Charlie Prentice

“I’ve been a golf pro for 40 years,” Charlie Prentice said over a cup of coffee at the Columbia Country Club. “I’ve been playing golf almost all my life. My sister and I grew up playing golf. Then, I became a caddy. I was around golf clubs all day.”

After military service, Prentice returned home and landed his first job as golf professional at Detroit Country Club with Sam Byrd. “Then, I made the move south to Birmingham Country Club in Alabama. It was a few years later that I played in a golf tournament in Alabama with Harold Hall from Columbia. The next thing I know, Cap Freeman and Irvin Kahn hired me to be the head pro at Ridgewood Club in Columbia. I liked the old course. I liked the clubhouse. I liked Columbia and the people.”

In 1960, when Prentice first came out to the Blythewood area to look at the golf vision for the new expansion, he knew it was going to be a good course. Ellis Maples, a protégé of the legendary Donald Ross, was hired to design a 27–hole course on the Blythewood property. “It was tough goings in the beginning, but I’d match the Columbia Country Club with any course in the nation,” Prentice said. “It’s come so far these past years. It’s now in the best shape it’s ever been in. It’s a great course!”

Prentice remembered the days the golf course had caddies. “Everybody used caddies back then. When I first introduced the carts, I brought out one or two to see how they would go. Then, I brought out five more. The rest is progress.”

Prentice loves teaching and helps friends on the golf course; however, he doesn’t take any new students. “Although Charlie is now retired, he is still a fantastic teacher,” replied member Hilda Hall. “He taught both my husband and me to play golf.”

“Charlie is good, and he doesn’t ever mind if you ask him for some advice,” said assistant pro Allen Knight “The man retired in 1987, and he plays golf every day of the week.”

Prentice’s golf achievements are many. He has qualified and played in five US Opens and has claimed the state PGA title. Charlie Prentice was inducted into the SC Golf Hall of Fame in October 1992. The Columbia Country Club celebrated Prentice Saturday evening, November 13, 2004.