Dunes West Golf Club

Getting To Know: Dunes West Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Richard Rankin, GM

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Richard Rankin who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
An 18 hole Arthur Hills Championship Golf Course with FIVE sets of tees to accommodate players of all skill levels. Voted 2009 Golf Course of the Year by the Charleston Golf Course Owners Association. Rated 3.5 Stars by Golf Digest. Voted Best in Charleston 2012 - Moultrie News. Voted Best in Weddings 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 - The knot Located on Lexington Plantation Dunes West Golf Course is rich in history, formally a brick and rice Plantation now boasts an awarding winning golf course catering to members, locals and visitors from all around the world who enjoy playing golf on a course designed to challenge you, while keeping it fun and enjoyable. Course conditions are second to non and the staff will make you feel welcome with lowcountry charm at its best.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Dunes West is consistently in good shape, we offer five sets of tees to accommodate players of all skill levels and the course is designed for the average golfer. If you want to challenge yourself just move back to the BLACK Tees. The staff is great and the food will make you come back for more.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The greens have suttle breaks to them but if you are within 5 feet of the hole the best course of action is to hit it firm and straight at the hole. Two holes require a little local knowledge, hole #4 is a dogleg left par five. Tee off with a 3 wood and hit an 8 to 6 iron for your second shot to avoid a large pond that protects the green on the left and behind. This will leave you with a short iron in to the green. Hole number nine boasts our largest green and to reach it you have to hit your second shot over a marsh area that short hitters may not be able to manage in two shots so a layup on your second shot may be required.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Voted 2009 Golf Course of the Year by the Charleston Golf Course Owners Association Voted 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011 "Best In Weddings" by the knot

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Hole number 18 is a great finishing hole. A 456 yard par four from the black tees, Wagner Creek flows to the left side and behind the green, 200 year old oaks line the right side and in the background you see the beautiful antebellum style clubhouse, just a great memory to take home with you.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
I love and hate the 17th hole. As a golfer you will undertand why when you play this 214 yard (fom the black tees) par three. Water to the right, bunker on the left with the green long going from front to back making the green seem much smaller than it really is. This hole is beautiful from the tee but then you have to hit the shot! I love it!

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
We are know for our Bloody Mary's, we even were giving a shout out by a local radio personality who played the course when he said after his round one morning he had the best Bloody Mary in town at Dunes West. Food, I would recommend any one of our salads but try the Dunes Salad or the Southern Fried Chicken Salad first and enjoy.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey shot a 60 while he was still working for us as a Cart Attnedant before playing on the PGA Tour. He bogyed the par five fourth hole with an 8 iron in his hands for his second shot and on hole number 18 he missed an 8 foot putt for birdie. Just scary how low he could have shot that day!

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6859
Slope: 134
Rating: 73.0

More Information
Dunes West Golf Club
3535 Wando Plantation Way
Mt. Pleasant, SC, 29466
843-856-9000
www.duneswestgolfclub.com

Revised: 07/20/2012 - Article Viewed 32,744 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.