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Putt to South Carolina Winner Full Experience Trip Review

By: Golfshake Editor | Tue 30 May 2017


Recently, Golfshake partnered with Golfbreaks.Com to send a number of winners away on a trip of a lifetime to South Carolina following our 'Putt to South Carolina' Campaign that was run last year ahead of the Ryder Cup. Experiencing a golf paradise in the United States, our lucky members were able to enjoy playing stunning venues such as the acclaimed Harbour Town at Hilton Town - host of the PGA Tour's annual Heritage - and former USPGA and Ryder Cup host Kiawah Island, in addition to a numerous other classics situated in one of America's most beautiful regions.

Taking advantage of geat courses and excellent accomodation, South Carolina surpassed all expectations for the group, with our lead winner Paul Webb - a long-term Platinum Member on Golfshake - kindly reflecting on the adventure for us, providing deep insight and candor about all that they enjoyed during their stay in the Palmetto State.

What were your thoughts about the accommodation?

Two words, luxurious and spectacular, but in different ways.

The Inn at Harbour Town

The Inn backs onto the first tee/fairway at Harbour Town Links. It’s not that big (by US standards) and feels very exclusive. The ‘Butlers’ (reception and other staff) can, and will, take care of you to the highest standard and are mainly British/European.

A hand written note of welcome is in your room when you arrive as is a small bar of their own chocolate. (Now that’s exclusive!)

The rooms are huge, the beds are massive (a Queen size each) and the bathroom is pretty spectacular when you find it behind the double mirrored doors. There’s a coffee machine, honour bar and bottles of water are replenished each evening.

Each evening the beds are turned down and they leave a hand written card letting you know what tomorrow’s weather is expected to be. There’s a residents only pool area that also overlooks the first fairway.

The view of the HTL clubhouse lit up at night, from the hotel veranda, is magnificent. It’s not too bad during the day either!

A place you can truly relax as it’s a small enough place to feel very personal and to feel at home, but you don’t have to lift a finger.

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island

The Sanctuary is done on the grand scale. It oozes wealth and luxury. It’s a lot busier, and therefore feels less personal than The Inn. That said they will do anything you ask. The concierge was fantastically helpful when we had to try and get our hire car changed because we’d had a puncture.

Huge winding staircases flank each end of the main reception. Again the bedrooms are huge and servicing of the room is at the highest level.

There’s a sign in reception stating that Forbes have rated it as one of the best 5* hotels in the world this year. Not been to that many 5*’s but I think I’d have to agree with them!

Our room was at the rear of the hotel and had a brilliant view out to the Atlantic.

There are a couple of pools, one for adults only, and several in house restaurants. The top priced one had eye watering prices.

If I had to choose I’d say the Inn would be where I’d go back to first, but it’s a damn close run thing.

What did you think about the numerous golf courses you played during your stay?

Hilton Head (General)

Both the course we played are of the highest standard. Magnificent clubhouses (HTL especially) and practice facilities. The welcome at both is warm and relaxed.

Harbour Town

This was very special. I was literally shaking on the first tee, and wasn’t alone in that in our four ball! Iconic is the word I think. The history of the place and the fact you’re right in front of that club house has to get to you.

You don’t know much about the early holes, as they don’t get the TV coverage, but they’re brilliant. The Forecaddie (Rick) was superb. Jogging up to spot balls off the tee, giving distances, lines to take, and reads on the green. And doing that for four people! All of which is essential if you want to get the best out of the course and your round.

He definitely made the experience for us. Constantly attempting to get us to relax and enjoy it because we were all trying too hard.

As we approached the 13th he said ‘this is where it really starts, the TV holes’. If you’ve watched the ‘PGA RBC Heritage’ you’ll know them all. It’s a fantastic run culminating in the 18th, played towards the world famous lighthouse.

Atlantic Dunes

I actually think this is the toughest course we played, but that may be because it’s the first we played. Redesigned by Davis Love III last year it’s as beautiful as it’s tough. Walking to the back of the ‘Ocean’ hole (Par 3 14th) is breath-taking.

Kiawah Island (General)

We visited most of the courses here, either to eat at or play. They are all top drawer.

Ocean Course

Just as at HTL, the history of the place and the fact you’ve watched the pros on it will get to you. (Although I was getting used to that feeling by the last day of the week.)

It feels surprisingly open, but there’s danger everywhere. On the ocean side (final six holes?) there are no course limits. I managed to put my ball out of the back of the green at 16 and onto the beach and played back to the green from there. The dunes are really punishing if you are wayward, but playing from the waste grounds can be interesting. Sand you can ground your club in!

The views are spectacular, the scenery and wildlife beautiful and windswept. (And boy can it blow out there.)

Caddies are as essential as at HTL. They give you lines to take and reads on the green that you really wouldn’t see if it’s your first visit. They’re good company too. They want you to enjoy the round and not put yourself under pressure because of where you are.

Not having to carry / pull / push my bag round was brilliantly freeing. Somehow more so than driving a buggy. I definitely felt like another round as soon as we finished.

Oak Point

Supposedly the easiest course we played, but still right up there and beautifully designed. If it had been the only course we’d played I’d have been happy.

Unusual as it has an even mix of 3’s, 4’s and 5’s on the front nine. But that really keeps you interested as there’s no chance of ‘oh just another par 4’.

It’s pretty open, but again the hazards are all in the right (wrong?) places. Especially the alligators. I lost a ball because it landed too close to a gator to go and play it (There’s sign in the clubhouse says ‘don’t get within 60 feet of one’. My ball was much closer than that.) and there was something of a hurry to tee off at one hole as one came up the bank to see what we were doing.

Where do they rank in your all-time best courses list?

There’s no doubt they would all be in the top 6. HTL and The Ocean would be 1 & 2 without a doubt. In that order. The King’s North, at Myrtle Beach National, would be in that mix as would Alto, my personal favourite Algarve course. (Not the most fashionable choice in Portugal, but I love it!)

Did you have any favourite holes that stood out?

Probably too many to list. There genuinely isn’t a bad hole out there. But, if pushed to shortlist some.

18 at both HTL and Ocean. Long par 4’s to world famous vistas.

14 at HTL – Short par 3, but seemingly water everywhere.

15 at Atlantic Dunes (The Ocean Hole) – Short par 3 played into the wind, up hill, with the most beautiful view of the Atlantic over the back of the green when / if you get up there.

17 at Ocean – Long par 3 entirely over water if you’re going anywhere near the pin. Scary!

What was your favourite memory of the trip?

The warmth of the welcome everywhere you go.

Rick the forecaddie at HTL.

How easy was South Carolina to get to, and what was it like getting about when you were there?

Flight from London to Atlanta, then the short hop to Savannah, was as painless as it could be. Virgin and Delta did a great job.

Car hire is essential, but driving in the States is as about as easy as it gets. Going into a smaller airport such as Savannah means there are very few, if any, queues.

Both hotels have shuttle buses to get you to resort venues and golf courses.

Do you have any advice for people thinking about doing the same trip?

Stop thinking about it and do it! You will not regret it. Accommodation is among the best you’ll find and the courses are amazing.

If you’re not on an inexhaustible budget, get away from the hotels to eat and drink. As you might expect in a 5* venue, they’re top end expensive. No more than a 20 minute drive will get you off of the ‘resorts / islands’ and out into a better priced America.

Tipping – Get used to doing it as soon as you arrive. It’s the way things are done out there. A few dollars at the bag drop goes a long way in terms of how well you’re looked after! 15% is usual in restaurants. Some even have a range of percentages printed on the bill, and converted into dollars, so you can tip dependant on how good you felt the service was.

Valet parking – It’s a wonderful thing and makes you feel very special well you phone down for them to ‘bring the car round to the front’. But it can get expensive. $22 a day at The Sanctuary! Find the guest car park and do it yourself.

Talk to the locals. They are rarely less than helpful and always ready to point you in the right direction or give you some advice or help (even if they do think you’re Australian). When our car broke down, with a puncture, at least three people stopped to see if we were ok. One guy even offered to go get a bigger compressor for us.

What was the biggest surprise about the trip?

There are two.

The number of alligators. We must have seen 25 – 30 of them over the course of the week.

How relaxed and friendly they are at the clubhouses (and by that I mean staff and the members/other visitors) and the pro shops. Was expect something more akin to what you hear about some top end courses in the UK (and some not so top end ones).

Are there any off course activities/places/areas/restaurants that you want to highlight?

Harbour Town

Definitely visit Harbour Town and go up the lighthouse.

If you want to go shopping there are 2 Tanger discount malls about 20 mins away. They are huge and virtually everything has something off the price tag.

There’s also a PGA store, literally just opened, a short drive from the Tanger sites. 24 Taylormade Distance balls for $25! Bargain.

The Smokehouse restaurant, on Palmetto Bay Road, is well worth a visit. Especially if you can get onto the veranda and sit at the outside bar. Huge portions, great beer, good prices, friendly people.

Kiawah

Not exactly ‘off course’, but dinner in The Ryder Cup Bar at the Ocean course is a wonderful, if expensive, way to spend an evening.

All the courses have restaurants attached. Cherrywood BBQ at Osprey Point was excellent.

The Sanctuary is a bit more remote than Hilton Head, but just down the road from Sanctuary is a place called Freshfields. It’s basically a shopping village but with restaurants for all price ranges. (Starbucks to 5*) The ‘King Street Grill’ is also worth a visit, as is ‘The Station’ if you’re looking for a fast, inexpensive breakfast or just want to stock up with snacks/drinks for your room.

At both places make good use of the shuttle buses. They travel to local resort venues as well as the golf courses.

Can you sum the trip up in a sentence?

Without doubt, the trip of a lifetime for any golfer, absolutely jaw dropping.

Would you go back to South Carolina? Would you go back to America to play golf? If so, where would you go?

Yes and Yes. I would definitely go back to South Carolina. There are about 200 course we haven’t played yet. I don’t think there are many bad experiences to be had wherever you go in the States.

How do you use Golfshake services (Scoretracking/Course Reviews/Tuition etc.)? How useful do you find them? What do you think about the competitions/prizes that they offer?

I have been a Platinum member for Golfshake for many years. I use the score tracker religiously, as well as the forums, course reviews and tuition videos. All put together it has, without doubt, helped my handicap come down to its current level 15. Score and shot tracking helps focus on where your game isn’t as good as it should be and then you can delve into the tuition videos.

As for the competition, well this one was quite good, but I regularly enter because the prizes are worth winning.

You’ve used Golfbreaks before for a trip to Myrtle Beach – how was that trip, and how was the service from Golfbreaks.com? Would you use them again?

I run a small Society and we’ve been using Golfbreaks for something like ten years. I think that equates to about 50 trips, covering the UK, Europe and now the US. We wouldn’t go anywhere else to book our trips.

For more information about golf holidays to South Carolina, please visit the Golfbreaks.com website - Click here


What do you think? post your thoughts and feedback on the Golfshake Forum: https://forum.golfshake.com/


Tags: travel South Carolina golfbreaks



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