The Wexford Plantation on Hilton Head Island has always had a unique distinction: It is the only gated community on the South Carolina resort island that offered both ocean access to pleasure boats and yachts via their lock system, and a championship-caliber golf course. Obviously there are numerous other communities with courses, but no deep-water access, and just one or two communities that have the water access, but no golf.
The problem at Wexford has been that the golf course, designed by Willard Byrd and opened in 1983, was pretty tired, dated and “blah,” not quite the green-grass showpiece that this community deserves. Well that has all changed now, thanks to a multi-million dollar renovation of both the course and coastal-style clubhouse. Arnold Palmer and his design company enacted the course changes, and they have made what was a nice-enough course into a knockout.
The aim of the renovation was to transform the playing strategy, characteristics and look of the Wexford layout, while also incorporating design changes that will improve drainage and reduce maintenance costs. The renovation encompassed repositioning and reorienting tee complexes, significant bunker removal and strategic old/new bunker placement and modifying, along with tree removal, to increase sun exposure and widen fairway corridors.
Most notably is the re-contouring of numerous greens, including interpretive replicas of famed green complexes like the Road Hole, Redan, Alps or Biarritz, which describes some of the greens found at classic courses like National Golf Links of America, or Fisher’s Island.
The course renovation now puts Wexford squarely in the conversation regarding Hilton Head’s best private golf communities, and or course it forever stands alone in any discussion of the island’s finest golf-and-boating communities.

Jack Nicklaus made his first foray into architecture at Harbour Town Golf Links in the late 60s, working as a design consultant for Pete Dye.  Decades later, his design career in full flower, Nicklaus came back to the Hilton Head area and delivered the stunningly beautiful May River Golf Club, at Palmetto Bluff in the neighboring town of Bluffton, South Carolina.

Coming up on Monday April 11^th, it’s possible to play the latter in a Pro-Am, and with a successful showing, win the chance to play the former in another Pro-Am, just a few days before the PGA Tour’s Heritage Tournament gets underway.  

The $350 fee to be part of the festivities is an absolute steal, and not only because it includes lunch, dinner and prizes in addition to a round on one of the most heralded courses in the Carolinas.  The fact is that the May River Golf Club remains one of the most expensive courses in the nation to access on an ala carte basis, because without coming as a guest of a member, only guests of the nearby Inn at Palmetto Bluff can play, and the tariff for both room and round far exceeds the price for the Pro-Am.

Better yet, proceeds from the April 11^th Pro-Am benefit the Heritage Foundation, which has given away literally millions upon millions of dollars over the decades, assisting untold worthy organizations in need.  So to play a superb golf course and benefit a wonderful cause make your way to May River on April 11^th. The winning team will play in a Harbour Town Pro-Am the following week, and if there’s enough participation, the second-place team will also enjoy a Harbour Town Pro-Am themselves.

Visit www.hhipga.com for details and registration

Golf is a lot like Wall Street—fear vs. greed. The fear is manifested in two factors. Anyone who has even the most modest expectations about their game—whether breaking par or breaking 120, plays with a certain amount of tension on every shot, or at least every hole.
Furthermore all but the most conservative or disciplined players are greedy, but fearful concurrently. We want to launch that 3-wood from the fairway in the hopes of reaching or at least nearing that par-5 in two blows, but we also fear yanking it OB, or slicing it into the woods. We are greedy in contemplating a flop shot directly at a short-sided pin, but are fearful we’ll plunk it into a bunker, knowing full well the smart play is a simpler pitch to the fat side of the green, likely insuring bogey, but protecting against a bigger, uglier number.
Instructor extraordinaire Dave Pelz comes to the rescue once again with his latest book, titled “Golf without Fear—How to Play the 10 Most Feared Shots in Golf with Confidence.” In simple-to-understand text and crystal clear photos, including a new photographic technique dubbed the “golfer’s eye view,” which shows ball position and set-up as the golfer experiences it, Pelz counts down the ten most feared shots in golf. These include lag putts, buried bunker lies, the tight pitch over a hazard, downhill lies, hitting through trees, and the number one fear—the short putt. Get this book, familiarize yourself with the techniques, and feel the tension level ratchet down the next time you’re on course. Visit www.pelzgolf.com for more information.

Generally I’m not much of a do-it-yourselfer, but for years I’ve been traveling with a Gerry-rigged club protector in my golf bag consisting of a towel—wrapped broomstick.  Not very inventive or original, but until recently, it served the purpose of protecting my clubs, the driver most notably, from ham-handed airline baggage personnel. 

However I just learned a tough lesson that homemade can result in hard knocks, like the kind that decapitated my gorgeous Ping driver, literally snapping it in two, a foot from the club head.  I wasted no time in availing myself of the Stiff-Arm, a no-nonsense product produced by the good folks at Club Glove, the planet’s premier travel bag manufacturer. 

It’s a two-piece adjustable pole setup, extremely rigid, crowned with a tough plastic crown, a bit bigger than a hockey puck, shaped like a miniature umbrella.  Adjust the length so it’s anchored in your golf bag a few inches taller than your driver, and rest assured that even a klutz of a baggage handler, or a butter-fingered UPS driver won’t inadvertently bust up your Billy club.  Visit www.clubglove.com to learn more

There are so many great golf destinations in the Southeast, it’s easy to overlook a place like Gulf Shores, Alabama. But the variety of courses, the sparkling scenery, the beautiful beach and the exquisite weather put it on par with other, better-known locales–not only Hilton Head, and other quality locations in the Carolinas, but also Florida, Georgia and beyond.
Travelers heading to the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area this fall will not only be able to take advantage of idyllic seasonal weather, but will also have a chance to win a $2,000 golf, shopping and dining spree.
All groups booking a customized golf package for travel between Nov. 16, 2010 and Feb. 28, 2011 will be entered to win the $2,000 destination credit prize to be used on dining, golf shop items, area attractions and more. Packages must be purchased by Nov. 15, 2010 and include a two-night minimum stay. The winner of the $2,000 destination credit will be randomly chosen on Nov. 15. For more information on the big prize or on golf packages visit www.golfgulfshores.com.

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…)