Award Winning and Historical: The Cotton Dike Course at Dataw Island

By Dataw Island on May 1, 2009 11:36 AM | No Comments

The Cotton Dike Course at Dataw Island, designed by famed architect (and winner of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America award) Tom Fazio, has been a jewel in the South Carolina golf scene since 1985. The club is augmented by numerous facilities, including a 25,000 square foot clubhouse. Dataw Island was cited in Golf Week as "one of the 50 most distinctive development courses in the Southeast United States". Although private, the course has reciprocal agreements with other clubs.

A par 72, with full championship yardage of 6,825 and a slope of 138 on Bermuda grass, Cotton Dike offers a challenge that can be appreciated by all, even the highest caliber of professional golfer. The location of the course is dramatic, with the surroundings of beautiful scenery of Dataw Island and St. Helena as the backdrop.

The course winds through marshlands and a series of dikes that were originally part of the namesake cotton marshes that the course is built upon. These marshlands create some challenging natural obstacles, as almost half of the holes on the course wind along Jenkins Creek, which meanders in and out of play, contesting many shots and forcing precision ball striking from tee to green.

The course is a pleasure to play, though it can be very challenging. While many of the par 4s on the course are relatively short, bunkers and hazards are placed very opportunistically, which makes errant shots especially damaging to scores. Imagination is required when approaching this course, as shot making is placed at a premium due to the relatively modest layout and demands placed by hazards. Careless planning on the part of the golfer is sure to introduce frustration, especially with carefully guarded greens.

The golfer underestimating or overshooting on this course is sure to bring a significant level of frustration to their day. A few holes are particularly memorable. When asked about his own course, architect Tom Fazio mentioned that "From a playability standpoint, the seventh hole offers numerous options as a three-shot hole or a reachable par-5 for long hitters, and if the golfer avoids the forest on the right and the lagoons on the left, a birdie is a distinct possibility".

Hole number 5 has a historical placard, which gives a detailed history of the development and transformation of the area. On this same hole, the high tee box offers a tremendous view of the course area, with miles of visibility across the terrain. The 18th is the challenging par 4, with an intensely undulating fairway that comprises your approach. Further complicating the approach is the slice of green that serves as the final target on the course. The green sticks out, well protected by Jenkins Creek, which guards numerous fairways and greens along the way. The 18th hole is emblematic of the course, where there is always a hint of danger complicating the shot of the golfer.