FEATURE STORY

Despite some hokey marketing, Santee offers decent golf and fishing

By Tim McDonald,
National Golf Editor

SANTEE, S.C. (Sept. 9, 2004) – You don’t find many golf destinations that market their gas stations.

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Santee, S.C., does. In fact, Santee advertises just about everything having to do with itself: golf courses, gas stations, hotel rooms, restaurants, discount outlets, cheap cigarettes, cheap fireworks, cheap pecans, girlie shows – you name it.

You see it on the Internet, in newspapers, magazines and on the billboards, especially the billboards. You can’t drive through South Carolinaon that stretch of Interstate 95 between Walterboro and Florence without learning about Santee.

For the record, Santee claims nine gas stations, and fine gas stations they are. You can get unleaded, premium and even super-unleaded. As an extra-added Santee bonus, you can also pick up the aforementioned pecans, smokes and fireworks.

Santee is one of those small towns in North and South Carolina basking in the reflected glory of nearby Myrtle Beach's all-you-can-eat golf smorgasbord, and trying to make a profit off it.

It seems to work, for a certain clientele. The three courses in the city limits record more than 150,000 combined rounds a year, according to county and golf officials.

Of course, most of those are visitors looking for traveling golf on the cheap.

"Mostly, we get the golfers that either can’t afford to go to your higher-end resorts, like Kiawah and Hilton Head," said Brock Dantzler of golf packager Golf Santee. "They’re more of a budget-minded individual. They’re looking for a good time at a slower pace than, say, your overcrowded Myrtle Beach-area courses. A number of folks have been coming here for almost 10 years. They’ve taken a liking to the area."

Santee tries hard. It’s a lively little town for its size: about 800 people living in its two square miles, most of it stretching across a crowded interstate exit.

It has its own newspaper, the Santee Striper, which seems to have a preoccupation with the darker side – area deaths are printed in large type on the front page with another section inside devoted to the dearly departed.

There are even rumors of Wal-Mart and a theme park coming to town.

There’s karaoke several nights a week, pool leagues and happy hours galore where you can enjoy cocktails with Phyllis or Shelley, depending on your preferences.

You can hear bands like the Dixie Ambush and Billy Scott & the Prophets. For the more adult entertainment-oriented – you can put in some time at Showgirls or Spinners where the attractions are obvious, or, one exit to the south, Fantasyland, where the attractions are, well, varied.

In fact, if you distilled Santee down to its essence, you would have Myrtle Beach in miniature: golf, fried food and sex, with a little family entertainment thrown in for the kids. Only it’s cheaper – of course, you won’t find the nationally recognized courses like you will at Myrtle Beach – and Santee has less traffic.

If you’re willing to sacrifice a little quality for less dinero – and put up with the exaggerated claims of Santee as a "famed" golf destination -- you can spend some quiet time here and still get in some golf and fishing.

The main thrust of Santee’s marketing is golf. And hokey though its marketing may be, the golf is not bad at all, though not particularly difficult.

Must plays

– Santee National Golf Club: Most Santee veterans will tell you this is the best of the three courses in town. Porter Gibson designed the course, which is characterized by mounds on most holes; so whether you like this course will depend on your preference for mounds.

Some golf architecture critics find them intrusive and contrived, others accept them as ways to make a static environment more dynamic.

"If you go back to the late 1980s and early ‘90s, architects with the Pete Dye syndrome were going kind of crazy," said Santee National head pro Shane Cleveland. "I think what Gibson did was a kind of moderation between the radical, while still making it enjoyable for all golfers at all skill levels. It gives movement on land that doesn’t have movement."

The course is 6,670 yards with a slope rating of 121.

– Lake Marion Golf Course: Designed by Eddie Riccoboni, this 6,670 layout closed June 21 to resurface its greens from common Bermuda to meiniverde Bermuda, which is supposed to provide a truer and faster putting surface while being easier to maintain.

A day before its official re-opening in early September, the greens were in good shape, if a little spotty in areas.

It’s slightly longer than the Santee Cooper Country Club, its sister course, which is also owned and operated by Santee Cooper Golf, and the greens are bigger, but have more slope.

"So even though you can hit the greens, putting is more important," said head pro Todd Miller.

Most of the par-5s are short and offer risk-reward shots for easy birdies.

Veterans of the course may be pleased to note course officials got rid of the big, weeping willow that blocked almost the entire green on No. 6.

Solid seconds

Santee Cooper Country Club: Designed by prolific architect George Cobb, the country club course is short at 6,512 yards, and laid out to bring out your game management skills. Don’t come here if you like to tee it high and let it fly.

"There’s only about two or three holes where you can hit it long off the tee," said assistant pro Brian Shelton. "They were looking for a nice, friendly course for the residents."

The course had only about 100 houses along the layout until the mid-1980s, but now has about 300.

"It’s really taken off in the last 10-15 years," Shelton said.

In addition to the city’s three courses, there are about 15 other 18-hole courses within a 45-minute drive from Santee.

Off course

If you don’t play golf here, you might as well fish. Most businesses have signs welcoming golfers and anglers, which make up the bulk of the area’s tourists.

The Santee Cooper area boasts two lakes, two rivers, two canals, a big swamp and 450 miles of shoreline. If they’re biting, you can catch landlocked striped bass, largemouth bass, crappie, catfish and bream in Lake Marion and Moultrie.

If you don’t fish or golf, you’re left with either hunting for whitetail deer, or visiting the plantation homes and historic battle sites, or using the hiking and nature trails.

And, of course, there are always the "gentlemen’s clubs."

Places to eat

LT’s Restaurant serves seafood, including oysters, shrimp, crab legs and catfish caught from the local lakes.

The Santee Resort Restaurant and Lounge is open under new management, featuring ladies night with half-price drinks Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and karaoke with Johnny Ringo.

Five miles east of Santee is Mill Creek Food & Spirits, for "casual lakefront dining, and there is free van service to The Alpine or Gator Tail Restaurant, about 10 minutes outside of Santee.

Places to stay

The Bed & Breakfast of Sumter has four rooms priced from $75-100 with private baths and fireplaces, and a veranda overlooking Memorial Park.

Quality Inn & Suites does golf/hotel packages, and recently underwent a $2 million renovation.

Clark’s Inn and Restaurant has relatively cheap rooms, though the restaurant is a tad pricey for the budget-minded.

Other than that, there are the usual interstate, chain motels.

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.