Country Club of Charleston, SC, USA   

This is not the first Seth Raynor course profiled on this site, nor will it be the last. However, it is one of his less heralded designs, but we maintain that is the case simply because of the subdued land rather than Raynor's own design effort. Indeed there are many original features to be found at this course that a student of Raynor would appreciate.

Think about the Raynor courses profiled on this website. Fishers Island along - and over - the rugged shore line, Yale (!), Shoreacres and its ravines, Camargo and its massive rolling land, and even nearby Yeamans Hall which has beautiful small folds across most of the property. Raynor's engineered style always seems at home across such terrain and almost seems to give such dramatic property some order and playability.

the clean lines of the Country Club of Charleston.

However, in the case of Charleston, the land was essentially flat, no surprise being that it is in the low country of South Carolina. How would Raynor's style fit onto featureless property? Would it stick out as perhaps too engineered? The answer to that question is emphatically 'No.' Indeed, given the success on this subdued landscape, the authors think that Raynor did well to stick with his 'winning formula' (a horrible expression, we admit) for designing courses.

A Raynor course is readily identifiable. His tees were always geometric and rectangular in appearance. He moved little land once off the tee until the golfer approached the green. His bunkers were in general deep with a flat bottom and a steep grass face. His greens were large and even often times square-ish but he wasn't afraid to build bold movement within the greens. He tried when possible to adopt the four short holes as described in detail in the George Bahto Feature Interview contained in this site. Yes, Raynor definitely had some firm design beliefs.

And once again at Charleston, he brought all these beliefs and design concepts to bear with great success. One result is that Raynor imbued virtually all his holes with some form of character. The fact that his layouts are generally solid throughout is one of the principle reasons we feature his courses as frequently as we do. Think about it. Fishers Island, Yale, Camargo, Shoreacres, Yeamans Hall - there are very, very few indifferent holes.

Take the 7^th hole at Charleston for instance. Off the tee, the hole is not one of the more compelling sites and the golfer feels like this may be a fairly mundane hole. The view from the dogleg doesn't readily dispel this belief either. However, as you approach the green, the golfer sees that both the left and right back quadrants are independently raised with a gully between them. Altogether, the green is striking and the hole becomes one of interest.

cross bunkers guard the boldly contoured 10th green

At the Country Club of Charleston, there are three (11, 14, and 16) standout holes that would figure in any Raynor eclectic 18. When combined with the rest of holes here, the authors believe Charleston is one of Raynor's more original designs. In particular, some of the imaginative green contouring on holes such as 8, 10, and 14 rank with Raynor's finest work.

Cruelly speaking, the course was the beneficiary of a Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Gone are many unnecessary trees that had been planted after Raynor left. The course now enjoys a great openness and the expansive views across the property also highlight how little dirt Raynor moved other than in the tee and green areas. This 'cleanness' is quite refreshing, especially when compared with the overdone modern courses along the South Carolina coast. Rightly or wrongly, the authors think virtually any other architect today would have tried to 'shape' the land more, and the result would have been less interesting.

George Bahto, the leading historian on Raynor, notes Raynor's great strength was his routing and that is the case at Charleston as well. As much as any another architect, a Raynor course is always a delight to walk.

Holes to Note:

3^rd hole, 160 yards; As with Camargo, the authors can never figure out where Raynor got the fill to push up this green complex. However he did it, he did a great job as the target is beautifully presented.

the attractively presented 3rd green

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