Next time you're near Hilton Head be sure to check out Penny Branch Club -- well worth the drive

One problem with Hilton Head-area golf courses is that you never get the feeling you are truly in the Deep South. The resort island component is the dominating factor, so it’s easy to lose sight of the fact you are well below the Mason-Dixon Line.

Not so at the delightfully pastoral Penny Branch Club, which is in the region, but not really of the region. Heading west from the island, into the Carolina countryside of tall pines, winding roads and just the occasional filling station, Penny Branch is less than an hour from the Hilton Head Bridge, maybe 40-odd minutes west of I-95, in the hamlet of Furman, S.C.

The scenic drive is well worth it, and not just because green fees are such a trifle. Out here in the hinterlands, where the zip code might as well be E-I-E-I-O, there are no road crossings, condos, perimeter housing, or much anything in the way of artifice. It is just 18 solid golf holes meandering in a clever routing through an expansive acreage of former farmland.

Check out Penny Branch next time your golf-travel plans take you to the Carolina Lowcountry. Chances are if you make the drive once, you’ll be inclined to take the highways and byways out that direction once again.