If you were to draw a picture in your mind's eye of the ideal location for a golf community, you would likely conjure one that felt totally isolated from the rest of the world and yet, in reality, was an easy drive –- say 20 minutes -- to a functional, charming town with chain stores and boutiques, medical services and a choice group of restaurants. Oh, yes, and if you could get to an ocean beach within, say, 15 minutes, better yet.
        You get all that at the 28-year-old Dataw Island Club and golf community, located within 20 minutes of the quintessential Low Country town of Beaufort, SC, and less than 15 minutes to the sparkling sands of Hunting Island State Park. Not that you might consider leaving too often the 870-acre Dataw and its 36 holes of excellent golf, dozens of social and physical activities and a recently refurbished clubhouse that seems to have as many dining and meeting rooms as a major conference center.
For those who love Low Country tidal marshland, they will never tire of the views from the golf courses and many of the homes at Dataw Island.
        Alcoa Corporation developed Dataw Island in the mid 1980s; the aluminum manufacturer, like other large, land-owning corporations, believed a leisure residential development business could add to shareowner value. And, like International Paper, Weyerhauser and others, Alcoa eventually exited the business, although the company did not turn over Dataw to its residents until 2007, a handoff that community officials and residents agree went without a hitch. What the corporation left behind were two fine golf courses, one by Arthur Hills and the other by Tom Fazio, a beautifully and naturally landscaped community surrounded by wide expanses of marsh, and a master plan that put virtually every building lot within a good view of golf course, marsh, lagoon or, in many cases, a combination of all.
        Alcoa did something else that is unprecedented in my visits to more than 100 golf communities over the last decade: The company insisted that every home built in Dataw be wired for an emergency connection to the community's security guard gate that is manned 24x7. Not that there is a crime problem or anything like that at Dataw; there decidedly is not, but Alcoa had the presence of mind to understand that the community would appeal to a somewhat older demographic with the potential for health emergencies, possible falls and other accidents, including fire. Having the equivalent of a panic button in each house means that Dataw's security personnel –- at least one car is typically patrolling -- can be on the scene within minutes.
The vast majority of homes at Dataw Island look out to one of the two golf courses or the marsh and, in some cases, both.
        No one searching for a home in Dataw will panic over its housing prices. They are among the most reasonable we have encountered in any multi-golf course community, especially when you consider the views involved. You will have to work hard at finding many million-dollar homes at Dataw, and those will be huge and have million-dollar views over a wide expanse of marshland. But at the other end of the spectrum, a two-bedroom, two-bath villa, of which there are just a relative few beside the 9th hole, are priced as low as $158,000; two units at even lower prices are currently under contract. (Couples visiting to inspect Dataw are housed in the villas, a smart move for the community's marketing efforts since views across the fairway also take in the wide marsh beyond.) Single-family homes start as low as $170,500 for a three-bedroom, two-bath residence of 1,865 square feet and a view of the golf course. The least expensive homes at Dataw tend to be those in need of some cosmetic updating; now that the community is nearing its third decade, there are a number of those available. But because of the way Dataw developed, with no deadline requirement to build a home on a purchased lot, owners of some resale lots purchased in the last few years have built new homes next door to others 20 years and older. The effect is not as discordant as it may seem, and it appears that the older homes have been updated to literally keep up with the Joneses next door.

        Just before my wife Connie and I were about to get ready for a special Valentine's evening event at Pawleys Plantation in Pawleys Island, SC, she took a bag of garbage to the disposal area about 30 yards from our front door. As she deposited the bag in the receptacle, she heard a noise in the bushes just beyond and looked up to see a huge pelican staring back at her. She began the brisk walk back to our unit, turned around en route and found the pelican was waddling after her. She rushed into the house, closed the storm door behind her and watched in a combination of wonder and anxiety as the pelican began scratching at the door with his enormous bill. She snapped the accompanying photo. After the bird gave up trying to gain entry, he perched on the guardrail along our carport before going on his merry way.
Our Valentine's Day visitor at Pawleys Plantation
        The Valentine's Dinner turned out to be much less eventful but interesting nevertheless. About 80 couples from Pawleys and two other nearby golf communities were in attendance, and the crowd was almost exclusively baby boomers (and numerous couples on the other side of 70). Dinner service began shortly after seven, and by 7:30 the band -– whose members' ages reflected the audience's –- was in full swing. The playlist was virtually a what's what of 60s clichés, which is to say the most familiar and popular songs for my contemporaries and me. Here are a few samples: Dock of the Bay, Midnight Hour, Satisfaction (Can't Get No), Bad Moon Rising, Old Time Rock and Roll and others you might logically guess. I am not a dancer, although I indulged Connie on the slow ones, but I was impressed with the energy of my fellow club members who are well into their 60s and beyond. I was exhausted watching some of them but impressed that so many still remember how to "do the twist."
        But beginning at 9, the crowd began to dwindle pretty quickly, and at 10, the band abruptly played one last tune "to take you home," and the night was over. As one of our tablemates observed, "this is pretty much past our bedtimes."