Tag: Congaree Golf Club

Fifteen of the world’s top-20 players, including defending champion Rory McIlroy, will tee it up at next week’s CJ Cup

We’re set for an action-packed week in South Carolina.

The field for the 2022 CJ Cup is official and we’re in for a treat.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy is among six of the world’s top-10 players and 15 of the top 20 headed to Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina.

McIlroy hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since winning the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup but has made three starts on the DP World Tour, finishing inside the top five in all three (T-2, 4, T-4).

In fact, since his silver medal at the Masters, McIlroy’s only finish outside the top 20 is a missed cut at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who made his pickleball debut with Jordan Spieth Thursday night, tied for 38th at The Summit Club last season.

Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Matt Fitzpatrick are the other four top-10 players teeing it up in South Carolina.

Rickie Fowler, who’s currently tied for the lead at the Zozo Championship after two rounds, is in the field thanks to a sponsor’s exemption. Fowler played with McIlroy in the final group last season, eventually tying for third.

Congaree Golf Club, a par-72 track that will measure around 7,400 yards, hosted the 2021 Palmetto Championship, an event won by Garrick Higgo.

The first CJ Cup was held in 2017 at Nine Bridges in Korea, but was moved to Las Vegas in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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PGA Tour’s CJ Cup moves to a Golfweek’s Best course in South Carolina

Congaree, which previously hosted a PGA Tour event in 2021, ranks No. 22 on Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses list.

PGA Tour pros can expect to face a challenging architectural test at this year’s CJ Cup.

The Tour and CJ Group officials announced Wednesday that the CJ Cup will be contested at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina, the week of October 20-23, and change its name to the CJ Cup in South Carolina.

Congaree, which previously hosted a PGA Tour event in 2021, ranks No. 22 on Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses list.

The tournament was launched as Korea’s first official PGA Tour tournament in 2017 and was played for three consecutive years at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island before being relocated to the U.S. due to the challenges of COVID-19.

This will be the first time the tournament will be played in the Southeast region of the U.S. following the staging of the tournament in Las Vegas, first at Shadow Creek Golf Course in 2020 and The Summit Club in 2021.

The fall event will feature a 78-man field comprised of five players designated by the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), as well as the top-3 available players of Korean nationality from the Official World Golf Ranking as part of CJ Group’s vision to support the development of professional golf in Korea. The remainder of the field will be made up of the leading players from the 2021-22 FedEx Cup points list and sponsor exemptions. There will be no 36-hole cut.

Congaree, a Tom Fazio design, is located about an hour northwest of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Garrick Higgo won the Palmetto Championship at Congaree in June of 2021. According to the Tour’s news release, the course was built to challenge the world’s top golfers and has earned widespread praise among PGA Tour players.

Garrick Higgio
Garrick Higgo kisses the trophy after winning the Palmetto Championship at Congaree Golf Club. (David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)

“It’s 100-percent playable to all golfers,” said South Carolina native Lucas Glover in 2021. “It’s designed that way. It’s a good test for a good player and a fair test for an average to high handicapper.”

Built on a former plantation, the course was designed to play fast and firm. Read more about the course and enjoy our photo gallery here.

Your 2021 picks: Our top 10 golf course architecture/travel stories (No. 1 is a famous track reincarnated)

There are some really beautiful courses featured on this list of the top golf travel stories.

As you’re relaxing during the holiday break, taking stock of your year in golf and thinking about where you might play in 2022, we figured this would be a good time to run through the numbers and tally up which travel stories drew your attention.

For the final days of 2021, we’re offering up a snapshot of the top 10 stories from each of Golfweek’s most popular sections, including travel, the PGA and LPGA tours, instruction and amateur golf. Here’s what we’ve already counted down.

Here’s a look at the top 10 golf travel stories, as clicked on by you (we should note, this doesn’t include lists, which will be featured on Friday):

What did Chesson Hadley do after ‘giant dumpster fire’ finish at Palmetto Championship? He went to Bojangles.

Chicken and biscuits saved the day.

“Giant dumpster fire of a finish yesterday.”

That’s what Chesson Hadley had to say about his final-round performance Sunday at the Palmetto Championship. Looking for his first PGA Tour win since the 2014 Puerto Rico Open, the 33-year-old began the day with a four-shot lead and ended his round at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina, with three consecutive bogeys to sign for a 4-over 75 and finish T-2 at 10 over, one shot behind winner Garrick Higgo.

How did he deal with the defeat? By going to Bojangles, of course.

On Monday morning the 2014 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year took to Twitter to react to his performance, have a little fun at his own putter’s expense and shoutout a sponsor.

Palmetto: Leaderboard | Prize money | Photos | Winner’s bag

Hadley has represented Bojangles, a fast-food restaurant that’s popular in the Southeastern United States, since 2014 and rocks its logo on his shirt collar. One could say he got a thigh of his own supply after the round.

“On a more serious note, this week was tremendous for me. It was great to get into the mix again and feel some things I haven’t felt in a while,” Hadley replied to the original tweet. “Thank you to everyone who encouraged and supported me. I am looking forward to getting after it the rest of the year.”

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Garrick Higgo earns first PGA Tour win at Palmetto Championship in second start

Higgo won his second start on Tour.

Garrick Higgo is on an absolute tear.

The 22-year-old from Johannesburg, South Africa, earned his third win in as many months – and first of his PGA Tour career in just his second start – on Sunday at the 2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Higgo won at 11 under, one shot clear of Chesson Hadley.

Higgo, a former UNLV Rebel, shot a 3-under 68 in the final round to finish in the clubhouse at 11 under. Hadley, who held a four-shot lead to start the day, made bogey on No. 17 to drop back into a tie for first with Higgo with one to play. The 2014 Puerto Rico Open champion then made a bogey on the 18th, earning Higgo his fourth win since September 2020 (the previous three came on the European Tour).

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