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HE WAS dapper, tanned and obviously fit. He looked 55 but in fact he had retired 32 years earlier "because I was making so much money it suddenly became unimportant. I wanted to enjoy what I had."
Now, at 72, he lives on Hilton Head Island and even he can't believe his luck. Our friend is one of a group of retired executives who headed south upon retirement, to spend the autumn of their lives in the sun, on and around a golf course.
"I just wish I had discovered the place earlier in my life," he said. "My wife thinks she's gone to heaven." Read the following and you'll get his drift.
Why wouldn't life be a ball with 24 golf courses, great family facilities, oodles of shopping, fine restaurants and all types of accommodation, plus miles of beaches, boats, bikinis and bars?
And all this in laid-back South Carolina, where courtesy is second nature, and close to Charleston, that jewel among cities. A chap could be spoiled something rotten...
It had been ten years since my previous visit and it was pleasing to see that little had changed. Predictably, there was a tad more traffic at peak hours as the workers streamed in and out via the only road that leads to the bridge and the mainland.
But once you have sussed the peak hour timings and you've found your bearings (grab a map from the tourist information office as you arrive: it's on the right, near the bridge) you'll find navigation is a piece of cake.
The island, of 40 square miles, is foot-like in shape, linked to the mainland high on the instep where Highway 278 crosses the bridge, then sweeps down to the heel before turning sharp right, towards the toe. There are ten or so subsidiary roads off Highway 278 and they give direct entre to everything on the island.
The island is laid out in a dozen huge estates that were cotton plantations before the Civil War left the island destitute, populated only by descendants of the emancipated slaves who lived off the land and the sea.
It stayed that way for almost a century. Then in 1956 the authorities built the bridge, some far-sighted whiz kid spotted the potential for tourism. The old place has never looked back.
All those plantations are now self-contained resorts, with hotels, shops, restaurants, multitudinous rental accommodations and country clubs with tennis, sailing, beaches, fishing, pools, golf, the works... Just thinking about it sets me drooling.
Golf came along in 1961 when the first course was built at Sea Pines Plantation, the home of the MCI Heritage Classic at Harbour Town, held each year in the week following the US Masters.
Now there are 24 courses, many open to the public, and they represent the blue book of American golf course architecture. Every designer worthy of the name has made a contribution over the years and a man could go crazy scurrying around to play them all in the time available.
What's more, most have associated hotels or country club accommodation on-site and they offer attractive packages, particularly in the low seasons. Some folk stay all winter, which is how our friend discovered the delights of the place.
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