Established in 1786, the Country Club of Charleston
was the first golf club in the United States. The
current course was designed by Seth Raynor in
1925, with revisions by John LaFoy in 1990 after
Hurricane Hugo leveled hundreds of trees there. The
course is vintage Raynor, with sectioned tabletop
greens, flat linear bunkers with steep grass slopes,
and some bold and unusual holes. Without question
the most (in)famous hole is the 187-yard 11th, to a
narrow angled tabletop green with amazingly deep
bunkers on either side. Ben Hogan cursed the hole,
and it is not unusual in tournament play to see
players lay up short of the green rather than go
back-and-forth from bunker to bunker. Other notable
holes include the 432-yard 16th protected in front by
a deep Lion's Mouth bunker, and the 333-yard 14th
which features one of the best greens Raynor ever
built.