An ad for golf packages at Kiawah Island, SC, in the Wall Street Journal today had the following simple sentences above a wonderful photo of a hole at the famed Ocean Course:

 

"There is epic golf.  Then there is Kiawah."

 

    Wha?  Isn't "epic" a great thing, as in the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Godfather series?  "Epic" means beyond imposing and surpassing the ordinary (especially in size).  How much better than that could golf get?  What the Kiawah copywriters appear to be saying is, "There is epic...and then there is pretentious."

 

   

Speaking of pretentious copy, I am working on article to be published here

Speaking of pretentious copy, I am working on article to be published here in the next day or two that will describe how golf course communities are trying to outdo each other with outrageous claims in their marketing copy.  This is a bit of pot calling the kettle black; I am a former advertising copywriter.  It should be fun.

    The golf obsessed might want to consider an offer from Centex Homes at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach, SC.  Just eight lots remain from an original 32 in the gated community of Oak Pointe inside the Barefoot property.  Prices carry a 5% discount and range from $150K to $180K.
    Barefoot features courses designed by Norman, Dye, Fazio and Love III.  We've played them all, and although we would not rank any in the top five on the Grand Strand, each is distinctive and fun to play.  This being the Myrtle Beach area, more than a hundred other courses are within an hour's drive.
    The Centex promotion piece says that golf memberships are available, but they are not necessary since all but the Dye course are accessible to the public - and in the dead of summer we have not had trouble getting on that one.
    You will find additional information at the Centex web site.