Pawleys Island, S.C. – Thirty-two collegiate golf teams from across the nation are gearing up to play Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue Golf Club, two of America’s top 100 resort courses, as part of the Golfweek Challenge.
The 54-hole event will be held September 10-12 with 14 women’s teams playing at Caledonia while 18 men’s teams will challenge True Blue. Schools from Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific are traveling to the area to play the highly acclaimed Mike Strantz designs in hopes of starting their 2023-24 season with an early victory.
“We are looking forward to welcoming some of the nation’s best college golfers to True Blue and Caledonia,” said General Manager Bob Seganti. “With our busy fall golf season on the immediate horizon, both courses are in fantastic shape and prepared to identify the best men’s and women’s teams in the field.”
The men’s field will feature: Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Stephen F. Austin, Western Carolina, Wright State, Presbyterian College, Charleston Southern, Richmond, Loyola-Marymount, New Orleans, Washington State and Jacksonville.
The women’s field will feature: Eastern Washington, Campbell, Central Arkansas, Texas A&M Commerce, East Carolina, Jacksonville State, Stephen F. Austin, Lipscomb, Morehead State, Delaware, Florida Atlantic, Charleston Southern, Richmond, East Tennessee State, UNC Wilmington, Alabama-Birmingham, New Mexico State and Winthrop.
Caledonia and True Blue, both ranked among America’s Top 100 Resort Courses by Golfweek magazine, will offer contrasting tests to the nation’s next generation of stars. Caledonia will demand a combination of power and precision from the women who challenge the layout that launched Strantz’ brief but storied career.
From the opening tee shot through the 18th hole, a par 4 widely regarded as one of golf’s most memorable finishing holes, Caledonia’s combination of natural beauty and outstanding architecture are a powerful draw for teams traveling from as far away as Los Angeles, California.
While Caledonia’s Lowcountry beauty provides a timeless appeal, True Blue is a more rugged design. The layout’s massive fairways are framed by native waste bunkers, providing visual contrast and challenge.
True Blue’s greens are large and undulating, allowing the course staff to dramatically change the type of challenge players will face with pin placement. While the talk of large fairways and greens could lead one to believe True Blue is a bomber’s paradise, for the young collegiate stars to go low, they will have to play to the proper spots in the fairway and on those greens.