Secession Golf Club in Beaufort, South Carolina
Playing golf at Kevin’s beloved Secession Golf Club in Beaufort, South Carolina was a perfect break from intense work on the new Terroir. While the massive presses were running – printing the pages, we were enjoying the walking-only course at Secession.
Secession is most assuredly one of the greatest golf experiences in the Lowcountry, if not all of America. A very unique aspect is that the club takes its name from the small town of Beaufort being where the original Articles of Secession from the Union were drafted in 1860.
I had the pleasure and privilege of playing Secession not once, but four times in six days. We were joined on our first round with friends from Texas, Tad Nelson and his partner Kristinna Berkland. We had great fun and some fantastic dinners with them for a few days. The final round, when it was just the two of us and we were first off that day, was the most enthralling.
Kevin and Taba at 17th hole
Two chairs are a memorial to Secession members who died in 9/11
Scrumptious salmon dish
Enchanting presence of the wild life
Starting with the giant grey heron, identified by its white head and black eye stripes that extend to slender, black feathers, standing so still on the first tee, we got a fascinating glimpse of wildlife that inhabit the tidal marshes. To make sure I knew exactly what kind of bird I was looking at, it took flight — long neck retracted in an S-shape, and skinny legs extended straight behind — it was a grey heron, no doubt!
It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I actually captured this miraculous moment. Over our several rounds, I marveled at the big group of basking turtles at the edge of the pond on the 7th hole. Here and there, the resident gators came up onto the banks of ponds, like those on the eighteenth hole.
A giant grey heron in flight over the marshes at Secession
Gators at 18th hole
Aerial view of the Secession Golf Course
Peaceful landscapes of tidal inlets and marsh land
But it was a solitary live oak that imprinted itself as a majestic symbol of the whole Secession environment of tidal inlets and marsh land. Just gazing at this tree allows all the busyness of life to dissolve.
However, it is the magical sunrise that greeted us on our way to play our final round that may leave the longest lasting impression. It is this sort of vision that enables us to realize why the French artists of the late 19th century strove to capture the light. In doing so, they showed us how our lives are composed of countless fleeting moments.
And so, as I often say, travel is transformational…
