THE NORTH COURSE AT INNISBROOK IS OPEN FROM RENOVATION, book your tee times now at Innisbrookgolfresort.com. DAN PHILLIPS is back in the teaching mode at MCQ’s Dome and Mistwood, see mcqsdome.com or mistwoodgc.com for lessons.       _____________________________________________________________________

THE GOG BLOG BY RORY SPEARS Director of Content. Follow Rory to Palmetto Dunes resort on Hilton Head Island, where the George Fazio Course is back up and looking good. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy. No rain this year.

IT TOOK FOUR TRIES, but I finally made it out on the Fazio course at Palmetto Dunes resort on Hilton head Island.

My first three attempts saw, course closed for an outing, a rain out and then closed for repairs from hurricane Mathew damage. But 2018 is a different story, I showed up and played this time in under three hours, and the course was all the fun a golfer can hope for and then some.

While many of the courses in the low country of South Carolina, that are part of the resorts or in between the housing developments, can have tight fairways or a lot of water, the Fazio course does not. While there are a few holes with water, it’s not everywhere. When hurricane Mathew blew through in 2016, it hit the course pretty hard. It caused the loss of over 400 trees and it destroyed the bunkers. Credit Palmetto Dunes Resort for taking out the damaged trees and opening up the course. The Fazio course was closed for over five months while repairs and upgrades were done.

The first hole on the Fazio Course, plenty of room for your opening drive.

Palmetto Dunes used that time to make improvements and mostly to redo all the bunkers on the course, and it shows.

The greens were redone and the quality of turf around the property is much improved.

As a result, while the course is in great shape, it’s a straight forward right in front of you golf course with plenty of room to hit some golf shots.

While hitting the fairways might not be real hard, the challenge here is to hit the greens on your approach shots. 17 of the 18 greens are elevated, so don’t be afraid to hit a little more club coming in. The greens are in great shape and roll very well.

 The Par 3, 4th hole (L) and (R) the Par 3 17th hole on the George Fazio Course.

The Palmetto Dunes resort has three courses, the Jones, the Hills and the Fazio. While the courses of Robert Trent Jones and Arthur Hills seem to get most of the attention, don’t let the Fazio slip past you. This redone course is one will you enjoy. Go Play. For more information see PalmettoDunes.com.