BRIAN OAR - FAIRWAYS PHOTOGRAPHY

Pawleys Island, S.C. — The ever-popular fall golf season along South Carolina’s Hammock Coast will begin with some of game’s best young players challenging two of the area’s best courses, Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue Golf Club.

The two Mike Strantz designs will be hosting Golfweek’s Fall Challenge, an event that will bring 34 collegiate golf teams – 20 women, 14 men – to the Hammock Coast for the 36-hole event September 11-13. Teams will descend on Georgetown County from as far away as California and New Mexico to compete on a pair of top 100 caliber public courses.

Women will play at Caledonia while the men will challenge True Blue.

Caledonia, a consensus top 100 layout, plays through a stunning piece of Lowcountry property as sprawling live oak trees draped in Spanish moss frame a layout that is universally lauded. The course was Strantz’ first solo design and it rocketed him to stardom.

A par 70, Caledonia will challenge some of America’s best women’s teams to produce their best golf on a layout that rewards precision.

Conversely, True Blue is a big golf course from the jump. The fairways, greens and waste bunkers are among the largest in all of South Carolina and so are the rewards. There is plenty of room to hit the ball at True Blue, but golfers must play to the proper spots to maximize their chances to score, a challenge the men’s teams will take on.

The women’s teams competing in the Golfweek Fall Challenge are Cal Baptist, Illinois-Chicago, Winthrop, Gardner-Webb, Tennessee Tech, Jacksonville State, Stephen F. Austin, Georgetown, UNCW, Campbell, Presbyterian College, Austin Peay, Wofford, Morehead State, New Mexico State, Delaware, East Tennessee State, Lipscomb, USC Upstate and Appalachian State.

The men’s field will include Gardner-Webb, Presbyterian, Stephen F. Austin, Southern Indiana, Incarnate Word, Austin Peay, Delaware, Wright State, Tennessee Tech, Queens, Temple, Samford, Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State.

Home to 12 award-winning courses, the Hammock Coast is one of America’s most popular golf destinations, highlighted by layouts like Caledonia, True Blue, Pawleys Plantation and Heritage Club. The Waccamaw Golf Trail package, which allows golfers to choose among all 12 layouts is the area’s most popular.

For more information, visit HammockCoastSC.com.