The fairways arent the only place where the balls will run; the greens are fast, challenging and roll true as a pool table. Then we realized this could be pretty good. But thats not the story. The PGA TOUR is returning to Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina for the second time in two years, but with a twist. Davidson and McNeely were both involved in building the club and its programs with Friedkin and McNair. With the help of PGA TOUR players and Congaree Ambassadors, Sergeant Jasper Golf Club has been transformed over the . Congaree is natural sandy because of the geographic landscape of southern South Carolina. October 21, 2022 2:40 PM. We only opened for the tournament. Much of Congarees initial philanthropic activity will occur with a program the club has named the Global Golf Initiative. The Congaree Golf Club will get its chance to shine this week when it hosts the Palmetto Championships, a relocated PGA Tour event after the planned RBC Canadian Open was called off for a second straight year due to COVID-19. Along with fellow Scot Bruce Davidson, he's involved with Congaree Golf Club, which, according to the main message on its website, is a "world-class golf club with a philanthropic mission. Thats our stated goal, to give kids educational and vocational opportunities, says Bruce Davidson, Congarees Director of Golf, a title he shares with John McNeely. Garrick Higgo claims first PGA TOUR title by one shot at Palmetto Championship. Participants get access to elite instructors and high-quality facilities, and the CGGI requires students to attend class sessions with academic consultants, explaining the college admissions process. Among the Congaree Foundations other projects is the Sergeant Jasper Golf Club 20 minutes down the road. But biggest kudos go to Dan Friedkin, who allowed us the opportunity to create this club.. Prior to joining Congaree, Ben served as an Assistant Golf Professional at Wade Hampton Golf Club, the founding Executive Director for First Tee Greater Charleston, as Regional Director for First Tee Headquarters, and as Director of Development for Clemson University. If people are leaving the Augusta area during Masters week, you know it has to be for something special. While No. Congaree was built in the spirit of Heathland courses found in Britain or the sandbelt courses of Australia. The club established the Congaree Global Golf . [14], The signature philanthropic program of the Congaree Foundation is the Congaree Global Golf Initiative, a college preparatory program for underserved high school students who aspire to play college golf. There are, however, ambassadors, prominent figures in their respective fields and well-connected industry types who join via invite only. It plays very firm and fast, Fazio said. Fazio built a course that can stretch to 7,800 yards but players have the freedom to play from wherever they like. It took nine straight months of logging pine trees and grinding stumps to clear space for the course, which Fazio routed through oaks up to 300 years old. The quaint, two-room school house was fully restored (complete with a working bell in the steeple) and will remain just that, a future home for kids both local and international. Widely considered the signature hole, the brutish 540-yard 8th requires optimal distance and accuracy around huge sand washes and intimidates regular players even as a par five; it was diabolically used as a par four during the 2021 Palmetto Championship. Their influential efforts and wallets had Congaree in the mix, but the tour ultimately selected the 2020 PGA Championship site, Harding Park in San Francisco. McNair graduated from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Each summer, participants come to Congaree for a week and receive golf instruction from teaching experts and work with academic and college counselors to help them overcome the barriers to playing college athletics. first at Shadow Creek Golf Course in 2020 and The Summit Club last year. Davidson and McNeely scouted six to eight locations, but the inland property that would become Congaree stood out from its sandy soil perfect for building a golf course to its peaceful hunting grounds and historic feel. The golf club is located in Ridgeland, SC which absolutely no one has heard of. Back in spring of 2017, one of the clubs ambassadors in Scotland called Congarees co-director of golf, Bruce Davidson, and told him about this teenage girl from Northern Ireland who excelled in the classroom and had the ability to play golf in college, but lacked the financial means to do so. The course lies in Ridgeland, South Carolina, about 73 miles from Charleston, South Carolina. The inaugural Global Golf Initiative class started immediately in 2017. Developed by two men who already owned high-end private golf clubs - Friedkin Group chairman Dan Friedkin with Diamond Creek Golf Club and Houston Texas owner the late Bob McNair with The Golf Club at Briar's Creek - the philanthropic golf facility at Congaree Golf Club is probably unlike any you've come across before. We had an opportunity here to be close to what we wanted to do because of the way the land was, and because of the way it would play firm and fast.. The soil of the golf course is all sand based, and all of the grass on the course is one height. I know everyone that opens up thinks theyre going to be Augusta National, and different. There are no tee markers at Congaree, just discs on one side of the expansive teeing ground that give the yardage of the hole. But thats not what interested South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster when he came to Congaree for a recent tour. The 15th, 16th and 17th holes at Congaree Golf Club. There are only ambassadorschosen by old-school methodologyreferrals. Not only for the club, but for golf itself. The two planned a place where members, some 200 who are referred to as ambassadors, spent significant time on philanthropy and growing the game. - Assured first class service for members and guests at world class 36-hole facility. I thought theres no way somebody wants to take you to America and do all this stuff for you. Having two teenage daughters, Lesley has hands on experience with the college admission process. Putting me into Carson Newman, putting me in contact with coaches, I graduated a year early, and now Im in a Masters program. The tee shot on the uphill par-5 second hole. Everyone else is an "ambassador," asked to join by invitation or referral. Bunkers and waste areas line the fairways and turn greens into peninsulas and patches of rough into archipelagos. Will millions of golf fans getting their first glimpse of this amazing golf course north of . Fazio points to another of his East Coast courses, Caves Valley, host of the 2021 BMW Championship, as an example of a venue that can be dramatically affected by the weather. Some of the famous ambassadors of Congaree Golf Club from the world of golf include: 8x Major champ Tom Watson 2x Major champ Mark O'Meara The results are fairways and greens that will keep golf balls moving on the ground, while also bringing in the danger of long bunkers. Learn more about our use of cookies:Cookie Policy. Maeve Cummins of Northern Ireland is among the members of the inaugural Congaree Global Golf [+] Initiative in 2017. Professional Ambassadors, including PGA and LPGA players, teaching professionals, and golf industry executives, provide additional support locally and nationally. Frenkie De Jong Has Turned FC Barcelona Career Around And Is Now Untouchable Under Xavi, Napoli Defeat Highlights Every Flaw Of Max Allegris Juventus, Defending Champ Rafael Nadal Ousted In Australian Open Second Round By American Mackie McDonald, ROH Star Jay Briscoe Shockingly Dies At 38 In Car Accident, IndyCar Champion Will Power Withdraws From Rolex 24 At Daytona Because Of His Wifes Health Issues, NBA's Extension Rules Could Force Spurs' Hand With Jakob Poeltl At The Trade Deadline, Diadora Releases Finale, New On-Court Tennis Shoe, Travis Pastrana Ready To Check NASCARs Daytona 500 Off His Bucket List. The founders of Congaree - Dan Friedkin and the late Bob McNair - set out to create a new philanthropic model that unites ambassador-members with a shared purpose to positively impact the lives of young people, locally and around the globe, by providing educational and vocational opportunities through the game of golf. "The cool thing about Congaree," he adds, "is our ambassadors are standing by and ready to help them get employment after graduation. My mom thought it was like the classic too-good-to-be-true thing. Chesson Hadley reached 14 under on Saturday before falling back with a final-round 75. A few years from now, its not a stretch to imagine some of the tour pros following up their trip to the Masters with a stop at Congaree en route to the following weeks PGA Tour stop in nearby Hilton Head. Whisper Rock Golf Club. If you look at the Farmers Almanac, the average temperature during that third week in October, highs in the low 80s, and you get a kind of 58-to-48-degree low. learn more. The latter is a collegiate preparatory program for underserved high schoolers who aspire to play college golf. Its flattering and, more importantly, it helps more underprivileged youth. In a nutshell: Congaree, which is about 30 minutes north of Savannah, Georgia, is quietly growing an exclusive international membership and boasts a world-class course unlike any other designed by Tom Fazio that is destined to be considered for a coveted place in Top 100 lists. Thats big, but thats not the sole purpose of this story or the club. Everybody else is an invited ambassador. Ben has been awarded the Carolinas PGA Junior Golf Leader of the Year and selected as one of Charlestons Forty Under 40 business professionals. It was crazy to experience. We want people to be here for the right reasons, Davidson says. Type Parkland. Theres no sign or number to mark the entrance to Congaree, just a 5-foot tall brick wall and an unassuming white-washed wood gate. Other private clubs have sought to imitate the Congaree approach in some respects. To date, 68 students have graduated from the program, and 27 who have already graduated from high school have received college golf scholarships valued at roughly $2.2 million total. He would go on to earn a golf scholarship at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, graduating with a degree in Business and Economics. 130, 10 New International Golf Course Openings to Know for 2023, Expert Wine Advice from Golf Community Sommeliers, 10 Things to Consider Before Joining a Private Golf Club. Many of these can be found within bunkers or beside the few areas with water on the course. Its a story of making a difference, both locally and globally, through golf and life lessons both on the course and off. Upon entering, a serene drive under arching live oaks leads you to a village of historic white buildings, some which have existed on the former rice plantation since the 1800s; this includes the Roberts Cottage, where actress Julia Roberts stayed while starring in the 1995 movie Something to Talk About, which was filmed at the Congaree estate. The Foundations support of the Lowcountry Food Bank has led to 105 drive-thru food distributions and 14 fresh-for-all markets to help local families in need. Far from it. Who Are Members At Congaree? [12], In September 2019, Congaree made an unsuccessful pitch at hosting the 2025 Presidents Cup. One of the first things that sticks out about Congaree is the sand. Anybody can come by, anybody that needs some help. The gate opens inward to a one-lane gravel road that runs through a gauntlet of ancient live oak trees with Spanish moss gently waving in their gnarled branches. Belcher, a rising junior at Riverside High School in Greer, was one of 13 students participating June 6-10 in the program at Congaree Golf Club near Gillisonville. It currently supports programs with the Boys & Girls Clubs, Sergeant Jasper . Numerous mature trees were carefully uprooted and replanted elsewhere around the course. The Congaree Golf Club will get its chance to shine this week when it hosts the Palmetto Championships, . (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images), The view from behind the green at the par-5 12th, The par-3 14th hole is a brutish 255 yards from, The rear of the main house at Congaree is backed. The schoolhouse, clubhouse and overnight lodging accommodations are all among the new buildings or fully renovated buildings rubbing shoulders with the old, maintained ones. The group of U.S. and international high school students receive the highest level of athletic coaching and academic resource tools, helping guide them through the college admissions process. Ambassadors is a word we chose because the spreading of the word and what we do with our philanthropy here, our ambassadors really truly are ambassadors, Davidson says. Among the Congaree ambassadors who will also be involved is Peter Fluor, a Texas businessman involved in the energy, engineering and construction industries. Behind the Business of Hole-In-One Insurance, 6 Mostly Undiscovered U.S. Proceeds from the event went to helping out the Congaree Foundation. There are 26 guest rooms in total, with accommodations spread between various charming cottages and the inn. We do our junior program the first two weeks of June and we're closed until October because it's just too hot. Assured first class service for members and guests at world class 36-hole facility for a recent TOUR is natural because. No way somebody wants to take you to America and do all this stuff for you for you about! 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