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JOHNSONVILLE, S.C. - The Munaissance continues apace. And in the Palmetto State, its latest manifestation means the restoration of a wonderful small-town asset and a boon to savvy visitors to one of America's proudest golf destinations.
After lying fallow for a dozen years, Wellman Golf Club is reborn under the stewardship of both Florence County and the town of Johnsonville, South Carolina.
Officially open as of November 10th, 2023, the course has received a modest but steady stream of play from locals and curious visitors since June - with broadly positive feedback.
"This course will be one of the best public courses in South Carolina by fall," one player said in a September review. "You will not find a better bang for your buck that everyone can play in the area. The course is already more cost efficient to play and in better shape than many at the beach, and you will not be waiting around on every shot playing a 6 hour round."
Such reviews track with my own experience during an October round. The takeaway: Wellman is now one of the Palmetto State's best-value golf courses, and one of the South's best munis. It's a thorough success.
Almost half a century after his first solo design - Arcadian Shores, which opened in Myrtle Beach in 1974 and looks more like his father's stately but sinewy courses - his Wellman overhaul shows how architect Rees Jones' style has nearly come full-circle. There is a far greater degree of sensitivity than Jones' 1990s and 2000s efforts, which tended to dominate - rather than harmonize with - their surroundings with corridors of containment mounds and deep, oversized bunkers guarding elevated, stage-like greens.
Yes, there are bunkers at Wellman, but they're smaller than they would have been 15 years ago and sport irregular edges that signify a desire to mingle with the pine forest scenery through which the course proceeds.
Most importantly, Wellman's green complexes are thoughtful and not overly demanding. The majority of par-4 and par-5 putting surfaces are open in front, and their internal contours comprise a nifty mix of tilts, tiers, ridges and runoffs.
Jones and associate Bryce Swanson understood the credo that the best municipal golf courses follow: challenge strong players but remain mindful of the struggles of new and developing golfers. On this score, Wellman is a success. Fairways are mostly generous, and the narrower ones still sit within good-sized corridors. Water comes into play occasionally and judiciously. Tee markers range from just over 5,000 yards to nearly 7,300 from the tips.
The best hole on the course, the par-5 11th, proceeds downhill before swinging hard left around a lake. Low-handicappers who play down the left off the tee can attempt a heroic water carry toward the green, while the plodder never has to try to carry even a corner of the hazard if he or she so chooses. Strategically speaking, it is a superior hole to Jones' father's nearby famed 13th at the Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, which is scenic and intimidating but too long to be reachable by more than the very longest of bombers.
In the past, Wellman's out-of-the-way location would have been a hindrance. Now, it's an advantage. At an hour from much of the Myrtle Beach area, its quiet, small-town setting stands in increasingly stark contrast to the busyness that surrounds many Grand Strand golf courses. This remoteness also relates to Wellman's outstanding value: green fees currently top out below $40.
Because the course is essentially brand-new, conditioning is excellent - fairways are prim and greens, while firm, are far from pool-table-tough and putt beautifully. And because the course is now operated through the town of Johnsonville and Florence County, rates should remain low. On top of it all, Wellman is a peaceful walk. At a time when many new courses are costing eight figures to build, Wellman's total rehabilitation price tag of $5 million looks like an absolute steal.
Management is in the midst of awakening the quaint, mid-century clubhouse, where one hallway proudly displays artifacts from the course's late-20th-century heyday. Local tournaments and other celebrations of this local treasure's return are planned. All that's left is for the secret to get out.
Wellman is now one of the Palmetto State's best-value golf courses, and one of the South's best munis.
WELLMAN G.C.
— Tim Gavrich (@TimGavrich) October 20, 2023
Johnsonville, S.C.
Ellis Maples, 1966 / Rees Jones, 2023
$40
Course #597
An hour from Myrtle, this countrified #Munaissance revival has a graceful routing, cleverly contoured greens and a terrific boomerang par 5. Some of Rees’ best work I’ve seen. Great value, too. pic.twitter.com/reXulKvkXA
More golf course news and notes
NEW LONG ISLAND NINE - Heritage Spy Ring Golf Club, a 9-hole layout connected to a 55-and-over community in Commack, N.Y., opened in late-October. Designed by Tyler Rae, it serves as a second golf amenity for residents of Heatherwood Luxury Apartments, as well as the general public. [LINK: Heatherwood]
NEW ARIZ. NIGHT-GOLF VENUE - Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills, a renovated City of Tempe-owned executive/par-3 course, will debut as a fully-lit night-golf experience on December 1. Renovated over the summer by the firm of Jackson Kahn Design, who laid out nearby Scottsdale National Golf Club's Other and Bad Little Nine courses, Grass Clippings is overseen by the up-and-coming golf apparel and lifestyle brand of the same name in partnership with Troon Golf. [LINK: The Golf Wire]
CHOMP CHOMP - Hickory Sink, a 4,000-acre nature preserve owned by the Lee family, could soon be home to a new golf course for the University of Florida. [LINK: WUFT]
TEXAS MUNAISSANCE PROJECT - Meadowbrook Municipal Golf Course, a century-old Fort Worth muni, will receive up to $13 million in renovations over the next year-plus. The architects: John Colligan and Trey Kemp, who breathed new life into the city's Rockwood Municipal Golf Course in 2017. [LINK: Fort Worth Report]
GOLF-ADJACENT - The format and host venue for January's primetime TV debut of TGL - a new competitive indoor golf league headed up by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and involving several top PGA Tour pros - are coming into focus. The "course" will sit in a new indoor stadium sponsored by SoFi in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., that will feature a 60-foot-high course simulator screen and short-game areas with real grass. [LINK: WPBF News]
Comments (1)
Value courses, which should be well-conditioned and solid layouts, are often mistakenly confused, I’ve found, with cheap courses, where one or both of these attributes are clearly missing. Courses with substandard conditioning make it tough to score what you feel--or know--you should; courses with lackluster or tricked-up or simplistic (e.g., non-strategic) design make for frequently dull or frustrating outings. A good “value course,” then, is only actually good if invested with quality.
Hidden gems, another interesting phrase, should apply mostly to courses that are typically out of the way or that for sundry reasons are not appreciated enough–maybe they’re relatively new; maybe they’ve been revamped (or simply improved) after a fallow period.
Wellman certainly fits both of these categories, and it’s always nice to see GolfPass promoting courses of this nature because they are so worthwhile in many respects, not the least of which is cost. Nice photos, too. I particularly like the one of eighteen, which has an extra-artistic touch.
Will the secret get out, as you suggest? Yes, quickly.