I have to admit, Bruce is getting smarter about how to con me into playing golf with him. He's finally figured out that I like going to places that have cultural significance, are visually appealing, and /or are at least athletically and mentally challenging... So he took me to the Willbrook Plantation. That golf course definitely has all three traits.
Willbrook is one of the a multitude of nearby golf courses that are built upon what were once a major Rice Plantations
The difference is that Willbrook has managed to highlight the culturally significance of the area by allowing archeological digs on the property, and documenting these sites with historical markers.
Site ruins and marker of the original plantation house
These include the plantation house, slave village, slave cemetery headstones, a rice mill, rice fields, and the original canal system to irrigate the rice fields
Which brings us to the second benefit of playing at Waccamaw - the canal system is based upon tidal input which is constantly ebbing and flowing, and presenting an never ending series of reflections. I only wish that golf courses would let artists on-site to paint. I could spend a lifetime here and never capture all of the beauty of this place.
Which brings us to the third attraction... again provided by water.. It's everywhere.
You tee off across it, onto a islands that are surrounded by water.
You play long narrow fairways that have a canal running along its length,
Or drive over what appears to be a large lakes in the middle of the fairways.
And water isn't the only hazard along the fairways some are even more intimidating
Willbrook Plantation is certainly one of the more challenging courses around , and definitely tests ones nerve as well as driving skills.
