As soon as I shook the bunker sand off my body and bought another sleeve of golf balls and more sun tan lotion and Advil, we headed north to Pearl River Resort in Choctaw. Pearl River Resort is home to two adjoining casinos - Silver Star and Golden Moon Hotel & Casino. Which means I had twice as much opportunity to lose my money. Golden Moon has a 70,000-square-foot gaming floor offering 1,150 slot machines, 25 table games, an elevated 14 table poker room, a stunning video wall, and a new center bar. Silver Star has a 90,000-square-foot casino floor that features 40 table games devoted to Craps, Blackjack, Roulette, Mini Baccarat plus over 1200 slot machines. They both have lots of amenities (from spas to fitness centers to several restaurants and even a huge waterpark) but my favorite amenity was Dancing Rabbit's two top rated (#5 and #6 in Mississippi according to GolfWeek) golf courses which we rated 9.7 out of 10! Dancing Rabbit's Azaleas Golf Course was named the "Augusta that you can play" and the picture above is one of the reasons why. Read more about our stay and play at Pearl River Resort, the golf courses with our reviews and rating, the casinos, accommodations, and another superb dinner.

Here's a quick summary of our Mississippi Golf Vacation so far:

• 72 holes of golf on award winning courses with each course being very different from all the others, a blast to play, in perfect condition, and fair but challenging - they now have less sand in their bunkers but I contributed 7 balls to the lakes and forests
• 3 dinners that were outstanding and that popped a button on my golf pants and made me loosen my belt three notches - for example the picture on the right was my dessert, wow, what a treat
• I spend more time in the sand than David Hasselhoff spent on the beach filming Bay Watch and I took home enough sand from the bunkers to make a sandbox for my grandkids
• Pearl River Resort and Beau Rivage Resort & Casino were fantastic with plenty of slots and gaming tables with my money, excellent amenities, great restaurants, and comfortable golf stay and play lodging
• during our rounds in addition to 7 lost golf balls I devoured way too many Advils, enjoyed several excellent Bloody Marys (not sure if it helped or hurt my game), wore a hole in my golf glove, and used a lot of the golf cart sand to fill my divots

We played both courses at Dancing Rabbit and then headed to West Point, Mississippi for a stay and play at Mossy Oak Golf Club - rated the #3 "Best New Golf Course" by Golf Digest. Just down the street is Old Waverly Golf Club which Golf Digest rated as #1 Golf Course in Mississippi. Both courses are owned by and were created from the vision of the George and Marcia Bryan Family, who sought to create a world-class destination for golf and hospitality in the heart of the Mississippi Black Prairie. From our perspective they exceeded that goal.

We arrived around sunset and had a room right on the 10th hole and loved this beautiful links style golf course layout at Mossy Oak, with it's gently rolling terrain, native grasses, and 106 bunkers - half of which I think I found and instead of Mossy Oak they should have named the course "Sandy!" Old Waverly was designed by US Open Champion Jerry Pate and the late Bob Cupp and it combines the essence of the Scottish Highlands with a graceful southern setting, gently rolling terrain, the signature hole is the 18th, ranked second in Mississippi by Golf Digest and #43 on the 100 Greatest Courses in the US. The club house is magnificent and we enjoyed two superb meals during our stay. Check our our review of Mossy Oak and Old Waverly Stay & Play to learn more about these two superb courses and the epitome of Southern Hospitality!.

I hated to tee off on the 18th hole at Old Waverly, which is a stunning 445 yard par 4 that horseshoes around Lake Waverly and leads to a challenging green surrounded by eight bunkers and the lake on the left as well as the beautiful southern mansion style clubhouse as a backdrop, because I knew that when we finished putting we had to pack up and head home. I did take my time and enjoyed the hole and scenery and about cried when I finally sank a putt.

Wow, what a fantastic vacation with some of the best golf courses, meals, casinos, and lodging that I've ever experienced! Mississippi is truly a wonderful golf destination. We can't wait to come back. To quickly find and read the reviews of the golf courses we played during this Mississippi golf vacation, here is a link to Texas Outside's Ratings & Reviews of Mississippi Golf Courses.