Tucked away in the southern corner of South Carolina’s Low Country sits a strategic masterpiece. Congaree Golf Club is a Tom Fazio design with wide-open fairways, no rough, over 130 acres of sand used to divide holes, and tricky green complexes. Located about 30 minutes from Savannah, Georgia, the course was modeled after the sandbelt courses of Australia.
The club will host a PGA Tour event for the second time after being the venue for the Palmetto Championship in 2021 where South African Garrick Higgo won his first career Tour event. It will require an all-around tee-to-green skillset in firm and fast conditions that emphasizes total driving (distance and accuracy), long-iron play and “around the green” play from a variety of difficult lies to fast Bermuda greens.
This week’s CJ Cup has a staggeringly good field compared to the first few events of the fall swing season. 15 of the top 20 and six of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking are playing this week. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler headlines the list, followed by Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Matt Fitzpatrick. Numerous Presidents Cup competitors are in attendance including Max Homa, Jordan Spieth, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, and Sam Burns among others.
The only top-25 players not in attendance this week are Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau and Will Zalatoris. Like last week’s ZOZO Championship, the CJ Cup is a no-cut event with a 78-player field with 60 of them qualifying from last season’s FedExCup standings.
Course History
Named after the Indian tribe that once called the area home, the property has a rich history that dates back for centuries. During the American Revolution, the land was used as a rice plantation homestead. When the Civil War came in the 1860s, on his infamous march across the south, Union General, William Sherman ordered the main house and buildings to be burnt to the ground. Fast forward to 2017 and the land was selected as a perfect site to build a sand-based golf course.
When famed architect Tom Fazio was selected as the designer, the intention was to transform the backwoods of the Carolina landscape into an Australian sand belt-type course. He wanted a natural layout that allowed a links-style ground game on a firm and fast sandy terrain. Fazio has a history of this as in the 1980s he transformed the desert wasteland outside of Las Vegas into one of the lushest courses you will ever see in Shadow Creek. He even called Congaree a “low country Shadow Creek.”
It took nine months of clearing pine trees and grinding stumps to clear the land. Many oaks were uprooted and replanted in other parts of the course. Ponds and lakes were created without disturbing existing wetlands. Finely cut Australian-style bunkers contrast with the edges of fairways and greens. These sandy waste areas that make up large portions of the course can lead to some very tricky lies as evidenced by the video below.
While the first three editions of the CJ Cup were played from 2017-2019 at the Nine Bridges Club on Jeju Island, South Korea, the event has played musical chairs ever since. In 2020, the tournament was moved to the previously mentioned Shadow Creek Golf Course due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s travel restrictions. In 2021, due to the same restrictions, the event moved to the Summit Club outside of Las Vegas. And this year it heads to Congaree in Jasper County, South Carolina.
The only previous PGA event here was the Palmetto Championship held in May of 2021 which filled the schedule gap caused by the cancellation of the RBC Canadian Open. It was held the week before the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and Garrick Higgo won at 11-under par, topping six other players who finished one shot behind. With a much stronger field for this week’s event, expect a winning score around 15-under par.
The Course
f684b2f3d4218ee06dad551b3bb2074bCongaree is a par 71 that can play as long as 7,655 yards. PGA officials, however, are very flexible in shortening certain holes as the final round of the Palmetto Championship only played at 7,320 yards. The course is expansive and sweeping in nature. At 107.8 yards per par, it is the second-longest PGA course in the Tour rotation behind only Torrey Pines South. Because of the firm conditions, however, Congaree plays shorter than its measured length. It features wall-to-wall Bermuda grass fairways and greens.
As mentioned a couple of times already, Congaree is meant to play firm and fast. The sand-based turf is hard and bouncy, and not having rough to slow the ball down allows for even the shorter hitters to get extra roll with their drives. At the same time, the course is designed to challenge players to control their golf ball. The lack of rough only enhances these conditions. The transition from fairway grass to sandy waste area is seamless. Each of these areas are deemed “natural areas”, so unlike bunkers, players are permitted to ground their club anywhere they please.
The “linksy” conditions presented at Congaree allow for a wealth of different strategies. Imagination is mandatory here. Apart from some forced carries off the tee, many holes invite the use of the ground game. On certain holes, the lines off the tee and angles into the greens are set up perfectly for “bump and run” type shots.
Along with the 130 acres of sand, water and wetlands are in play on ten different holes making it crucial to have control of the aerial game as well. The massive oak trees that line the course are also incorporated into the playing strategy as well. On certain holes they also dictate the lines and angles that players should take, yet at the same time allow for recovery shots should approaches need to go above or around them.
At around 56 feet of elevation, the course is mostly flat but definitely does not feel that way because of how perfectly Fazio shaped the rolling terrain. Only about 30 feet separate the highest and lowest points on the course. With a mix of right and left doglegs, golfers will have to shape their ball off the tee.
Congaree has an interesting mix of scenic par 3 holes, risk-reward par 4s and challenging par 5s. Length remains an overarching theme as three of the par 3s measure over 195 yards, three of the par 4s are over 510 yards, and the three par 5s measure over 580 yards.
One of the reasons this is such a unique and challenging course is that every hole stands out on its own. Each of the par 3s is a stiff test averaging 0.15 strokes over par. Two of them are fronted by water with the greens sloping toward the hazard area. There are two driveable par 4s that each measure 360 yards and which produced birdie or better rates of 34% in 2021. The 8th hole is full of character and is probably one of the toughest par 4s in the world. Measuring as long as 540 yards, there is a long carry off the tee over water and a waste area. The raised green is fronted by a vast expanse of sand and takes an almost perfect long iron approach to hold the green.
Strokes Gained Analysis
Off the Tee
In 2021, 24% of strokes gained at Congaree were off the tee compared to the Tour average of 15%. It ranks as the fifth toughest course in missed fairway penalty.
As one of the longest courses with the widest fairways (51 yards), Congaree had the highest driving distance average in 2021 at 302 yards. That is 16 yards higher than the average PGA Tour course of 286 yards. Because there is no rough, as long as players are reasonably accurate off the tee they are free to blast away with driver. And because of the firm fairways, even shorter hitters can get an extra rollout off the tee. As Lucas Glover stated, “You could have a guy who’s short and straight, can chase it down the fairways and play smart golf. Then you could have a guy that can hit it over a bunch of the trouble and play it that way.”
Despite Congaree’s length, only two players on the final 2021 leaderboard were inside of the top 10 in driving distance for the week. That is because some level of accuracy still matters. With waste areas and water just off the fairway edges, along with the terrain sloping in their direction, controlling and navigating drives sets up the all-important approach shot. These dangers, along with the fairway-runout force players to not just visualize where the ball will land, but also where it’s going to roll.
With multiple doglegs that are a nice mixture of both right and left-turning holes, golfers will have to shape shots to reach desired locations on the fairways. Players who try to cheat the corners have the potential to end up in waste areas or behind trees.
Approach
The value of Congaree is in the second shot. Because players have a large amount of leniency off the tee, their approach to the green is one way that golfers can separate themselves from the field. With an astoundingly long average proximity to the hole at over 43 feet, approaching these green complexes at Congaree is a challenge. No other course has ranked tougher in proximity over the past two years. A large reason for this is the undulation and speed near the pin positions. An approach to the wrong side of the green can easily produce a 3-putt.
In 2021, 47% of approach shots came from over 175 yards meaning long-iron play will be crucial this week. Firm fairways also mean firm greens. While the GIR rate is 68% and the greens are the 21st largest on Tour, balls will bounce into the numerous collection areas surrounding the greens. With half of the greens being open-fronted, players also have the option of using the ground game and playing bump and run shots on approach.
Around the Green and Putting
According to the data and player quotes, scrambling around these green complexes is the greatest challenge at Congaree. In 2021, it ranked as the eighth most difficult course to gain strokes around the green. With no rough, players are faced with chips on short grass with tight lies. The numerous runoff areas surrounding the greens can have your ball rolling 40-50 yards away from the green complex. Many of these slopes lead to waste areas or water. Often times the best option is to putt from well off the green up the tightly-mown slopes.
The bermuda grass greens are on the faster side at around 12-12.5 on the stimp meter. They have been described as “fast”, and “challenging” and they “roll true as a pool table.” They have numerous mounds and humps with a lot of downhill-breaking putts. Overall, Congaree ranks in the middle of the pack in strokes gained putting difficulty from inside of 15 feet. Over 15 feet, however, it ranks as the fifth toughest course making lag putting and 3-putt avoidance an important metric to take into account this week.