Year-Round Golf: Greenwood Has the Greens

What’s better than a springtime round of golf among the azaleas? The answer is year-round golf on beautiful, challenging courses that don’t break the bank. You don’t need to fight the crowds at Augusta when you can have a great golf experience in Greenwood. Here are a few places to challenge your golf skills.

The Links at Stoney Point

This 18-hole, championship level course, the Links at Stoney Point was designed by Tom Jackson, an innovative and highly regarded Southeastern course architect influenced by Robert Trent Jones and George Cobb. The lakefront course opened in the Stoney Point community in 1990 but suffered the consequences of the economic downturn and real estate market crash of 2008-09. Then Jim Medford stepped in to buy the course in April 2010.

Medford immediately began work on all aspects of the course, pouring hard work and money into catching up on years of deferred maintenance as well as making major upgrades to the facilities. A Stoney Point resident for 20 years, Medford made substantial improvements to take the course to tournament level. He added extensive landscaping with a waterfall, bridges, stacked stone tee boxes, loblolly pines, and more than 10,000 azaleas and dogwoods. Medford’s team lengthened some holes for tournament play. With beautiful holes along Lake Greenwood and the undulating greens, the course is entertaining to play, with an Augusta National look and feel.

The par 72 course has seven different tee boxes on every hole, from 7000 yards at the pro level to the super senior tee box at about 5700 yards. “That gives the ability for any level of player to enjoy the course. We made it fun but challenging to play,” Medford says. “It’s not only great golf but a peaceful place to walk.”

“Over the last 11 years, we’ve been able to realize our ‘Field of Dreams’ dream,” Medford says. “We’ve invested a lot of personal capital, since banks were not favoring struggling golf courses when we bought it.” Today, membership has grown significantly, and Stoney Point was voted the best course in the seven-county lake region eight years in a row.

Stoney Point has hosted the Symetra Tour and LPGA Legends Tour for five years and is the home course for Lander University’s men’s and women’s teams as well as for a local high school team. Stoney Point is currently hosting the Greenwood Junior Championship as part of the American Junior Golf Association’s Junior Golf tournament series, an event that brings in over 78 junior national and international golfers.

The improvements have helped bring more golfers to the area. The course has been featured on the Golf Channel and other national media, and tournaments there have raised $1.2 million for women’s and children’s charities in the area.

The course usually has a full slate of golfers during the Masters, and often hosts corporate golf retreats and tournaments and can organize charity tournaments and events. The pro shop with latest equipment and customized fitting, club repair and refitting.

The Tommy Pendley Golf Academy provides private and group lessons and works with junior golf programs to help train and encourage the next generation of golfers. Pendley is the director of the Piedmont Junior Golf Association

Stoney Point has blocked tee times for members, with remaining times available to the public. There is a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse overlooking the 18th green, with a renovated kitchen to provide fine dining as well as an outdoor kitchen. Social members can access the USTA-sanctioned tennis courts, state-of-the-art fitness center, saunas and year-round lap pool.

Greenwood Country Club

Designed by golf course architect George Cobb, the Greenwood Country Club enjoys a rich history as one of the oldest golf clubs in South Carolina. The golf course, which was built in 1950, features 18 holes with more than 6,800 yards of play from the back tees. The Cedar and Lake Nines provide a picturesque view of surrounding homes paired with waterside holes. Several holes navigate you through trees dating back to the turn of the 20th century.

Greenwood Country Club has recently made some key renovations to the course which now includes six sets of tees and brand new TifEagle greens, providing any level of skilled golfer true challenging play. In addition, the Greenwood Country Club affords the golfer a total experience with a top-of-the-line pro shop offering PGA professional staff and instruction and complete club repair. Various memberships are available for anyone interested in enjoying the rich tradition of one of Greenwood’s oldest clubs.

Star Fort National Golf Course

If a peaceful 18 holes without the distractions of subdivisions or traffic sounds, the Star Fort course is the one for you. With its unique location near the site of a Revolutionary War battle and the Ninety Six National historic Site, the Star Fort course combines historic interest, a player-friendly design and affordable fees for a pleasant round of golf. Beginners will love the easy layout and under-7,000-yard length, but more advanced players will find some challenges to their accuracy while weaving between ponds or evaluating the risks of some par-five holes. Five sets of tees allow golfers to choose their level of difficulty.

True to its George W. Cobb design, the walkable course preserves the best of the natural environment, and the course conditions are always beautifully maintained, with immaculate greens. The course runs  6,709 yards from the longest tees, for a par of 72. The facilities include a driving range, putting green and short game practice area, well stocked shop and restaurant inside the clubhouse, and pool.

Ware Shoals Golf Club 

The nine-hole, par 35 Ware Shoals Golf Club course is small but challenging, with undulating terrain that requires the golfer to adjust to elevation changes from tee to green. The tree-lined fairways are wide open and sloping, with water on three holes, and the greens are small and fast, making this a fun course to play for any golfer. Views are beautiful from the higher elevations. Look out for #2, which requires a difficult uphill tee shot to the green.

This course, open since 1943, has been undergoing numerous improvements to the clubhouse and course, including a new bunker on #6 and grass fertility treatments. Scot Sherman, ASGCA, has been working on designs for additional improvements. The course offers 120 yards of golf from the longest tees, and an additional set of men’s tees make it possible to play 18 holes with completely different strategies for each hole.

There is a 12-tee driving range, and monthly memberships available as well as day rates.

Par Three West

Built 2000, the unique nine-hole Par Three West course shows off the best characteristics of South Carolina golf, with beautiful views and challenging play. The course is open all year, and all night for golfers who want to work on their short game on well kept fairways and greens. Men’s tee yardage is 1,060,  and the senior yards, are 914.

The staff is always available to offer guidance or set up group events for day or night. Lights for night golf are available upon request. Check with the course staff about under-the-lights weekly tournaments.

Whatever your skill level, and whether you want a full day of challenging golf or a quick nine holes, Greenwood’s golf courses offer beautiful scenery, playability, and affordable prices.