Written By Joel Zuckerman
aving never visited previously, I was intrigued by the fact that Pinecrest Golf Club is located directly across the street from Bluffton High School. When I pulled into the property, and spied scads of teenagers chipping, putting and banging balls on the range, my first thought was that it must be some sort of field day at the club, or perhaps a large-scale gym class was taking place. It was only later I learned that the club also serves as home base for the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy. Kids from 22 states and 23 different countries combine academics with intense daily golf instruction. Some are no doubt harboring Tour aspirations, others more realistically hoping for at least some sort of partial college scholarship.
Whatever their ultimate intent, the atmosphere at Pinecrest is something sorely lacking at many of the facilities I’ve happened upon in recent months, both in the Lowcountry, and all over the country: Bustling.
The youthful energy and buzz of activity at this modestbut- worthwhile facility stands in direct contrast to many of the golf-centric “ghost towns” I’ve visited this summer. No need for names, but I’ve spent quality time at a handful of places in Bluffton or adjacent zip codes that are familiar to this readership. These are the types of clubs where one needs the financial resources of Thurston Howell III to join, yet Gilligan’s Island itself has just as many inhabitants. It’s a neat feeling to have a worldclass golf course to oneself, but also a little creepy. Monetary revenue is the lifeblood of any business, and a high-end golf club requires more than most. Playing in virtual solitude at a chic club where there are more employees than patrons on the grounds is not unlike watching the grand finale of a fireworks display. It’s fantastic, but you know it cannot last much longer. Anyway, please pardon the digression.
Pinecrest is remindful of what Sun City’s Hidden Cypress looked like about six or seven years ago, before the forests were obliterated and the housing presence went wall-to-wall. There are plenty of homes lining the fairways at Pinecrest, but usually just on one side, with the other side of the playing field bracketed by dense stands of tall hardwoods. One of the best holes is the par-5 11th, both long and strong. “Our 11th hole is definitely one of the most challenging on the course. It’s 555 yards from the back tees, and 530 from the blues, and there’s plenty of trouble to be found the entire way,” explains head professional David Crosby, a longtime area resident. Crosby has been at the Rocky Roquemore- designed Pinecrest for nearly five years after more than a decade as the head pro at Shipyard, and with 15 years prior to that at Port Royal.
I am willing to give management and the superintendent and his staff the benefit of the doubt, as my recent visit was my first. But I do have a quibble, which is something I see far too often in my golf travels. Generally speaking, the black tees and white tees are where they are supposed to be on most golf courses. In other words, they are relatively accurate in terms of the yardage on the scorecard. But over and over, those of us who play the blue tees get scrunched up, In other words, when I sign up to play from 6,700 yards, I don’t want to see more than a 2%, or at most, 3% variance in the actual distance. So if the actual yardage is close to 6,500, there’s little need to complain. But when the tee boxes are truncated down to 6,300 yards, or 5% shorter than advertised, that’s something of a problem. Pinecrest is a nice track, and next time I visit, I hope the tee boxes are where they are supposed to be, and we’re not subject to a miniaturized version.
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