If you have ever played golf at Pickens you are in for a surprise when you play the old course again.

First, it isn’t the old course anymore and second the brand new clubhouse, opened for the first time on November 9th, is exactly what was promised to the club when the new ownership took over the old club.

In 2021 a partnership group led by Jon Small and Duane Bishop bought the struggling course with the idea to make it over as an Upscale RV campground.

“Pickens is the 50 yard line between Charlotte and Atlanta,” said Bishop. ” We did a study and there are 11 1/2 million people who have a propensity to camp in those areas and countless more who travel through the area,” he added.

The kind of RVs the resort is built to accommodate are the luxury RVs , no camper tops or pop ups.

The cost of the RVs can often rival the costs of a home.

Before the RV park could be built, the amenities to entice upscale RV campers to spend time in Pickens had to be in place.

A pandemic and a recovering economy slowed, but did not stop the project from moving forward.

The first step was to convert the remaining 14 holes of the old club into a playable layout,

New greens, new bunkers, improved fairways and a new fleet of golf carts to get around at the new “old” course.

“14 holes wasn’t going to work. We brought in Jeff Lawrence (formerly of the Gary Player golf group) to redesign the course,” said Bishop.

Lawrence used some of the old holes and pieces of others to design a nine hole course with a twist. The nine hole course plays like an 18 hole course with a second set of tees on each hole.

” You play one nine and use the other tees when you play your next nine, There is a big difference when you change tees,” said Whitt Jefferson, the Director of Golf at Pickens.

Almost as soon as the course was completed the old rickety clubhouse was torn down.

The course operated out of trailers until this week when the brand new bright and shiny clubhouse held a grand opening.

“The question we kept getting asked was when will the clubhouse be open,” said Jefferson . “The trailers are gone and we are now open,”” he said

The clubhouse will be the starting point for golfers and the entry point for resort guests when the RV Park is completed.

The clubhouse includes a large dining area and bar with plenty of TVs to create a sports bar feel.

While the building is new, before the old clubhouse was knocked down much of the memorabilia of the 70 year old club was saved. It will be a a decorative element in the new clubhouse.

In addition to the full service bar, the clubhouse includes Tavern 53.

Named for the year the club began, the restaurant features a pub menu now with plans for a broader offering when the RV park begins operations.

Tavern 53 has a familiar face in charge of the restaurant,

Donna Lamb is managing the food service at the club, something she had done down the road at Smithfields for many years.

Leaving the club in Easley and coming to Pickens is like coming home to Lamb.

“Our family has always had deep ties to this club. We grew up here and so many of our friends are members here. It truly is coming home for me,” she said.

Bishops’ son Scott is the General Manager of the club and the soon to be RV park. He has enjoyed learning about Pickens and the deep roots it has in the local community.

‘We have received wonderful support from Pickens getting our permits and licenses. The club is going to be a contributor to the economy of the area,” said Bishop.

At the members preview the last of the founding members 98 year old Billy Singletonl, got to see what became of the club he helped start back in 1953.

While plans for the RV park around the lake are drawn and ready to be implemented, a few more resort amenities are being completed,

The club house includes a large resort style swimming pool and the final touches are being made on the par 3 course that will open next summer and includes lights.

“We will have all the amenities campers will enjoy and everything here will also be open to the public,” said the co-owner.

The Pickens Golf Club is designated as semi private. It will have membership options for golf and also a social membership for the clubhouse and amenities.

If you ever played at Pickens you will appreciate one more outstanding new feature the new owners could take for granted.

The parking lot.

The old Pickens Country Club lot was a combination of black top, concrete, gravel and pot holes.

The new lot is uniformly paved, clearly lined with lights adding a little sparkle to the new clubhouse at night.

The next phase of the development, the RV park, will bring travelers to Pickens. Until then upstate golfers have the new” old” course to themselves,

“There are a lot of golfers and a lot of campers out there and we are looking forward to the next phase here at Pickens,” concluded Bishop.