Farewell Yeamans Hall

There's a very popular saying "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life".  I've been a golf professional for 26 years now and I haven't always loved my job. However, the three-and-a-half years I spent working at Yeamans Hall Club in Charleston, South Carolina really did feel like a dream come true.  I left Yeamans in the fall of 2024 to begin a new chapter in my life, but I felt that I needed to sit down and express my thoughts about what an amazing experience it was for me working at such a special place in the world of golf.

Sunrise at Yeamans Hall.  Photo courtesy of Tyler Morse

How we got to Charleston

Let's begin with the interesting story of how I ended up working at Yeamans Hall Club.  What's interesting about this story is how your life can change dramatically because of one moment.  That moment for me was a frustrating situation I experienced at my job in Concord, North Carolina in early 2021.  I had a particularly challenging interaction with my supervisor and after that I very clearly remember saying to my wife, "We need to get out of here."  Her response was, "How about Charleston?"  

One of the many great views of the 14th hole at Yeamans Hall.  My favorite hole on the course!

She had been wanting to relocate to the Charleston area for several years so she could help take care of her dad who was in failing health.  I had previously dismissed the idea, but this time around I said, "Well, let me look at the PGA job board and see if there is anything interesting."  I checked out the job board and Yeamans Hall had posted a job on the board.  I later found out that this was the first time they had posted a job on the board in many years.  My wife and I decided I would apply for the job at Yeamans and if they hired me, we would move to Charleston.  After a phone and in-person interview, I was hired and our adventure in the Charleston area began.  All of this happened because I had a bad moment with my boss that resulted in my deciding to look at jobs in Charleston.  Sometimes one moment can lead to something that completely changes your life!

The 1st tee at Yeamans is one of the best in all of golf!

The Birdcage

One of the odd things I discovered when I began working at Yeamans was this very interesting utility cart, nicknamed, "The Birdcage" that we stored in the cart barn.  

It was originally designed to be wheeled out onto the driving range and had sections to store towels, scorecards, supplies for cleaning clubs and grips, etc.  We weren't using it on the range anymore and it was just sitting in the cart barn, mostly getting in the way.  In the middle of my first year a co-worker suggested we wheel it out to the bag drop everyday.  After we started doing that, the strangest thing happened. The birdcage has a roof with slats in it and members and staff started putting ball markers in the slats.  At first it was just a place to put ball markers that had fallen out of a bag in case the person was looking for them, but after a while people just started putting markers up there as a way to contribute to the collection.

I started to notice that we were getting quite a few courses in the top 100 in the country in our new collection, so I decided we would devote a section to the top 100, and display them in order using the current Golf Magazine Top 100 list in the US, then 2020-2021.  After about a year we had roughly 40 of the top 100, seen in the below photo in the middle section starting on the left.  I was surprised how quickly we acquired most of the top 30.  It just speaks to our well traveled membership!

In 2023 we moved to the other side of the birdcage.

When I left in October of 2024 both sides were almost completely full.  We had ball markers from 47 states, 16 countries, and we had accumulated 97 of the top 100 from the list we used!

Favorite Rounds

I don't really have pictures of most of my favorite rounds at Yeamans Hall.  But believe me, there were many of them!  I enjoyed so many great rounds with members, guests I was accompanying for a member, my friends visiting Yeamans Hall, fellow professionals visiting from other clubs, and most of all, my wife.  There was one specific round with the wife I can pinpoint, Christmas 2021.  

A beautiful walk at Yeamans Hall on Christmas Day

Yeamans Hall is closed on Christmas but members and employees are welcome to come out and play if they want to walk.  Christmas 2021 was a lovely 75 degree day and we had the best time playing a special golf course on our first Christmas in Charleston.

Long shadows and great weather on Christmas 2021!

The Wall of the Past

A fun tradition they have at Yeamans Hall is for interns and outside operations staff to sign a particular wall of the cart barn when they leave.  It has been going on for well over 20 years.

Sadly, the cart barn needed to be renovated in 2024 so the wall disappeared.  Of course where there is loss, there is also beginning.  I got the privilege of being the first person to sign the new wall.

White Whale

One of the great things that happened because of Yeamans Hall was that I got to play my White Whale course.  For at least ten years, I was doing everything I could to find a way to play Chicago Golf Club.  Chicago is undoubtedly the best use of a small piece of property in the world, and every student of golf architecture needs to see it.  By the time I started working at Yeamans, I had resigned myself to never being able to play it.  Luckily for me, Chicago was designed by the same architect as Yeamans, Seth Raynor.   That connection allowed me to play Chicago in the fall of 2021.  It was even better than I imagined and I will always be grateful to Yeamans for making this dream come true.

Chicago Golf Club was better than advertised!

Pro-Member

My favorite thing that happened while I was working at Yeamans Hall was getting to play in the Pro-Member in 2023.  Since I started working at Yeamans, I had always wanted to play in the annual Pro-Member.  Our rule is you have to be invited by a member to play and, even though I play with members quite frequently, as the outside operations manager, my name is not really thought of as a possible partner for an event like this.  Our club is the type that gets tour pros and pros from top 20 clubs in its Pro-Member, so it was more of a dream for somebody like me to be able to play in the tournament.  Through a very unexpected set of circumstances, we had an odd number of teams and the member I play with the most said "let's do it!" 

Day one of the tournament was an absolute dream for me.  I shot 65, including birdies on the final three holes.  We shot 59 as a team and were tied for the lead heading into day two.  I beat a couple of actual touring pros on day one, which is something I am usually not capable of doing!  Our play on day two was less stellar, but we still finished third ahead of some very good professionals. 

During the tournament dinner I got to try Osso Bucco for the first time!

I can't even begin to tell you what it meant to me to play in this tournament and I will forever be grateful to the member who gave me the opportunity!

Things you see when your day starts very early

I began my work day at 6 am.  When you begin your work day this early, you get to see things that most people don't get to see on a golf course.

This guy wanted to help me restock the coolers one morning

Beautiful sunrises are a wonderful part of being at the course early.

The wildlife enjoy them too!

Of course, during some parts of the year, sunrise comes well after I've started work

The view of the moon can be just as wonderful as the sunrise.

Random things that happen when you work at a golf course

You get to witness lots of different types of things when you work at a golf course.  One interesting thing I got to witness was a par three course under the lights we did for one of our tournaments.

One of the oddest things I witnessed at work was a wedding on the 1st tee.  The bride and groom walked down to the pond in front of the first tee where the ceremony took place.  I can't say I blame them for wanting to do it there, but the logistics were somewhat challenging.  As you can see in the picture they had to start setting up while people were still teeing off!

In my three plus years of working at Yeamans Hall it only snowed once.  I hate snow, so the sight was very unwelcome.  Typical for weather in Charleston, three hours after the snow it was 60 and sunny!

Snow was not a welcome sight!

The beauty of frost

Frost is the natural enemy of a golf operation because it results in delays that are not always well accepted by the members and guests.  

Frost on the 11th Hole

One thing about frost though, it does make for some great pictures!

Frost on the 6th Hole

What's Next?

Now comes the part, beloved reader, where I trick you into revealing whether you read to the end or not.  With a post titled, "Farewell Yeamans Hall," the obvious question is going to be, "So what's next?" I am going to tell you here what I'm doing next, so if you ask me on social media where I'm moving, working, etc, then I'll know you didn't actually read the blog post.😀 

I am moving to Stuart, Florida, which is just north of Jupiter, on the east coast of Florida.  I will be working at a very exclusive new private club that for now will go unnamed.  If you really want to know, it's not very hard to figure out.  The job is seasonal, and right now the plan is to work in Florida until May, and then spend the summer working in either Scotland or New England depending on many TBD factors.  I am very excited for this next chapter in my life, but will really miss the golf course, and members, at Yeamans Hall.  It is one of the most special places in golf.