Golf Course Overview: Diamondhead Country Club By Brian Weis

Golf Course Overview: Diamondhead Country Club

Insights From An Insider With Chris Altese, PGA, Director of Golf

By Brian Weis

Local and traveling golfers love to research courses before playing them, whether it is to gain some local knowledge or to set an expectation before their upcoming round. Below is an interview with Chris Altese, PGA who shares some valuable insight about the property, its most talked about holes and the signature dish/drink to consume at the 19th hole.

Provide a brief description of the golf course/property, the terrain and best times of the year to play.
Diamondhead Country Club has been a favorite on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for nearly 50 years and continues to attract golfing guests from all over the country. Diamondhead is the highest elevation along the Gulf Coast from Tampa to Houston. Our gently rolling terrain sets both of our championship golf courses apart from other courses in our area. Golfers find our fairways year round with peak season being February through May.

Share with golfers, your most recent awards and golf course improvements.
Diamondhead Country Club completed a 5 year renovation plan in 2016. While major routing remained intact, we were able to add features that improved the golfing experience. This is just one of the many areas of focus that help us continue to ranked among the favorite golf experiences on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Any tips on playing and reading the greens?
Fast and true rolling greens are what to expect at Diamondhead Country Club. Be sure to play the enough break. Diamondhead sits on the northern shores of the Bay of St. Louis and some say many greens tend to break toward the bay.

Starting on hole #1, are there any tips to get your round off on the right foot?
Diamondhead Country Club has two championship 18-hole golf courses, the Pine and the Cardinal. As always, on #1 Pine, a 522 yard par 5, your goal is to keep your drive in the middle. This straight away hole has elevation change that prevents you from seeing the green. Your best bet is to favor the left center of the fairway to allow the slope to feed your ball toward the center. A second shot down the right side of the fairway will set you up to properly attack this green.

#1 Cardinal, a 374 yard par 4, has a slight dogleg from left to right. Play your tee ball down the right side just left of the fairway bunker to set yourself up for success on this hole. This greens slopes slightly from front to back.

What is your favorite par 5, and how would you recommend playing it?
Diamondhead Country Club's signature par 5 would be #15 Cardinal. This 577 yard par 5 plays along the edge of Twin Lakes. Two forced carries over the lake produce a challenging test on a very scenic hole. Quite possibly this is the toughest hole on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

What is your favorite par 3, and how would you recommend playing it?
Diamondhead Country Club's #13 Pine is a gorgeous 180 yard par 3 set amongst majestic oak trees. A bail out to right will leave a tough up and down due to the mounds and swales. The left side of the green is protected by a brilliant white sand bunker. A hole location in the middle of the green might lull you to sleep if you are not careful. Play smart and move on with a birdie or par.

In your opinion, what is the hardest hole and do you have any tips on playing it?
Diamondhead Country Club's #4 Pine continues to challenge even the best golfers. The tee shot plays down a hill left of a huge oak tree toward a creek. An approach from 150 to 160 yards leaves you in a premium position. Add an extra club as you play your approach back up the hill to an elevated green protected by mounding and a large bunker short right.

As a golfer plays the final three holes, is there a chance for salvation? (any tips on closing out the round?)
On both of Diamondhead Country Club's championship golf courses the final three holes provide a chance to save your round. Both courses close with a short par 4 and a par 5 in the mix. Take advantage of both and head to our 19th Hole Grill and Bar with a smile. If things don't go as planned, you can still head to our 19th Hole and reflect on what will have been an enjoyable golf experience at Diamondhead Country Club. As they say, a bad day of golf is better than a good day at work. We look forward to seeing you at Diamondhead!

Contact Course
Diamondhead Country Club
7600 Country Club Circle
Diamondhead, Mississippi, 39525
228-255-3910
www.diamondheadms.org

Revised: 02/05/2019 - Article Viewed 13,156 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.