Greenville, SC: Asheville alternative features more private golf community options

     A few years ago, I made visits during the same two-week period to the ever-popular city of Asheville, NC, and the less regaled Greenville, SC. I liked both but I preferred Greenville for what I perceived as a bit more sophistication, as if it were allergic to trying hard to advertise its charms whereas Asheville seemed to exude a “Hey look me over” attitude (and does a good job of it). Greenville is also larger, although not a large city by any means (a municipal population of 58,400 in 2010), with some extra conveniences that size provides.

        I’ve been looking a little more closely at Greenville in recent weeks and am planning a follow-up visit soon. We will be adding golf homes for sale in three Greenville golf communities

to our GolfHomesListed web site; they will join the venerated Thornblade Club (Tom Fazio designed) and the Cliffs Communities near the city (Cliffs Valley, Glassy and Mountain Park). The three communities we will add are Green Valley, Pebble Creek and Greenville Country Club, and their presence points to another key difference between Greenville and Asheville: Greenville has a few more options for private golf club membership, consistent with its larger metropolitan area population -– eight 18-hole private club layouts in the immediate Greenville area and six in the Asheville area.

Pebble Creek Country Club

        Two of the three golf communities in Greenville offer 36 holes of golf. Pebble Creek residents have four golfing options at their disposal. They can join the two 18-hole clubs with one membership, and play the private Linkside layout and the semi-private Creekside course, both designed by Tom Jackson in 1976, with no payment of green fees. Or they can join one or the other course. Or they can join neither, and pay green fees each time they play the Creekside course. There are some additional viable golfing options nearby, including the renovated Furman University golf club. When we begin listing Pebble Creek golf homes for sale at GolfHomesListed in the next couple of weeks, you will see extremely reasonable prices for single-family homes, some as low as the high $100s. (If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact me and we will get them answered quickly.)

Greenville Country Club

        The Greenville Country Club includes two of the best 18-hole layouts in the golf-rich state of South Carolina, including the Chanticleer course, which has graced Golf Digest’s Top 100 list, as well as the Riverside course, which was redesigned by Brian Silva in 2007. Chanticleer was originally designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1970 and then renovated by his nephew, Rees Jones in 2001. The South Carolina Golf Rating Panel, of which your editor is a member, earlier this year ranked Chanticleer at #5 in the state, ahead of such venerated layouts as The Dunes Club in Myrtle Beach, Yeamans Hall (Hanahan, SC), Long Cove on Hilton Head, Secession in Beaufort and Caledonia in Pawleys Island. The country club dates to the early 20^th Century, and the surrounding community is both mature and stately. Some older homes in need of refurbishment can be found in the $200s, but mid to high six figures is more the rule, with some estate homes commanding over $1 million.

Green Valley Country Club

        Green Valley Country Club can boast its own slice of local history, having been designed originally by one of the most respected southern golf architects, George Cobb, in 1958, and renovated to retain its classic character by Tom Jackson. (Jackson, whose name is on many designs in the southeast, laid out The Cliffs at Glassy course 35 minutes away.) For a few years, Green Valley had accepted outside play but now, under new ownership, the master plan has reverted the club’s status to members only. Those interested in living adjacent to the revitalized golf club will find a wide range of real estate options starting in the $300s; the most expensive golf home currently on the market in Green Valley is $800,000.

        If you want more information on any of these Greenville golf communities, please contact me. For current golf homes for sale in the Thornblade and Cliffs communities, click here.