Daufuskie Island - ESPN.com

[Rich Brittingham]

Thompson's writing is always a bit heavy handed, but the article does a good job bringing the issues we discuss daily to a mainstream media outlet...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=110531/Daufuskie

[JNC Lyon]

Wow.  This is a pretty incredible story about the Rise and Fall of the Daufuskie Island Resort and the Melrose Golf Course.  I was thinking about heading over there for a day when I was down in Hilton Head in March.  Now I wish I had.  The writing is, as you say, heavy handed in places, but he does a good job of painting a picture of the island and the troubles that surround it.

I wonder if this type of golf course and establishment would be more successful if it were handled with a different approach.  It seems that every resort in the Southeastern US is maintained in the same way: fancy accommodations, meticulous maintenance, an armada of service staff, and high costs all the way around.  Maybe if a place like Daufuskie were stripped back and presented with a bare-bones, understated elegance, it would bring more appeal and differentiate from the masses of resorts in that region.

I would encourage everyone to read this article.

[Ronald Montesano]

Reminds me of Bagger Vance...

[Brett Waters]

I really hated to see the fall of this place. I was lucky enough to get a round in down there some 4 years ago or so before it began to decline and loved every minute of it, from the ferry ride to the quaintness of many of the holes. The Melrose Course is definitely one of my favorite courses I've ever played.

[Carl Nichols]

Thompson's writing is always a bit heavy handed, but the article does a good job bringing the issues we discuss daily to a mainstream media outlet...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=110531/Daufuskie

And the Pope is a bit Catholic!

[Jin Kim]

Nice story.  I might try to head down there this summer to check it out.

[Kris Shreiner]

A very illuminating article, even with the extra ballast added to the storyline.

Barrier islands are always at war with mother nature. The battle is constant and unrelenting. This type of development shouldn't be permitted for there, but those with money to burn keep wanting that tall drink while they watch the sunset with their toes in the sand.

Patrick...what an example of everything golf should be...yet isn't, with today's thirst for putting profit first. Found the game as a caddie... imagine that. Guess those golf management schools are just cranking out guys by the bushel that would dedicate a critical portion their life to try and help a course survive like he did. Please.

I hope Nick and the new team get the resources they need to make it happen. To me,  a Southern version of Sankaty Head, with a mainly youth-based, seasonal, summer caddie camp, with college age staff as counslers would be a superb fit for a throwback, rustic presentation. Even as forecaddies for cart golfers, the youth, properly lead, could experience some real growth and development opportunities while making decent dough, pitch in to help other staff operations when it was slow, to cover their room and meals, and with comfortable, simple cottage-style lodging, provide a cost-effective solution that has multiple benefits for the facility.

Yeh, I know, that makes too much sense, but it might actually take some effort and corporate or ownership wouldn't even begin to know where to find anyone to pull it off. The next players (owners)will be along shortly.

Cheers,
Kris

[Anthony_Nysse]

Nick was a good friend of my during my time on Hilton Head, actually my roommates best friend. There is good reason that he was a finalist for Superintendent of the year. He worked at Harbor Town for several years before heading over to Melrose. I commend him for sticking with the golf course over the past 18 months because I do not know many Superintendents that would, especially to those extremes.
  The problem with Daufuskie is getting over there. Even as neat of a course Haig Point is, and Melrose was in it's prime, it's still a 40 min fairy ride there and back, along with time waiting at the dock. It can make for a VERY long day.

[jeffwarne]

Nick was a good friend of my during my time on Hilton Head, actually my roommates best friend. There is good reason that he was a finalist for Superintendent of the year. He worked at Harbor Town for several years before heading over to Melrose. I commend him for sticking with the golf course over the past 18 months because I do not know many Superintendents that would, especially to those extremes.
  The problem with Daufuskie is getting over there. Even as neat of a course Haig Point is, and Melrose was in it's prime, it's still a 40 min fairy ride there and back, along with time waiting at the dock. It can make for a VERY long day.

Anthony, very true, and combine that with the burst of new courses built the other direction(Colleton River 36, Belfair 36 May River, and more) about the same time and following years, and the trend was the other direction.

Very cool place though-I won a Pro-am shootout at Melrose with an eagle on the wonderful 18th hole after hooking a 3 iron out over the ocean around a tree

[John_Cullum]

How is Haig Point doing these days?

[Criss Titschinger]

  The problem with Daufuskie is getting over there. Even as neat of a course Haig Point is, and Melrose was in it's prime, it's still a 40 min fairy ride there and back, along with time waiting at the dock. It can make for a VERY long day.

This is so true. When I played Melrose in 2005, I was on the dock at 7AM and didn't get back to my hotel room on Hilton Head until close to 5PM. If I had played Harbour Town, or any other course on the island, I'd be done by noon.

The picture in the article that got me was the Melrose clubhouse covered with weeds. Much different from my memory for a bright, white, beaming clubhouse.

I took a bunch of pictures of Melrose during my round there. I'll try to post a few later on.

[Tom Yost]

So, looking at the google satellite pics of the island, I take it Bloody Point is the core layout at the south end, Melrose must be in the middle (with holes along the shoreline) and Haig Point north of that.   27 holes at Haig Point?

[Mark Bourgeois]

it's still a 40 min fairy ride there and back,

Hi Anthony, isn't sodomy still illegal in Georgia? I remember a big Supreme Court case a while back.

[Mike_Young]

Nice place but the golf business always amazes me....
When they were first building it....everyone silently knew it would not work....
You have to have a bridge....and it will never work w/o one....pretty simple....

[JNC Lyon]

Nice place but the golf business always amazes me....
When they were first building it....everyone silently knew it would not work....
You have to have a bridge....and it will never work w/o one....pretty simple....

Other places, like Fishers Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket have worked without bridges.  However, it seems like the model has to be different.  A resort may not survive, but it seems like an upscale private course will, which explains why Haig Point remains intact.

[Mike_Young]

Nice place but the golf business always amazes me....
When they were first building it....everyone silently knew it would not work....
You have to have a bridge....and it will never work w/o one....pretty simple....

Other places, like Fishers Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket have worked without bridges.  However, it seems like the model has to be different.  A resort may not survive, but it seems like an upscale private course will, which explains why Haig Point remains intact.

AND..how many people are within 25 miles of those you mention....plus they are bent grass.....and not 100 degrees in the summers...cheers...

[Willie_Dow]

Good read !

Brings back many memories of Daufuskie in the early '60's, looking at the empty ruins, after a boat ride over in "Black Duck".  Then my last round with Mum, in her mid eighties at just opened Haig Point in the mid eighties.

How is Haig Point keeping alive ?  Wasn't there some talk of a bridge being considered across from Savannah ?

[Michael Whitaker]

it's still a 40 min fairy ride there and back,

Hi Anthony, isn't sodomy still illegal in Georgia? I remember a big Supreme Court case a while back.

   

[Tommy Williamsen]

Nice place but the golf business always amazes me....
When they were first building it....everyone silently knew it would not work....
You have to have a bridge....and it will never work w/o one....pretty simple....

Other places, like Fishers Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket have worked without bridges.  However, it seems like the model has to be different.  A resort may not survive, but it seems like an upscale private course will, which explains why Haig Point remains intact.

Melrose was private when it was built. I played it while it was still private. The golf couldn't compete with Haig Point and the facilities were overbuilt. I wondered if it could make it then. I guess it couldn't.

[JWL]

Very sad story to read for me.    Melrose was my first course with Jack in the USA.   Lots of challenges even from the beginning.   

[Mike_Young]

Very sad story to read for me.    Melrose was my first course with Jack in the USA.   Lots of challenges even from the beginning.   

Jim,
Wasn't that when Jim holmes was building for you guys?

[JWL]

I guess so....they didn't do Melrose.    The only course I worked with them was at Great Waters.

[Mike_Young]

I guess so....they didn't do Melrose.    The only course I worked with them was at Great Waters.

It must have been Bloody Point they did...not sure....

[Mike Sweeney]

http://www.islandpacket.com/2011/05/29/1672464/new-resort-owner-vows-to-revitalize.html

[Willie_Dow]

Where is this great governor of So Carolina ?

Where is the bridge ?

Private enterprise ?  What are you doing ?

Great story needs a good ending !