Overview Course Description Hole by Hole Photo Tour Today’s Playing Conditions

Keowee Vineyards Course / Fazio

Hole by Hole

Welcome to Tom Fazio's incredible lakeside design, where a combination of nine front and backside holes skirt along the pure water of Lake Keowee.

Holes 1-9 ( 1.4MB PDF)  ~  Holes 10-18 ( 1.4MB PDF)

Click the image of each hole below to view a close-up...

	Hole 1. You'll start on a beautiful 380-yard par four from an elevated tee. Three bunkers on the left side of the landing area force you to the middle or right side of the landing area. Three, dramatic, flashed-up bunkers protect the elevated green, so go at the pin aggressively.
	Hole 2. Variety starts quickly on the Vineyards course with the par 3, second hole. The green of this 193 yard hole is perched on a hill top, so hit the right club as shots that go over the green tumble down the hillside.
	Hole 3. Here's a classically designed par 4. The 415 yard third is a hard dogleg right with a bunker guarding the right side landing area. A long drive over the bunker is rewarded with a wedge shot to this large green. Otherwise, play it right down the middle for a mid-iron approach.
	Hole 4. Number 4 at Keowee Vineyards is one of the finest par fives in America, strategically and visually. A true three shot hole, this double dogleg, downhill, 625 yard masterpiece keeps you absolutely focused until the moment you tap in the last putt. Every shot, from the tee ball to the approach that eventually gets you to this wickedly small and sloped green, must be perfectly placed so the approach shot is as short as possible. Errant shots to the right of the green end up in Lake Keowee. And even if you card a birdie or a par, even your breath is taken away.
	Hole 5. Number five, a 380 yard par 4, demands an accurate tee shot, as the rough along the left side of the hole is rugged and a tee shot too far to the right will end up in Lake Keowee. So take it right over the left hand fairway bunkers or right down the middle with a 3-wood or long iron, leaving you a moderate shot into a tiny green well guarded by two large bunkers.
	Hole 6. Like number four, the par 3 sixth hole, rates as one of the finest of its kind, strategically and visually, and the moment you see it for the first time you realize again that Fazio is a master at creating stunning par threes. One hundred and ninety-three yards long, from an elevated tee, the tee shot over water to this hillside green is one of the most exciting shots on the golf course. Don't flirt with a right side pin. Just go for the middle of the green and work hard from there.
	Hole 7. What you see is what you get here at the 321 yard par 4 seventh. Drive it straight up the fairway on this short, straight hole and concentrate hard on where to place your approach as this green, much like the green at the memorable fourth, is tough on the faint of heart. A short hole isn't necessarily easy, as the real adventure here starts on the approach.
	Hole 8. Fazio places a fairway bunker on the par 4 eighth not to the side of the landing area, but this time, right in the middle of the fairway. You can drive the tee shot over it, and if you do, you're left with a mid-iron approach to a green with a severe false front.
	Hole 9. The ninth is another memorable par 5. From the elevated tee of this 569 yarder, you can hit it big off the tee, but avoid the well-placed bunkers along the left side of the fairway. From there, you continue to descend down this beautiful hole with a second shot placed in the bail out area to the right of the hole or below the huge bunker fronting the green. If you go for the green in two, be mindful of the lake set hard on the left of the green.
	Hole 10. The tenth is a 418 yard par four with a special feel. The entire hole plays on high, flat ground, and with a slightly elevated tee box, and with minimal bunkering, you get a sense of confidence as you begin the back nine on this pretty hole. The tee shot should go right down the middle, leaving you with a low-iron approach to a huge green that slopes evenly to you from back to front.
	Hole 11. The par 3 eleventh is as straightforward as it gets. A 208 yarder to a slightly elevated green, simply pick the right club for the distance and hit it solid to this mildly sloped green.
	Hole 12. The play from the tee at twelve, a 464 hard dogleg right par 4, is simple: aim it at the bunker or cut it hard around the corner. Either way you're left with a mid-iron approach to a green that sits at the bottom of a downward sloping fairway.
	Hole 13. There are dogleg holes and there are "horse shoe" holes. The par 4, 425 yard thirteenth is definitely the latter. This fun hole turns hard to the right, then further right at the green complex. What a great challenge off the tee. The safe play is out to the left part of the fairway, taking the deep gully that fills the interior of the "shoe" totally out of play. From there, strike a confident mid to low iron to this small green guarded by two right side bunkers and surrounded on three sides by Lake Keowee.
	Hole 14. The par 5, 545 yard fourteenth continues a fascinating stretch of holes, as it's the first of two par 5s in a row followed by two par 3s in a row, then the fabulous home hole. Fourteen is an uphill version of the ninth hole, with a tee shot that really gives you the opportunity to blast one. Uphill from there, the safe play is to hit a lay up shot, giving you a wedge into the green for a realistic birdie opportunity.
	Hole 15. At fifteen, a 556 yarder, you head back down toward Lake Keowee on a subtly sloping downhill fairway back up to an elevated green. If you go for the green in two, keep in mind that the four bunkers that front the green are actually a good distance away from the putting surface, and a third shot from the back three poses the most difficult shot in golf: a long sand shot.
	Hole 16. Fazio continues to please with his par three designs at Keowee Vineyards, this time at the sixteenth. With Lake Keowee as a backdrop, and with four dramatic greenside bunkers, pick the right club for the distance and fire away.
	Hole 17. As breathtaking as it gets, the seventeenth hole, a 250 yard par 3, is absolutely mesmerizing. At the course's grand opening, Fazio said of the seventeenth, "This hole may be the most picturesque in the state of South Carolina-and some people will say it's the most picturesque ever." What more can you say? Other than, hit it real hard.
	Hole 18. Back to the house. The par 4 eighteenth, a 429 yard, 90 degree, dogleg right hole, poses a real tee shot challenge. With a deep gully along the right side of the hole, you're forced to take your medicine and put it right up the middle and fire a mid to long iron up the hill. Bite off the corner and get rewarded with a wedge shot to the elevated green, but make absolutely sure you've made all the calculations necessary to get you on the short grass of the fairway.

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