Crosswinds: Savannah/Hilton Head Course Review
21 Sep 2014
by Pete Wlodkowski of AmateurGolf.com
see also: Crosswinds Golf Club, All Course Reviews
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I arrived at the Savannah-Hilton Head airport (my
first time there) at around 5:00pm on a late-summer
afternoon. Grabbing my clubs off the kiosk I started
to get excited about the golf-rich area I was about to
explore with a friend. There are murals behind the
carousel and tasteful ads for golf resorts and clubs
almost everywhere you look.
But I hadn't planned on playing golf that evening. My
friend who picked me up at the airport -- having
arrived prior to me -- had other ideas. He had
already scouted out a spot within close proximity to
the runways (you can see them from the course),
called Crosswinds. After stopping by and watching a
local college golf team practice on the grass range,
he figured we could skip over, play the par three
course, and go get some dinner in Savannah.
The Director of Golf, James Walden, suggested we go
one better and try our luck on the championship
course. "The front nine's open guys - why don't you
grab a cart and head out there?"
I'm really glad we did. First of all, Crosswinds offered
us plenty of challenge and warmup for some of the
courses we were about to play. It's 6748 yards long
from the tips, with all the expected vegetation and
water you would expect to find dotting the landscape
of a Low Country course. And the front nine, at 3498
yards, was all the golf we needed.
Starting out with out-and-back par fours of over 400
yards each, and a nice 171-yard par-3 that follows,
we figured that most of the course would have the
wide open feel of those holes. But as we wound our
way past the 4th green and stepped onto the 5th
tee, things got tighter. Here, a well bunkered landing
area on the right, with a hazard up the left side,
makes the dogleg-left a much more difficult
adventure than any of the early holes. (It's the
number 2 handicap hole on the course for good
reason.) The 6th hole has a real resort feel -- it's a
risk/reward par-5 whose green is protected by a
water hazard on the left.
Then things get almost Pinehurst-style as waste
areas and overhanging trees come into play on the
short 7th hole. And as you play the 8th, a 212-yard
par 3, you can see some of the holes on the back
nine and how wooded a few of those holes are.
I can't wait to go back and play the full layout next
time I'm in the area, as a planned part of the trip.
After all, daylight is precious and if you get in during
the middle or late in the day, or have some time to
kill before your flight, why not do it right next to the
airport?
Bonus - there is a Sam Snead's Oak Fired Grill right
across the street -- what a fun clubhouse-style
hangout where your can get a steak dinner while
walking around and enjoying a nice collection of
Sam's memorabilia.
I rate Crosswinds a must-play and excellent value -
enjoy it if you can.
TOURNAMENT NOTE:
The
Seaport
Open is played each October at Crosswinds -
this 54-hole event is open to pros and amateurs with
a very reasonable entry fee for either division.
Navigate the link to the course page above to view
complete course details including directions and
information about the Seaport Open.