I accomplished something last weekend I never thought possible: Shooting a round below par. The last time a chance like this came my way I choked like Heimlich. One supernatural day some 15 years ago I managed to birdie the benign 17th, and lurched unsteadily to the final tee box at a heart-hammering one under. I let out a roar of triumph after yet another drive found the center stripe, avoiding pitfalls both right and left. I had a perfect lie, a seven-iron approach to the elevated green, and a song in my heart, but my elation quickly gave way to abomination. Five minutes and five shots later, I tapped in numbly for a double bogey 6, and a then-personal best 73. The beer was strangely flat in the 19th hole, matching my mood perfectly. I knew deep down I had let a golden opportunity slip away, and my intuition proved correct.
Finally, an unlikely redemption. Details are superfluous, other than a holed bunker shot for birdie at the first, then two more birdies in the next four holes to creep to uncharted territory at three under par. I inevitably frittered away a few shots as the round progressed, rolled in an off-the-fringe 50-footer that clanged off the stick and went subterranean for another birdie on 16, and made seamless pars on the last two holes. Total strokes: 71.
I’m sure there are many more rounds in my future above 90 than below par, but what the hell—at least I’ve finished in red figures once, which is more than most golfers can ever say.

Oyster Reef Golf Club, on the island’’s north end in Hilton Head Plantation, opened in 1982. I began writing extensively about golf in the area beginning in 1998. But it took me all the way until 2010 to pay a visit to this excellent facility. Shame on me.

Rees Jones is the architect of record, and his has been a stellar design career in this area. Haig Point is a special golf course in a spectacular setting on bucolic Daufuskie Island. Ocean Forest down the interstate an hour or two in Georgia’’s Golden Isles is a venerable enough venue to have hosted the Walker Cup Matches. Oyster Reef, though not as well known, is another fine example of Jones” design acumen.

The course received 4 stars on the 2008-2009 Golf Digest list of the “Best Places to Play,” and has been voted one of the Top 20 Courses in the Carolinas, both honors richly deserved. This broad-shouldered, well-bunkered layout winds around lagoons, lush vegetation, and lovely views of the inlet to Port Royal Sound, including the signature Par-3 sixth hole, one of the most recognized and photographed golf holes in the Lowcountry. It’’s a wonderful hole, as are most of the rest of the remaining 17 at one of Hilton Head’’s most worthwhile semi-private courses.

With sticks in tow, I travel around more in a year than most golfers do in a decade. (This proclamation EXCLUDES members of the PGA Tour, Champions, Nationwide, Hooters, LPGA, Duramed Futures, etc.)
I’ve long been used to dragging my casket-sized travel bag through airports, and upon arrival waiting (praying?) they show up on either the carousel, or at the oversize luggage bin. I’ve generally had decent luck, though of course I’ve had clubs delayed, my travel cover mangled, and in the worst scenario, an entire bag (not just my 14 weapons, but 4 days worth of clothes, two pairs of golf shoes, sunglasses, etc.) never make it out of Cancun, Mexico, and never to be seen again.
Now I’ve found a better way. The Luggage Club (www.theluggageclub.com) will safely and efficiently transport your clubs (or skis, surfboard, etc.) from where you are to where you’re going, and then back again, if you so choose. It’s not free, but in this day and age of airline baggage fees, it’s more affordable than you think. Never mind the convenience and reliability factors, which are the main reasons for availing oneself of this superb service. Here are two others: Say you have a tight airline connection, with plans to play the very day you arrive. If you don’t want to play a premium round with some bedraggled rental set, and aren’t sure the airline’s baggage personnel will get your clubs from the plane you arrived on onto the departing plane before it’s too late, then ship ‘em in advance.
Here’s another: When you ship your sticks home post-trip, and then head to the airport with nothing but a carry-on, you are footloose and flexible. Just last month, after shipping my sticks ahead, and with nothing on my person but an over-shoulder duffel bag, after arriving in Atlanta I jumped on a departing flight that was leaving a full three hours before my scheduled departure. If I had been tied to my 50-pound travel bag like in the old days, and stuck with the Scarlet Letter of a checked baggage claim? Put it this way—it would have made for a long couple of hours meandering from Brookstone, to the Sharper Image, then Cinnabon and the newsstand.
The Vagabond Golfer and The Luggage Club. As Forrest Gump might say, go together like peas and carrots.

With sticks in tow, I travel around more in a year than most golfers do in a decade.  (This proclamation EXCLUDES members of the PGA Tour, Champions, Nationwide, Hooters, LPGA, Duramed Futures, etc.)

I’ve long been used to dragging my casket-sized travel bag through airports, and upon arrival waiting (praying?) they show up on either the carousel, or at the oversize luggage bin.  I’ve generally had decent luck, though of course I’ve had clubs delayed, my travel cover mangled, and in the worst scenario, an entire bag (not just my 14 weapons, but 4 days worth of clothes, two pairs of golf shoes, sunglasses, etc.) never make it out of Cancun, Mexico, and never to be seen again. (more…)

I’ve been writing about golf in greater Hilton Head for more than a dozen years.  If I had a sawbuck for every time I craned my neck rightward while heading east towards the island on US 278, to see what was doing at Rose Hill Golf Club while passing by, by now I would have accumulated enough dough to pay the green fees at Harbour Town every day for a month.  But it wasn’t until just recently that I actually turned into Rose Hill itself, slipped into soft-spikes, and took the traditional four-hour tour.  It was a pleasant revelation to find this recently-reopened layout cleverly routed, fairly challenging while still user-friendly, albeit still slightly rough-around-the-edges. (more…)