Making Inroads at Kawonu
The First Call Staff • February 6, 2025
Restoration specialist Andrew Green has begun making inroads with his original designs.
Next up for Green is Kawonu Golf Club in Simpsonville, South Carolina, which is slated to break ground within the first few months of 2025. Located approximately 30 minutes southeast of Greenville, Kawonu will be the first private, golf-only club to debut in the region in more than three decades.
The development is spearheaded by industry veterans Scott Ferrell and Barton Tuck. Ferrell has vast experience with Gary Player Design, the PGA Tour and TPC properties, while Tuck has been involved in the building, management and ownership of more than 60 golf courses in the southeastern U.S., among them Forest Creek in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Kawonu will unfold atop a 290-acre parcel next to the Reedy River that once was home to members of the Cherokee Nation. The name "Kawonu" is derived from the Cherokee word for the ducks that populate the ponds and streams on site. The water features will be utilized in the course routing, which also navigates rolling terrain and wooded, boulder-strewn bluffs.
"It’s a stunning piece of ground," Green told the Greenville Journal during a September 2024 visit. "At the forefront of our mind is to enhance and amplify it, not to destroy. It is such a magical place. There is so much that’s already inherently here that we can draw from. The principles that have guided the best golf in the United States are in place here. The idea is that we utilize the ground really well. We find unique ways to play over, around, across it. Those are critical."
Ferrell, who set up nearly 100 course design contracts worldwide on behalf of Gary Player Design, knows a great site when he sees it.
"Somebody said earlier it’s like nature’s already moved the dirt for us, and that’s a nice way to put it," he said. "It’s a tremendous site with tons of variety. It’s just really tailor-made for a championship golf course. We’re creating an enclave that will add a unique concept to the golf landscape of the Upstate. Local members will not have to travel to 'get away' and national members will not only enjoy the relaxed club environment but take in the wonderful town of Greenville."
