The 17th green at Yeamans Hall Golf Course in South Carolina.
LC Lambrecht
As I reflect on my year in golf and all the rounds I’ve played, one course stands out above the rest. Located in the low country of South Carolina it is Yeamans Hall Club, a Top 100 GOLF course. It’s worth noting from above that Yeamans boasts outstanding architecture, stunning views and pristine course conditions. But that’s not why I chose it for my favorite course in 2024. To better understand why I chose it, we’ll have to go back to the fall of 2013.
At the time, I was a freshman playing on the women’s golf team at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (not to be confused with the Tar Heels down the road) and we were qualifying for the first event of the season. of fall golf. Unfortunately, I missed the lineup and had to sit at home while my teammates made the trip to play in the Cougar Classic, a tournament hosted by the College of Charleston at, you guessed it, Yeamans Hall Club.
When my teammates returned home, they regaled me with their stories of their incredible experiences playing at the renowned private club.
“You’ll love it, wide fairways and greens that are so undulating they look like elephants are buried beneath them.” said a teammate.
“It felt like traveling back in time! We couldn’t even use our phones at intervals. said another.
“And it’s right out on the water, the views were amazing,” my other teammate exploded.
As I listened, I promised myself that I would do whatever it took to make the lineup next year. Over the next 12 months I exercised more than ever. I was determined to get to ChuckTown. And my hard work paid off when I qualified for the 2014 Cougar Classic.
From the moment we walked through the gates, any expectations I had were blown away. Right down to the bagpiper who played the entire first hole through the morning mist to start the final round.
Maddie McClurg
Flash forward to October 2024 and I’m standing over the same opening photo from 10 years ago (top left). As I looked out from the first fan scanning the horizon for my target line, I was wracked with nostalgia. I shudder to think how far I’ve come.
Every hole I played unlocked a long lost memory from my college golf career. I even used some local knowledge to help me navigate some of the challenging course features you’d expect from a great Seth Raynor design—cross bunkers, elevated greens, iconic par-3s and dramatic landscapes that offer multiple fairways to the green. .
I tried to beat my tournament low from college, and it’s safe to say my game was put to the test. Open roads were perfectly baked, giving the car a few extra meters of rolling. But you needed more than extra length to score on this course. Good ball striking was often rewarded, but even good approach shots occasionally caught the green’s dramatic curves and sent the ball tumbling into the collection areas below or into the deep bunkers guarding the elevated green.
Breaking the elevated greens was challenging, especially over open bunkers that were difficult to ignore. And if your ball landed in one of the green’s many bunkers, you’d be in for a daunting up-and-down drive as you’d have to splash the ball over the long green cushions. And it didn’t get any easier after riding on the green field. The two-shot pars felt more like birdies on the big undulating surfaces.
Maddie McClurg
But the views, from the sweeping waterfront to the Spanish moss hanging from the trees, helped soften the blow in my score. And the halfway house provided me with the food (canned Gatorade and Nekot crackers) needed to make some birds on my back.
As I strolled down 18th Street, I was greeted by the glamorous club and reminded that, a decade later, my incredible day was over. Playing Yeamans Hall Club was a treat I won’t soon forget.
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