Charleston, SC

The Lowcountry, a strip of land by the Atlantic Ocean that runs from central South Carolina to Georgia, offers some of the best golf in all the land. The Charleston area is a simply awesome place to visit with the sticks in tow. While Myrtle Beach, an hour and a half drive up Route 17 to the north, is for sure a golfer’s paradise, Charleston has its own, albeit smaller, cache of super courses to keep you entertained for a week or two. Located either in Charleston or the Mount Pleasant area are such solid layouts as Charleston National Golf Club, the two courses at Wild Dunes Resort, Dunes West Golf and River Club, Patriots Point Golf Links, RiverTowne Country Club, and the Links of Stono Ferry. These tracks stand up against any in the Palmetto State for design, playability for golfers of all abilities, and price. And, of course, the upscale Kiawah portfolio, which includes the classic Ocean Course, is located close to Charleston.When you visit, check out the beaches on the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island, two welcoming ocean communities boasting funky cafes and bars off the warm, soft brown sand and mild ocean waters. And hang out in downtown Charleston, with its trendy pubs, restaurants, shops, and historic sites. There are myriad lodging choices, the best being Charleston Place. The city has a central shopping area called, appropriately “The Marketplace,” where hundreds of vendors hawk their wares that range from the trite to the valuable. But the real delight of each trip (other than drinking sweet tea, enjoying the taste of she crab soup, fabulous seafood dishes, sausage gravy and homemade biscuits) is sampling the area’s fairways and greens.Let’s give you a little rundown on what are the best of the bunch in the Charleston area.

Charleston National Golf Club Original plans for Charleston National GC called for the creation of an exclusive, national membership-based club that would rival other such destination golf clubs. The developers even had an airstrip built not far from the site. That was all before Hurricane Hugo took down some 4,000 majestic Spanish-moss draped “live oak” trees and altered the land forever. Proposals for a private facility were abandoned, the course was open to the public and a tasteful community sprang up on the surrounding acreage. While the live oaks may be gone, the Rees Jones course still meanders skillfully through marshes and woods and affords a scenic, pure test of golfing skill. There is some island hopping on the back nine as you navigate open marshes on tee shots and on the par-threes. Indeed, the course ends in quirky fashion with a par-three that plays around 175 yards from the back tees and demands a full shot over wetlands.

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