PGA National Renewal

	Haig's No. 18
	Photo: PGA National Resort

Golf loves nothing so much as its own history, and no doubt there is much to love: Please insert your favorite dewy-eyed, sepia-toned memory here. (I'll take Hale Irwin's ecstatic high-five-the-entire-crowd lap around Medinah's 18th green in the 1990 U.S. Open.)

For golf resorts, however, the past isn't necessarily a leading indicator; glory days of yore can mean lazy mediocrity in the here and now.

I suspect I first conceived these thoughts several years ago, on my maiden trip to PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Its tournament pedigree was spotless: its Champion course (one of five here) hosted the 1983 Ryder Cup matches (so long ago now that the U.S. actually won), the 1987 PGA Championship and 18 Senior PGA Championships.

The resort is home to the PGA of America, which manages all three events, so these facts didn't perhaps carry all the apparent gravitas. Still, at that time, even graded as a legacy the place disappointed, frayed around the edges like an old leather staff bag.

A corporate retreat recently sent me back for a second look, and times have changed -- it's gone from tired to top shelf. ...