Play at Mississippi Courses up Despite Hurricane Katrina

The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) Division of Tourism has announced that fiscal year 2006 sales (July 1, 2005-June 30, 2006) at Mississippi public golf courses increased 8.6 percent over the previous year.

“These statistics are particularly telling because they occurred during a terribly challenging time, and they show how popular Mississippi’s golf-and-gaming attractions have become,” says D. Craig Ray, MDA Tourism Division Director. “Visitors tell us they love complementing their one-of-kind golf trips in Mississippi by experiencing our casino resorts, world-famous blues music, renowned culinary offerings, Southern hospitality and our history, heritage and architecture.”

Fiscal year 2007 sales should further demonstrate Mississippi’s trend as a viable golf destination as several resorts, casinos and new courses that opened in 2006 and others slated to debut in 2007 are coming online. The new courses include:

• Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi (opening summer 2007)
• The Preserve Golf Club, a Jerry Pate-design at the Palace Casino
• Fallen Oak, a Tom Fazio design at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino
• The Dogwoods at Hugh White State Park (Gary Roger Baird design), one of three top-notch courses in Mississippi’s state park system (Mallard Point and Quail Hollow are others)

“Mississippi has worked hard to entice avid golf-and-gaming travelers to visit our great state, because we knew if we got them here once, they would come back,” added Ray. “The sales increases demonstrate the rising trend of visitors to Mississippi and we hope increasingly more visitors will judge our offerings for themselves.”

A free Golf Mississippi Travel Guide and more information about Mississippi golf are available by calling 866/801-8551 or visiting www.visitmississippi.org.