Written by Joel Zuckerman

90 miles north of Bluffton up I-95 you'll find one of the least-known, best-value golf destinations in the Southeast. Santee is something of an afterthought in this golf-rich state, and nowhere near the public's consciousness in the manner of Hilton Head, Kiawah Island, or Myrtle Beach. But tiny Santee, nothing more than a wide spot in the road (and with only about 800 residents, give or take) offers an impressive range of affordable, easy-access golf, and several of its best-known courses are literally within five minutes of the interstate.

There are no traffic jams at the golf courses roadways or restaurants, and no sticker shock in terms of pricing of any of the above. Santee is simple, no-frills, affordable, and a pleasant golf diversion. It may be off the radar, but it's also just off the highway. Off the top of my head, the only self-contained golf destination that pops to mind with similar ease of access might be Kohler, Wisconsin, which is but a few minutes off of I-43, little more than an hour-and-change north of Milwaukee. But Kohler, great as it is, is prohibitively expensive. Once could spend nearly a week in a Santee lodging property for the price of a night or two at the American Club, and one round at Kohler's marquee venue Whistling Straits would buy a week's worth of green fees in this modest South Carolina burgh.

Kyle Gregory is the GM at Santee National, and was previously employed as an assistant pro at Kiawah Island's famed Ocean Course. His former and current venue are little more than 100 miles apart via highway, but are galaxies away from each other in terms of glitz, price, prestige and reputation. Never mind the miles-wide difference in green fees—at Kiawah, some visitors don't bother bringing many golf shirts. They choose to outfit themselves in the pro shop, and a ten-minute shopping spree to grab a few shirts, a hat, a windbreaker, something for the wife, etc. is nothing more than a quick thousand-dollar charge on the old Amex card. Not quite the day-to-day case up in Santee.

"We are a small resort destination, with lots of golf packages driving the business. The packages makes us similar to Kiawah, which also does lots of golf packages, though obviously the stature of the Kiawah courses is much higher, particularly with the PGA Championship coming to the Ocean Course next summer," states Gregory. "There are seven main courses on the rotation, with a few others further out. Golf around here typically costs $25 to $55 per round, depending on the season, and what I find amazing about the area is the customer loyalty that exists. There are groups that come down from the Midwest or Canada that have been coming here for ten or even 15 years straight. They must love the price point, the simplicity of the area, the caliber of courses. I would estimate that at least 75% of our business comes via auto, as opposed to flying in."

While Gregory is a relative newcomer to the Santee scene, the same cannot be said of Charles "Cholly" Clark, who was born and raised locally, and is the original golf impresario in Santee. "When we first got started, Hurricane Hugo came through right when the golf course opened for play in 1989," recalls the owner of Santee National, and also the golf packaging service called Golf Santee. "More than a thousand trees came down, and to generate revenue, we moved what we could, and had some very liberal 'free drop' and OB rules to at least get some play on the course."

Value golf has always been the watchword in Santee. When his business was just finding its legs 20-plus years ago, Clark initially advertised $99 packages for three days, three nights, three rounds of golf and breakfast. He put up billboards where he was sure to capture golfers' attentions—Myrtle Beach—and the bold strategy paid dividends. Rounds increased from 1,800 to 3,000, then 7,000 and eventually 20,000 in just a few short years. Realizing that the myriad attractions that make Myrtle Beach such a popular destination for golfers, non-golfers and families alike don't exist in Santee, at least not nearly to the same degree, Clark counters by saying, "but we are much closer to the interstate, and have better roads."

Celebrity sightings around Santee probably run at a hundred-to-one compared to Kiawah, but famous Tour caddie Fluff Cowan popped in earlier this fall, shortly after working the McGladrey Classic in Sea Island, Georgia, about threehours- and-change further south down I-95. He plunked down his $30 at Santee National, saying he'd been driving by for decades, and finally wanted to stop in. In that regard Fluff was no different than hundreds of thousands of golfers who can't help but see Santee from the interstate, take the exit, and unwittingly discover one of the Southeast's simplest and most affordable golf pleasures.