OCC again ranked in ‘Top 30 You Can Play,’ one of three in S.C. Midlands

When it comes to top-ranked golf in South Carolina, especially for the general public or resort player, proximity to the Atlantic Ocean is a fact of life.

That fact makes Orangeburg Country Club’s consistent position among the state’s top public-access courses, as determined by the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel, even more noteworthy.

The panel, made up of more than 120 media, professional and golf business members, has released its 2020-21 “Top 30 You Can Play,” highlighting South Carolina’s best among courses available to tourists and non-club members. Of those courses, 25 are in the Grand Strand (13), Greater Charleston (8) and Lowcountry (4) regions.

OCC, meanwhile, is one of three Midlands courses named to the biennial rankings. The Upstate trails with two public-access courses. Along with Orangeburg CC, Aiken Golf Club – a historic gem built in 1912 – and the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence were the Midlands courses selected by the panel’s members.

“We are delighted to be back in such good company once again, and also to be considered ‘the place to go’ in the Midlands,” OCC Director of Golf David Lackey said. “I give much credit to Alex Tolbert and his team for continuing to provide a well-conditioned course to enjoy, and to all of the golf and clubhouse staff for their commitment to providing the best in hospitality to members and guests alike.”

While votes for the Top 30 were not disclosed, OCC has been a regular member of the panel’s Best 50 Courses rankings, which rate all of the state’s 360-plus courses (public and private) and are chosen in years opposite the Top 30 You Can Play listings. In 2019-20, Orangeburg was ranked 43rd among all courses in South Carolina.

OCC is officially a private club, but the club allows outside play via Santee Resort hotel/golf packages, thus qualifying the course as public-access per the ratings panel.

“From the top of our leadership down, the fact that we are in the people business is the mentality that we all strive to maintain,” Lackey said. “Marrying the excellent condition of the course, from tees to the treacherous greens, with a large dose of hospitality makes for a successful outcome, and that is the formula that we try to use daily.”

Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course, host of the 1991 Ryder Cup Matches, 2012 PGA Championship and this May’s PGA, topped the 2019-20 rankings of all the state’s courses and, no surprise, rates among the Top 30 You Can Play. Other familiar names dotting the Top 30 are Sea Pines Resort’s Harbour Town Golf Links, site of the state’s annual RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing (the state’s lone PGA Tour stop); Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, True Blue and Pawleys Plantation, all in Pawleys Island; Myrtle Beach’s historic Dunes Golf & Beach Club; and Wild Dunes’ Links Course on Isle of Palms.

In addition to its Top 30 list, the Golf Course Ratings Panel also named its top courses in each region. The Midlands’ top five, in addition to OCC, Aiken and CCSC, lists two North Augusta courses, Mount Vintage Golf Club and the River Golf Club.

South Carolina’s most well-known resorts, Kiawah Island and Sea Pines, not surprisingly are heavily represented in the Top 30. Four Kiawah courses – the Ocean, Osprey Point, Turtle Point and Cougar Point – make up half the Greater Charleston’s eight courses. Sea Pines’ trio of courses – Harbour Town, Heron Point by Pete Dye and Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III – are joined by the Jack Nicklaus-designed May River Golf Club of Bluffton.

Only two Upstate courses made the Top 30, both college-affiliated: the Walker Course at Clemson University and the Furman University Golf Club. Also in the Upstate-specific listings are Greenwood Country Club, Savannah Lakes’ Monticello Course in McCormick, and (tied) Greenwood’s Links at Stoney Point Golf Club and Greenville’s The Preserve at Verdae.

Hilton Head Island dominates the Lowcountry region; in addition to the Sea Pines courses and May River, Palmetto Dunes Resort’s R.T. Jones, Arthur Hills and George Fazio course and Palmetto Hall’s Arthur Hills Course are in the region’s Top 10. Joining those are Fripp Island Resort’s Ocean Point and Ocean Creek courses.

The Orangeburg Country Club’s Hole 18 was awarded the Midlands Most Challenging Finishing Hole in 2014 by the S.C. Golf Ratings Panel.

SOUTH CAROLINA GOLF COURSE RATINGS PANEL

TOP 30 YOU CAN PLAY

STATE TOP 30

Kiawah Island Resort – Ocean Course CHARLESTON; Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (Pawleys Island) GRAND STRAND; Sea Pines – Harbour Town Golf Links LOW COUNTRY; True Blue Plantation (Pawleys Island) GRAND STRAND; Kiawah Island Resort – Turtle Point Course CHARLESTON; Orangeburg Country Club MIDLANDS; Wild Dunes Resort – Links Course CHARLESTON; Dunes Golf & Beach Club GRAND STRAND; TPC of Myrtle Beach (Murrells Inlet) GRAND STRAND; Kiawah Island Resort – Osprey Point Course CHARLESTON; Pawleys Plantation (Pawleys Island) GRAND STRAND; Grande Dunes Resort Club GRAND STRAND; Kiawah Island Resort – Cougar Point Course CHARLESTON; Barefoot Resort – Dye Course GRAND STRAND; May River Golf Club (Palmetto Bluff) LOW COUNTRY; Tidewater Golf Club & Plantation (Little River) GRAND STRAND; Barefoot Resort – Fazio Course GRAND STRAND; Sea Pines – Heron Point by Pete Dye LOW COUNTRY; Walker Course at Clemson University UPSTATE; Furman Golf Club UPSTATE; Sea Pines – Atlantic Dunes LOW COUNTRY; Seabrook Island Club – Ocean Winds Course CHARLESTON; Prestwick Country Club (Myrtle Beach) GRAND STRAND; Barefoot Resort – Love Course GRAND STRAND; Aiken Golf Club MIDLANDS; Heritage Club (Pawleys Island) GRAND STRAND; Pine Lakes Country Club (Myrtle Beach) GRAND STRAND; Seabrook Island Club – Crooked Oaks Course CHARLESTON; Wild Dunes Resort – Harbor Course CHARLESTON; Country Club of South Carolina (Florence) MIDLANDS

GREATER CHARLESTON

Kiawah Island Resort – Ocean Course; Kiawah Island Resort – Turtle Point Course; Wild Dunes Resort – Links Course; Kiawah Island Resort – Osprey Point Course; Kiawah Island Resort – Cougar Point Course; Seabrook Island Club – Ocean Winds Course; Seabrook Island Club – Crooked Oaks Course; Wild Dunes Resort – Harbor Course; RiverTowne Country Club (Mt Pleasant); Links at Stono Ferry (Hollywood)

GRAND STRAND

Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (Pawleys Island); True Blue Plantation (Pawleys Island); Dunes Golf & Beach Club; TPC of Myrtle Beach (Murrells Inlet); Pawleys Plantation (Pawleys Island); Grande Dunes Resort Club; Barefoot Resort – Dye Course; Tidewater Golf Club & Plantation (Little River); Barefoot Resort – Fazio Course; Prestwick Country Club (Myrtle Beach); Barefoot Resort – Love Course; Heritage Club (Pawleys Island); Pine Lakes Country Club (Myrtle Beach); Myrtle Beach National – Kings North; The Founders Club at Pawleys Island; The Legends – Heathland Course (Myrtle Beach); Glen Dornoch Waterway Golf Links (Little River); Wachesaw East Golf Club (Murrells Inlet); The Legends – Moorland Course (Myrtle Beach); Tradition Club (Litchfield Beach)

LOWCOUNTRY

Sea Pines – Harbour Town Golf Links; May River Golf Club (Palmetto Bluff); Sea Pines – Heron Point by Pete Dye; Sea Pines – Atlantic Dunes; Palmetto Dunes Resort – RT Jones Course; Palmetto Dunes Resort – Arthur Hills Course; Palmetto Dunes Resort – George Fazio Course; Fripp Island Resort – Ocean Point (Cobb); Fripp Island Resort – Ocean Creek (Love); Palmetto Hall Plantation – Arthur Hills Course

MIDLANDS

Orangeburg Country Club; Aiken Golf Club; Country Club of South Carolina (Florence); Mount Vintage Golf Club (North Augusta); The River Golf Club (North Augusta)

UPSTATE

Walker Course at Clemson University; Furman Golf Club; Greenwood Country Club; Savannah Lakes – Monticello Course; (tie) Links at Stoney Point Golf Club (Greenwood) and The Preserve at Verdae (Greenville)