The Dormant Grass Father and Son Tour of the Southeast

[Mike Sweeney]

As I have a 15 year old that is a freshman in high school and he will soon enough be off to college, we scheduled a “Sports Tour” of the Southeast on our way to Disney for the holidays. The first part of the trip started in Bethesda, MD outside of Washington where Dylan has a junior squash tournament. No golf in DC but the previously mentioned Georgetown Prep Golf Course was observed between matches:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,46818.0.html

Next we were off to Charleston, SC and Dylan took the lead here too as squash at the Charleston Squash Club. GCA logo approval was granted:


If you like architecture, see Chip’s thread on the Charleston courses:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,46634.0.html

or take a walk along the waterfront of Charleston:



Finally the golf portion of the trip started and it was on to Chechessee Creek Club located between Charleston and Hilton Head. Chechessee was the perfect type of course to start a father and son trip, especially when you have a son that can hit the ball but he can get a little wild and scoring is still tough. We took a caddy which also took some of the pressure off of Dad as the caddy (an LSU fan in South Carolina!) could focus on Dylan. Much has been stated about the charm of CCC and this thread best describes the club and course:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,43348.0.html



It was a great day at CCC.

Next it was the ultimate in contrast. We went from the quiet low country features of Coore and Crenshaw at CCC to the built-up manufactured architecture of TPC Sawgrass. Again rather than recreate the views that have been stated here about TPC Sawgrass:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,42215.0.html

I will focus on the Father-Son aspect of the experience. TPC Sawgrass is a real show from start to finish. We stayed at the Marriott on property and the sporting aspect started with a 8 ball competition on the pool table at the tap room style restaurant. The staff is very nice and all were very gracious to us. After grabbing Starbucks in the morning before head to the course (no Starbucks for miles around CCC!) it was off to the monstrous clubhouse of TPC Sawgrass to check in:


Again, the staff at TPC Sawgrass is very nice. We checked in and headed to the practice tee for an 8:10 AM tee time. Again the contrast is remarkable as we had no tee time at Chechessee, our member host simply told the club we would be there “around 9:00 AM”. I arranged for a fore-caddy as I wanted to try and play the course while the caddy focused on Dylan. We hit balls and as the first group of the day was late, we teamed up with a twosome of local golfers that had played the course before and were good golfers.

First hole, 3 wood, 7 iron, from the white tees, and two putts! What is the big deal?? Well as many know, the course plays tough in benign conditions, but in 20+ mph winds, TPC Sawgrass is a real bear from any tees. I have never been a big Pete Dye fan but I kept an open mind. However, the playing experience is just not a great one. Even with a great caddy and two pretty good playing partners, it is just a very hard course to get into a rhythm for with dad or son. Cart paths only in the winter make for awkward exchanges and there is always one player that is “out of play” looking for a ball, especially in the wind that we experience. Side hill lies to a green going away from you towards water just gets to be too much after time for both of us.

However, Dylan loved the course! At the end of the day, he loved playing a “famous course” as he recognized the obvious holes from TV. He had the right attitude for the day and was just trying to make shots rather than make a score. TPC Sawgrass is sort of like a Disney theme park for me. Not my first choice but the kids love it so I was glad we did it once. At this time of year it was $225 per person which included the caddy fee but not his tip. Pebble Beach was more expensive, but I felt it had better “experience value” for me when I walked off the course.

Okay, onto the 17th hole. It a nutshell, the wind was whipping from right to left by this time and it was a really tough shot. I missed two, and Dylan got his third on the green. The other two players fared similarly.





The clubhouse is a pile of TPC Tour and Players Tournament displays. My son loved seeing the winners clubs that were on display.

Courses to follow:

The New at Grand Cypress

Sugarloaf Mountain

Palmetto Golf Club

[John Shimp]

Mike,
Sounds like a great trip with your son.  Is Squash pretty big in Charleston?

 I was just at Chechessee myself with my son.  It is a grea place not to lose golf balls but is an extremely hard golf course to score on.  Small misses can quickly bring doubles around the green into play....

Tell us how Palmetto is.  This is the first year they haven't overseeded the fairways in forever.  Hopefully they are reasonably firm.

[Mike Sweeney]

John,

Squash is basically played by transported Northerners in Charleston. Charleston Squash Club was small but very cool. Every member has their own key and the bar is the honor system. Squash pro is also the pro out at Kiawah and the owners are common to both.

One of the big surprises of the trip was The New at Grand Cypress. I have heard Gib Papazian and other say very nice things about it over the years but I had never played it as you used to have to stay at Grand Cypress to play there. In a sign of the times, Grand Cypress is now open to outside play. Now it is what it is, a replica course of St Andrews and others in Florida, but it is an enormous amount of fun, and to someone that has never played St Andrews, 1 and 18 at The New look very similar to The Old 1 and 18.  Tee to green is is pretty wide open with just the occasional random bunker to watch out for. Nicklaus did a very good to great job with the greens. As an everyday course, I might get tired of it but as a once a year vacation trip course, it is quite good and fun:





Sugarloaf was discussed by me and others in another thread recently:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,46855.0.html

And I went back for a sunny warm day with my younger son:



On the trip back, my son flew home with wife and other son, so I had the opportunity to play Palmetto Golf Club. There have been many threads on Palmetto here but it was still a great surprise to me. I thought the course, specifically the greens, were outstanding. I had always thought it was a short quaint course but at 6700 yards from the back tees into raised greens on rolling terrain, it had elements of Yale in a number of spots.

I payed my $3.00 and played in the "Dogfight" with two members and it really is the perfect spot for me. Here is the well known #12 with dormant grass.



http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,38964.0.html[/img]

* The greens and course were in perfect condition
* They have a large number of trees marked for removal this winter
* I spent an hour with Tom Moore in the artifacts room
* Great membership, everyone seems to walk with their own bag, and they all genuinely love the place.

I looked at some of the old threads and I simply don't see a flaw in the place.

As it was a "sporting trip", logistics worked out and I was able to see Boston College put away the South Carolina Gamecocks fairly easily on Saturday night after my day at Palmetto. South Carolina has some very warm and genuine people, but we had to do it Mike Whitaker!



I was also able to put a call into Father Nennan up at BC and we were able to suspend our admissions standards for a day and we let a MSU/Big Ten guy into the BC section:



Miles driven - 2600+

Hotel chain of choice - Hampton Inn

Favorite town - Charleston

Favorite Course - Palmetto

Favorite Disney Ride - Soarin

[Ben Sims]

Mike,

I would love to see some more pics of Palmetto.  I love the place and I've never even seen it.  Aiken is on the short list of nearly perfect towns in the US, along with Bend, OR.

[Mike Sweeney]

Only had a cell phone with me. Here is the best pics from an old thread:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,38964.0.html

The website tour is very good too:

http://www.palmettogolfclub.net/coursephotos.htm

[John Foley]

Mike - Cool trip - some great memories there.

Played the New Course the last time I was in Orlando and like it tremendously. I have not seen Sugarloaf yet, but I recommend it to anyone I can.

[PThomas]

very cool Mike!

[Eric Smith]

Sounds like an action packed trip, Mike - congrats on getting to do it with your son (and Jason!).  Thanks for the tip to play the New Course - I think I'll plan to play there on our trip to Disney in March.

[JC Jones]

Who is the fat, bald man of welsh decent?

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Who is the fat, bald man of welsh decent?

You mean that all-star dodgeball player that moonlights as a lawyer?

Mike great to see you got to spend some quality time with your son and tour the South while golfing.

[Daryl "Turboe" Boe]

Mike,

I am kind of bummed that you came through my state twice and I didnt catch up with you even once.  Glad you enjoyed your time here, and I hope to catch up with you next time you do a southern tour.

Glad you could make it to the best institution of higher learning in the state as well!

I was just out at Palmetto about a month or two ago, and the greens were as firm and fast as I had ever seen them.  Fantastic.

[paul cowley]

Looks to be great trip Mike! I've got a 4th year C of Charleston son who has become a budding golfer of late....skateboards are in the closet. Who knows...squash next...I'll let him know!

[Bob_Huntley]

Mike,

Tell Dylan if he feels your clubs are too antiquated for him, tell him I have another set that is available.

One thing that Art Bell, the old pro at Pebble said to me one time, " Bob, that wristy squash thing of yours will cause you much grief in your lifetime." How right he was.



Bob

[Mike Sweeney]

Turboe,

Where you at? Forget the golf, I should have called you for the hoop game as tickets were readily available.  I could have also used you as a wing man if I made a run for the 10th tee at Augusta on Saturday morning!



I did not think my wife would be keen on flying to Augusta to bail me out.

Paul,

My son is thinking big for squash but College of Charleston has an "up and coming" program for squash so perhaps some day I will "live the dream" by living in Charleston. Love that town and I did not even touch a golf club.

Bob,

There is talk of a big junior squash tournament next fall in San Francisco.

[Bill_McBride]

Nice trip, Mike!   Start a reserve fund, the best father and son trip we've had was the 2006 Buda at Hoylake and Wallasey!  We had a ball.

Palmetto really is special!

[john_stiles]

Mike,

Palmetto has played firm all winter and has been very good the entire fall season.

About every 4 or 5 years following general USGA recommendations as explained to me,  the overseeding of fairways is skipped so the bermuda can be re-established in thin areas.   Palmetto plays even more fast and firm in those seasons when overseeding is skipped.

As a note about racquet sports,  some one told me of the old indoor 'real tennis' played in Aiken.  It is only played in downtown Aiken,  and Washington DC in the US.  It might be played in a few other US locations.     From website,  " The Aiken Tennis Club is a private court tennis, Real tennis, often called "Royal Tennis"—one of several sports sometimes called the sport of Kings—is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis is descended. Club is located on Newberry Street in Aiken and is the Court Tennis Building. "

John

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Mike it was fun talking about your father son trip. I do understand how a fine gentleman from the city might have trouble getting too far from I 95. Dylan is getting to the age where he needs exposure to the finer things in life like SEC women. I invite you to do this again next year during the fall with a turn to the west on I 20 then SW on I 59 then west on I 10. Then to Baton Rouge and take Acadian Throughway exit south, turn right on Highland road and shortly bask in the glory that is Tigerland. I shall greet you babes in hand to give a nice lad a visit only a 5 star rivals defensive line or quarterback recruit can relate too. Dad will be pretty happy as well. cheers to the best years of a young mans life. I somehow doubt Dylan remembers the grass on the golf courses.

[Mike Sweeney]

Mike,

Palmetto has played firm all winter and has been very good the entire fall season.

About every 4 or 5 years following general USGA recommendations as explained to me,  the overseeding of fairways is skipped so the bermuda can be re-established in thin areas.   Palmetto plays even more fast and firm in those seasons when overseeding is skipped.


John

John,

Someone called me today about the picture of #12 basically asking if the course is that white in person. The answer is it really does not look that white and it played great.

Just as a point of reference, "Court Tennis" has a very loyal following at a few clubs in Boston, Philly, NY and Newport. Tuxedo Club NY is the only one with Court Tennis and golf.

Tiger,

I think it is a pretty safe bet that my wife is NOT quite ready for Tiger B yet! If you look over JC's baldish head, the girls of USC were giving us a little show during a timeout.

[Billsteele]

Mike-Nice report. I was especially impressed that Dylan kept his shirt tucked in during all the photos. The pictures were great...especially the one of the mascot behind the BC bench.

[PCCraig]

Mike:

I can second your opinion of the Charleston Squash Club after being invited to play a match there via the Kiawah Cassique Club...it's a very cool understated place.

Glad to see you and your son are enjoying Charleston.

If you're still there, or head back sometime, be sure to stop into Pearlz on E. Bay St. for Corn Fritters or the Fat Hen for dinner.

[Kyle Harris]

I shall greet you babes in hand to give a nice lad a visit only a 5 star rivals defensive line or quarterback recruit can relate too.

The payout alone should cover at least the expenses for the trip, no?



[/cheeky devil]

[John Mayhugh]

Mike-Nice report. I was especially impressed that Dylan kept his shirt tucked in during all the photos.

You beat me to it!

[Jud_T]

Mike,

Nothing better than a father/son golf trip.  And the wife doesn't even get upset! Great writeup of what sounds like a great trip.

Jones,

Nice shirt....

[John Shimp]

Mike
Sounds like a great trip.
 
Delighted you were so taken with Palmetto   It is crazy under rated in my view. You have to be able to really play to post a low number regardless of tees.  It is not a course that many "get" sufficiently on initial or second play.  Amazing variety and scoring resistance without the big aha presentation that most (even the minimalist fans) look for.
Thanks for the pics.
JS

[Bill_McBride]

Mike
Sounds like a great trip.
 
Delighted you were so taken with   It is crazy under rated in my view. You have to be able to really play to post a low number regardless of tees.  It is not a course that many "get" sufficiently on initial or second play.  Amazing variety and scoring resistance without the big aha presentation that most (even the minimalist fans) look for.
Thanks for the pics.
JS

John, Palmetto?