The state of South Carolina is jam packed with top tier golf. However, the capital city of Columbia does not often enter the conversation when it comes to great golf in the Palmetto state. That changes today, as we discuss the some premium golf at Forest Lake Club. The course lives up to its name by providing a heavy dose of forest and delivering the lake on the 17th and 18th holes.
At its core, Forest Lake Club is a place for families where everyone can enjoy the game. By modern standards, the golf course is short and most importantly, the golf course is fun. The greens bring the majority of the challenge as they are small, smooth and have some pretty good undulation. You can easily find yourself short sided and staring down bogey on what you thought was an easy golf hole. Please enjoy this photograph ride through one of Columbia’s finest clubs.
Hole #1 - Par 5 - 458 yards
Based on yardage alone, you might think that the first hole offers an easy opportunity to reach this par 5 in two shots. However, a sharp dogleg, a chute of trees and a pond near the green will find most golfers laying back. Opting for a short club into the green is the most common approach and probably the smartest. The pond will gobble up everything the misses right or long.
The entrance into Forest Lake Club
The view from behind the 1st hole.
Hole #2 - Par 4 - 362 yards
The second hole gives the golfer a good chance to settle into the round with a short uphill par 4. A trio of fairway bunkers will challenge the drive and a pair of green-side bunkers will come into play on the approach. There are plenty of these short par 4’s coming your way.
Hole #3 - Par 5 - 515 yards
The 3rd hole is one of the most fun and creative holes on the property. A good drive will set you up to carry the creek bisecting the fairway with your second shot and potentially reach the green. Most golfers will lay out to the right and play a wedge into the tiered green.
The 3rd hole also also features the most interesting hazard on the golf course. Five church pew style bunkers line the left hand side of the landing area. Unless you are taking photographs, you are wise to avoid these bunkers at all costs.
Hole #4 - Par 4 - 402 yards
The first big challenge at Forest Lake comes on the fourth hole. Anything left will find the woods and potentially out of bounds. There is some room to the right of the fairway but a bunker and some trees will challenge any wayward tee shots. The green can also prove difficult depending on the pin position.
Hole #5 - Par 4 -373 yards
The 5th hole is a straight forward par 4. The main challenge here are the trees that pinch in pretty tight on the fairway. You can elect to lay back with an iron or utility wood, but I would just bomb driver down there and take your chances. The green is protected by a trio of bunkers. A back pin position here is probably the most difficult.
Hole #6 - Par 3 - 218 yards
The longest par 3 at Forest Lake requires one mighty golf shot to find the putting surface. There are no bunkers on this golf hole, but a series of swales surrounding the green can still provide a decent amount of interest. A ridge bisecting the green can make for some difficult pin positions.
Hole #7 - Par 4 - 408 yards
The seventh hole is another straight forward situation. A big drive can carry the lone fairway bunker on the left hand side and a successful drive will leave a medium or short iron into the green. Like many others at Forest Lake, the 7th green is small and can provide a decent amount of challenge with pins tucked into the corners.
Hole #8 - Par 3 - 160 yards
The 8th at Forest Lake is our first short par 3 and gives us a great chance for a quick birdie two. The pines, pond and southern charm do their best to remind the golfer of the 16th hole at Augusta. I did the math and these two golf holes are only 81.3 miles away from each other.
Hole #9 - Par 4 - 316 yards
The front nine finishes with a heavy dose of character. The tee shot challenges the golfer with a suprisingly narrow chute of trees. The long ball hitter can choose to run one up on or near the green, but most golfers will be happy to find the fairway and play a wedge into the green. Another small putting surface protected by 4 bunkers can make things challenging for those missing the green.
Hole #10 - Par 5 - 450 yards
For the long ball driver, this par 5 will feel much more like a par 4 and provides a great opportunity to make an easy birdie. There are a series of reachable par 5’s at Forest Lake and this is probably the most reachable. A good drive can leave you just a mid iron into this green which is perched along the edge of pond. Be careful when missing right, that water can sneak up on you real fast.
Hole #11 - Par 3 - 196 yards
The 11th hole is a stout and gorgeous par 3 that plays over a small pond. The water isn’t really in play but adds a nice visual touch to the first par 3 on the back nine. A pair of bunkers guard the green to the left and to the right.
Hole #12 - Par 4 - 418 yards
Some holes at Forest Lake are more photogenic than others and I found the 12th to be one of my favorites. The golf hole plays straight forward with a pond and 3 bunkers coming into play as you approach the green. I particularly enjoyed the view of the 12th hole from beyond the green and in the 13th fairway.
Hole #13 - Par 5 - 480 yards
The 13th is another short par 5 that requires a solid drive if you want to reach the green in two shots. There are trees on both sides of the fairway and most wayward drives will require a punch back into position. A proper drive will set up a green light 2nd shot and a potential eagle putt on this undulating green.
Hole #14 - Par 4 - 422 yards
The 14th hole is further proof that golfers do not lose interest in playing straight forward par 4’s. Maybe its something about the way the shadows spill across this fairway in the late afternoon or it might have been the way it photographed from the nearby 15th hole. Either way, the result was one of my favorite spots on the property.
Hole #15 - Par 3 - 165 yards
The second of 3 par 3’s on the back nine is a fun test of your short iron accuracy. Bunkers to the left and right eagerly wait to swallow up any poorly struck tee balls. Depending on how you look at it, getting up and down is particularly difficult / enjoyable around this green.
Hole #16 - Par 4 - 409 yards
The finishing 3 holes at Forest Lake are particularly enjoyable and we start off on 16 with a slight dogleg left featuring a winding creek at the end of the landing area. You can easily hit your drive to the right and find the pond that fronts 13 green if you aren’t careful. A sweet little stone bridge carries golfers across the creek and towards the green site that shares turf with the nearby 11th green.
Hole #17 - Par 5 - 562 yards
The 17th is the strongest and most unique golf hole at Forest Lake Club. This dog leg par 5 gives the golfer all sorts of options and good times as we finally get our first view of the long awaited lake at Forest Lake Club. On this dogleg left, a well placed draw is the ideal shot from the tee. As you approach the green, there is a fairway bunker at about 120 yards that you will want to avoid. A trough runs through the middle of the green giving an extra dose of interest to what is already a wildly fun golf hole.
Hole #18 - Par 3 - 165 yards
I love a golf course that ends on a par 3. Pasatiempo, The Greenbrier, Garden City… there are a handful of great golf courses that finish with a one-shotter. Forest Lake joins this prestigious community and offers a beautiful par 3 that finishes right by the clubhouse. Your friends are certain to watch as you either find the green or splash one into Forest Lake.
