Mount Vintage tabbed one of state's top non-private courses
A batch of grapes complements the logo for the Mount Vintage Plantation and Golf Club, a fitting gesture considering the course's development into a fine wine in a relatively short amount of time.
Mount Vintage, which opened its golf club March 17, 2000, was recently selected as one of the state's "30 Best You Can Play" courses by the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel. Additionally, the panel tabbed Mount Vintage as the No. 1 course in the Midlands, which encompasses the heart of South Carolina.
The panel releases a biannual listing - the catalog runs in every odd year - of the best non-private courses statewide. Resorts, public access and daily-fee courses are eligible.
"We're very honored to receive an award of this magnitude," Mount Vintage director of golf and club manager Jay Rusch said. "We were also ranked No. 1 in the Midlands area, which is very nice, especially considering the quality of courses in the area.
"Our owners are the ones that have committed to the standards that we try to provide to our members and guests, and those standards are high," he continued. "The members that play here see the beauty of the golf course and the surrounding area, and the owners make our job easier as we look to (maintain and exceed) that level of service."
Mount Vintage features a 27-hole championship course that draws comparisons to Augusta National, according to the Mount Vintage website. The three nine-hole courses, the Chester course, the Vintage course and the Independent course, were all designed by golf architect Tom Jackson. Jackson, who began his own design firm, Jackson Golf Inc., in 1971, previously worked for Robert Trent Jones.
Mount Vintage opened the Independent nine on March 15, 2008, and all three courses "offer golfers of all levels a challenge," according to Rusch.
The course also features Crenshaw bent grass, which is different from most courses, which offer Bermudagrass.
The panel consists of a maximum of 125 members, eight of which are regional directors. The panel represents four regions that make up the state's landscape - the Upstate, the Midlands, the Lowcountry and the Grand Strand.
According to www.scgolfpanel.com, courses are judged on routing, or course flow from hole to hole; variety, "the degree to which the course demands a full range of shot requirements;" strategy, "how design features test course management;" equity, which speaks to rewarding good shots and penalizing poor shots; memorability, which speaks to a course's distinctiveness; aesthetics, which speaks to scenery and surroundings of a course, in addition to overall experience.
Mount Vintage Golf Club rests at 375 Mount Vintage Plantation in North Augusta and offers golf Tuesdays through Sundays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information on Mount Vintage, visit www.mountvintage.com or call 279-5422.
