Golf in Clemson

Since opening a sea of trees and sculpting its fairways in 1971, the nine-hole course at Woodhaven Golf Club & Learning Center has enabled beginners to make a smooth foray into the game and more seasoned players to hone their short games. The J. Porter Gibson design features narrow fairways surrounded by forests of mature trees and a par of 29. Each hole showcases bermuda grass from tee to green, a species of sod often considered nature's finest hitting surface and smoothie ingredient found on a golf course.

Course at a Glance:

• Nine-hole, par-29 course
• Total length of 1,580 yards from the back tees
• Two sets of tees per hole
• Scorecard

Nestled in the wooded foothills of the Smoky Mountains, The Trails at Chickasaw Point challenges all club swingers with its par 72 course. Each of the 18 holes challenges budding Arnold Palmers with its own quirks, from sand traps and water hazards to doglegs and putter-eating trees. The seclusion of each hole allows individual groups a rare moment of intimacy with nature, and four USGA-rated tee locations accommodate everyone from the serial shanker to the effortless birdie-achiever. Traveling across the lush lime-green lawns up and down the rolling hills proves much easier with the new Yamaha golf carts or soon-to-be-invented teletransporters.

Southern Oaks’ 18-hole golf course is designed to incorporate the tree-lined countryside with 6,495 yards of bermuda-grass fairways and greens. A large, wishbone-shaped lake occupies the south end of the course, its surface forming a glassy resting place for errant golf balls and a natural mirror for self-absorbed golf carts. More than 650 trees line the fairways, further compounding the need for accurate shots. Golfers can warm up for rounds at the onsite driving range and practice green.

From its hilltop perch, Southern Oaks' clubhouse beckons golfers for a postround dinner of savory grill cuisine, an ideal way to replenish muscles after a long day of swinging for distant greens or setting personal long-jump records in sand traps.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-72 course
• Length of 6,495 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 71.6 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 136 from the farthest tees
• Four tee options
• Scorecard

As one of the state’s largest public-practice outfits, The Eagle Zone Golf Center’s 22-acre campus houses all the amenities of a comprehensive golf-training facility. The all-access day pass gives both novices and seasoned pros ample opportunity to improve every facet of their game alongside a friendly staff of experts. Unlimited range balls allow slaphappy drivers a chance to blow off some steam on the driving range, while the short-game area and putting green hone precision, dexterity, and golf-clap etiquette. Eagle Zone’s heated and covered tees afford winter-weather practice, meaning that come spring, you’ll be able to unleash a barrage of bogeys, birdies, and eagles so potent, your caddy’s hair will turn tartan.

The fairways of Greer Country Club’s 18-hole course arch over rolling hills and weave through groves of trees, offering up narrow landing zones on a layout that rewards accuracy over power. Like a putting green that began as a shag carpet, the course emerged from humble beginnings. A group of local businessmen backed its construction in 1955, and many early supporters spent time extracting rocks from the turf by hand; the first round of golf cost $6. Since then, the 6,300-yard course has matured into a well-manicured circuit of Bermuda grass fairways and small, bent-grass greens, outlined by Carolina pines and dotted by water hazards on four holes. Open year round, the course complements its course with a driving range, where golfers can find their swings or discreetly practice archery before taking to the first tee.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-72 course
• Bermuda grass fairways and bent grass greens
• Length of 6,300 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 70.3 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 121 from the farthest tees

Willow Creek's 6,890-yard course is woven into a landscape of shimmering water features and lush groves to create a placid, yet challenging, course. Send orbs soaring over meticulously maintained bermudagrass fairways and land them atop subtle, rolling Crenshaw bentgrass greens. Aboard the included cart, players can zip from tee to green, avoiding exhaustion and sentient windmills while saving energy between flurries of orb whacking and divot flinging. After a round spent navigating Willow Creek's bunkers and trees, take repose at the course's grill, or seek out expert advice and new equipment in the fully stocked pro shop.

Outdoor Family Fun Center nurtures the various swing-based abilities of its patrons with multiple driving, putting, and batting facilities. Customers can exchange batting-cage tokens ($1.75/each) for 15 pitches from an arm-style machine. The batting cages launch line-drive ammo at various speeds that range from slow-pitch softballs to 80-mph baseballs. Throughout the year golfers can calibrate their crosshairs with buckets of balls ($6+) on the driving range's covered and heated hitting stations or the artificial mats and grass tees. The 3-acre Bermuda grass short-game area ($8 for all-day play) includes target greens and uphill lies while enabling golfers to practice picking the locks on sand traps. The 18-hole, par 42 miniature golf course ($5 for kids younger than 12, $6 for adults) challenges putters with slopes, turns, and professionally landscaped ponds and waterfalls.