SANTEE - AN
AFFORDABLE
GOLF
PARADISE
by MARC ATCHISON

On most days, visiting
golfers outnumber the
1,000 people who live
in this sleepy southern
town where golf is the
main industry.
Thousands of duffers
descend on Santee
annually because,
quite frankly, it’s the
best bargain in golf –
anywhere.

Not convinced? Okay,
name me the place in
the world where you can stay and play for as little as $47 U.S. a day, which includes breakfast and power cart.  It is good and it is true?

Well, it doesn’t take golfers long to be converted. Especially when they see what awaits them at courses like Marion Lake, the Santee Cooper Country Club and Santee National, all world-class layouts that test a player’s skill and imagination – and you’d better have a vivid imagination.  Besides being a challenge, the three aforementioned courses are some of the most cared for in South Carolina, offering manicured fairways and greens that are always being improved. “This year all three championship courses have had major improvements – from tee to green,” reports Bob Peebles, owner of the local Howard Johnson’s Inn and chair of the Accommodation Tax Board of Santee, a regulatory body which also oversees tourism in the town. According to the congenial Peebles, the facelifts have made the courses even more beautiful than before. “Lake Marion and Santee Cooper Country Club have new turf which allows for horizontal growth while over at Santee National each of the greens is new.” And, Peebles says: “Each course is in great shape.”

Since all three are always ranked among the top courses in the southern U.S. making them better is like touching up a Monet painting. With two of the courses sitting on shoreline of Lake Marion – the lake is the largest in South Carolina – you would be hard pressed to find more
beautiful courses.

“Santee is not a fast moving
town so when changes are made
here, it’s big news,” says Peebles.

The addition of condos has
helped make that a preferred
destination. There are hundreds
of condo accommodation in
Santee and some, like the ones
surrounding the awesome Lake
Marion course, suit traveling golf
foursomes to a tee.

Besides the three courses
mentioned earlier, Santee has
another tier of courses on the north shore of Lake Marion that are every bit as good. Topping that list are the Player’s Club and Wyboo Golf Club.  “All our quality courses (there are 13 in the area and three in town) are why Santee is the most sought after golf destination in South Carolina,” says Peebles. Even in peak season – March through April – the cost of playing
golf in Santee is very affordable
with stay and play packages
starting around $70 a day.

Santee has become a favorite
with Canadian golfers. While each
of the courses in Santee average
around 50,000 rounds a year,
Canadians make up at least have
that number. And the Canadian
market keeps getting stronger
each year, with increased traffic
from Quebec and the always-
steady flow from golf-rich Ontario.
'Our prices remain stable from
one year to the next and that is
why Santee is always a favorite
destination with northern golfers,” Peebles says.  Sleepy Santee offers a nightlife and a lot of dining options along with eight top quality hotels and inns. One aspect that really appeals to golfers is that most of the restaurants and bars are in easy walking distance of their accommodation.
“That means they don’t have to drive so they can stay out a little later and enjoy the nightlife,” says Peebles, who claims the social aspect of golf is just as important as the game.  We’ll drink to that!

While Santee is primarily a golf and fishing destination, it also offers some historical wonders close by.  “The town of Summerville is about a 45-minute drive from Santee and golfers who travel with their families like to play in the morning and tour in the afternoon.  ”They won’t find a more interesting place than Summerville to tour. The town became famous when plantation owners, whose low-lying properties invited mosquitoes, sent their families in summer to the higher elevation Summerville so they could be protected from malaria. The quaint shops and homes left over from that era make Summerville one of the best places in South Carolina to enjoy leisurely walks while soaking up the area atmosphere.

“We also have a lot of Civil War history in the area and Charleston is about an hour’s drive away and it has all the history you can imagine,” says Peebles.
But leaving Santee for anywhere else, even for a day, will be tough for golfers to do.

For more information on golf packages in Santee visit www.santeetourism.com

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Marc Atchison is the former Travel and Golf Editor of Canada's largest newspaper The
Toronto Star. More of Marc’s stories are also available on www.tnnworld.com.