True Blue - water features à la Mike Strantz in South Carolina

In the middle of the picturesque coastal landscape of South Carolina lies the True Blue Golf Club - a course that lives up to its name. Water is not just an ornament here, but an integral part of a course design masterfully created by Mike Strantz in 1998. Just one drive away from the famous Caledonia Golf and Fish Club, True Blue presents itself as an experience in its own right: spacious, bold, modern - and wet. The Par-72 course offers five tee boxes per hole and plays between 4,508 and 6,812 yards.

Right from the start, True Blue makes it clear that no warm-up hole is to be expected here: a par-5 up to 624 yards long demands strategic play along a huge waste area - a real statement for everything that is to come. The second hole also requires a sure instinct with a dogleg right and a two-tiered green. By the third hole at the latest, a Par-3 over water to an island green 64 yards deep, it is clear that this course is both spectacular and challenging. The front nine is characterized by varied holes where water and sand are a constant companion. Particularly noteworthy: Hole 6, which offers two greens, whereby the left one is usually played during normal play - a rare feature. The last Par-5 of the front nine also combines everything that makes True Blue special: a striking dogleg, strategic waste areas, a tricky moat and an elevated green defended by bunkers.

True Blue is golf in its most American form

After a short stop at the clubhouse, we continue onto the back nine, which is slightly shorter but no less challenging. Hole 10 begins again with a Par-5, which presents itself with a dogleg right and a chain of bunkers in the lay-up area. The play to the flag is made even more difficult by a narrow ditch. The other holes also impress with their clever design. Hole 12, for example, requires a precise approach with a slightly sloping green and slopes. On hole 13, a par-3 just 158 yards long, an egg-timer-shaped, transverse green ensures maximum concentration for the teeshot. Another highlight is the last par-5 of the round: 602 yards, a gentle double dogleg, large waste areas and a strongly defended, elevated green. Anyone who plays Par here has done their job. Also unforgettable is hole 17 - a par-4 up to 449 yards long, where water accompanies the entire right side all the way to the green. Brave players aim for a narrow green on the right, but most choose the middle - not least because the green hangs to the left. And then the final: hole 18, 437 yards, dogleg right, water again. If you tee off too far to the left, you are faced with an approach over the wet element. If you stay to the right, you can relax and attack the green over land - a finish in the spirit of True Blue.

Despite the sporting challenges, the golfing experience always remains in the foreground. The course is flat and theoretically easy to walk - yet many players use the cart to enjoy music, drinks and the sweeping views. True Blue is golf in its most American form: generous, entertaining and perfectly staged. And this is precisely the strength of the course: it challenges without overtaxing and delivers a visual spectacle that you won't soon forget. With True Blue, Mike Strantz has once again proven that great golf design can offer variety even in the smallest of spaces.