Taking on the challenge: Ranking the best golf courses in South Carolina

With the Masters creeping closer and pre-tournament plots dominating golf enthusiasts’ day dreams, here’s a diversion to ponder until the year’s first major championship takes center stage at Augusta National: Rank the best golf courses in South Carolina.

The challenge is daunting; there are so many worthy of consideration, and arranging them in order becomes complicated. To provide a bit of relief to the dilemma, rank those built prior to 1980 in the “Classic” category and the ones post-1980 go on the “Modern” list.

Warning: It’s not easy.

But there is this: There are no wrong answers.

The names of the architects emphasize the difficulty.

The works of Donald Ross and Seth Raynor and Alister MacKenzie and A.W. Tillinghast and George Cobb are on the Classic list.

The “Moderns” include designs by Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, the Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw team, Rees Jones, Tom Doak and Mike Strantz.

Pete Dye, Robert Trent Jones and Arnold Palmer have layouts that qualify for both.

So ... where to start?

Members of the South Carolina Golf Course Rankings Panel take the test every year, ranking the best courses open to public play in odd number years and selecting the best overall in even numbered years.

They took their shot at the best of the best overall this year and came up with most of the usual suspects. But they discovered this year’s task would be more taxing with recently opened courses and those that have undergone restoration adding to the options.

The diverse group is composed of about 150 golf aficionados from throughout the state with skills ranging from scratch to high handicappers. They again placed Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course atop the Modern category. But they juggled the Classics list, moving Yeamans Hall, built in 1925, to No. 1, a notch ahead of Sea Pines Resort’s Harbour Town Golf Links, which opened in 1969.

Now, the debates can ensue.

The names are mostly familiar, but arranging them in order provides the challenge. Palmetto, the Dunes Club, Chanticleer and Camden CC among the Classics? Long Cove, May River, Congaree, Quixote and Colleton River’s Dye Course among the Moderns? And where do the newcomers, Old Barnwell and the Tree Farm and Broomsedge, fit in the puzzle?

The smorgasbord of choices fluctuates from the Ocean Course and its 7,900 yards from the tips to Aiken Golf Club’s modest 5,800 yards. Courses range in age from Palmetto Golf Club, which opened in 1892, to the aforementioned new additions.

The panel seeks to recognize excellence in the state’s golf course design and operation through competitive ranking. Criteria used in the judging include routing, variety, strategy, equity, memorability, aesthetics and experience. A panelist must have played the course to vote for it.

Full disclosure: Your correspondent here is a member of the panel, and my ballot did not always agree with other panelists’ opinions. And that’s the beauty of the challenge, a debate with no concrete answers that emphasizes the outstanding quality of Palmetto State courses.

Gamecock senior gets the win

Senior All-American Frankie Harris became USC’s career leader in men’s golf individual victories Tuesday with his triumph in The Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate in Awendaw. In the team competition, the Gamecocks placed second, trailing only tournament co-host College of Charleston. Clemson tied for fourth.

A native of Boca Raton, Florida, Harris earned his third individual title of the season and the sixth of his career with a three-round total of 12-under-par 204. He had shared the Gamecocks’ record for career wins with three-time All-American Kyle Thompson (1997-2001). Harris’ 9-under 63 in the second round tied the program record for a low 18-hole score. He now has 12 career top-five finishes, a tie for fourth in the USC record book.

South Carolina’s Top Golf Courses

Selected by the South Carolina Golf Course Rankings Panel

Top 50 Modern (after 1980)

1. Kiawah Island Resort Ocean Course
2. Congaree GC (Ridgeland)
3. Old Barnwell (Aiken)
4. Long Cove Club (Hilton Head)
5. Chechessee Creek Club (Okatie)
6. Cherokee Plantation (Yamasee)
7. Quixote Club (Sumter)
8. Bulls Bay GC (Awendaw)
9. The Tree Farm (Batesburg-Leesville)
10. May River GC at Palmetto Bluff (Bluffton)
11. Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (Pawleys Island
12. Secession GC (Beaufort)
13. Sage Valley GC (Graniteville)
14. Kiawah Island Club Cassique Course
15. Colleton River Club Dye Course (Bluffton)
16. Broomsedge GC (Rembert)
17. Colleton River Club Nicklaus Course (Bluffton)
18. Wachesaw Plantation Club (Murrells Inlet)
19. Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards (Sunset)
20. Belfair East Course (Bluffton)
21. Tidewater GC (North Myrtle Beach)
22. Musgrove Mill GC (Clinton)
23. Berkeley Hall Club North Course (Bluffton)
24. Belfair West Course (Bluffton)
25. Old Tabby Links (Okatie)
26. Prestwick CC (Myrtle Beach)
27. Haig Point GC (Hilton Head Island)
28. True Blue GC (Pawleys Island)
29. Barefoot Resort Dye Course (North Myrtle Beach)
30. Kiawah Island Club River Course
31. DeBordieu Club (Georgetown)
32. Berkeley Hall Club South Course (Okatie)
33. Kiawah Island Resort Osprey Point Course
34. GC at Briar’s Creek (Johns Island)
35. Dataw Island Club Cotton Dike Course
36. Daniel Island Club Ralston Creek Course
37. Daniel Island Club Beresford Creek Course
38. Old Edwards Reserve at Lake Keowee (Sunset)
39. Sea Pines Resort Atlantic Dunes (Hilton Head Island)
40. TPC at Myrtle Beach (Murrells Inlet)
41. Kiawah Island Resort Turtle Point Course
42. Kiawah Island Resort Cougar Point Course
43. Seabrook Island Club Crooked Oaks
44. Cliffs at Mountain Park (Marietta)
45. Barefoot Resort Fazio Course (North Myrtle Beach)
46. Callawassie Island Club (Okatie)
47. Grande Dunes Resort Course (Myrtle Beach)
48. Barefoot Resort Love Course (North Myrtle Beach)
49. Walker Course at Clemson University
50. Tie, Cross Creek GC (Seneca)
51. Tie, Pawleys Plantation Golf and CC (Pawleys Island)
52. Tie, Thornblade Club (Greer)

Top 20 Classic (prior to 1980)

1. Yeamans Hall Club (Hanahan)
2. Sea Pines Resort Harbour Town GL (Hilton Head Island)
3. Palmetto GC (Aiken)
4. Dunes Golf & Beach Club (Myrtle Beach)
5. Country Club of Charleston
6. Greenville CC Chanticleer Course
7. Camden CC
8. Orangeburg CC
9. Surf Golf & Beach Club (North Myrtle Beach)
10. CC of Spartanburg
11. Aiken GC
12. Florence CC
13. Charleston Municipal Golf Course
14. Seabrook Island Club Ocean Winds Course
15. Sea Pines CC (Hilton Head Island)
16. Pine Lakes CC (Myrtle Beach)
17. Furman University GC (Travelers Rest)
18. Myrtle Beach National King’s North Course
19. Forest Lake Club (Columbia)
20. Palmetto Dunes Robert Trent Jones Course (Hilton Head Island)
21. Fripp Island Resort Ocean Point Course
22. Columbia CC (Blythewood)
23. Greenville CC Riverside Course
24. Palmetto Dunes George Fazio Course (Hilton Head Island)
25. Cherokee National GC (Gaffney)
26. Port Royal Barony Course (Hilton Head Island)
27. Plantation Course at Edisto (Edisto Beach)
28. Greenwood CC
29. Legends GC at Parris Island
30. Rock Hill CC