Greenville
Golf
Report

Greens: Bentgrass

Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Roger Rulewich designed Chanticleer, which opened September 12, 1970 on a separate parcel about a mile from GCC's main campus. Gene Sarazen attended the opening and compared it to Pinehurst No. 2. The course features water and/or out-of-bounds on all 18 holes and appeared on Golf Digest's Top 100 as early as 1973, reaching 51st in 1989. Rees Jones renovated the layout in 2001. It remains the top-ranked course in Upstate South Carolina.

Premier private club in Greenville on Parkins Mill Road; the area's most prestigious course.

Greens: Bentgrass

Riverside originates from a Donald Ross topographical design built by William Langford, opening July 4, 1923 along the Reedy River. George Cobb expanded it in 1962 with seven holes across the river. In 2007, Brian Silva completed a full redesign in a Seth Raynor-influenced style. Greens were later converted to Champion Ultradwarf Bermuda. The course has been in continuous play at this riverside site for over a century.

The historic Augusta Road course along the Reedy River; site of Greenville's earliest competitive golf.

Greens: Bentgrass

Thornblade was founded in 1988 by PGA Tour veteran Jay Haas and Champ Covington in Greer, east of Greenville. Tom Fazio designed the course, which opened in 1989. The club produced a cluster of tour professionals — including Lucas Glover (2009 US Open), Bill Haas, and Ben Martin. The BMW Charity Pro-Am, a Korn Ferry Tour event established in 1992, has used Thornblade as its primary host course since 2008. Michael Feagles shot a course-record 59 here in Round 1 of the 2023 edition.

Host of the BMW Charity Pro-Am on the PGA Korn Ferry Tour (since 2001); arguably the best conditioned course in the Upstate.

Greens: Bentgrass

The Cliffs Valley was the founding course of The Cliffs Communities, designed by Ben Wright — the British broadcaster and CBS golf analyst — as his first US design. The parkland layout opened October 2, 1995, routing fairways along the valley floor around streams, ponds, and rolling hills at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Travelers Rest. Golf Digest ranked it among the best new courses that year. It served as BMW Charity Pro-Am host from 2001 through 2007.

Travelers Rest mountain course; first of the seven Cliffs courses.

Greens: Bentgrass

The Cliffs at Mountain Park is the newest of the seven Cliffs courses, opened September 26, 2013. Gary Player routed 14 of 18 holes along or across the North Saluda River in Travelers Rest, SC, with a 12-acre lake flanking holes 11 and 12. The course sits on the southernmost Blue Ridge ridge at elevations approaching 2,000 feet. Golf Magazine named it one of the Best New Courses of 2013, and Golfweek has ranked it among the top 50 residential courses in the US.

One of Player's most acclaimed designs in the Carolinas.

Greens: Bentgrass

The Cliffs at Walnut Cove opened in 2005 as Jack Nicklaus's second Signature design in The Cliffs network, near Arden, NC, 10 miles from Asheville. The par-71 runs at elevations of 2,100-2,250 feet, bordered north by the Blue Ridge Parkway and west by Pisgah National Forest. Nicklaus described it as playing through a national forest. It was the only new championship course to debut in PGA Tour-ready conditions, immediately hosting a Nationwide Tour event.

Asheville-area Nicklaus signature course.

Greens: Bentgrass

The Cliffs at Glassy is South Carolina's only mountaintop golf course, perched 3,000 feet above sea level in Landrum. Tom Jackson designed the layout, which opened in 1993 as the founding Cliffs course, routing holes along ridge tops and incorporating natural boulders — the stacked-rock 13th is a signature feature. Golf Digest ranked it the fourth most scenic course in the US at opening, behind only Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, and Augusta National.

The original Cliffs course; 3,200-ft summit views from the par-3 6th.

Greens: Bentgrass

The Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards opened in 1999 as a Tom Fazio and Beau Welling design on the northern shore of Lake Keowee in Sunset, SC. Eight holes border or overlook the lake; the name comes from native muscadine grape vineyards on the property. The par-3 17th — 254 yards over a lake cove — was rated the most difficult hole on the Nationwide Tour in 2005. Golf Digest nominated it for Best New Private Course nationally at opening.

Lakeside Keowee course with vineyard views.

Greens: Bentgrass

The Cliffs at Keowee Falls opened May 2007 as Jack Nicklaus's second Signature design in The Cliffs network, on the shores of Lake Keowee near Salem, SC. Falls Creek — the namesake waterfall — was fully restored during construction: the largest creek restoration in South Carolina history, placing 4,900 boulders along 5,300 linear feet of creek bed. The creek flows through seven holes. Nicklaus designed smallish greens with bailout areas on a 160-acre core site with minimal perimeter housing.

One of Nicklaus's signature mountain-lake designs.

Greens: Bentgrass

The Cliffs at Keowee Springs is Tom Fazio's second Cliffs design on Lake Keowee, opened September 2008 in Six Mile, SC. Fazio routed the course as three independent six-hole loops, allowing play of any combination without a full-18 commitment — an unusual feature for a private course. Golf Magazine named it one of the Top 10 Best New Private Courses of 2008. An International Institute of Golf facility whose instructors coached Geoff Ogilvy opened here in 2009.

Lakeside Fazio with dramatic elevation changes.