I am on Hilton Head for a couple of days, and I note that golf green fees are down to as low as $20 per round at courses that charged nearly $100 before the economy went sour.  It is hard to imagine such discounting will sustain some clubs much longer.  The same is true of local restaurants and hotels, where you can eat and sleep well and cheaply, relatively speaking.  This is an ideal time for anyone looking for a great golf vacation at a low price in South Carolina’s Low Country.

        I have also noticed that the golf course, resort, hotel and restaurant lobbies I’ve wandered into in Hilton Head feature racks of booklets and brochures with coupons and ads for local merchants.  Talk about penny wise and pound foolish; these merchants are spending their precious dollars to fight each other for a negligible piece of the pie.  Yet logic seems to dictate that survival depends on enlarging the pie.  That is, the merchants should pool their money and advertise in markets like Charlotte, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and Boston to attract increasing numbers of golfers and beachgoers.  They should work together to drive more tourists to the area, and then fight over them later.  Instead, the first instinct of the business community, led by the chamber of commerce, is to ask government for help.  Ironic, isn’t it?