As opposed to those four-letter words that represent a sense of childish anger and are not worthy of our time, there is one in golf that paints a picture of beauty and enchantment and commands our attention.

Sand.

You might know how it moved Italian philosopher Machiavelli to remark about the word: “The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”

But ol’ Niccolo never experienced the Old Course or Royal Melbourne, and he’s been gone for more than five centuries, so he wasn’t on the scene when Bandon Dunes arrived and gloriously ignited a change to the present-day golf landscape. Had he witnessed all of this, Machiavelli might have ignored the hourglasses comment and focused instead on the way sand had created majestic avenues for golf course architects.

Machiavelli might have suggested something along these lines: “The more sand beneath their feet, the more golf course architects get giddy and playful and bring the game to life.”

Now it would be foolhardy to dismiss golf courses that aren’t built upon a superb stretch of sand and are instead situated on clay soil. Good gracious, a majority of the best and most iconic layouts in the world and thousands of other very good ones do have clay soil. But through education, experience and superb TLC, superintendents have become agronomy experts and they’ve done quite well, thank you very much, and can produce wonderful firm and fast conditions on clay soil.

It's just that this David McLay Kidd quote hits home, the one he used several years ago in discussing his golf course in Central Washington, Gamble Sands: “It’s just golf on sand, golf as it was truly meant to be.”

Let that percolate in the back of your mind, then remind yourself of the landscape that has exploded in this era to quench the thirst of golf travelers who want the resort experience on fun courses:

* Bandon Dunes in Oregon: Five scintillating 18-holers with hopes for a sixth, plus two brilliant short courses.

* Pinehurst in North Carolina: A 10th 18-holer will open in April, an 11th one is planned, and other short courses could be added to the two that are already in play.

* Sand Valley in Wisconsin: Four 18-holers and a short course.

* Streamsong in Florida: Three 18-holers and a short course.

What they all have in common is an abundance of sand, which provides for a building process that is exponentially smoother, provides premium drainage, and lets you shape in creative ways.

With all this sufficient sand you might not have links – at least not the pure stuff of Scotland, Ireland, England, New Zealand, and the majestic Sandbelt of Australia – but you have links-like golf which is golf at the high end of the enjoyment scale.

“With sand, there’s been a larger shift in playing style,” said Bradley Klein, an author, journalist, and golf course design consultant. “It’s a more horizontal game. Using sand has allowed you to keep the ball on the ground and not have to play it through the air.

“This has allowed a wider range of golfers to enjoy the game.”

Pinehurst, of course, is the Elder Statesman of the crowd, having been established before 1900. For years, the lure of the majestic Sandhills just 70 miles southwest of Raleigh has made this resort a true global destination. With its famed No. 2 course being a U.S. Open staple (this June will see it host the national championship for a fourth time in 25 years), the resort is a magnet for golfers.

But Bandon, Sand Valley, and Streamsong are thriving brilliantly, and there’s another player joining the parade with a heralded entrance.

Cabot Citrus Farms in Brooksville, Fla., will have an 18-holer and two short courses opened this year, with a second 18-holer right behind. This resort is part of the Cabot Collection, which included the recently-opened golf course with breathtaking views overlooking the Caribbean in St. Lucia.

True, with CCF being in Brooksville, you don’t get ocean views, soothing tropical winds, and majestic cliffs, but Jason Lusk, writing for Golfweek, explains what brought Cabot there: “What the Karoo (golf course) does have is sand, and for golf architects and developers, that’s like sticking a shovel into the ground and striking gold.”

None of this is news, mind you. For years marvelous sand features have awed those who’ve been fortunate enough to play ultra-private playgrounds such as Pine Valley, Seminole, or Cypress Point. Pinehurst has been, well, it’s been Pinehurst, and the wildly popular resort has helped bring in visitors from far and wide to discover other courses in the Sandhills. Oh, and if you are guessing that a place called Prairie Dunes in Kansas, owes much of its charm to sand, put a circle on your scorecard.

It’s just that harvesting sand-rich areas would have meant going to hard-to-find places and no one was lobbying to do that. At least not until a humble gentleman with a dream of building a golf course bought 8,000 acres of rolling terrain in the middle Nebraska.

What Dick Youngscap did next has changed the face of golf in this country: He hired Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to build Sand Hills, which might be miles from anywhere but it’s close to the heart of anyone who has stepped on it.

If you’re a golfer who has cherished his or her time at Pinehurst or Bandon or Streamsong or Sand Valley or any of several dozen courses that have afforded you a chance to play your golf ball along the ground, you owe a debt of gratitude to Youngscap.

He inspired Mike Keiser (Bandon Dunes, Sand Valley), who inspired Ben Cowan-Dewar (Cabot Collection) and along the way visionaries such as Coore and Crenshaw, Kidd, Tom Doak, Gil Hanse, and Kyle Franz have produced works of art. 

Collectively, their circle of uncanny wind-swept courses share off-the-beaten-track addresses. Most importantly, though, they share something you can easily hold in your hand.

Just don’t let it sift through your fingers. It’s too precious.