Following in the footsteps of the Tree Farm, Old Barnwell opened its doors in 2023 with a new B Schneider/B Conant design set on 575 sprawling acres about 12 miles southeast of Aiken, SC. The location can be slightly confusing as Barnwell is further southeast and is the county seat of Barnwell County. The Old Barnwell name comes from the major road just east of the club and had nothing to do with the town.
The hub of the course is a large basin which provides most of the elevation change, but many holes traverse the ridge or run from the top of the basin in all directions. Given the substantial scale of the property, it can be expected that the built features will also be large. Although, I found the variety of bunker size a welcome surprise. Too often bunker schemes are essentially all of one size which makes it difficult to create visual separation between holes on less dramatic land. Of particular note are the handful of Victorian style berms. I first saw this style of earthworks used by Schneider at Llanerch in Pennsylvania. A course which in photos looks very agreeable to my eye. We are greeted with perhaps the largest berm on the first hole. The round ends with another berm on 18. The two features bookend the course in a manner which I have to believe was deliberate.
Beyond the natural and built features, the design is highly playable due to the wide fairways. That said, on some holes the width is a mirage. A few examples come immediately to mind. The uphill and obscured 10
th fairway features a string of blind bunkers up the left which seem to be on the ideal line for the drive. A reverse situation is the 3rd. For a hitter of my meagre abilities is seems like the place to be on the fairway is centre to mid-left. I pushed my drive near the right-hand bunkers and immediately thought this isn’t going to be good. Instead, by happy accident, I found myself in a splendid approach position playing up the soft underbelly of the green. These examples speak to the vagueness of the course off the tee which is some ways is similar to The Old Course.
Nick Schreiber enlisted Schneider and Conant to help find a suitable site for a club that in many ways serves as a conduit for his mission-based programs. The Evans Scholars is one such program which benefits caddies. Another is nearby Voorhees University. The partnership is designed to offer job and career opportunities in the game of golf. Eventually, the Old Barnwell site was settled on because the site is sandy and interesting. It took some wheeling and dealing with local landowners, but the picture was eventually completed. This course is the first of three. When I was there the Kid’s Course was completed and the final course will hopefully open in 2030.
Old Barnwell kicks off in a simple manner...or so it seems. There is no pomp and circumstance surrounding the tee. All eyes are sqaurely focused on the hole. There is a large berm with a gap welcoming golfers to the first fairway....I was immediately reminded of the 16th at North Berwick where we hit over a stone wall to enter the hole. I am not sure if the holes are currently named, but Gate strikes me as a good name for this three-shot opener. It is troublesome to decipher the bunker situation ahead, but there is ample room to err left.
I managed to squeeze a drive in a fairway pocket which in truth didn't deserve this good fortune. The 2nd is bewildering except that it seems as though left is safe.
Left is safe, but not ideal.
Uphill and short, the par four 2nd's bunkers are well placed for golfers of modest abilities such as myself.
The course was in immaculate condition which I wasn't expecting. Don't be fooled by the green colour of the fairways...they were quite keen...firm enough to aid slightly underhit approaches off to the right. I was startled by the movement of the fairway. The green looks like it evens out the slope to the right, but this is most certainly not the case.
A wide, hump back fairway greets us on the 3rd. I didn't have any idea of the best play so my swing wasn't with much conviction. For me this usually means a miss right which is exactly what happened.
Much as on the first, I found a safe spot on short grass. Even better, I discovered my line was optimal.
Much of the bunkering is handsomely hunkered down rather than on full view. It’s unsettling when walking past these pits! Yet…sand is used in a variety of ways and sizes. This is a welcome break after playing so many courses with new cookie cutter bunkers that basically look the same and don’t vary in size.
Graceful green.
More to follow.
Happy New Year