My Eclectic 18: South Carolina- Henry Shimp
An eclectic 18, for anyone not familiar, is the collection of the 18 best holes in a given frame of reference. Your favorite first hole, second hole, etc. all the way to 18. Each hole must be that same hole number on the course you select it from. I.e. I can’t use a 5th hole as my 9th on my eclectic 18, it could only be used as my 5th. The goal is always to get variety into your 18 holes as well. While South Carolina likely won’t draw from as many courses as a larger state and also has some top heaviness in its best courses, the goal still is to avoid putting 4-5+ holes in from one golf course. So, without further ado, my eclectic 18 of South Carolina. As a brief note, I have not played Secession, Sage Valley, Aiken GC, or Cherokee Plantation which are all courses I received messages about.
Hole 1: Yeamans Hall Club
What makes the first at Yeamans my favorite opener in SC is 3 key elements. One, its context within the club overall. Two, having just the right amount of challenge while still being an “ease you into the round” hole. And three, the green is a double plateau, which is one of my favorite templates.
Starting with its situation within the club. The entry road that cars take into the club runs directly through the first fairway. You start your day coming across the first fairway and then cross that same road a short while later whilst playing. I love this and think it makes for a cool start to the day. I also am a big fan of first tee settings that are situated within the clubhouse area/practice tee and Yeamans is just that. The practice tee and putting green are right next to the first tee and the clubhouse is right behind. From driving in on the road you will cross some 30 minutes later to warming up with your first swing in sight, the connectivity end to end of the opener at YHC is second to none in SC.
Second, I am a proponent of a discerning yet not overly challenging first tee ball and then a hole that gets progressively harder from there. No one, and I mean no one, wants to reload off the first, and at Yeamans it’s nearly impossible to. That said, the principal’s nose bunker on the left side of the hole shows the clear advantage to hugging the right side of the massive fairway. Discernment, but not punishment. The second shot shows more of the same. The green is large, but you can tell you really want to hit a nice shot to give yourself the best chance to score. Leading into my final merit of the first.
The double plateau is one of the simpler yet most sophisticated template greens. One that features two distinct shelves to place the pin on. Find the right one and birdie is in play. Fail to do so, and 3 putts on the first become likely to imminent. Yeaman’s first asks you this. Can you hit a mediocre to average drive? Can you hit an average to above average approach? Once these two levels have been passed, the outcome of your 2 efforts dictate what you are faced with next. Great stuff. Perfect for an opening hole. Those elements coupled with how it sits within the course make it my winner in the state of SC for best opener.
Hole 2: Old Barnwell
The drivable second at OB makes me think of a fly fisherman trying to double haul a long cast. A process in which by pulling down on the line as it comes back in to the reel can make the line feed out even faster and help you make longer casts. However, if a double haul is not properly performed, it can lead to screwing up your cast altogether. That’s the second at Old Barnwell. After an opener that should lead to birdie more times than not you have a great opportunity to make another with a good swing of the d-stick on 2 (hell, take a page from Simas’ book and make a 2!). But, like many of the greens at OB, it is raised up and extra punishing to those who miss in the wrong spots and don’t have the short game prowess to recover. So just like that fly fisherman who goes for broke, my choice for best second hole presents the same fork in the road. After a first hole that is kind to the golfer, a second that can give another or take it right back is a great choice by the architects, in my opinion. What’s more is that the green (pictured below) sits into the pines in the distance in an infinity style, but rather than ocean or mountains, it is the pines of SC that let you know exactly where you are.
Hole 3: Palmetto GC
Ok, we ready to get into it now? That’s what you question you immediately face when you arrive at the 3rd tee at Palmetto. The first hole isn’t a joke, but a solid tee ball sets you up for success. The second is a step up from the first where an average 2 iron or 3 wood leaves you a full wedge that needs to be well executed, but it’s still a wedge. The third, it’s time to play golf. Long, blind tee ball, OB up the left and for the best look into the green you need to hug the left, and a green that is small and if missed long, left, or short, will yield something that is north of 4 and hopefully south of 7. Many par 4’s basically ask you to hit one good shot to make a par. The 3rd at Palmetto asks for at least 3, if not 4. It’s a red light yellow light hole. There is no green light. If you hit a good tee ball. Yellow light. Middle of the green and try to get out with 4. If you hit a bad one. Red light. Dump it short of the green and see if you can somehow get down in 2 while contending with the 12 foot high false front. Just don’t go for glory and bring in double or worse. It can happen very quickly on just the 3rd hole of the day and while a bogey at this stage in the game won’t hurt a round too badly, a double really hurts the momentum.
Hole 4: Ocean Course
What I like about this hole is how it fits into the order of the holes as well as the routing of the course to this point. The Ocean Course is famously a figure 8 routing with the first 4 holes going out, 5 coming across, 6-13 back in, then 14-18 turn back to the center again. The 4th is the final hole that goes out in one wind direction and is the final gauntlet before you get to change. *Relatively speaking* the first 3 holes are short and scorable given what is to come. The 4th is Pete Dye’s final test before you get to make a change.
484 yards of pure “don’t hit it right.” A hole that is split into a section for the fairway with marsh on the predominant right as well as the left and then a second section that houses the left to right green. The green is guarded by 2 bunkers and a well hit shot can use the green contours to access pins all the way in the back right corner. This hole is about discipline. Play it right and you can get out with 4, or even the rare 3. Choose to avoid discipline and pay the price. This is the official welcome to what the rest of the day will bring. Be ready for it.
Hole 5: CC of Charleston
While there admittedly are a couple par 4’s likely as good as this one - Palmetto stands out – I felt it was time to get a scoring opportunity in the fold. The 5th at Charleston presents that, but in the fashion of a good narrows hole like it is, a birdie will not come without strong play. The strategy of a narrows hole is to have a wide hole by appearance but with two bunkers in the landing zone that pinch in the area you can actually find the short grass in. A large roundish bunker guards the fifth’s left side while a long bunker the first tucks into the fairway then runs along it for some 50 yards guards the right. Again, while it looks like you can rip one anywhere down the hole, only a well struck tee ball actually leaves you in a good spot. As we move towards the green, the second narrows feature comes in which is optical elusion to your depth perception. A plethora of bunkers stack the middle right side of the hole that obscure the layup that is necessitated all too often. This entices the fringe go for it decision to skew aggressive, which usually won’t end well. The green has more than enough movement and challenge around it with bunkering and short grass below the level of the surface to protect its par of 5 more times than not. In this past year’s Azalea Invite, a top amateur competition hosted annually at CCC, the hole played to a 4.7 avg. Not bad for being sub 500 yards…
This is a hole that, as I led with, presents an opportunity to score, but ultimately will make you earn it. Exactly what you would hope to see from a short par 5 and the reason why it has made it into my eclectic 18.
Hole 6: Chechessee
Admittedly, I found the 6th across the state to not be the biggest brawl. Much unlike the hole to follow. That said, 6 at Chechessee is still a strong golf hole. Long enough but not a monster, and a true example of a hole where a the tee ball makes a massive difference. You can tell off the tee that hugging the creek up the left side of the hole gives you quite an advantage in terms of angle and length into the green, but if you get too aggressive you may be walking out with 6 or 7 as it will likely lead to another ball off the tee. This is an easy hole to play safe on the whole time and make a weak 5, but not such an easy hole to stand up to the challenges of and give yourself a chance at 3. Play to the right rough, contend with the bunkers short right of the green, see if you can 2 putt from long or get up and down. That’s always a play. But to truly step up to the hole and play it like a man, you have to take on some challenge.
Hole 7: Palmetto GC
This was a brutally hard one to choose. Could’ve stayed right with Chechessee, but ultimately I would’ve been choosing a view rather than the best architecture (although the 7th at Chechessee is way more than just a view). Could’ve gone 30 mins to Tree Farm or Old Barnwell as each of their 7th holes are strong as train smoke. The par 3 7th at Harbour Town is far from a bad shot. The Charleston Raynors have great par 4 7th holes. Hell if I wanted a par 5, the 7th at Ocean Course is good. Lucky 7 I guess.
Ultimately, it was always Palmetto. Bobby Jones said it was “the best medal par 3 he ever played.” Which is not an insignificant endorsement. The hole is just awesome. Left bunkers are fine but not great. Left of the left bunkers is terrible not bad. Right of the green is bad and trending on terrible. It’s one of those shots that makes you feel something. You know it’s coming and it’s 180 yards are just sitting right there to be executed on if you can just strike a solid, straight mid iron. It just doesn’t happen that way all too often. I like to think about the best holes as the ones that FEEL the most rewarding. If you make a 2 at Palmetto’s 7th, you know damn well you just did something cool. Whether it’s your first round at PGC or 100th, you just know that a 2 or even a 3 at 7 is something to celebrate and sometimes in golf it’s the things we can’t necessarily articulate that hold the most value. 7 at PGC. Possibly the best par 3 in SC, frankly.
Hole 8: Ocean Course
After starting with 5 par 4’s in the first 6 of my 18, it’s time to get weird. Back to back par 3’s, with this one being The Ocean Course’s 8th. I love this hole. It’s such an unapologetic Ocean Course hole with the view of the Atlantic just to your left, the green being surrounded along the right and to the back with a waste bunker, and a bit of a raise in the green providing all the challenge needed to make a great hole. I take to this hole so much because of it’s day to day fluidity in difficulty depending on hole location and wind. It’s short enough that with relatively benign conditions and a straightforward hole location it’s not too hard and would even yield a birdie or two to the really nice iron shot. However, 197 is also more than enough to where if the pin is all the way in the back and you get a mean cross wind off the ocean, it’s not going to be so fun and getting out with 3 feels like robbery. Where some holes at The Ocean Course are just flat hard, regardless of the day, the 8th is one that changes on a daily basis. And I like that.
Hole 9: Congaree
Faz nation getting some representation! Admittedly, The Congo is an absolutely wonderful overall experience yet not one of my top 5 courses in the state. That said, I still love playing the course due to the absolutely sublime conditioning and low country feel. While I have some qualms with the place architecturally speaking, the 9th is one of a large handful of bright spots. I enjoy a challenging ninth. One more stern test before making the turn, and Congaree is certainly that. There is definite risk reward to hugging the trees on the left as you give yourself a shot at a shorter approach which is meaningful on a hole of this length; however, you are mainly just searching for short grass off the tee. While I have heard some say they think the green is too hard given the length of the approach, I personally love it. With water right and a deep bunker guarding the left side of a green that runs from front left to back right, you essentially are asked to either nut up or not. Choose safety and pull one into the bunker or left of it and the odds of 4 are slim to none (and slim just left town). Choose to actually try to flag one and you bring in the water. But, the fact that the green helps you move the ball towards the water I thoroughly enjoy. This is a hole that tests pure audacity and execution, and for my money every golf course needs some of that. Also, I would be remiss to not mention the fact that the sausage rolls served at the turn house off the ninth tee factored into my decision here. Probably shouldn’t be the case, but definitely is. Bite me.
Hole 10: Palmetto GC
Back to Palmetto, shocker. The 10th is simply too good of a short par 5 to not make my list. I quite literally love this golf hole. Of the many things that Alister Mackenzie (Leeds, Mackenzie, I know it’s a bit muddled) was so good at, short par 5’s may be my favorite design characteristic of his. Holes that basically ask you whether you can pipe a drive and have a great chance to score. In Palmetto’s case this means avoiding a bunker that occupies the right half of the landing area while not going too far left and into the woods. After the drive, it’s about decision making. In the fairway? Ok, have at the likely small and cunning green. Probably only a 7 to 4 iron will be left. Not in the fairway? Use. Your. Noggin. The genius of these short par 5’s is that you are still likely close enough to the green and often in a reasonable enough position to go for it, but the greens are usually such that if you try and fail, bogey is now firmly in play. Palmetto’s 10th is a prime example of this. The green is small and not overly receptive so if you can’t have a go with a longer iron you are much better off playing your 3rd from 80-100 yards versus some funky <50 yard position. 2 and 13 at Augusta are 2 other prime examples of this. Being able to get your second on the green or in a greenside bunker is advantageous, but simply trying to get it “somewhere up near the green” is ill advised. Green light or red light.
Hole 11: CC of Charleston
This will be a controversial pick, but I’ll die on this hill. The 11th at CC Charleston is electric. I’ve been known to be a bit of a naysayer of the redan given its ubiquity in golf these days; however, I never said a thing about the ~reverse redan.~ What this hole gets right is the yardage. It’s long enough and firm enough that the ball actually uses the redan feature and runs in the case left to right rather than right to left, but not so long that only the top dozen players of the day are going to find the dance floor. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a b**** of a hole, but so long as you don’t commit the two cardinal sins on a redan, short and straight or long and in this case left, you shouldn’t take more than bogey. The front right bunker won’t yield many 3’s, but most people who find it will at least have a look at par. Long is just the 12th tee, which is both a vibe and a half in terms of the course’s continuity and also an extremely easy spot to score from if your tee ball runs through the green. I’m here for the haters on this one. I love the 11th at *The Country Club as the locals call it. Always have and always will.
Hole 12: Camden CC
Back-to-back par 3’s again. Hell yeah. Now, I will be honest here. Is Camden’s 12th truly the best 12th in SC, I’m open to the answer being no. But, it’s a damn good one and kills 3 birds with one stone. I wanted a hole at Camden because Camden is sick. I wanted a short par 3 because short par 3’s are sick. And finally I wanted an uphill par 3 because I am of the opinion that to have a truly great set of 3’s that has the requisite amount of variety, one needs to be up. So Camden’s 12th fits that mold and it is a fantastic medal play hole. Simple in presentation but highly discerning in practice. The green is raised up just enough and plays back to front such that a miss long is total death and short isn’t ideal either. While the shape of the green is simple, there are enough corners to stick that flag in that make it more or less a hole to play to the middle of the green on. When the greens at Camden are firm and fast and a pencil is in hand, a 3 at the short 12th is something you should take and run. Camden is also a somewhat hidden Walter Travis in SC. Go check it out if this is the first you’re hearing of it.
Hole 13: Old Barnwell
I’m not sure how others feel about Old Barnwell’s 13th. I may be in quite a minority here in thinking this is one of the course’s finest, but that’s how I feel. At a place that went all out on completely divorcing the idea of minimalism, there are certain holes and features that don’t add a ton to me and are just there are aesthetics. 13 is not one of them. Every piece of the hole serves a purpose and adds something. The fairway has a top plateau on the left where a bunch of bunkers sit. Seek the flat lie and good view to the green and risk bunkers. The right side of the fairway is massive and wide but runs hard to the right and makes it harder to see the green. Tee ball game strong. The green is where this thoughtfulness is further accentuated. There is a top right plateau that is not too significant but still makes keeping left off the tee a massive advantage. One of my favorite features on the course is the left side of the green has two small coffin type bunkers that are flush with the ground such that from the right side of the fairway you can’t see them so it looks as if should you pull your ball left you will be on a flat pad of short grass but instead you will walk up to the green only to find these bunkers. It’s simple stuff, but the way the green contours and surrounds inform the importance of the tee play is wonderful.
Hole 14: Tree Farm
I really thought hard about Chechessee here and of course, like most of its 18 holes, Palmetto’s 14th makes a really strong argument, but ultimately I believe the Tree Farm’s 14th is already a pure class par 4 and will only get better as it ages. So, here’s what we’ve got. Mid-long (likely getting longer) par 4 that is a slight dog leg left down the hill then back up. The dogleg mainly makes for an angled tee shot that points you towards a middle set of bunkers (do NOT go here) and makes you question what the right play is off the tee. Door 1: man up, take on the left, and risk the left waste area which is no good and obscures the view of the green. If you pull this off, you have the best shot in from the left side of the fairway. Door 2: 3W or something short and possibly right of the middle bunkers that leaves a longer shot that will play more uphill and now the view of the green is also less than stellar. It’s a true delay the penalty hole. Either go for glory off the tee or delay the penalty for a mid iron to the green. Oh the green. Tree Farm’s 14th dance floor is quite the spot to cut some rug. Simple, but so much character. Left to right overall with a large ridge in the middle working balls to the right. The easier pins are actually in the front middle-left and the back left because right of the green is a large area of shortgrass the runs way away from the green. Don’t go here. Just don’t. What’s so good about this green is when you have a right pin, particularly back right, the green gives you the tools to work the ball to it, but miss right and you’re no good at all, and leave it up to the left and then you have to put across and down the ridge. And, where the approach is from based on how brave and successful you were off the tee informs the difficulty of the shot significantly. Good holes have a few good shots that may lack cohesion. Great holes like 14 at Tree Farm and 13 at Old Barnwell have shots that all build on one another.
Hole 15: Colleton River
I absolutely love Colleton River Dye and wanted to be sure to get at least one hole in from it. Luckily, the 15th makes that super easy. It’s a serene setting out in the marsh of the Chechessee river and the hole itself is fundamental Pete Dye. Just awkward and challenging towards comfort. Your drive goes over the marsh to a left to right fairway with marsh on the right. So, every part of you wants to just hit at the left side of the fairway and avoid contending with the marsh. What’s left? Bunkers, a beautiful SC live oak, and an obscured view of the small green. Ahhh, Pete. So, to be successful you really need to have some courage and keep it towards the marsh. From there you have a clean look at the green but still a long shot in to a small green that angles left to right and sits up against the marsh on the right. Again, you want to just hug left on the entire hole to avoid hazard but the green runs left to right which makes a pitch from left no good. Pete Dye, in most simple summation, loves to identify comfort and then place hazards around it. His courses are not as punishing end to end than people think. If you’re willing to play like a big boy there’s actually less trouble and penalty than his reputation would inform. But, if you just want to play for safety all day, get ready to spend a day being awfully annoyed by his penchant for exploiting a lack of courage.
Hole 16: The Ocean Course
What I love about Pete Dye’s par 5’s is they really force you to make clean, committed decisions. The 16this a serpentine par 5 with a large waste bunker on the right side of the hole running from the landing area of the tee ball all the way up to where you would hit a layup shot (stopping probably around a 9 iron distance in) and then once you get closer to the green, there is a large, deep waste area to the front left of the green coming in around 75 yards and running all the way to greenside. The way the short grass meanders around these 2 central features is wonderful. For the best angle into the green for a second shot, you need to stay right off the tee and challenge the waste area. From the left, you must hit over more of the left greenside waste and you have significantly less depth to work with on the green from that angle. This is where making an informed decision is vital. If you think you can actually have a putt at 3, swing away, but if you are just trying to get up close. A layup is the more intelligent play. At 80-140 yards you have width and the ability to spin the ball. Inside that range you give up width, have hazard galore, and cannot spin the ball as effectively. Simple strategy that is easy to execute on if understood but often isn’t Pete Dye’s golf holes are incorrectly criticized by those who don’t take the time to understand them, in my opinion.
Side bar: Tree Farm’s 16th is just as worthy of selection but the closing 5 holes along the ocean back to the clubhouse at The Ocean Course are pretty magical if you love the SC coast like I do and the 16th is probably my favorite them.
Hole 17: Yeamans Hall
This is just a great par 4. I thought about Chechessee 17 as a great short 4, but 18 will be a short 4. I thought about another 3 in The Ocean Course, Harbor Town, Tree Farm, and Old Barnwell, but ultimately, the 17that YHC is just such a great nuts and bolts template but also has the charm to make it a top drawer golf hole. While the hole is named punchbowl, it is as much an alps as a puncher. In fact, it is very common for an alps to have a punchbowl. The penalty of an alps feature that obscures the view to the green is given back in a punchbowl green that helps you get the ball close. The reason I love 17 at YHC is that it adds a layer to the alps feature in that it can be avoided with a well thought out tee ball. The bunker that makes the approach blind sits front left of the green such that a tee ball up the left is blind yet up the right you have a clear view of the green. Many alps holes will be blind regardless which I think can take away from the importance of the tee ball. Yeamans’ 17th is an exception, and a damn good one.
Hole 18: Tree Farm
A drivable 18th that has already yielded aces in the course’s first year? Yeah. I’m down. I’m so down. This was always an important piece of Zac Blair’s vision for The Tree Farm. A drivable 18th that comes right to the clubhouse where people dine and can watch the action. The fact that the ball funnels towards the hole on the right to left sloping topography in a natural but riveting manner for all those there to watch? That’s just gravy. It is my favorite thing about the Tree Farm that the swing you look forward to the most all day is the last (last full swing). Some golf courses peak too early. The Tree Farm builds and builds all the way until the end with its final act being my favorite not only on the course but in the state.
Honorable Mentions for Each Hole:
Holes I thought about but weren’t quite my choice.
Hole 1:
Country Club of Charleston, Camden CC, Chechessee Creek
Hole 2:
Palmetto GC, Congaree GC
Hole 3:
The Ocean Course
Hole 4:
Chechessee Creek Club, Yeamans Hall
Hole 5:
Camden CC, Palmetto GC
Hole 6:
Congaree GC, Palmetto GC, Sorry, I just don’t love 6 at YHC. Good not great Redan
Hole 7:
Chechessee Creek, Tree Farm, Old Barnwell, Harbor Town
Hole 8:
Yeamans Hall (great view, good hole), Chechessee Creek, Tree Farm, Old Barnwell (green)
Hole 9:
Harbor Town (unique, great green), Tree Farm, Bulls Bay (scene)
Hole 10:
Old Barnwell, Chechessee Creek, Country Club of Charleston, Yeamans Hall (green)
Hole 11:
Tree Farm
Hole 12:
Congaree GC, Colleton River Dye
Hole 13:
The Ocean Course, Harbor Town, Bulls Bay, Chechessee Creek
Hole 14:
Palmetto GC, Harbor Town, Country Club of Charleston, Chechessee Creek
Hole 15:
I just love 15 at Colleton. It was always going to win for me.
Hole 16:
Tree Farm, Yeamans Hall (Biarritz often isn’t firm enough to play right)
Hole 17:
Tree Farm, Chechessee Creek, Harbor Town (sorry HT, just couldn’t quite give one the nod)
Hole 18:
Country Club of Charleston (favorite “big boy hole” finisher in the state)