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South Carolina
For generations, many South Carolinians have lived in the "upstate" region and owned vacation homes at the beach, a trip of no more than 3 1/2 hours from even the farthest regions of the state. In fact, Pawleys Island, just south of Myrtle Beach, claims to be America's first beach resort. Whether it is or isn't, Pawleys is just one of many golf happy areas of South Carolina, led by its neighbor immediately to the north, Myrtle Beach, which even after some pruning in the golf course ranks, can still boast about 100 layouts in the area. Farther down the coast, in the Low Country, Kiawah Island (10 golf courses within 12 miles or so) can boast of arguable the best in the state, the fabled Ocean Course by Pete Dye. But don't ignore upstate, where Greenville, a sophisticated burgh can lay claim to top 5 Chanticleer, one of Greenville Country Club's two outstanding tracks. We could go on about South Carolina golf (and reference Bluffton, Beaufort, Aiken, Columbia and other areas); we encourage you to go see for yourself.
Extra Extra Free: Discovery Package Adds Day of Lodging, Golf
If you don’t subscribe to our monthly FREE newsletter, Home On The Course, then you missed the announcement in the March issue that Savannah Lakes Village, one of the best buys in Southeastern golf...
The Terror of Tiny Greens
Many of us will look on with awe tomorrow (Sunday) during the final round of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass when players in competition for victory face the daunting 17th hole with its...
Middle Earth a Bad Place on Nicklaus Course
When Jack Nicklaus’ golf course design career was in its infancy, he developed a particular design quirk to call his own -– like Pete Dye’s railroad ties, or Tom Fazio’s cloverleaf bunkers and...
Orange You Glad: Lake Keowee Residents Celebrate Clemson Win
Some years ago, when I stayed overnight at the South Carolina golf community The Reserve at Lake Keowee, I ate dinner in the clubhouse on a Saturday night and, afterwards, headed to the sprawling...
Myrtle Beach continues to prune golf courses
Myrtle Beach area golf courses, whose total once stood at over 120, continue to be under pressure in a still-oversaturated market. Local news outlets are reporting that River Oaks, a golf community just...
Cliffs Communities May Change Hands
At this stage it is just rumor, but the noise coming from some residents of The Cliffs as well as from local developers is loud enough to invoke the old “where there’s smoke there’s fire” adage....
Less Is More at Pawleys Plantation
My home course in Pawleys Island, SC, was recently re-rated by the USGA. In the last few years, a few changes made the course marginally easier to play. And yet, from virtually all tee boxes, the...
Nicklaus lays it out for Pawleys Plantation members
Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear, spent the afternoon and early evening this past Monday at Pawleys Plantation Golf Club, one of his signature designs of the late 1980s, about the time his golf...
Caledonia Beats Mother Nature...and Me
The turf on Pawleys Island, SC, golf courses took a beating this winter. Bermuda grass and its variants do not like to sit for more than a few hours under a sheet of ice, but that is precisely what...
The Granddaddy Shows Its Charm, Age and Blemishes
In an area loaded with golf courses, only one can be the oldest…and the most historic. On the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach, Pine Lakes International, otherwise known as “The Granddaddy,” holds both...
Myrtle Beach Golf: Back in Business
Rounds of golf played last year on Myrtle Beach’s nearly 100 courses were up year to year for the first time in more than a decade. Even before the Great Recession, rounds began to drop in 2005, the...
December Golf on the SC Coast...and Other Thoughts
Weather on the golf courses this week in Pawleys Island, SC, reminds me of the climate changes during a June round of golf in St. Andrews. Back in 2009, I endured a little bit of everything on the...