I love golf courses. Big courses, small courses. Links, woodlands and mountain courses. You name it. I love playing the game, I love taking pictures of golf courses and I love talking about golf. So Hidden Fairways is a natural marriage of my professional skills… golf course photography, web site design and audio production… with my genuine affection for golf and the golf industry.

My Background

Without going into too much detail, let me simply say that my background is varied. I've been a touring musician and recording artist, a furniture designer, a cabinet maker, a graphics technician and more. I even spent some time managing a successful trade show exhibit company.  In 1989 I opened Laurelwood Productions to produce audio programming for businesses throughout the country.  In recent years, through friends and acquaintances in the golf business, I've had opportunities produce audio and design web sites for a succession of golf-related businesses. As a result of those projects, and driven by my fanatic love for golf, I created WebMulligans.com in 2008 to provide creative services exclusively for golf businesses.

This project... Hidden Fairways... is about my love for golf and my passion for the exceptional landscapes on which we play the game.

Now, About Those 250 Courses...

In 2009, I walked almost 250 golf courses in the Southeastern United States. Seems excessive, I know. But there's a reason. I was under contract with GolfBuddy, the golf GPS company, to map courses in The South.  During the course of this little adventure, I mapped every kind of golf course imaginable, from Texas to South Carolina. I mapped some extremely exclusive private tracks that are nothing short of stunning.  I mapped humble country courses better suited to livestock management than golf. And I mapped many well-known public and private facilities I'd heard of all my life.  But along the way, I also mapped a scant few courses in rural locations and small towns I'd never visited that were well designed, well managed and better maintained than many of the exclusive private clubs and high profile public facilities I'd visited.  Who knew?!  And surprisingly, for the most part, this small group of courses were operating with small staffs and low budgets. 

Using these courses as my model, I developed a "Hidden Fairways" profile.  Okay, so now I had a profile.  Whoopee!  The next question?  What the heck was I supposed to do with it?  It struck me that these courses deserve some attention... maybe even a little spotlight.  At a time when big name golf clubs and private facilities are "going green" by cutting staff, dialing back on chemical applications and reducing water consumption, these "Hidden Fairways" have been "green" for many years.  And, oh yeah... they're also wonderful golf courses.  So the answer to my question was to develop Hidden Fairways as a way of spreading the word.  Not because these courses are green, but because they're wonderful golf courses and are easily within reach... geographically AND economically... for anyone in search of a little golf adventure.  Who doesn't enjoy playing a great golf course? And who doesn't love a good road trip from time to time?  Or making a quick stop along the highway to play 9 or 18? And if you can save some money, so much the better!

At Hidden Fairways, my goal is to provide in-depth information on courses that are close by, but off the beaten path... where you can step out of your routine and have a great golf experience without taking out a second mortgage.  I hope you find Hidden Fairways to be informative and enjoyable. And I hope the site provides the encouragement you need to visit these great golf courses that are out of the way, but still easily reachable if you have a little sense of adventure!

Dave Sansom
President, Hidden Fairways