What's in a name? Quite a lot, if you are

talking about the United States

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

I have never made any secret of the fact that I think we are too traditional, too conservative when it comes to naming our golf clubs and courses.

Almost without exception they are given names that identify their geographical location.
I was once involved in the opening of a brand new course, of which one of the features was a small lake inhabited by swans. I suggested the name should be Swan Lake Golf Club. Never stood a chance of being accepted, of course. The name chosen was, inevitably, the name of the estate on which the course had been built.
All of this comes back to me as two names from the American golf news tickled my fancy this week.
On the college front, the ECCC Fall Invitational has just been played at DANCING RABBIT Golf Club, Choctaw in the state of Mississippi. What a great name! It could only have been chosen in the United States.
Also, the US PGA Tour Qualifying School's Stage 2 events are being played this week. One of them is at Panama City Beach, Florida at Hombre Golf Club. That's quite a distinctive title but wait until you hear the names of its three courses: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
On the tee, Clint Eastwood!
If you have ever come across a golf club or course the name of which appealed to you, E-mail me at Colin@scottishgolfview.com