I could only take so much of the cold weather and was getting anxious to kick off my 2019 golf season! I figured February would be a great time for another Florida trip!

My normal routine on these trips is to finish up a work week and drive down to Florida the next day, usually on a Saturday. To split up the 12-hour drive I’ll try to stop and golf somewhere about halfway between Virginia and Florida! Santee, South Carolina is a little past halfway and a very convenient spot for me to golf, as it is right along I-95. Plus, it is a good place to fill up the car for the remainder of the drive!

I left Charlottesville early on Saturday and the drive went smoothly. I arrived at the course with enough time to hit some balls and relax into the round. The proshop threw in a free yardage book and let me head out early, which is always nice with a lengthy car ride after a round!

I scooted around in 3 hours and 15 minutes, so that helped me get into Florida at a decent hour! I trailed one group until they let me go on the 6th. Then, another group let me past at the turn.

Santee National features two different nines and between them the course offers a little bit of everything! The front nine is open and more inviting while the back nine tests your accuracy.

The front offers a chance to get loose and has a fairly “vanilla” routing. There are a couple interesting par-5’s on the front but for the most part distance is favored over accuracy.

The par-5 6th is a quirky dogleg around the edge of a swamp. The hole horseshoes to the right, around the natural hazard. There is out of bounds to the left and a couple trees to the left as well. That forces you to hit a straight tee shot or face some stress on the second. I missed my drive to the right and had to thread it between the trees on the my layup!

On the other hand, the back nine gets you thinking because it is tighter! There are more doglegs on the back so it offers the chance to take different lines and hit different clubs, depending on how much you want to challenge the tree-lined fairways. The back nine has a more secluded feel to it and I enjoyed playing through the pine trees!

Besides the potentially difficult doglegs there are some lengthy holes and tricky green complexes at Santee National. I played the black tees which are 73.4/130/6917 and there are plenty of 400ish yard par-4’s and long par-3’s. I believe the green complexes have been re-done at some point and they are comparable to most modern greens, with plenty of contour.

The conditions at Santee National were very satisfactory, especially for the bargain price of $30! The tees and fairways had a light ryegrass overseed, which offered just enough color to look great when the sun hit it. The overseed wasn’t lush or deep and I still ended up with plenty of tight lies, even in the fairways. But, seeing any ryegrass in the winter is always a pleasure!

The greens and their collars appeared painted, as they had that paler green look to them and played like bermuda. The greens rolled well and at a medium pace. I had to play for some release on my chips. The bunkers were wet and the sand was packed down.

My experience at Santee National was a good one and the back nine is very solid! Like the other courses in the area, Santee National won’t blow you away but I think it is worth a stop if you are traveling through the area. It is a fair test and a great value!

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):