For as long as this sport has existed, golfers have chased daylight. And for as long as there have been lists, golfers have chased those, too.
The latest adventurer on such a quest is Daniel Belk, a 32-year-old Denver-based entrepreneur who recently sold two companies, leaving him with free time and money in the bank.
“Everyone kept asking me, ‘Daniel, what’s next?’” Belk says. “I was like, Y’all gotta stop asking me what’s next. It’s starting to stress me out. Let me just take a week to play some golf.”
A week turned into two weeks, which gave rise to an idea: play GOLF’s Top 100 Courses You Can Play in less than a year.
“I’ve always been someone who has loved to travel, and golf courses are epic destinations. It’s a super-fun way to see many parts of the country,” Belk says.
Easier said than done.
It is, for starters, an expensive project; Belk has budgeted $85,000 for it. It also requires planning. Tee sheets get crowded. Weather turns sour. Belk began his odyssey in April and, as of this writing, has knocked off 12 courses. Only 88 to go.
His schedule is shaped by the seasons. Springtime has found him in the Southeast. Summer will take him through the Midwest — he and his friends have a Ryder Cup-style match slated for Sand Valley. Come winter, he figures to make his way through California and Hawaii.
Belk has a few things working in his favor. His brother has a pilot’s license and access to a plane, which allows for some surgical strikes. And despite the name, the Top 100 isn’t spread evenly across the map. More than half the courses on the list are concentrated in just seven states: California, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oregon, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Then there’s this advantage.
“I’m in the perfect spot in life where I don’t have kids and I don’t have a job, clearly,” Belk says. “Instead of waiting until I’m 60, let me shoot a couple of sub-80 scores, have some fun and do it while I’m young.”
Not a bad reason to chase a list.
To learn more about Belk’s journey, watch the video above.
