Between the Blue Ridge topography and the coastal plain lies one of the most rewarding design environments in the Southeast — the South Carolina foothills.
Rolling red-clay soils, mixed hardwood canopies, and subtle elevation shifts define courses like Holly Tree, Fox Run, and 3’s Greenville.
For Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA, and Lawrence Golf Design, these landscapes aren’t just topographic challenges — they’re laboratories for the balance between classic shaping and modern performance.
“Upstate courses live in transition,” Lawrence explains. “They sit between mountain and coastal systems, so every design decision has to manage water, light, and growth simultaneously.”
Greenville-area terrain rarely offers the extremes of mountain golf, but its micro-slopes and clay subsoils can amplify even small drainage errors.
During Master Plan work at Holly Tree CC, Jeff Lawrence understood the hydraulic modeling to manage how stormwater moved through low-lying areas.
That analysis guided a full green-complex redesign and tee renovation, where each green complex was redesigned just enough to enhance drainage without altering the course’s original design characteristics.
Piedmont red clay is dense, rich, and famously impermeable.
Lawrence Golf Design uses a three-layer approach to mitigate those limitations:
At Holly Tree Country Club, these methods turned formerly saturated corridors into year-round playable ground.
Greenville’s mixed climate — cool winters, humid summers — demands greens that breathe.
Jeff Lawrence’s 18-hole Master Plan at Holly Tree and consulting at 3’s Greenville focused on orienting greens for airflow and morning light, reducing turf stress on back-nine holes shaded by mature pines.
Each redesign paired agronomic upgrades with subtle artistic refinements:
Foothill bunkers endure a dual assault — downhill washouts and contamination from heavy rain events. Jeff Lawrence’s bunker work at Holly Tree CC and Pine Lake CC demonstrates how construction detail can preserve artistry.
The results are bunkers that retain their crispness after storms yet fit naturally within the red-earth palette of Upstate South Carolina.
Tree density in the foothills can both frame and suffocate golf.
Lawrence’s plans emphasize selective clearing that restores airflow and reveals dormant vistas rather than wholesale removal.
The approach at Holly Tree and Pine Lake opened corridors for sunlight and turf recovery while retaining the mature tree lines that define each course’s character.
Greenville’s golf culture increasingly values versatility — quick-play formats, practice loops, and social golf.
Lawrence Golf Design’s work at 3’s Greenville illustrates this evolution.
By renovating the par-3 layout and refining bunker and green contours, the course now balances fun, flow, and turf sustainability — proof that serious architecture can thrive at any scale.
Foothill design favors endurance over flash. Lawrence Golf Design integrates native buffers, reduced-mow zones, and storm-event infiltration areas to minimize irrigation and improve water quality.
These measures not only cut maintenance costs but also strengthen the environmental credentials clubs now need for long-term viability.
“Efficiency is design,” Lawrence emphasizes. “If a course maintains itself naturally, that’s the highest compliment.”
Across the Greenville region, Lawrence Golf Design’s projects share a common goal — enhancing each course while providing a sustainable footprint for the long-terms success of each project.
Whether rebuilding greens at Holly Tree, shaping bunkers at Pickens, or refining drainage at 3’s Greenville, every project proves that good design and good maintenance need to co-exist.
The red-clay soils and rolling piedmont contours may test engineers, but they reward architects who respect and listen to the land.
Foothill golf renovation is about precision within restraint — understanding water, soil, and slope so completely that players only notice how natural everything feels.