Hello Springfield GC!
November 7, 2014
By Mike Dojc
Rocking Out at the Formidable Fort Mill Track
“The sounds of the South,” shrugs my buddy Joe McLean as we exit our cart and walk toward the tee box on No 3 at the Springfield Golf Club in Fort Mill. There’s an industrial yet strangely catchy banging noise being pounded out at the decibel level of a jackhammer. We first mistake the rhythmic clanging for a construction crew with black metal aspirations before realizing that the mystifying solo is indeed a percussionist practicing along with a metronome and the volume turned up to 11. The wannabe Rammstein backup drummer is a mere chip away at Nation Ford High School.
While quietude and golf go hand and hand, flying in the face of the traditional quiet on the set mentality can have its benefits as Bubba Watson has shown at past Ryder Cups.
The adrenaline of raucous swing accompaniment can coax a few extra yards off the tee and besides the titanium “thwack” of our metal headed big sticks complemented the banging bass drum soundtrack nicely.
The Clyde Johnston jewel is a hilly tree framed course where power-fading mastery will reward golfers even more handsomely than the mere ability to hit with amped up heavy metal thundering in the background. The prevailing course wisdom for the majority of holes seems to be “stick to the right hand side of fairways and you’ll be just dandy.”
Also, ignore the pivotal local knowledge shared on select yardage signs at your own peril. On the par 5 12th the advice to hit a 150-yard lay up from the 250yd marker to take the ravine out of the equation is quite sage.
Excuse Me While I Kiss the Sky
With Charlotte Douglas International Airport just a short drive away, Springfield provides an amazing golf’n’fly destination for jet set golfers looking for a top notch spot to fit in a quick round into their itinerary the morning before a late afternoon fight.
A card-carrying member of the leisure cognoscenti when Mike Dojc isn’t repairing impossibly large divots or alphabetizing his impressive ball marker collection, he’s slinging copy for a diverse range of editorial and corporate entities. Highlights of his client roster include Nike, Geico, Maxim, Esquire, Metro News, AAA, Huffington Post, Golf Canada, Back 9 Network and many others. He blogs at SlingingBirdies.com
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