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CNN Live Today

Interview With John Atwood

Aired August 25, 2003 - 11:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You think the grass is always greener on someone else's golf course. "Travel & Leisure Golf" magazine is out today with its first annual survey ranking the best golf resorts. This list that was not put together by the magazine but by readers. The readers rated properties across the U.S. by region as well as Scotland and Ireland.
And the magazine calls the preferred properties "an embarrassment of riches". One look inside the magazine will tell you why. The properties are ranked on the course, the family vacation experience and such things as pace of play and quality of food.

John Atwood is editor in chief of "Travel & Leisure Golf" and he joins us this morning from New York. Good to see you. How are you?

JOHN ATWOOD, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "TRAVEL & LEISURE GOLF": I'm good, Leon. What are you doing here? Why aren't you off playing golf?

HARRIS: Oh, listen, I am in my heart and head, buddy. Believe me.

I got to tell you, first off, it appears though, this list -- actually a pretty interesting list because a couple places popped up here that I didn't expect to see in here. But obviously price is no object, right?

ATWOOD: Yes. This is just the quality of the experience, not how much it cost.

HARRIS: All right, well' let's take a look at some of the -- we picked out about five or six here from the list. Let's look here at No. 1 came in, Pebble Beach Resorts, California. No surprise there.

ATWOOD: No. But in fact Pebble Beach has much improved in recent years. The new owners there including, Peter Ueberroth and Clint Eastwood, have done a great job of speeding up the play there. And there are some new luxury villas to stay at. And it's become quite the experience now. No more six-hour rounds. You can get around in 4.5 hours now.

HARRIS: Yes, hard to improve on something as beautiful. And that place is just such a gem. But what's a round there cost now a days?

ATWOOD: I think it's about 250, 300.

(CROSSTALK) HARRIS: Yes, that's about what I was figuring was close to 300 because I know it's been (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 200s for some time now.

Let's look at No. 2 here. The American Club Wisconsin? This one I didn't expect to see.

ATWOOD: Well that's because you haven't been there, I guess. If you'd been there you'd know that this is a fantastic facility that Herb Kohler built here. There are four peaked high courses, each one of them is very unique. In fact, the PGA is going to be held at one of those courses next summer.

HARRIS: All right, so then I guess I'll get a chance to check that one out then. See, I expected Pinehurst, which is now No. 3, to be the one that would come in right behind Pebble Beach.

ATWOOD: Correct. And Pinehurst is another facility that has really been upgraded. They put in a spa there that is not to be believed. And they are going ahead now with the ninth course, and of course, Pinehurst No. 2, Donald Ross' masterpiece is the best reason to go play there.

HARRIS: All right. Now it takes all the way down to No. 4 to get to the part of the country that I happen to think is the most beautiful. Arizona. A number of courses that did make the list there coming in from Arizona. And the Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale at True North is the one that basically came in, what, No. 4 on the list here?

ATWOOD: That's correct. That's another great facility with two beautiful desert courses there. As you know, desert golf can be pretty tough. But those are the gold standard courses right there. The Pinnacle Course and the Monument Course. One by Jay Morris and Tom Weiskopf. The other's a Weiskopf course. And of course it's a Four Seasons, so how can you go wrong?

HARRIS: Yes, exactly. Can't beat that.

All right, now we're going to hop down to No. 7, the Kiawah Aisle Resorts in South Carolina.

ATWOOD: Correct. Five courses there, which is really what makes that place special with the ocean views and that's a great time of year to go is right now down to that neck of the woods.

HARRIS: Yes, that's about right too. It's finally starting to get a little cool down there. But not in Arizona.

ATWOOD: I don't recommend Arizona right now.

HARRIS: Even if it is the Boulders? The Boulders, I've actually been on that one. That course is absolutely gorgeous.

ATWOOD: It really is beautiful. I would say that is what makes that -- that's the distinctive quality there is just how beautiful it is. And of course that is another great resort with a wonderful spa. And in another month or so it's going to be prime season out there.

HARRIS: I'll All right, so now I'll admit I was surprised by the American Club in Wisconsin popping up on the list, but were there any surprises for you?

ATWOOD: No, I think the whole survey, it was our readers choices and they really showed they know what they're doing. I was not surprised and I was quite pleased to see the American Club up there. You know it's only two hours north of Chicago so it's not as far a field as you might think.

HARRIS: How about any trends? You notice any trends amongst the votes that readers actually sent in?

ATWOOD: Well I think people responded to the places that have been renovated and upgraded. You know places that are not getting the attention aren't so high on the list. The readers are really paying attention to the new spas, the new courses, the new facilities. It's obviously very important to them.

HARRIS: All right, golfers, check it out, "Travel & Leisure Golf" magazine's list. John Atwood, thank you very much for coming in.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Low and slow, OK? Take it easy.

ATWOOD: You, too, buddy.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 25, 2003 - 11:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You think the grass is always greener on someone else's golf course. "Travel & Leisure Golf" magazine is out today with its first annual survey ranking the best golf resorts. This list that was not put together by the magazine but by readers. The readers rated properties across the U.S. by region as well as Scotland and Ireland.
And the magazine calls the preferred properties "an embarrassment of riches". One look inside the magazine will tell you why. The properties are ranked on the course, the family vacation experience and such things as pace of play and quality of food.

John Atwood is editor in chief of "Travel & Leisure Golf" and he joins us this morning from New York. Good to see you. How are you?

JOHN ATWOOD, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "TRAVEL & LEISURE GOLF": I'm good, Leon. What are you doing here? Why aren't you off playing golf?

HARRIS: Oh, listen, I am in my heart and head, buddy. Believe me.

I got to tell you, first off, it appears though, this list -- actually a pretty interesting list because a couple places popped up here that I didn't expect to see in here. But obviously price is no object, right?

ATWOOD: Yes. This is just the quality of the experience, not how much it cost.

HARRIS: All right, well' let's take a look at some of the -- we picked out about five or six here from the list. Let's look here at No. 1 came in, Pebble Beach Resorts, California. No surprise there.

ATWOOD: No. But in fact Pebble Beach has much improved in recent years. The new owners there including, Peter Ueberroth and Clint Eastwood, have done a great job of speeding up the play there. And there are some new luxury villas to stay at. And it's become quite the experience now. No more six-hour rounds. You can get around in 4.5 hours now.

HARRIS: Yes, hard to improve on something as beautiful. And that place is just such a gem. But what's a round there cost now a days?

ATWOOD: I think it's about 250, 300.

(CROSSTALK) HARRIS: Yes, that's about what I was figuring was close to 300 because I know it's been (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 200s for some time now.

Let's look at No. 2 here. The American Club Wisconsin? This one I didn't expect to see.

ATWOOD: Well that's because you haven't been there, I guess. If you'd been there you'd know that this is a fantastic facility that Herb Kohler built here. There are four peaked high courses, each one of them is very unique. In fact, the PGA is going to be held at one of those courses next summer.

HARRIS: All right, so then I guess I'll get a chance to check that one out then. See, I expected Pinehurst, which is now No. 3, to be the one that would come in right behind Pebble Beach.

ATWOOD: Correct. And Pinehurst is another facility that has really been upgraded. They put in a spa there that is not to be believed. And they are going ahead now with the ninth course, and of course, Pinehurst No. 2, Donald Ross' masterpiece is the best reason to go play there.

HARRIS: All right. Now it takes all the way down to No. 4 to get to the part of the country that I happen to think is the most beautiful. Arizona. A number of courses that did make the list there coming in from Arizona. And the Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale at True North is the one that basically came in, what, No. 4 on the list here?

ATWOOD: That's correct. That's another great facility with two beautiful desert courses there. As you know, desert golf can be pretty tough. But those are the gold standard courses right there. The Pinnacle Course and the Monument Course. One by Jay Morris and Tom Weiskopf. The other's a Weiskopf course. And of course it's a Four Seasons, so how can you go wrong?

HARRIS: Yes, exactly. Can't beat that.

All right, now we're going to hop down to No. 7, the Kiawah Aisle Resorts in South Carolina.

ATWOOD: Correct. Five courses there, which is really what makes that place special with the ocean views and that's a great time of year to go is right now down to that neck of the woods.

HARRIS: Yes, that's about right too. It's finally starting to get a little cool down there. But not in Arizona.

ATWOOD: I don't recommend Arizona right now.

HARRIS: Even if it is the Boulders? The Boulders, I've actually been on that one. That course is absolutely gorgeous.

ATWOOD: It really is beautiful. I would say that is what makes that -- that's the distinctive quality there is just how beautiful it is. And of course that is another great resort with a wonderful spa. And in another month or so it's going to be prime season out there.

HARRIS: I'll All right, so now I'll admit I was surprised by the American Club in Wisconsin popping up on the list, but were there any surprises for you?

ATWOOD: No, I think the whole survey, it was our readers choices and they really showed they know what they're doing. I was not surprised and I was quite pleased to see the American Club up there. You know it's only two hours north of Chicago so it's not as far a field as you might think.

HARRIS: How about any trends? You notice any trends amongst the votes that readers actually sent in?

ATWOOD: Well I think people responded to the places that have been renovated and upgraded. You know places that are not getting the attention aren't so high on the list. The readers are really paying attention to the new spas, the new courses, the new facilities. It's obviously very important to them.

HARRIS: All right, golfers, check it out, "Travel & Leisure Golf" magazine's list. John Atwood, thank you very much for coming in.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Low and slow, OK? Take it easy.

ATWOOD: You, too, buddy.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com