Category Archives: South Carolina

What in the world is Rees Jones doing in Johnsonville, SC, population 1,480??

The Wellman Golf Club

Rees Jones, “The Open Doctor”, son of Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and architect of 250+ golf courses worldwide has recently completed, along with Bryce Swanson, the Wellman Golf Club renovation. The golf club is located in Johnsonville, SC midway between and about an hour each from Florence and Myrtle Beach. Why, you may ask, did Rees Jones, who’s had a hand in Bethpage, Pinehurst No. 2, Baltusrol, and Torrey Pines to name a few of the notables, take on this project in a town of 1,480 residents?

First, the course and the community reminded him of his wife’s hometown just up the road in Red Springs, NC. The golf course was integral to their community and Johnsonville has been without a course for 10+ years. Second, it was his way of giving back to the game and contribute to the opportunity for public golfers to play a private club experience.

Rees Jones discussing the renovation and rebirth of the Wellman Golf Club

Wellman has been around since the mid-1960s with the second nine completed in 1971. It was designed by a couple of golf course architects with chops in their day, Ellis Maples and Ed Seay. The course closed in 2010 and sat dormant for the ensuing period. Fortunately, the fairways and roughs were somewhat maintained by a local resident. In 2020 Florence County purchased the course for $575,000. Subsequently, they entered into a long term lease with the City of Johnsonville to operate the course. A penny sales tax raised up to $5 million to restore the property and reopen the clubhouse and facilities, and on November 11 the City held its grand opening.

The course is a classic parkland layout winding through mature hardwoods and pines over slightly rolling terrain with a Pinehurst feel. There’s numerous ponds and water features in play, slight and dramatic doglegs, and a host of sand traps defending the small, raised greens and the occasional fairway. It also features a reverse “Waterloo” with a nod to the Dunes in Myrtle Beach at the par 5, 11th, and a closing par 3 of 220 yards over water from the tips! There’s five sets of tees with the middle white tees at 6,347 yards.

The Wellman Golf Club

Haig Point, an island off the South Carolina coast, private yes, but also accessible

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Haig Point is available to outside play through their “Member for the Day” program or book one of the rental homes on the island. It’s located just off Hilton Head Island on Daufuskie Island and only accessible by ferry.

The layout is over level terrain with the initial 3-4 holes of the front nine and most of the holes on the back through tree lined fairways. The balance of the holes move out along the marshland with views over the Harbor River and Calibogue Sound to Hilton Head Island and the Harbour Town Lighthouse and beyond. The pristine setting with the marshes, ocean forests, tropical vegetation combine with the elements the Calibogue Sound and the Atlantic Ocean throws at you provide all the elements for a round ensconced in nature. The green complexes vary in size and undulation, there’s 55+ sand bunkers, pot, conventional, and waste areas defending fairways and greens, and a generous amount of water features in play. There’s multiple sets of tees from 5,121 yards to 6, 735 yards, the white tees play to 6,330 yards, 73.1/131, course/slope rating, designed by Tom Fazio.

The Masters,Columbia, SC overnight best golf courses you can play

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With The Masters coming up the week of April 3, many attendees find staying in the Columbia, SC area convenient and cost effective. Columbia is only 70 miles or so east of Augusta, but the difference in hotel and golf rates is significant. Whereas a La Quinta in Augusta is being advertised for $549, you can stay at an Embassy Suites for $166 in Columbia! Green fees in the Augusta area also are inflated to 3X the normal rates during Masters week as well.

In terms of golf, the former University of South Carolina Golf Club, now Cobblestone Park is your best bet for an upscale daily fee golf offering, but there are half-dozen others in our guide to the best public golf courses in Columbia that are worth considering depending on your budget.

The Clemson Golf Trail

The Walker Golf Club at Clemson

Greenville, SC is a popular city for travelers with its restored urban center chocked with bars, restaurants, and shops. Nearby Clemson, a small university town of 17,000 located just 30 minutes to the northwest, has a vibrant and charming small town feel. By way the our guide to the best public golf courses it has its own Clemson Golf Trail. While not officially recognized, we’ve identified five golf courses open to public play in the immediately surrounding area featured below.

The Walker Golf Course located on the Clemson University campus leads the lineup boasting a stout layout with the five finishing holes along Lake Hartwell.

Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains 30 minutes southeast of Clemson, the Chickasaw Point Golf Course provides a challenging layout over changing elevations and confining, tree lined fairways.

Windsor at Walhalla is another layout in the Blue Ridge foothills. It was formerly Falcon’s Lair and has seen needed improvements made by the new ownership providing a solid product at a reasonable price point.

The Pickens Country Club is 18 miles northeast of Clemson just south the the small community of Pickens. While it’s only a 9 hole layout, the set of tees for the backside provides a mostly different look to the front nine.

The Rock is 30 miles north of Clemson on the north side of Pickens near the Table Rock State Park and Jocassee Gorges Management Area. It’s a Russell Breeden design which provides significant elevation changes along a series of narrow and broad fairway corridors.

As always, should we be missing a golf course that belongs in the guide, or one that no longer qualifies as the best golf course in a given area, please let us know here.