Orangeburg is a community 45 miles southeast of Columbia in Central South Carolina, where an Ellis Maples-designed golf course is the prime place to play. Most rounds at Orangeburg end at No. 18, of course, but many conversations about the design begin there as well.
Maples punctuates the round with a 615-yard beast, one of the toughest long holes in the state. As if the sinister distance wasn’t enough, the architect potentially makes this true three-shotter into a potential four-shotter by placing a pond just short of the green. Those who don’t strike it pure on their first two shots will be forced to shelve hopes of a green in regulation.
The Maples muscle doesn’t come out of nowhere, however. The back nine also contains a three-hole stretch of par fours that each measure above 450 yards. No. 13 goes for more than 470 yards, with a lake along the left and multiple bunkers surrounding the green.
Although the most-discussed holes at Orangeburg may be the most brutal, players of more common abilities will find the remainder of the round fair, in both distance and the strategic maneuvers required to score.
