July 13th Day 38 - The Walker Course, Clemson, SC 

Drove 293 miles

I spent the night at a nice Quality Inn in Clemson. The people were great and so was the room. There are notices in the rooms that tell you what you CAN'T DO and they are meant for the Clemson football fans that flood this small town on home game weekends. I recognize the problem and while you want their business, you really don't want to be replacing things damaged by drunken fans.

This course was always on my radar, BUT I was not planning on playing it as the other courses I picked for South Carolina were more along my route and this was definitely out of my way. I am so glad I played here, it's a  true gem of a golf course. Golf Advisor ranks it as the #1 college golf course for 2021 and while I haven't played a LOT of college courses, it was the best of the three highly ranked campus courses I played on the trip. 

I couldn't get an early tee time and when I got to the course it was busy. I was joining a family group, grandfather (Rodney), two sons, two grandsons and the grandfather's buddy, Matt. All the adults were graduates of the University of South Carolina, an SEC school (Clemson is in the ACC) and big instate rivals as much as any other big rivalry you can think of. Clemson has had the upper hand for several years and the Pro had to give the USC alums a hard time as they were checking in. 

The two boys were both pretty good players and they played ahead of us with one of their dads. The other dad (Ryan), Rodney (who footed the bill for all of them) and Matt  played with me. Matt & Ryan were pretty good golfers, Rodney not so much. All of the were nice guys and I enjoyed their company.  

The golf course is BIG as in really spread out and fairly hilly, though little of it was steep. College players have to walk the golf course and I can imagine the Clemson golfers always had an advantage in their home matches. Not just because they knew the course, but also they would be in really good shape walking this terrain on a regular basis. The front nine winds around to the south of the clubhouse and the back nine is completely separate and west and southwest of Pro shop. The back nine has four water holes and the front nine has one. I played the white tees at 5934 yards with a slope of 122 and a course rating of 68.4. The college kids play 6560 with a rating of 71 (it is a par 72) and a slope of 131 and they have an even longer set of tees at 6911, the (Clemson) Tiger tees. Ryan played the Purple tees at this distance, but Matt played the same tees as me and Rodney played the white/gold combo. Margaret WOULD'VE played 4667 yards, a slope of 115 and a rating of 66.5.

The course had been recently aerated and the holes were almost all healed, but they left the grass on the greens a little longer than usual so they weren't fast, but they did roll true. There are some nice views on the course, lots of vegetation and trees and it should've kicked my ass, but I had a pretty good day and shot an 87 with 39 putts (3 to 5 putts more than I would like to have ON ANY GOLF COURSE). I birdied the 18th hole while everyone else hit there tee shots in the water, a great way for me to end the round. The green fee was $60 including the cart I shared a cart with Ryan. I don't know what the green fee is during the high season, but I rated this course a 5, on par with the best courses I have ever played. If you love golf this is one you wouldn't want to miss if you're anywhere near the area,

After golf I drove to Savannah, GA. I got in a little late and after checking in at my motel I went out to eat a LATE dinner. I couldn't find much that was open and I almost got shutout because I was being too picky. I was the last person to get served at a Dairy Queen fairly close to my motel as they were shutting down when I drove in. 

          Randy’s golf course             ratings          play again               could recommend           Price

Prairieview GC (Byron, IL)               5                  YES                           YES                            $

The Boulder Course (Winchester, VA)    5            YES                           YES                            $$

Wine Valley (Walla Walla, WA)         5                  YES                           YES                           $$$

The Walker Course (Clemson, SC)  5                 YES                          YES                            $$

Dakota Winds (Hankinson, ND)        5                   YES                          YES                            $$

The Links at Greystone (Walworth, NY)   4.5        YES                          YES                            $$

Raccoon Creek (Littleton, CO)         4.5                 YES                          YES                            $$

Brooks Golf (Okoboji, IA)                 4                   YES                          YES                            $$

The Legacy (Springfield, TN)            4                   YES                          YES                            $

Awarii Dunes (Kearney, NE)              4                   YES                          YES                            $$

Chicopee CC (Chicopee, MA)           4                    YES                          YES                            $ 

The Architects Club (Phillipsburg, NJ)   4               YES                          YES                            $$

Lake Panorama Nat. (Panora, IA)      4                   no*1                           YES                           $$

Heritage Shores (Bridgeville, DE)      4                   YES                           YES                           $$

Houston Oaks (Paris, KY)                  4                   YES                           YES                            $  

Eagles Landing (Ocean City, MD)     4                   YES                            YES                          $$    

Brandon GC (Brandon, SD)               4                   YES                             YES                         $

Viroqua Hills GC (Viroqua, WI)        4                   YES                             YES                         $

Portland GC (Portland, CT)               4                    YES                             YES                         $

Green Valley CC (Portsmouth, RI)    4                    YES                             YES                         $$

Snow Hill CC (New Vienna, OH)      4                    YES                            YES                         $

Links at Union Vale (Lagrangeville, NY)   4           YES*2                         YES                        $$$

Bear Slide GC (Cicero, IN)               3.5                   no                               YES                        $$

Pilgrim's Oak (Peach Bottom, PA)    3.5                  YES                             YES                        $

Lochmere G & CC (Tilton, NH)       3.5                  YES                             YES                        $$

Rivers Edge (Burley, ID)                  3.5                  YES ?                          YES                         $

Eastern Hills (Kalamazoo, MI)         3.5                  YES                              YES                        $

Brattleboro CC (Brattleboro, VT)     3.5                  YES  ?                          YES                        $$          

Monroe CC (Monroe, NC)                3.5                  YES                              YES                        $

Martindale CC (Auburn, ME)           3.5                  YES   ?                         YES                        $$$       

Birch Creek (Smithfield,UT)             3.5                    no                       good golfers only           $

Kimball Golf Club (Kimball, MN)     3                      no                                 no                         $

Buffalo Golf Club (Buffalo, WY)       3                      no                                 no                         $$

Pryor Creek (Huntley, MT)                 3                      no                                 no                         $        Johnny Walker Course (there’s also a Country Club course, but you need to play with a member!)

The Brookside Club (Bourne, MA)    2                      no                                 no                         $$

Jones Course (Wheeling, WV)           1                       no                                 no                        $$$

Langston GC (Washington D.C.)       1                       no                                 no                        $$

*1 = would play again if a different yardage was offered, with slope and course ratings

*2 = would move up a tee and NOT pay weekend green fee. M-Th fee is $ 77 and $ 61 after 2 p.m.

The pictures are #17, a short par three, #16, short par 5 with a tough tee shot, and #18. You can see the tee box in the upper left had corner. It might explain why everyone (but me) hit it in the water. I just hit an iron to a layup spot and the a six iron over the pond and onto the green.