I am proud of my country club in Pawleys Island, SC. Although nowhere near the magnitude of what folks in the Ft. Myers, FL, area suffered from Hurricane Ian -- and are still suffering -- the hurricane reconstituted itself after crossing the Sunshine State, caught a ride north on the Gulfstream past Georgia and entered the Palmetto State on September 30, just eight miles south of Pawleys Plantation where my wife and I own a vacation condo and where I love to play fall golf.
With winds gusting to 100 mph and, more significantly, a storm surge of eight feet, our marsh-adjacent golf course -- separated by just 3/4 mile from the Atlantic Ocean -- was strewn with all manner of natural and unnatural debris, such as pieces of boat docks as well as one dock with a still-attached boat that was thrown up onto the dike that serves as tee boxes for the club's two signature par 3s. (see photo below)
The Pawleys Plantation crew, led by superintendent Chris Allen, and some staff borrowed from other courses owned by Founders International, were so quick to start restoration efforts the day after the Friday storm that by Sunday morning, the front nine holes had opened for play and by Monday, all 18 were opened with some creative detours and redirecting of holes to accommodate the impassable cart path across the dike.
I will write about the club's efforts in the October edition of Home On The Course, our mostly monthly newsletter that will include a feature about why you should consider moving up a tee box -- or two -- to give yourself a break. To subscribe for free, click here.
Many golf communities not close to an urban area offer plenty in the way of golf and other recreation but often little in the way of cultural stimulation. Sure, Netflix and other streaming services, as well as the dozens of cable TV stations available, are a fine substitute for a lack of movie theaters, but for the most part, you won’t find museums or universities to feed your head before, after or between rounds of golf.
The Pawleys Island area of South Carolina, one of the best in the east for excellent golf courses, is not exactly a cultural mecca; on the contrary, it is closer to a wasteland, with a small art museum located about a half hour away and Coastal Carolina University a good 45 minutes. But one giant garden, a wonder of the art world, occupies 9,000 acres of prime coastal marshland about a half hour south of the Myrtle Beach airport and is so vast and diverse in what it offers that it could be the determining factor for couples who want distance from population centers but not from art.
Brookgreen Gardens, which spans the town lines of Litchfield and Murrells Inlet, SC, and is just minutes from Pawleys Island, was supposed to be the huge private retreat for the noted sculptor, Anna Hyatt Huntington, and her husband, the enormously wealthy Archer Huntington. The Great Depression depressed the prices of plantation land in South Carolina, and the Huntingtons scooped up separate pieces of property that eventually grew to 14 square miles about a mile from the ocean.
When Archer Huntington and noted sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, his wife, purchased property in South Carolina in 1930, the original idea was to build a retreat from the world while Anna, who had been diagnosed with tuberculosis, recovered her strength. However, 18 months later, on July 13, 1931, the property was incorporated under the laws of South Carolina as a private, not-for-profit corporation entitled "Brookgreen Gardens, A Society for Southeastern Flora and Fauna."
From the beginning, the Gardens’ goals were not solely related to the display of sculptures in a garden setting. They were also to collect, exhibit and preserve plants of the Southeast, and to do the same for the indigenous animals of the area. There is even a zoo on the property and at virtually all times of the year, the gardens are festooned with seasonal and colorful flowers and plants.
My wife and I are members of Brookgreen Gardens, and whenever we stay at our vacation condo in Pawleys Island, we make sure to visit the Gardens a couple of times. They are beautiful and diverse in the types and sizes of sculptures (some of the most artistic fountains you will ever see) and flora; best of all, there are plenty of benches on which to relax and contemplate the creative spirit and the generosity of the Huntingtons, who also bequeathed to the state a beautiful stretch of beach just a couple of miles away. After a frustrating or exhilarating round of golf, the Gardens is the perfect place to wind down.
Below is a sampling of photos I have taken over the years at Brookgreen Gardens that will provide an idea of what awaits you if you are fortunate enough to visit.
There is no better golf course along the 90-mile Grand Strand of South Carolina than Caledonia Golf & Fish Club. Located in Pawleys Island, just south of Myrtle Beach, Caledonia is a relentlessly attractive layout that combines both classic and ultra-modern touches in perfect harmony. It may be the finest course designed by the late Mike Strantz, whose small but electric portfolio of designs come to life stretches across the nation, from Monterery Golf Club in California to Bull’s Bay just north of Charleston, SC. (And who hasn’t heard of Strantz’ Tobacco Road in North Carolina, one of the most entertaining 18-hole jaunts anywhere?)
Caledonia is why a new listing in Pawleys Island caught my eye today. A cute little three-bedroom, two-bath condo, it is just one left turn and three minutes from Caledonia’s iconic, live-oak-lined entrance. Caledonia’s equally magnetic partner course, True Blue, is just another 90 seconds down the road; and although it isn’t quite as dramatic as Tobacco Road, you can feel the same designer’s hand (and tractor) all over it. The home is listed at $219,000 and the agent's description includes the following:
"Within the last three years, owners have replaced the roof, hvac system and water heater. Have your morning coffee on the recently built deck in your secluded backyard adorned with flowers the seller has nurtured. Relax with a book and afternoon beverage in the Carolina room. In the cooler months, enjoy a wood burning fire in your family room. Community has a large natural recreation area to walk and picnic. Reasonable HOA fee includes trash pick-up; landscaping, cable and internet." (See photos below)
If you are interested, I can put you in touch with the listing agent. Contact me here.
Annual membership at Caledonia (True Blue membership is included) is a good deal for year-round residents especially, at $1,895 for a single golfer between the ages of 40 and 75; and $1,295 if you are over the age of 75. Corresponding couples rates are $2,595 and $1,795, respectively. However, the membership fee does not provide free golf but rather reduces green fees way below Caledonia’s high-season rack rate of $199, the most expensive of the 90 or so courses on the Grand Strand. Members pay $30 (cart included) for Caledonia and $27 for True Blue.
A picture is worth at least the 300 words that accompany the one below, especially when the image communicates that there are still bargains available in top Southeast region golf communities; and especially if you act decisively and buy a nice piece of land on which to build your dream home.
This morning I learned that a couple I have been working with had purchased a beautiful lot in Berkeley Hall, one of the three top communities in the popular Bluffton, SC, just over the bridge from Hilton Head Island. The lot, as you can tell from the drone photo, is at the end of a cul-de-sac across the water from mid-fairway of a par 4 on the Tom Fazio layout. The lot sold for $95,000 in a community in which homes are listed from $449,000 to $1.5 million (just six are currently on the market). Lots, however, are priced from just $39,000 to $299,000, and there are only four of those left. (My real estate professional in the area, Tom Jackson, tells me builders recently bought a group of 20 lots which implies more new homes are on the way over the coming months.)
I recall dozens of lots available just a few years ago in Berkeley Hall, as well as its neighbors Belfair Plantation and Colleton River. Many of those lots, including the one that just sold, had been listed for as much as $400,000 during the communities’ heydays until the recession of 2008 sent prices plummeting. Some dropped as low as $1 as their speculating owners sought to get out from under the obligation of club fees and homeowner’s association dues. Local real estate professionals and property owners are glad those days are well in the rearview mirror.
If you would like more information about the Bluffton area golf communities or an introduction to Tom Jackson, please contact me.
It is tough to keep your head down when the Calibogue Sound is in view at Rees Jones' Haig Point layout on Daufuskie Island.
Haig Point, Daufuskie Island
Island golf communities are a misnomer in all but a few cases. Hilton Head Island is reached by a bridge and Kiawah Island by a causeway, both built to promote growth; of course, traffic and pollution ensue. True golfing islands – those fully separated from the mainland by water -- are few and far between; the two I know best are Bald Head Island, off the coast of North Carolina, and Daufuskie Island, separated from Hilton Head by the Calibogue Sound (pronounced Cala-bogey).
Bald Head is essentially a luxury beach resort with a fine, and recently updated, George Cobb links course at its heart. It gets pretty cold on Bald Head during the winter and, for that reason, and Haig Point’s 29 holes of golf (not a misprint), the Daufuskie Island community gets my nod for “true island golf.”
Some may know Daufuskie as the setting for Pat Conroy’s memoir, The Water is Wide, about teaching the Gullah children of the island in a two-room schoolhouse. Conroy’s stories opened the children up to a world they did not know existed, changing his life and theirs. Many of the remnants of early island life remain, such as the tabby slave quarters beside the water and close to the Strachan Mansion (see below); and the schoolhouse is still standing as well.
The only transportation in Haig Point is via golf cart, and the only way to get to the island is by ferry – unless you are fortunate enough to have access to a helicopter or private boat to the community’s dock. The ferry runs hourly to and from the Haig Point Embarkation Center on Hilton Head, where all residents park their cars. Although there is a general store in Haig Point, many residents take the ferry back and forth – it is about a 40-minute trip each way – to pick up provisions at the supermarket and to run other errands. Employees of Haig Point unload the groceries from the residents’ cars at the Haig Embarkation point on Hilton Head and load them onto their golf carts at the other end, or deliver directly to their homes. The Water Taxi, a 10-minute ride, runs hourly between Haig Point and Harbour Town harbor on Hilton Head, upon request.
The Rees Jones golf course has been ranked among the best in South Carolina by a number of golf magazines and, in its early days, Top 100 in the U.S. It features some breathtaking views across the Calibogue Sound to Hilton Head, and on a clear day, you can see the famous Harbour Town Lighthouse clearly from the Haig golf course. Jones built an extra two par threes – the 8th and 17th – to challenge better players and to put more marshland in play and the Sound even more in view.
Haig Point, Daufuskie Island, SC
Homes from $289,000 to $2.2 million
Golf: 29 holes by Rees Jones
Golf communities nearby: A bunch on Hilton Head Island, a ferry ride away.
Notes: Haig Point was developed in the mid-1980s by International Paper Company (IP) at a time some paper companies thought such developments would help their balance sheets. (In many cases, they didn’t.) In 1986, IP was offered the Strachan Mansion, which was located on St. Simons Island, GA; the Sea Island Company was clearing the land on which the mansion sat. IP paid to have the mansion shipped down the Intracoastal Waterway to Haig Point, where it is used today as a post office, tavern, convenience shop, reception and guest rooms. IP turned over Haig Point’s land and amenities to its residents in 2001.
Special thanks to Wallace (Doc) Watson, a resident of Haig Point, for his assistance with this article.
If you would like to read more about Haig Point and dozens of other golf communities in the Southeast U.S., consider my new book, Glorious Back Nine: How to Find Your Dream Golf Home, available in paperback and a Kindle version at Amazon.com.