Monday, March 31, 2014

Persimmon Hill (Saluda SC)

Persimmon has the type of southern charm I find irresistible. The clubhouse is a functional pro shop yet it serves an excellent lunch with the best sweet tea. Simple but great quality. And the golf course is the exact same way. The course has a simple look to it, but it demands exact shotmaking to post a good score.

Persimmon Hill is a Russell Breeden course that is defined by large sloping greens and large oval bunkers. On a few holes, the greens are on elevated pads and the large traps make them appear even smaller. Holes 4-6 all employ this feature, and this is one of the best sequences on the front. The fourth plays across a lake before going uphill to the elevated green. The fifth is a short par four where the player lays up to the turn, and then must hit a perfect wedge shot to the pedestal green. Six doglegs right to another uphill green flanked by deep bunkers.

The par fives are the other topic of discussion at Persimmon. Eight and eleven are both reachable in two shots, but the player must attack the proper line off the tee to have a good shot. Both greens are protected by water and at the eleventh it protects three sides, left, front, and right. The par five eighteenth is the longest hole in SC at 630 yards, and that tidbit is constantly reiterated on all the photos throughout the clubhouse. It requires three good shots but otherwise is not memorable.

A couple holes that are memorable are the 10th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th. Ten has another pedestal green surrounded by traps, thirteen is beautiful uphill par three, fourteen is a mid par four where a drawn ball is rewarded with a short iron approach while a ball that fails to do so will run into the trees, fifteen is an excellent long par three across water to another pedestal green, and sixteen is a short par four with a cool green. It has a roll on the right side that flattens out on the left. Pin locations on the right are very tricky.

Persimmon Hill is one of my favorite courses down in Columbia, and overall was very well received by the guys in our group. The added atmosphere really gives it an edge. The course is a five (5) and if ambiance matters then bump it up one. Either way it's a a lot of fun.

(pics from Internet)





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