Old Tabby Links designer interviewed by Golf Club Atlas

Vicki Martz, Vice President, Senior Golf Course Architect and Director of Environmental Design for Arnold Palmer Golf Design, in a recent interview with Golf Club Atlas said of Spring Island, “When I first saw the site after our trip over on boat from the mainland, I was convinced that God lived there. I have never seen any piece of land more beautiful and natural.”Martz described the unique opportunity Spring Island, a 3,000-acre South Carolina golf community, offered for design with conservation in mind:“Developers Chaffin and Light asked us to design a course that would fit naturally and sensitively into that pristine environment.  From that experience I learned that great design could be unobtrusive and that preserving and enhancing the natural features of the land gives a course character, identity and unique challenge.”Martz has enjoyed artistic freedom with her golf course designs. Her work on Old Tabby was game-changing for golf, as she described to Golf Club Atlas:“At Old Tabby, we wanted the golfer to have a ‘core golf’ experience and, in addition wanted to insulate the holes with as much of the wonderful native tree cover that we could. Our minimum width for angle turns was 400 feet at Old Tabby which was quite unique at that time. Conservation, protection and preservation were the ultimate goals of the owners, Jim and Betsy Chaffin and Jim Light. That forward -thinking philosophy was my first encounter with an owner that would shrink the housing component for the overall enjoyment of the experience.”Spring Island is a 3,000-acre South Carolina Lowcountry golf community 25 minutes from Hilton Head and Beaufort, and 30 minutes by boat from Port Royal Sound and the open Atlantic Ocean. Spring Island is limited to no more than 410 families on the 3,000 acres with 1,200 acres protected as nature preserve. Spring Island offers the finest amenities man and nature can offer, which include: championship golf, world-class freshwater and saltwater fishing, equestrian, tennis, quail hunting, nature center, fine and casual dining options, and a wide variety of educational pursuits. For information about South Carolina waterfront homes at Spring Island, visit www.SpringIsland-SC.com.