Every Monday, I plan to highlight homes for sale in some of the best golf communities in the Southeast. (Note: I have visited the communities listed below and played their golf courses.)  These homes, all priced at less than $500,000, are currently listed for sale at GolfHomes.com. I have worked for the last 15 years with the real estate professionals whose contact information appears with the listings; I can testify that they are among the most qualified agents in their respective areas and are well acquainted with the local golf communities. You should feel confident that they will do a great job of helping you find your dream golf home on the course.

 

Haig Point, Daufuskie Island
For those seeking peace and quiet and great golf, there are few golf communities that can outshine Haig Point on Daufuskie Island. No autos are permitted on the island, but the Haig ferry to/from Hilton Head runs frequently. Pro golfers competing each year across the Calibogue Sound at Sea Pines Plantation ferry over to Haig to prepare on Rees Jones’ 27 holes of golf. Tom Jackson, a top agent in the nearby Hilton Head and Bluffton areas, knows Daufuskie well and owns property there. The famed author Pat Conroy based his “The Water is Wide” novel about a teacher of Gullah students on Daufuskie; the novel was also the basis for a movie called “Conrac” that captured the island’s unique atmospherics (even though it was filmed in Wilmington, NC).  $519,900.  Click here for this home at Haig Point.
Haig hole with Calibogue SoundThe Calibogue Sound is ever present along the edge of the Rees Jones layout at Haig Point on Daufuskie Island.

 
Cedar Creek, Aiken
For those who love horses as well as golf, Aiken is a terrific choice. The area became equestrian-centric in the 19th Century when wealthy Charlestonians fled their malaria-susceptible city for the friendly confines of Aiken. Cedar Creek is one of the best choices in golf community real estate in the Aiken area. The semi-private status of the golf club and the maturity of the community help keep prices competitive in the multi-golf-community Aiken market. Proximity to Augusta means a short drive to The Masters and, if you are willing, the potential for rental income during tournament week. $440,000. Click here for this home in Cedar Creek.

 

Heritage Plantation, Pawleys Island
Surrounded by some of the best golf courses on the southern end of the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach, Heritage more than holds its own with an imaginative layout lined with dramatic live oak trees and bounded on one side by the Waccamaw River, part of the Intracoastal Waterway. The Heritage community is a short drive south to the historic town of Georgetown and its restaurants, shops, a quality hospital and galleries along its bustling Front Street; just a few minutes longer drive north is the more modern and vibrant Myrtle Beach, with even more restaurants, shopping, medical-care options and an excellent regional airport. You are in a good place at Heritage. $489,000.  Click here for this listing in Heritage.
Heritage Plantation approachYou get it all on the Heritage Plantation golf course; water, sand and a beautiful collection of live oak trees.

 

Two small bunkers have replaced one pot bunker at greenside and one larger bunker 20 yards short of the green. Now that a bunker behind the green on the right is gone, a bailout to the right side is even easier.  (Note:  A "turkey" in golf is similar to one in bowling. Three birdies in a row in golf, three strikes in a row in bowling.  Odd designation for achievement, though.). All photos courtesy of Tim Gavrich.
The semi-private and Jack Nicklaus designed Pawleys Plantation golf course in Pawleys Island, SC, closed for renovations on May 22 and reopened in the last two weeks, pretty much restored to its original design but with some significant design changes that will reduce maintenance costs and speed up play especially among those visiting golfers unprepared for the tough course that Jack built in 1989.
Based on notes from Founders International, owner of the club, and the accompanying photos provided by my son Tim, greens pulled closer to their adjacent bunkers and the elimination – or downsizing – of a few hundred yards worth of fairway bunkers will make the course more playable for higher handicap players while retaining the challenge for the big sticks. For example, on the long par 4s, some of which play to around 450 yards, bunkers closer to the greens, as originally designed, will make pin-seeking a higher risk play. The signature par 3 13th, whose green was smaller than the famed Sawgrass #17, has added a bit more putting surface on the right side but still shows a narrow landing area front to back; props to those big hitters who try to land a ball from 170 yards, with prevailing ocean winds, onto that narrow runway. On the par 3 3rd, whose green is guarded on the left by a lake, the one pot bunker that stood guard over the center of the green has been replaced by two round and smaller bunkers. Any pin position on the left two-thirds of the green remains problematical given the bunkers and the slope down to the lake; you won’t make birdie from the bailout on the right side of the green, but you are unlikely to make double bogey either. Pick your poison.
Pawleys8 approach
Pawleys 12 bunkeringThe par 4 8th at Pawleys Plantation (top photo) and the par 4 12th exemplify the most obvious and dramatic changes to the layout. On both, long sand bunkers extended from right of the fairways to greenside. Both are now gone, replaced with two separate bunkers guarding the right side of #8 green and a row of fairway bunkers on the 12th, with a greenside bunker also protecting the right side.
The $2 million renovation included a much-needed expansion of Pawleys Pub, the combination 19th hole and club restaurant. (The adjacent clubhouse serves meals only for special organized events for members, which are scheduled about once a month.) The Pub will now have a much-wider view of the 18th green and adjacent lake (more a large pond, actually, and with an attractive fountain in its middle.)
Pawleys 10 from faiwayGone is the 120 yard long bunker on the right side of the 10th fairway at Pawleys Plantation. A brand new fairway bunker now guards the left side of the fairway. It's a short hole but an approach over water from that bunker to a front pin position will be treacherous.
As Pawleys completes its work, The Peninsula Club on Lake Norman, north of Charlotte, NC, just announced it closed for renovation in October with work ongoing for a full year and reopening scheduled for October 2024. Beau Welling Design is doing the work on a layout originally designed by Rees Jones in 1990 and renovated by Jones in 2007. The course’s rating and slope from the tips – 74.9 and 141, respectively – are not quite as robust as the corresponding numbers for Pawleys Plantation – 75.2 and 150 – but still enough challenge for members with single-digit handicaps. In a recent video shot at the grand breaking ceremonies on October 2 and posted at the Peninsula Club website, Beau Welling indicated that infrastructure changes (including upgraded irrigation) and reshaping of the layout will “make the course more challenging for better players and, perhaps, easier for [higher handicap] players.”
Pawleysth fairway bunker on 14A bunker now surrounds the base of a live oak tree right about where your correspondent typically aims his second shot at the par 5 14th at Pawleys Plantation.
The private club did not announce how much the renovations will cost but given the full year the course will be closed, seven months more than it took at Pawleys Plantation, with more infrastructure work than at the South Carolina course that, I estimate, will be two to three times more expensive. Members of the member-owned Peninsula sure love their club.
Pawleys 4 long approachOn the par 5 4th hole at Pawleys Plantation, a long and wide waste bunker has been removed from the left side of the hole and replaced by turf. The bunker in front of the green (hidden in this photo) is now smaller, making birdie a more reasonable opportunity, especially when the pin is on the left side of the green.