5 things to know about Congaree Golf Club and the 2022 CJ Cup tournament

The CJ Cup in South Carolina, a PGA Tour limited-field event, features 15 of the top 20 players in the World Golf Rankings who are competing at Congaree Golf Club. It’s airing on the Golf Channel from 3-6 p.m. daily through Sunday.

Here’s what to know about Congaree:

Where is the location?

The Congaree course is located off of Interstate 95 in rural Jasper County in Ridgeland, South Carolina. It’s more than 90 minutes west of Charleston and about an hour north of Savannah, Georgia, and about two hours from Columbia.

Is Congaree public or private?

It is a private club, and the mission has never been about prestige for themselves. The billionaire businessmen who founded the club wanted to use the golf course in a positive way.

The Congaree Foundation’s top program is the Congaree Global Golf Initiative, a week-long training camp each summer. The program identifies aspiring golf with talent but not necessarily the resources for college golf. Participants get access to elite instructors and the high-quality facilities.

Among other projects is the Sergeant Jasper Golf Club that the club bought in 2021 to provide a home for area high school golf teams.

Can you play Congaree Golf Club?

No. Congaree is a private club that has had only two official members, its founders Dan Friedkin and Bob McNair, the latter a University of South Carolina graduate. McNair, who also owned the NFL’s Houston Texans, died in 2018, leaving the club with one member.

Rather than members, Congaree has approximately 250 “ambassadors,” prominent individual who promote the club while lending time and money to the cause.

Does the CJ Cup have a cut?

No. All 78 players in the field will compete over 72 holes for shares of a $10.5 million purse. The winner earns $1.89 million and $1.134 million goes to second place.

Why so much sand at Congaree?

Bruce Davidson, director of golf for The Friedkin Group, and colleague John McNeely had the job of finding a large property for a firm, fast golf course. They first saw the property in 2013 and liked the look of sand.

Davidson said the land reminded him of Pinehurst No. 2 and Pine Valley. Others have linked the property to Royal Melbourne in the Australian sand belt.

“We thought, ‘No, it can’t be. We can’t be this lucky,’ ” Davidson said. “I don’t know what happened hundreds of millions of years ago, but the sea was probably there and left the deposit of sand.”