RESPECTING THE CLASSICS

The Dunes Golf & Beach Club The Dunes has always been a joy to play, but a major renovation of its greens in 2003 has now made it de rigueur for Grand Strand golfers. The project was overseen by Rees Jones, who was seven when his father designed the original Dunes Club in 1949. It’s a subtle masterpiece set hard by the sea, with evil seemingly lurking around every turn.

Greenville Country Club (Chanticleer) Another Robert Trent Jones beauty, Chanticleer opened in 1970 after Jones reportedly spent three years deciding on just the right location. It was time well spent. Chanticleer rolls gracefully through the foothills of the Piedmont. Rarely has a golf course fit so perfectly into its setting.

Country Club of Charleston Architecture buffs claim that this is one of Seth Raynor’s most original designs, a valid claim given the site’s exceptionally flat terrain. The brilliance of the course lies in its green settings, with boldly contoured putting surfaces and some truly dastardly bunkering. In an ironic twist of fate, Hurricane Hugo swept away many trees that had been planted long after the course opened in 1929. The resulting openness and expansive views accentuate Raynor’s ingenious work. 

Yeamans Hall Club  It’s almost inconceivable that Charleston has two extraordinary Seth Raynor courses in such close proximity. Opened in 1925, Yeamans Hall exudes the timeless elegance of the era, with fairways flanked by massive oaks and intertwined by tributaries of Charleston Harbor. Tom Doak’s restoration of the course in 1998 revived many of the original shot values from Raynor’s design and has helped give another generation of golfers a glimpse of tradition in its grandest sense.

Palmetto Golf Club  Dating from 1892, Palmetto is the oldest, continuously operated 18-hole golf club in its original location in the Southeast. In 1932, when Dr. Alister MacKenzie had completed the Augusta National Golf Club, he was asked to draw up plans for converting Palmetto’s sand greens to grass and lengthening the course. Tom Doak restored much of MacKenzie’s design characteristics in 2005. Suffice to say, comparisons to its Augusta neighbor are no exaggeration.