Camden Country Club

Camden Country Club sits in the Sandhills region of South Carolina, about 35 miles northeast of Columbia in one of America's oldest inland winter-sports towns. Golf here began in 1922 as the Kirkwood Links, an amenity for the Kirkwood Hotel laid out by Walter Travis, who pioneered contoured sand greens. After Travis's death, the club engaged Donald Ross, who redesigned the course in 1939, one of only three courses Ross designed that year. His work produced the classic features golfers still enjoy: domed greens, closely mown runoff areas, deep bunkers, and natural sandy waste areas edged with wiregrass rather than heavy rough. Playing to roughly 6,455 yards at a par of 70, the layout is a compact, walkable example of Ross's craft. The American Society of Golf Course Architects has overseen restoration work honoring the original design, keeping this rural gem faithful to its heritage.