Old South

Getting To Know: Old South Golf Links

An Insightful Interview With Bonnie Ridgely, Merchandise Manager/Marketing Coordinator

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 Bonnie Ridgely 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
Designed by award-winning course architect Clyde Johnston, Old South Golf Links offers one of the most exciting tests of golf in the Low-country. Old South is the only public golf course along the intra-coastal waterway and features marsh-fronted holes, three island greens and rolling Scottish terrain that will inspire you with its beauty and thrill you with its challenge.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
We are family and kid friendly with special summer rates and packages. Old South is home to abundant wildlife including alligators, turtle, fox squirrels, deer, eagles, wood storks and numerous water fowl so bring your camera. Old South offers great restaurant fare including breakfast and lunch seven days a week. The Pro Shop is well-stocked with the latest golf attire and equipment and our staff is known for their southern hospitality. Come see for yourself...we know you will enjoy your round!

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Play what you see...don't try to cut the corners on #7, #12, #15, or #16! Old South offer five sets of tees so play the one that is most appropriate for your skill level and you will enjoy your round.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Old South Golf Links has been selected as the "Low Country Golf Course of the Year" for 2011 by the Low Country Golf Course Owners Association and has received the "People's Choice" award from Hilton Head Monthly Magazine for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. We have recently won the 2013 "Best of Bluffton" award for public golf courses.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Our signature hole is the Par 4 #16 that is a dog-leg to the left. Your first shot must carry the marsh to a generous landing area. Your second shot must carry another marsh to reach a two tiered green with a backdrop of the intra-coastal waterway. The scenery is spectacular - especially at high tide. Ladies play this hole as a Par 3 of 135 yards.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
Hole #7 is my favorite because the scenery is beautiful near the intra-coastal waterway and it requires two good shots to reach the green for a chance at birdie or par. Don't cut the corner...trouble will follow!

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Old South is famous for their breakfast and burgers but you can't go wrong with the barbecue pork sandwich.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Rick Stallings (32-30) and PJ Cowan (31-31) both shot 62 (course record) during the Teardrop Tour Championship held at Old South Golf Links on December 3, 1999.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6772
Slope: 138
Rating: 72.7

More Information
Old South Golf Links
50 Buckingham Plantation Drive
Bluffton, South Carolina, 29910
843-785-5353
www.oldsouthgolf.com

Revised: 04/30/2014 - Article Viewed 31,036 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.