Fried Chicken Golf Trail
Lorman MS - Roanoke TX - Philadelphia PA - Mason TN - Phoenix AZ - NYC NY - Savannah GA - Santa Monica CA - New Orleans LA - Corbin KY
FoodNetwork.com
*Golf and additional chicken joints by Fat Guy
There's no more American food than fried chicken. It conjures up visions of your Grandmother's kitchen, or big matronly Southern women in aprons serving it up in baskets with cloth napkins folded over it.
Food Network recently did an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate featuring nothing but their favorite fried chicken joints. I've added a couple places I know about, along with a good Americana course nearby.
"It's crispy, succulent, juicy, greasy, tender and ohhh sooo good. We're talkin' FRIED CHICKEN and some of your favorite Food Network stars including Alton Brown, Claire Robinson, and Michael Symon reveal where they go for the best version of this classic finger lickin' dish."
The Old Country Store
18801 Highway 61 South
Lorman, MS 39096
(601) 437-3661
You know you're in the Deep South when the closest place to play golf is named Beau Pre' Country Club (www.beauprecc.com, Natchez). This semi-private course meaners over rolling terrain, with tree-lined holes and Tif-Eagle greens. The last 4 holes play along a creek beneath a giant red clay bluff. And the greens fees are only $60 prime time.
Babe’s Chicken Dinner House
104 North Oak
Roanoke, TX 76262
(817) 491-2900
www.babeschicken.com
This is a great spot, because you're only a little over an hour from downtown Dallas, yet far enough out in the Texas outlands that you can play a Golf Digest 4-star Robert Trent Jones Jr. design like Sky Creek Ranch (www.skycreekranch.com, Keller) for just $69 in prime time. Jones crafted this gem in the old style, moving as little earth as possible, routing the course over the natural contours. He still managed to craft a layout with sweeping panoramic vistas, lush foliage, fairways framed by stately oaks, and numerous doglegs. Big Bear Creek comes into play on 16 holes, in addition to numerous lakes and tributaries.
Ms. Tootsie's Restaurant Bar Lounge
1314 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 731-9045
www.kevenparker.net
Combine the soul from Ms. Tootsie's kitchen with Philly's American Bandstand heritage and shake your tailfeathers out to Paxon Hollow GC (www.paxonhollowgc.com, Media) in the suburbs. This hilly adventure has a few cramped holes, but it'll challenge your ball-striking and course management on nearly every hole. Paxon has a little bit of everything, from tight hard doglegs to bowling alley fairways on tree-lined short-par 4's to sweeping roundabout par-5's with counter-cantered corners to a severe downhill par-3 over a creek. A fun challenge, but on weekends be ready to play the 18th under the watchful eye of a wedding reception crowd from the clubhouse balcony.
Gus's Fried Chicken
505 Highway 70 W
Mason, TN 38049
(901) 294-2028
A half-hour Northeast of Memphis, head over to StoneBridge (www.stonebridgegolf.com, Lakeland). A classic routing over easy elevation changes, with numerous approach shots over pond cut-outs. And you'll be able to afford plenty of fried chicken at Gus's, since prime time greens fees are under $50.
Mrs. White's Golden Rule Café
808 E. Jefferson St.
Phoenix, AZ 85034
(602) 262-9256
www.mrswhitesgoldenrulecafe.com
You're in the golfing mecca of Phoenix, so buck up for some quality desert target golf at Legacy (www.shellhospitality.com, $99-$119). This Gary Pranks design routed through the resort is surrounded by native structures and monuments, and has hosted an LPGA tournament.
Hill Country Chicken
1123 Broadway
New York, NY 10010
212-257-6446
www.hillcountrychicken.com
After fried chicken at a place named Hill Country, you gotta tee it up at Bethpage's Red Course. A worth sister to it's more famous U.S. Open host Black, the Red is just about as tough at half the price.
The Wilkes House
107 W Jones St
Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 232-5997www.mrswilkes.com
Golf Magazine's Travelin' Joe digs Wilmington Island Golf Club (912-897-1612, www.wilmingtonislandclub.com) a 1927 Donald Ross design that's dotted with mature pines and live oaks and goes for just $69, which includes cart and range balls. It's open to outside play all day Tuesday-Friday and after 12:30 p.m. on the weekend.
Cha Cha Chicken
1906 Ocean Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90405-1044
(310) 581-1684
www.chachachicken.com
Links Magazine digs nearby Brookside Golf Club. Billy Bell Sr. designed 36 holes at this facility in the shadow of the Rose Bowl. Opt for the No. 1 (Koiner) course if you only have time for one round.
Fat Guy Recommendations:
Food Network and Bon Appetite love the fried chicken at Willie May's Scotch House in New Orleans. In a category all its own, Audubon Park Golf Course, an 1898 urban landmark operated by the Audubon Nature Institute, is not to be missed. The course, which occupies eighty-one acres off St. Charles Avenue, survived the hurricane because, like the French Quarter, it sits on high land known as "the sliver by the river." A $6 million renovation in 2002 has turned it into a 4,200-yard, par-sixty-two delight. Laugh not; this is serious fun. Twelve par threes, four par fours and two par fives make this honest, oak-lined layout a singular experience. Think three-hour rounds, smooth greens, an engaging Glaswegian who works in the pro shop, and a renowned zoo next door.
You can't have a fried chicken golf trail without heading for the original Kentucky Fried Chicken store. KFC's original recipe has defined fried chicken for millions of Americans. The Colonel opened his first store, "Sanders Court & Cafe", in 1930 in the small front room of a Standard Oil gas station. He invented the recipe in 1940, and by 1952 he was marketing KFC franchises. Head for the original Kentucky Fried Chicken in Corbin, Kentucky (www.corbinkentucky.us/sanderscafe.htm). Play nearby Sweet Hollow Resort's 9-holer (www.sweethollowresort.com) for the price of a couple buckets of chicken.