Mount Vintage addition praised

Tom Jackson has designed dozens of golf courses in a career that spans more than four decades.

So when he ranks his latest effort, the Independent nine at Mount Vintage Plantation and Golf Club, among his five favorites, it must be pretty special.

"The end result was very good. I'm well pleased with the effort," Jackson said Tuesday.

"It was our goal to try to maintain same character in the third nine that we had in the other two nines."

Jackson designed the original 18 at Mount Vintage, which opened in 2000. The latest nine opened Saturday to rave reviews from the club's members.

The Independent nine features several unique holes, and water comes into play on six of them.

Jackon's favorite stretch begins with the par-4 fifth hole, which can play 472 yards from the back tee. It features a dogleg left that "almost has the same character as (No.) 13 at Augusta (National Golf Club)," Jackson said. "The green is set in there very nicely."

The sixth hole, a par 4 of 460 yards from the tips, is another dogleg left that features a large pond in the corner of the dogleg.

The signature hole for the Independent nine is the par-3 eighth. A waterfall cascades from the back tee area all the way down the hole into a large pond that guards the green.

"There's a lot of water, and a lot of elevation," Jackson said. "You're really going to be enjoying that part of the golf course."

The new nine has five sets of tees and plays to a par of 36. It measures 2,634 yards from the senior tees to 3,614 from the back tees. For women, the course plays 2,335 yards.

The Independent nine features the same kind of stonework on bridges and around water that is found on the original 18.

Jackson said the project cost a little more than $4 million. But he said it was well worth it.

"I think it's going to be the most beautiful nine we have," he said. "The owners were very gracious and didn't keep us from spending the money we needed to make it right."

Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 or john.boyette@augustachronicle.com.

TOP FIVE

Architect Tom Jackson's top five courses that he has designed:

- Arrowhead Country Club.........Myrtle Beach, S.C.

- Carolina Country Club......... Spartanburg, S.C.

- The Cliffs at Glassy.........Landrum, S.C.

- Links O'Tryon.........Campobello, S.C.

- Mount Vintage Plantation.........Edgefield, S.C.