Daniel Island: A new venue for the Nationwide Tour

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Daniel Island offers spectacular views, great golf and a charming downtown with stores, restaurants and businesses.

The Nationwide Tour Championship heads to Daniel Island, S.C., from Oct. 22-25 for the season-ending event to decide the 25 players who will earn PGA TOUR cards for 2010. While the pressure will be on the players, fans will be treated to an exciting competition amidst the sights, sounds and tastes of one of the most alluring small towns in America.

Daniel Island is a 4,000-acre island town located within the City of Charleston, just minutes from its famed Historic District and the area's beaches on the Atlantic Ocean. Currently home to 7,500 residents -- a healthy mix of young professionals, growing families and retired couples -- this master planned community will eventually boast a population of 15,000. Its award-winning design borrows from the tradition and charm of Charleston, one of America's most popular destinations, but adds its own decidedly modern and energetic appeal. In fact, the island's active lifestyle and shopping, dining and entertainment options draw visitors and residents from throughout the region and around the country.

The backdrop for Daniel Island's residential and recreational offerings is a classic Lowcountry setting. Twenty-three miles of rivers and creeks meander through what was once a private hunting and fishing preserve, defining neighborhoods, bordering dozens of parks and miles of bicycle and walking trails, and providing additional character and challenge for two championship golf courses. At the same time, schools and churches, shops and restaurants, a library and corporate offices afford the town all the conveniences of modern suburban life within this tranquil setting.

The Daniel Island Club, which will host the Nationwide Tour Championship on its Rees Jones-designed Ralston Creek course, is the island's in-town country club. Located in the heart of the Daniel Island Park neighborhood, the club is also home to Tom Fazio's Beresford Creek course. Both traditional layouts take advantage of routings along spectacular marshland and tidal creeks and through parkland and forests of sea pines and majestic live oaks. Languid views of the Cooper and Wando rivers, along with abundant wildlife, make the allure of nature a delightful part of every round.

As members of the Daniel Island Club, those who live in this exclusive neighborhood enjoy the Club's exceptional recreational and social offerings. Resort-style swim, tennis and fitness facilities and diverse dining options and social events in the golf clubhouse and poolside cabana bar promote a year-round country club lifestyle for all ages.

The gracious homes, townhomes and condominiums in the Daniel Island Park neighborhood honor the classic architectural styles of the Lowcountry and enjoy a variety of golf, park, marsh and tidal creek views. In fact, the stunning setting of the Ralston Creek course's back nine -- which will test the skills and endurance of the athletes competing in the Nationwide Tour Championship -- is also the location of a recent offering of homesites that share these spectacular views.

Beyond golf, Daniel Island's diverse recreational and entertainment offerings include a professional tennis center that annually hosts the Family Circle Cup women's tennis tournament, and a state-of-the-art soccer stadium that is home to Charleston's professional club, The Charleston Battery. Both facilities also serve as venues for world-class entertainment, with performers as varied as Branford Marsalis, B.B. King, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and the Indigo Girls offering a little something for everyone year-round.

Daniel Island was first inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Etiwan and has since been home to antebellum plantation owners, farmers and a former governor of the Colony of Carolina. It was purchased in 1947 by the Guggenheim family of New York for cattle ranching and use as a private hunting retreat. The island was sold in 1997 to the Daniel Island Company, which continues to be recognized for its innovative and responsible development practices.

In addition to prestigious awards from the Urban Land Institute and the National Association of Home Builders, Where to Retire magazine has twice selected Daniel Island as one of America's "100 Best Master-Planned Communities." Daniel Island Park has been named among the nation's top golf communities by T + L Golf, Luxury Golf and Travel and Golf magazine. The Fazio- and Jones-designed courses also have been ranked among the nation's best by leading golf publications, including Golf Digest and Golfweek.

For more information about Daniel Island, visit http://www.danielisland.com/.