For a couple of guys hellbent on playing 1000 courses in their lifetimes, we're going to have to play some places off the beaten path. Since we've already played out our home areas, we're reliant on golf trips (and golf while traveling) to get us the final forty percent of the journey.
As you'd expect, that could be an expensive proposition in an already expensive game. There are only so many dollars one can attribute to the 'golf line item' of a family budget and still maintain a healthy relationship with your other stakeholders.
However, every once in a while, life provides things in other areas of your journey that you can reuse and repurpose.
One such thing was the addition of the new BMAC Family Pull-behind Camper!
For the past few years BMAC and fam have been camping all over the eastern US from the mountains to the coast and a few places in between. He claims to have gotten it down to a science based on how many days off vs. how far he can travel for optimal vacational success.
He sounds kinda nutty, but to each their own. At least he takes okay pictures and will occasionally bring the clubs, claiming the golf probability increases as the distance from home increases as well. Must be part of his "scientific approach."
Again nuts, but it has helped us add to the tally on our journey to 1000. He claims playing these obscure courses helped spark the idea of his golf/camp trip. There are lots of courses far from the city center out there, he claims camping helps get you closer to their first tee.
Here are a few shots from his past "camping trips" that may have yielded some golf as well.
Please spare him the nature shots, he'd put us all to sleep with his bird pics (complete with scientific names) if it were permitted in our bylaws.
Fast forward to late 2024 when BMAC upgraded the family funwagon and suggested we mix the affordability of lodging for a camping trip with one of our patented 3-day golf trips. BMAC laid out the plan, the many pros, the very few cons and more.
Afterward, Dooner replied, "You had me at golf trip."
Also, if you consider the fact we were approaching another century benchmark for courses played (we had been sitting on 595 for the entire winter), we were due for another one of our late January trips (our third annual such excursion to cure those wintertime blues).
So the planning stage commenced. We considered many destinations, from an RTJ Trail stop to the Georgia Coast to Pinehurst and others. Ultimately, we settled for a shorter drive to play a few courses 'in the middle' that we wanted to visit - in some cases for many years, in other cases to play a couple newer courses.
After a few texts, phone calls and DMs with friends, the golf part came together pretty quickly. Next we needed a campground near where we were going. Options were slim, but we wound up with a perfect situation in the middle of the main trio of courses we'd eventually play.
Courses:
Quixote Club | Sumter, SC - every course we'd played on which Kris Spence played a roll in the design or resto/renovation has been a treat. Quixote went on the to-do list the day a shovel went in the ground.
Camden Country Club | Camden, SC - perhaps one of the more underrated, revered (and perhaps feared) Donald Ross courses you might have heard whispers about but didn't believe could be that good.
Wellman Club | Johnsonville, SC - named Golf Digest's Best New Affordable for 2024 just days after we'd decided to make it our getaway day play.
Campground:
Lee State Park | Bishopville, SC - centrally located 30 min to Camden, 40 min to Quixote, a shade over an hour to Wellman. Drive time to get to our destination from home was about four hours drive for Dooner and two and a half for BMAC.
The all the ingredients were laid out on the table. All that was left was the cook.
NO NO NO, not THAT kind of cook. It was time TO cook we meant. Our "Bad".
While BMAC hitched up the camper after work, Dooner hit the road and snuck in a couple courses on the way down. He snuck in a morning round at Kenmure Country Club in Flat Rock, NC on a mild January day for the Blue Ridge Mountains. They'd been hit by Hurricane Helene, but outside of a couple of holes it looks like it never happened. Enjoy a few snaps from #596.
A couple hours down the road, the 3-hole par-3 loop at Par Tee Golf Center was added to The Golf Crusade's roster. Located right off I-26 on the south side of Columbia, SC, Par Tee has a huge range, very nice looking mini-golf and of course the par-3 loop. Course #597.
Fun Fact about the loop, aka 'The Coop', is that it used to be the official training center for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks golf teams until they moved up North of town and built a larger practice facility. Too bad... we almost added it to our College Campus Golf Course & Team Facility map!
We arrived under the shroud of darkness at Lee State Park's Campground. Check-in was a breeze. BMAC hooked up the camper while Dooner fired up the grill. Pretty cool that the grill can hook right up to the camper's propane source!
Everything was pre-packaged, marinated and ready to serve right off the grill, making the First Supper a delightful throwback to our Upstate NY upbringings. Thank you to the Rob Salamida Co. and their fine line of marinades - specifically their beloved State Fair Spiedie Sauce! #IYKYK
After a great meal, a few beers and a good night's sleep, we rose early to arrive with the morning sun at Quixote Club. And wow, what a first impression this place makes!
It wasn't a particularly warm morning, nor did it turn into shorts weather in the afternoon, but the day could not have exceeded more expectations. We've been fortunate to visit a lot of great courses & clubs over the years. Quixote Club hits all the right notes. The attention to detail - EVERY detail no matter how big or small - from course to clubhouse to parking lot was given great care and thought.
And none of these even begins to discuss the staff! Yup... You will be hearing a lot about 'QC' in the future. It is ALL well deserved praise.
Kris Spence & Jack Nicklaus II collaborated on the golf course itself and it is just a delight. So many fun shots mixed with panoramic vistas everywhere you turn. From atop the 11th green, you can see every flagstick on the golf course. Considering how flat the land actually lies, you never feel like you're playing on a pancake. It is a shaping and strategy masterclass.
The clubhouse deserves its own story, but we thoroughly enjoyed the sensory experience. From the ambianic aromas from the locker rooms, to the surprising texture of the checkboard flooring beneath your feet, to the delectable burgers to taste while your eyes soak in the view atop the 18th green while your ears pick up only the sounds you make in this peaceful retreat. Like we said, attention to detail.
We loaded up the truck with enough daylight to squeeze in an emergency nine a few miles south of QC at the Links at Lakewood. Not much to write home about there, but the back nine apparently contains an island green that we didn't see.
We finished our day recapping TGC's 598th and 599th courses played at the Sumter Original Brewery in downtown. Cold craft beer after a memorable day on the links. Tough to beat friends. Tough to beat.
We retreated back to the camper for quesadillas, beverages and basketball - a fine end to a banner day. Anticipation for course #600 made for a quick night though!
Camden Country Club is one of those places you hear great things about from good golfers. We know why now. You've got to have some game to have a chance at Camden. We say chance, because even if you hit a great shot, nothing is a guarantee. The defense this course plays is in the greens. In the similar Ross style you'd find watching the US Open at Pinehurst #2, you're going to get robbed at some point of a shot you thought was great.
Our good buddy & host Chris had played it a handful of times, but even he was blown away at the recent tree removal that opened up vantages across multiple holes that were once choked off by longleaf pines. The green fairways created such a delightful contrast with the bleached white sand bunkers, dormant Bermuda rough framed by tall, native grasses and waste areas.
I mean look... come on!
The only - and we mean only - disappointment was that the train didn't run while we were on that side of the course! Clearly not something in the club's control, but this round left us buzzing weeks after the round was over.
Throw in the fact that The Old Man, Walter Travis, did a routing of this course prior to Ross, and it just takes it up another notch for the golf architecture nerds. There isn't much left of the old routing, if anything still in play, but they do tip their cap to him with a callout of one of the original Travis green sites.
When we started this Crusade, we wanted our "milestone" courses to be something a little more special or planned. Certainly we wanted to play those together. Here at Camden Country Club (and Quixote of course), all boxes were checked for course number 600.
A quick E9 again followed, this time at the nearby Pine Creek. Again, nothing to write home about, but they had just replaced the sand in the bunkers and provide a friendly place for the public to gather and enjoy the game at a fair price.
To celebrate 600, we hit up a wonderful restaurant in downtown Camden that just called to us with its name, B. Colson's Steak, Seafood & Bourbon. Garcon, we'll take all three please!
A few bourbons and a celebratory cigar followed around the campfire before a little rain ran us inside for the night. The three-day golf buffet was winding down, but not before we could make one last stop that anyone can enjoy.
Wellman Club is a new course designed by Rees Jones and Bryce Swanson (cue 'Sampsonite, I was way off!' quotes) on the same site of a former course of the same name laid out by Ellis Maples. Most of the Maples corridors were used in the new design, but you can see a few differences while riding around and perhaps a few more on the old aerial comparisons.
One thing that definitely still remains is the Maples Signature Cape Hole.
The par-5 11th hole is the show stealer here. Enjoy a quick fly through to see what we mean.
The rest of the course carried some surprising elevation change for being this close to the coast. Take a look see for yourself...
Golf Digest had not handed out a best new affordable accolade for some time, probably due in large part to the lack of new course builds the last decade or so, let alone ones that were affordable. It is encouraging they felt the need to dust it off now. Perhaps more affordable, public access golf courses are on the way after the overwhelming super-majority of new builds have been on the private side?
Time will tell, but we can all hope.
All in all, our first Camping Golf Trip was a rousing success! From a budget standpoint, it really hits the mark. Let's assume that you would typically spend at least $120-$150 per night for a hotel room. Even with double occupancy, that can add up to more than the golf cost on many trips, especially if you're trying to keep it under $100 a round.
We spent 3 nights in the campground - with full hookups (water, sewer, electric) - for $122.08 (tax included)... Not per night. Not per guy. In total. IN TOTAL!!!
We will certainly look to do it again. The thing we have to do before we do it again is come up with a name for this type of trip? The 'Camping Golf Trip' is lame. Golfamping? Sounds too forced. Glamping is already taken (Glamorous Camping hybrid word). GolfRV?
Help us name the classification! Send us a suggesting using the Contact Us box at the very bottom of the page! If we like it, we'll add it to the page and credit you!
Until we hit the road again, we hope you'll find some new courses to explore via the TRACKER tab on the top of the page & interactive map of the courses we've played already!
Sincerely Fores,
BMAC & Dooner
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