The May River Golf Course at Palmetto Bluff has been on my radar for many years. Opened in 2004, this Jack Nicklaus Signature design made its debut on Golf Magazine's "Top 100 Courses You Can Play" list in 2006. It sits at number 52 on the current list. It is rated even higher on Golf Digest's "America's 100 Greatest Public Courses" 2019 list at number 40.

The course is in Bluffton, SC, just west of Hilton Head Island along the May River in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. The drive to the golf course through the May River Forest is picturesque over winding roads lined by centuries old Live Oak trees.

While you may read that the golf course is private, it is actually open for play to guests of Montage Palmetto Bluff resort. Caddies are required.

​The course features tee boxes and fairways of Paspalum, the newest eco-friendly turf. And Mr. Nicklaus chose to fill his bunkers with sand from his home state of Ohio since the angular grains adhere better to sloped surfaces, holding up better to the coastal weather.

My drive through South Carolina from Indiana featured many powerful bursts of rain and I had some doubts about the course being open for play given the forecast for that Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Storms did move through during the night but by early morning, sunshine was plentiful.

Needless to say, the golf course was soaked and played long. While the grounds crew did a marvelous job draining the bunkers, the sand was hard and wet.

Taylor Sanders was my caddie and after a warm-up on the range and a few putts, I was first off at 8:30 as a single.

​There are many things I like about May River. One is the absence of paved cart paths. A second is the food at the Comfort Stations. On each nine is a cooler with water, apples, and hard-boiled eggs. A very nice touch. And finally, the practice area is large with a separate area for short game work at the back of the driving range.

I really like the creativity of May River's logo. My caddie, Taylor, pointed out that it is taken from the very large and very old Live Oak tree just short and to the left of the 18th green. As you can see in the picture, there is a Palm tree centered in front of the Live Oak. These trees are incorporated into the logo as can be seen above in the picture of May River's logo ball. Taylor made sure I took several photos of the trees from various angles.​​

Interestingly, I hooked my second shot on this par five hole under that very Live Oak tree.

There is no question this course deserves its accolades and lofty ranking on the Top 100 lists. I had a fabulous day and caddie Taylor, an accomplished player himself, really knew the course and was quite helpful.

One very minor quibble: the selection of merchandise in the Pro Shop is very average as compared to most courses as highly rated as May River.

During Masters week, I was a part of a group from Coyote Creek Golf Club that headed south from Fort Wayne, IN for a Masters practice round and some Spring golf. We would spend a night in Knoxville, TN, two nights in Columbia, SC, and end the trip with a very relaxing three night stay at an "under the radar" resort in Santee, SC.

​Since the Midwest weather had not yet been favorable for any golf, we set out on the last day of March, a Saturday morning, driving five and a half hours to the Knoxville, TN area where we played a mid-afternoon round of golf at Knoxville Municipal Golf Course.

Like nearly all mid-south golf courses, Knoxville Muni was in need of some grass-greening warmth of the sun and on this beautiful Spring day, the course was full of golfers with Spring golf fever.

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​We checked into our Knoxville hotel and quickly found a restaurant where we could watch the semi-final games of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

​After spending the night in Knoxville, we headed a little over four hours south to Blythewood, SC for an afternoon round at Cobblestone Park Golf Club, home course of the South Carolina Gamecocks.  Cobblestone park is a beautiful, rolling golf course and was brimming with activity on this warm Sunday afternoon.

We were less than thirty minutes from our next hotel in Columbia, SC where everyone (except me) prepared for the trip to Augusta, GA in the morning. Having seen practice rounds and a final round at the venerable course before, I spent the day doing what the Logo Ball Traveler was born to do -- play golf!

The Tribe beat the Twins 7-2 but the game did not end until 8:20. And I faced a walk to the parking garage and then a trip of over 4 hours to Charleston, WV. I was not in bed until after 1:00 A.M.

I was up early on Saturday morning for the two hour drive to The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV where I played the Old White TPC course in weather where the temperature hovered around 40 degrees. Old White is a Charles Blair Macdonald design and C.B. created a delightful course fashioned after notable holes from his home continent of Europe. Old White is home to the PGA Tour's Greenbrier Classic which will be played the first week of July in 2014 (see http://www.greenbrierclassic.com/). You can learn more about the Old White Course at http://www.greenbrier.com/Golf/The-Golf-Club/The-Old-White-TPC.aspx.

That afternoon, I drove to Gordonsville, VA where I enjoyed a warmer round at Spring Creek Golf Club. Like Old White, Spring Creek is on Golf Digest's current Top 100 list (see http://www.springcreekgolfclub.com). Will Patrick, a geometry teacher at the local high school and a member at Spring Creek was my partner for the round.

On Sunday morning, the folks at Augustine Golf Club in Stafford, VA rolled out the red carpet for me. They were kind enough to slot me in with the members. Due to a large outing that afternoon, there was very limited member play early that day so they could clear the course for the outing. It is always a treat to play with people who have great emotional ties to their course. Don Ryalls, my cart partner for the day, was a wealth of knowledge about the history of Augustine which I will share in a later post. Augustine was previously on Golf Magazine's Top 100 list and was saved by an injection of cash after being purchased by Raspberry Golf Management.  Augustine is one of sixteen courses on The Raspberry Golf Trail which is made up of courses in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Learn more about Augustine Golf Club at http://augustinegolf.com.