top communities was the Nicklaus family's home course, The Bear's Club in Jupiter, Fla. The Cliffs in South Carolina, home to two Jack Nicklaus Signature Courses, also earned a spot on Golf Connoisseur's list and had the distinction of the most golf offerings for residents and members with an astounding 126 holes available for play.

The Nicklaus-designed The Summit course at the Cordillera community joined the list while Castle Pines Village (Castle Rock, Colo.), The Greenbrier Sporting Club (White Sulphur Springs, W.V.) and Hualalai (Kona, Hawaii) also appeared on list of communities featuring a Nicklaus course.

In addition, Mayacama in Santa Rosa, Calif., and the Palmetto Bluff community in Bluffton, S.C., which features the Nicklaus-designed May River Golf Club, made the list. Also included were Promontory (Park City, Utah), Pronghorn (Bend, Oregon), Reynolds Plantation (Greensboro, Georgia), and Kiawah Island in South Carolina.

Four communities that appeared on the list have the distinction of having two or more Nicklaus Design courses within the development. Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nev. joined The Cliffs on that list with Reflection Bay Club and SouthShore. Sherwood, a community that rests in the Santa Monica Mountains less than an hour from Hollywood, is also on the list with Sherwood Country Club and Sherwood Lake Club.

Topping the list of communities with more than one Nicklaus course is, by far, Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Ariz., which is home to six Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses: Apache, Chiricahua, Cochise, Geronimo, Outlaw and Renegade.

Adding to the 22 Nicklaus Design courses on the list that are open for play is the Signature Golf Course underway at Dove Mountain, a community named to Golf Connoisseur's list. Jack's Dove Mountain design is slated to open in 2008, and will be the eventual home to the Accenture World Match Play Championship.