Our most-read travel story of the year featured a course no one could play

Hundreds of travel stories hit our website over the last 12 months, but none were more popular than a story about a course people couldn’t play. Ironic, isn’t it?

Andrew Penner is a GOLF freelancer/photographer based in Canada, and his Jan. 5, 2021, piece on the predicament facing Bald Eagle Golf Club in Point Roberts, Wash. — No man’s land: Inside the predicament facing America’s loneliest golf course — was GOLF.com’s most-read travel story of the year.

While the vast majority of the golf world was bustling during the pandemic — as the sport benefited from its ease to social distance and, obviously, be outside — Bald Eagle wasn’t enjoying the same good fortune. Due to its unique location and the closed U.S./Canadian border, the course remained closed.

From Penner’s story: The golfers, stuck on the other side of the border in Canada, can’t get to Point Roberts. Nor can U.S. citizens who reside in “greater” Washington State. The only way for them to drive to Point Roberts is by traveling 25 miles through Canada. And, because the border closed to non-essential travel, this is an impossibility.

Superintendent Rick Hoole joked, “It’s like we’re inmates in a 4.7-square-mile prison.”

The U.S./Canadian border opened in the fall, but that didn’t help Bald Eagle much due to the strict testing requirements at the border. The course stayed closed. The U.S./Canadian border is currently operating at reduced capacity. Bald Eagle, however, according to its website, has decided to stay closed for the winter season.

“We hope with an early spring and good growing weather we can welcome back golfers before summer of 2022,” the site says. “Thank you for your patience, we appreciate it with all of our energy!”

Here’s hoping Bald Eagle has full tee sheets in 2022. To read Penner’s complete story on Bald Eagle Golf Club, click here.

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