What Happens When Golf Becomes Quiet at Anson Point | James Swift

WEBVTT
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Are you ready to live an active lifestyle?
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Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms.
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Today's episode is a special one.
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On January 2nd, the Friday to remember, we officially opened Anson Point, the newest golf course here at Palmetto Bluff.
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This isn't just another course, it's about connection to the land, thoughtful design, and the experience of walking, playing, and being present in nature.
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Today I have the pleasure of being joined with the director of golf operations, James Swift.
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He's here for the first time on the podcast, and we're ready to dive into his journey, his philosophy, and the overall vision behind Anson Point.
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James, great to have you here.
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Welcome.
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Thanks so much for having me, Jeff.
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Appreciate it.
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It's finally nice to finally get here with you.
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I know, I know.
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We've been trying to get you in here since you joined the team, and I'm so grateful that we can uh not only hear more about your background, but talk all things Anson Point.
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Well, you know, it's one of three, but it's the newest one.
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So let's let's uh let's find out more about it, right?
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Yeah, we're gonna get into it.
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So to start, for listeners who may not know you yet, what's your role at Palmetto Bluff and why does the opening of Anson Point feel so meaningful?
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So my main role here is uh as the director of golf club operations.
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So I kind of oversee all three facilities, both May River, Crossroads, and now Anson Point.
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Um cover a lot of territory, if you can imagine.
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Um 20,000 acres becomes rather large.
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But my job is to really kind of be um, you know, the the person that comes in and makes sure that operations are basically proceeding as as normal.
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We're following our operational plan.
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I'm there to be uh certainly a support mechanism for all the team members there.
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And again, you know, for me, I'm I'm the guy to kind of to go to and and and really kind of be the person that kind of gives the direction, the vision, um, and make sure that we kind of share that vision with all the team members.
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So, you know, ultimately it's uh it's a miniature general manager's job, more you know, golf specific, which really was one of the main things that drove me to kind of you know, you know, pursue the the uh the opportunity here at Po Meadow Bluff.
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So um it's been great.
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Um it's been great to work with people like Greg and Steven and now Nick uh and all of our team is uh a very special group.
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So um, but it's been a it's been an honor to be here.
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Um, you know, Anson Point becomes special because it's been a 20-year waiting period for most of the members here.
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I you know, um we uh in my year here I've heard many stories of the opening of May River and then all of the the golf-centric activities that kind of came with it, and then crossroads open up.
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But now Anson Point really kind of puts us, I would think, on a on a on a golf map of being more golf-centric uh as a community.
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Um the real special thing about it is we have a golf course now that has uh no homes on it.
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Uh it's a true walking golf course, uh, a natural golf course, and one that is very, very different than anything else we've had inside the community.
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So for me, it's been very, very meaningful for me to be a part of it, uh, to be to see the vision, to see the direction, uh, to kind of work hand in hand with uh Bill Corr and Ben Crenshaw and all the team there.
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Um so it's really neat to see it come to fruition on the second.
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It's very neat.
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Yeah.
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You've you've worked at some iconic places in golf, James.
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What experience most shaped how you think about the game and the experience around it?
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It's kind of a neat question.
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So, you know, I started in public golf.
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I I was I was uh 15 years old when I first got into golf as an outside services, a golf cart guy.
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Um but through that time, you know, one of the biggest um, you know, jobs that I've had that really kind of shaped who I was was really being a the director of tournament operations at Oakmont.
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And that was kind of an kind of I fell into that.
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You know, I showed up for my first day of work, and um the first assistant got a job at Allegheny Country Club, the second assistant got a job at uh uh at St.
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David's, and all of a sudden the job of being the director of uh tournament operations fell in my lap.
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So I had never run a member guest before, never done anything before, and it was kind of a crash course.
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And hey, you better catch up, kid.
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So um, but that you know, those two years you really taught me a lot.
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It taught me how to be a golf professional, taught me what a high-end golf operation really was, and you know, what it looked like and what elements there was to make sure that it could run efficiently.
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And then I had a great opportunity to uh, you know, get my first head job, which ideally was never supposed to be past the Mississippi River, but you know, first job, San Diego, California, uh 72 and sunny all the day, all day long, and it was uh it was a really neat experience.
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So I went out there and and that was where the experience of a private, uh high-end private club really came in.
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Because, you know, with Oakmont, you had the golf course, you had the history, you had the U.S.
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Opens, you had all that iconic type of uh details that made this the experience so special.
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And then you're creating something out of nothing in San Diego, California, other than a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean.
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Um, you're creating something from the ground up.
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So I learned more about the experience process.
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You know, what is it like when how important is it for the arrival of a guest or a member?
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And how great is the on-course experience?
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So those two big jobs really there kind of shaped where I kind of went from there.
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Um and, you know, as I came back to the East Coast and came down to the low country, um, was always looking to get back into that type of experience.
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And uh, you know, Palmodo Bluff and the new course at Answer really gave me that opportunity.
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So it was a new opportunity.
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Yeah, Palmodo Bluff's a unique place.
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And it sounds like your experience in San Diego taught you the member touch points and the member experience.
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And I've I've seen how you operate, your team operates, and and that's a big part of your job, just overseeing how that all flows uh with people walking into the the golf shop, walking in onto the course, what that uh is like for you for each of our members.
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Yeah, and it's important to make sure that those touch points are uh are kind of covered by all the staff.
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And I you can't do everything, you know you can't do everything uh you know fitness-wise, so you gotta make sure you depend on your team.
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But you know, we have a neat operational plan here where really uh that that idea of going first and and and really reaching out to whether it's a guest or a member, um, making them feel special.
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So that's uh that's that's a big part of the job.
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James, tell us a bit more about your your family life.
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Let's get a little personal here.
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I I I know your wife is also a golf professional.
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You have a daughter.
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Let's dig in there for a moment.
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Okay.
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Well, I'm lucky enough to uh have a wonderful wife, Callie, and uh she is a 25-year veteran of the PG of America.
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So um she's got me by a year.
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Um so I'll get mine next year.
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But um, we have two children, uh Del C, who is uh 21 years old, and she's a junior down at Jacksonville University.
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She's playing Division I softball.
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And I have my son is Andrew, who's 15, uh, who is a golfer.
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Um, you know, again, dad doesn't know all the answers about golf, but he is playing golf.
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Mom's trying to help, so we're uh we're we're we're you know we're developing in that uh in that arena.
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But he also plays uh volleyball for the for the high school team.
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So multi-sport athletes, which is nice.
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Um don't want to specialize too soon.
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No, no, you know, and uh being well-rounded is good.
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It's not a bad, and having options is good.
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But um, you know, ideally I met my wife uh in Charlotte.
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She was an assistant at Charlotte Country Club.
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I was an assistant at Carmel, and uh she had just got done playing the futures tour.
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Um, so you know, we just uh we hit it off and and start a relationship there and ideally went back to her hometown and her home club of Oakmont Country Club.
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So uh, you know, Callie was actually one of the first female members there at Oakmont and is the boys' club champion as well.
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So it was neat kind of going back to her home and seeing that culture uh and just really kind of getting that experience together was nice.
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But uh yeah, so from there we went out and worked in San Diego together for about seven years.
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Um, and we're still married, which is great.
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Which is great.
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Like-minded relationships usually work out, yeah.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And she was it was a pleasure, but uh yeah, I got a very special person at home, and um the kids are awesome, and it's just we're it's just great to have that support network at home.
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Yeah, yeah, I I couldn't agree more, Lindsay.
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My wife being in nutrition, uh, it's just kind of kind of gels and it's always been a big part of our relationship.
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James golf, it seems like it's been part of your life, you know, since you were playing junior golf, Queens University.
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You played golf uh for four years there.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Yeah, it was it was kind of funny, you know.
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We when I left uh West Palm Beach really to get away from Florida as fast as possible.
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And uh, you know, I applied to nine schools in North Carolina because, you know, you know, with Pinehurst and all those things, and I knew very little about what golf was all about in the Carolinas, but uh fell into Queens, a first-year golf program, so I knew it was gonna play, which is really was important to me.
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And you know, just fell in love with you know the South, really honestly.
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Uh Charlotte was an incredible town in the 90s and the developing with the Bank of America coming in, and then we'd spend our weekends coming down here.
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So ideally, I was always gonna end up in the low country, it just depends where, between Charleston and Sea Island somewhere.
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So um Hill became the spot.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Yeah, I um I I just give it up for individuals who were athletic in college and played uh college sports.
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Pretty epic, man.
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It was neat.
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It was a neat experience.
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Um, you know, Division II was great.
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Um it really taught me a lot about how much I didn't know about the game and how much I needed to learn.
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Um, and it was neat to see the balance between education, you know.
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The problem for us is that we missed a lot of games or, you know, a lot of activities because we were out playing or we were actually away in tournaments.
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So, you know, the college experience was still great.
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It was neat to go to a very small school, um, got to know everybody uh and had great friendships there.
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Um, but ideally, um, it kind of got me kind of kick-started in the golf business because I started working at Myers Park Country Club when I was a senior and you know, and and got into the business at that point.
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So it was a it was a kind of a neat transition.
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James, thanks so much for sharing more on your background.
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Let's jump into the vision for Anson Point.
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When Anson was first imagined, what what was the vision and what did you want golfers to feel when they step onto the course?
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So, you know, as we delve into the mind of uh Bill Corr and Ben Crenshaw, you know, their their iconic way of developing golf courses is is again in a very natural setting.
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So ideally, when we saw the land and we saw what was being developed, and at that time it was really, you know, we saw fairways, we saw green complexes, we didn't really see it uh as it is today.
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Um we saw a very natural uh setting.
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So um again, Bill always says this, and I and I I love when he says Bill Cors says this is like I wanted to make it look like a wrinkled shirt.
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Wrinkled shirt.
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So that's the idea.
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So you see the golf course in its natural topography.
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Um I've seen today, as we see the players play the golf course, I've seen balls hit, you know, and basically bounce right or left.
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So it's not that sterile uh environment you get maybe at a golf course in Florida or something, but it's very dynamic.
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So members will kind of find out where the spots where the balls will, you know, kind of chase a little bit more and things like that.
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But it you know, the vision was really a very natural, natural and walkable golf course in a in a setting that was also uh untouched.
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Um very, very few times you find um a development community build an 18-hole facility that doesn't focus around development or homes.
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And that's what makes this this project so unique.
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And I think that vision, it really kind of steps into the vision of the entire golf course, is it'll be natural forever and ever and ever.
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And it kind of ties into that conservancy that we have here in the POA.
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And uh, you know, members even today, you know, as we start, say it's so quiet, and we love that, you know, and it's it's just a very different feel.
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Um, but that that vision was really kind of what we saw first.
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And as the golf course got grassed and as it grew in, we saw it even more um as as becoming really a very special experience for our membership.
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Yeah.
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The the golf team, all of y'all, to get that going in a year's time at the level that it is today is absolutely incredible.
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And I think I think members recognize that.
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I mean, the second Anson Point opened up, the next uh week of classes that we've experienced, everybody's talking about it.
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Yeah.
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Well, I can't, you know, I can't thank Adam uh Dywert and his team.
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Um, you know, he built Crossroads and then um they sent him right down to Bill Anson.
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I think Yeah, I remember that.
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This is the first time I think Adam's actually had an office in three years.
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So um i he he needs to really see a lot of the accolades of what what that golf course has become.
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You know, he's really he's taken it, he's developed it, his team was a part of it.
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We you know, we know there are many elements in to in creating a golf course, but Adam was really there from the start to finish.
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His team did a fantastic job.
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And, you know, and uh under the guidance of Chris Johnson, who's our director of agronomy, who's been here for 20 years, I mean, we really see that that love and that commitment come from what they've done at May River and Crossroads come down to Anson as well.
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Yeah.
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When you talk to both Chris and Adam, you can just see it in their eyes.
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You can see the passion, their commitment to to the land.
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And I love that you touched on the connection to the low country and this minimalist approach.
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It's it it sounds like the goal is for there to be serenity out there and to be quiet.
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And um, if I understand it correctly, it's 500 acres.
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Tell us a little bit more detail.
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What's the par?
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So, yeah, so the the property is about 500 acres.
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The golf course sits on about 160.
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Um, we are lucky enough to have a very dynamic golf course that has five par threes and then four par fives, the rest par four.
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So par 71.
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Um, you go out in 35 and in in 36.
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And um, you know, it's it's just a really neat routing.
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Um it it it's kind of we have a center of the golf course, which is which is really kind of cool.
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We have uh we're awaiting the open of the roost, which is gonna be our our turnhouse.
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It's gonna be called the roost.
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It's called the roost, and you know, kind of tying in again with that, you know, our logo being the turkey and also the conservancy.
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Um, but it's great.
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You you you're able to hit it after hole number one, after number seven, and then after number fourteen, you know.
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So it's really nice to have that that that experience that you see at other great properties like Discovery Land or DMB or you know, Lyle Anderson properties and things, you know.
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That it's it's we're really gonna have a food and beverage experience in addition to a golf experience experience out there.
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So I know Rye Waddington and his team are really excited to kick that off and to get that uh that kind of next stage in the experience.
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So that's that's really our next big thing for the experience part of the golf course is to having that food and beverage element out there.
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But ideally, it's a great walk.
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And the neat thing about the golf course, too, kind of touching on that, the 160 acres, I think of the 18 holes we have, we have 10 holes that basically where the green or to T walk is less than 50 yards or 15 yards.
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I mean, it's really nice to walk off one hole onto the next.
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So extremely playable.
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Yeah, so that we've heard it from the membership, just very walkable golf course.
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Um, and and again, uh, you know, a beautiful walk.
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I keep hearing that.
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It's becoming repetitive.
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Wow.
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And uh I I I'll commend y'all on make making sure that everything's close by so that we're encouraging walking to keep everybody healthy out there and out of those golf carts.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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We want to make sure we promote health and well-being here.
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Um and I think your membership, uh, your efforts are showing without question.
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Um, because it's the best way to walk, the best way to play the golf course.
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I mean, when we in the early days, you know, the the the first early rounds we had there where we had walking caddies, I mean, that really makes that uh that experience spectacular, you know, having you know, not worrying about left or right or car paths or car path only, or you know, just a natural walk.
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Um, you know, that really painted the picture of what the experience should be.
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Yeah.
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James, I couldn't agree more.
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Growing up as a golfer, I'm an atrocious golfer now for the record, but growing up as a golfer, I would always notice a difference in my play and my experience if I wrote a cart versus walked.
00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:48.639
Right.
00:15:48.799 --> 00:16:03.200
It's it's kind of you're able to be with yourself and just to understand with the non-residential aspect around the course, man, it just probably allows people to be in the moment and to be uh with the people that they're playing with and just a different experience.
00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:09.120
Yeah, and I mean members have pointed out you know, points of interest on the golf course that we really never saw from the cark path when we did the tours.
00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:17.840
I think we have we had one, uh we had one situation where um a member came to me and said, Hey, there's there's an old uh one of those old oaks, those kind of ghost oaks.
00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:21.759
So it's rubbing against another tree and uh it's making a hole in it.
00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:23.039
So we had to go take care of that, you know.
00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:24.399
But people get more perceptive.
00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:33.039
So that that quiet, kind of nature-oriented experience has really kind of brought some neat things out with the membership.
00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:41.039
James, what was opening day like for you personally and what feedback has stood out most since January 2nd?
00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:43.919
So, you know, it was nervous anticipation, right?
00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:45.360
You know, nervous excitement.
00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:46.960
Um, we'd worked very hard.
00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:51.039
Um, as with everything in construction, things come down to the wire, you know.
00:16:51.200 --> 00:17:19.039
So, um, but I think uh what we really got, which was really was really very, very refreshing, was not only was the was the feedback on the golf course extremely positive, the feedback on the team that we assembled down there was extremely positive with, you know, Shelby Duckett down down and her team relative to the food and beverage manager position and our new chef, um, all the outside services uh staff that we had hired, our new golf professional team, you know, all that came together.
00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:27.279
And that was the biggest kind of surprise of how many comments I got from the membership of how caring and how um, you know, how service-oriented the team was down there.
00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:28.960
And then the golf experience was great.
00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:35.440
So um, you know, I think there's always details we have to kind of fix, like walking paths and garbage cans and those things like that.
00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:45.359
But at the end of the day, it was it was a very special week, weekend, uh, and just you know, kind of centered by a lot of great comments from the membership and the team coming together, which was really neat.
00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:48.000
James, it sounds like you were very proud.
00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:53.839
Uh obviously there's always improvements, but uh here see the reaction from your team had to be pretty special.
00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:54.720
I was thankful.
00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:56.160
You know, I you know, proud's one thing.
00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:59.359
I mean we knew we had a lot of talent, but it was I was thankful it all came together.
00:17:59.519 --> 00:17:59.599
Yeah.
00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:01.440
And sometimes that has to happen organically.
00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:02.480
It can't be forced, you know.
00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:03.599
It's you gotta let it happen.
00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:04.000
Yeah.
00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:10.559
Well, it's it's a great team down there, and you know, we could spend a whole hour on the podcast just talking about how amazing our team is.
00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:15.039
Golf at Palma de Blue feels like part of a broader lifestyle here.
00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:19.039
How does Anson Point fit into that bigger picture?
00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:28.799
You know, I think it really puts us on the map as a golf, you know, as a possibly as a golf-centric, you know, not I would say a golf-centric community, because we have so much more.
00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.759
Um, but it's certainly a a true golf community, I think.
00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:39.279
Um, you know, I know uh May River has been the flagship for almost 20, 20 some odd years, 21 years.
00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:44.559
And, you know, having another golf course, another 18-hole facility complement it is great.
00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:52.240
Uh, and then crossroads adds an element that is so unique and and and something that we see coming more and more common.
00:18:52.400 --> 00:19:02.880
So the neat thing about Anson coming on on board, it's not necessarily specifically scheduled to Anson, but the fact that we have three major golf facilities that are no one else has in the area.
00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:05.039
So that's that's very it's very special.
00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:09.839
So I think that kind of puts us in a different a different category as far as a developed community assume.
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:16.000
Because you know, Pomido Bluff ideally is so much different than anything down 278 or north of us or south of us.
00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:18.960
There's some similarities, similar properties, but not not the same.
00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:34.799
But Ansing really lets us kind of have that special private experience tied into another special private experience at Crossroads and May River that has a resort component, but I think it really kind of gives us a well-rounded and very unique um label as a property.
00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:41.279
That private experience is different because the the busyness of the low country, everyone is coming here now.
00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:49.359
And I do think that's a great point that this this gets people kind of away from that action, and it is a members only course.
00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:49.839
Right.
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:50.160
Right.
00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:54.400
And it and I think it really takes some it takes I I love it as a we kind of kid, you know.
00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:57.359
Hey, you're you're you're leaving for the you're going back to civilization, right?
00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:59.279
So is that what you guys joke about?
00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:24.400
about that you know because you know watch out for the turkeys and all those things like that and all the deer but yeah it is kind of a you you step away from from the business right you get you go down there you're committed right um you're sell cell coverage is improved but it's not fantastic it's getting there um but it does give them a kind of a step away I think some people in the range is just I still love it's so quiet and you know it's just and it's just us so um that's become very special to everybody.
00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:50.559
Well as a wellness guy I I love hearing that because it's it's more uh it's more becoming normal to start to think about the software side of fitness where we need to be slowing down we need to focus on breath work meditation and practicing self-care and I almost see golf and being in a private community connection the nature the the the peace that Anthem point affords is is is an aspect aspect of wellness.
00:20:50.880 --> 00:21:05.119
Absolutely yeah I think it's just you know people live very busy lives you know especially our members here you know coming from all parts of the country and I think having the ability to step away and into an environment where you do have kind of a disconnect um is important.
00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:07.839
You know and you see it people seem to be happier you know down there.
00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:13.039
I mean I'm not sure if the air is different down there or what have you but um people seem to really be very positive.
00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:19.519
You know I've always found when we can put the cell phones away when we can disconnect as you said happiness ensues.
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:20.880
It's a pretty cool experience.
00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:27.839
It does I walk away from that phone I get worried something no I can understand in your role that that being a little bit stressful.
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:42.799
James let's let's go super philosophical high level here looking ahead the legacy of of Anson point when you when you look five or ten years down the road what do you hope Anson Point represents for Palmetto Bluff?
00:21:43.279 --> 00:22:30.720
I you know my hope is that it it represents you know again I think an increased experience for our membership a private experience I think there are several phases that we're gonna deal with um or we're gonna kind of we're gonna kind of step up on those ladders basically as we open the new turnhouse or the roost you know and probably you know midsummer to early fall we open up the cottage which will be another food and beverage component you know we'll see an increase in that service level those touch points and we're hoping you know 10 years down the road that you know all of a sudden you know Anson becomes that getaway as Anson development and Thais and the marina start to energize that all of a sudden this becomes this really neat kind of epicenter of the community.
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:41.440
Just like Wilson was when we first started and just like Moreland has become as it's developed I think it's you know it's gonna be neat to see the traffic patterns as everything kind of increases.
00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:45.839
But yeah, I mean 10 years down the road you know love to see you know Clubhouse, all that good stuff.
00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:49.759
All the things that everybody asked me about when's it coming, when's it coming when's it coming?
00:22:50.000 --> 00:23:04.240
But I think you'll see Anson's experience change in the next five years as we develop from you know uh the the the trailer or the cart mine we're in right now Turnhouse cottage and then ultimately down the road clubhouse.
00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:09.680
So man, how fun is that going to be for you your team just to see that evolution?
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:36.960
It's it's a neat it's a neat evolution um it comes with with growing pains and you know we're working in an area that's you know primarily dirt right now so dirt's our enemy um but as we progress you know I think the thing I you know you've made it when you hear the staff say remember when you know we worked out of a trailer remember when we didn't have the turnouts remember when we were in the cottage and that means they've stayed with you for that long and they're a part of the community and um you know that's what makes you special.
00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:37.759
Yeah.
00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:42.799
James programming events Ashley does an incredible job.
00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:47.359
Any thoughts about what that's going to look like at Anson at this time?
00:23:47.680 --> 00:24:24.000
Yeah I you know with uh with the tournament skills we have which is very well balanced um we don't have too many and and we always can do a few more I think at Anson we're really going to focus on trying to uh do a couple different things now you know I think we've really wanted to do two member guests so one in the spring one in the fall we'll try to make sure we um you know capture the best conditions of both May River and Anson for our spring member guests which will kind of evolve into the cane break and then it gives us a special opportunity to kind of maybe do something different in the fall which would be more so focused down to Anson and could have both golf courses.
00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:37.519
But the nice thing we can do with now a second 18 and another great nine hole golf course is we can have more participation, make sure we can accommodate that member demand and make sure we can grow with a growing membership.
00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:50.079
So um I expect to do a lot of fun things I know couples, all those all those things that people want as a traditional club, I think it's very important and we start to we'll start to indoctrinate those down at at Anson point.
00:24:50.319 --> 00:25:04.480
But I think what's really important to remember is there's a balance and you know with our membership that is extremely able to travel and as this may not be the primary home we want to make sure that they can have access to their golf course.
00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:10.160
So you'll see programming really be sensitive to that down there to make sure that their golf course is available as much as we can.
00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:27.839
James this has been a fantastic conversation it's in point it's it's not just about golf it's it's very intentional the way you've described it today uh how the land's respected I love the the t-shirt wrinkle that we want to see that that that's that is a soundbite for sure.
00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:34.559
And you and your team have created something that it it it does invite people to slow down to be present to enjoy the game in a thoughtful way.
00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:50.240
So for anyone who hasn't played it yet I hope this conversation gives a sense of what makes Ansome Point special for those of you out there our members who have played it we'd we'd love to continue to hear your feedback as Anson Point evolves.
00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:56.079
And uh James thank you for sharing your story and vision behind the course thank you for having me appreciate it very much.
00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:56.799
It's been great.
00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:18.559
You're very welcome thanks for uh listening everyone and please remember to hang around for a few more minutes and get some healthy momentum for the rest of your week as I listened to James share about the opening of Ants and Point it brought up two powerful feelings for me.
00:26:18.880 --> 00:27:14.880
The first is what it feels like when something you've worked on quietly consistently day after day finally comes to fruition most people only see the finished product they see the ribbon cutting the Friday opening day the first round played but they don't see the early mornings the problem solving the patience or the moments where progress felt slow or maybe even invisible and when you finally stand back and look at it the feeling isn't just pride though pride is there it's gratitude as James said it's humility it's the deep satisfaction of knowing that effort mattered those moments they remind us that good things take time and meaningful work is rarely loud while it's happening momentum is built long before it's visible.
00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:40.400
The second feeling that came up for me is something we don't talk about enough disconnection the feeling that golfers are having at Anson point being out there disconnected and James's joke of going back to civilization after their round being disconnected from constant noise from schedules from notifications it does something powerful to us.
00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:52.640
It quiets the mind it reconnects us to nature especially if we're walking and playing golf and it creates a sense of peace that is hard to manufacture any other way.
00:27:53.920 --> 00:28:20.640
Places like Anthem Point don't just offer an experience they invite us to slow down to be present to remember what it feels like to breathe deeply and focus on what's right in front of us and that's the reminder I want to leave you with today healthy momentum isn't just about pushing forward it's about knowing when to pause reflect and reconnect and sometimes pausing and reconnecting just with yourself.
00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:56.079
It's also about honoring the work you've done and creating space to feel grounded along the way so for this week take a moment to acknowledge something that you've been working toward even if it's not finished yet and just as importantly a small pocket of disconnection step outside be still let your mind quiet this balance I'm describing between effort and presence is where real momentum lives.
00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:12.319
And remember to actively participate in life on your terms