From the back of the editor's condo in Pawleys Plantation to the 18th hole beyond in mid-February.

Winter golf in Carolinas defies expectations

        I arrived at our vacation home in Pawleys Island, SC, on Friday February 12 expecting to get in either my first round of golf since last fall, or at least some practice on the Pawleys Plantation range.  I awoke the next day to find five inches of snow on the ground, the most in the area south of Myrtle Beach in about two decades.

        Disappointing, yes.  But to adapt what Mark Twain once said of New England’s climate, “If you don’t like the winter weather on

the Carolinas coast, wait a minute:  It’ll change.”  By mid-afternoon, the snow had begun to melt, and by late afternoon, the most dedicated golfers at Pawleys were on the course, mushy patches of un-melted snow adding an additional hazard to the ponds, marsh and sand that characterize the Jack Nicklaus course.

        In virtually all of the Carolinas, even in the foothills of the mountains, golf courses remain open year round, and it is possible, for those of a particularly active nature, to ski in the morning and then hustle down the mountain to get in a leisurely nine or a biathlon-type 18 holes in the afternoon.  Under a heavy sweater, the golf may not be the most comfortable round you ever play, but you can just about guarantee it will be one of the fastest.  The faster you grip and rip, the warmer your hands remain.  And there is no better incentive on a cool day of golf than that roaring fireplace and a bracing beverage in the clubhouse at the end of the round.

         Cheers.