The best of South Carolina’s Low Country and Grand Strand is all about long marsh views, moss dripping from oaks and beachside living. Think shrimp boils, pickup trucks and Southern accents.
And golf courses.
From Myrtle Beach at the north end of the state’s beaches to Hilton Head Island near the southern end, it seems there are more fairways than back roads – and that’s saying something down here.
It’s no surprise to most traveling golfers that South Carolina has great golf. Myrtle Beach is a long-time staple with its nearly 100 courses. Halfway down the state’s coast, Kiawah Island Golf Resort has hosted a Ryder Cup in 1991 and a PGA Championship in 2012, and the course is slated to host that major championship again in 2021. Harbour Town Golf Links at Sea Pines hosts the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage each April.
What is somewhat surprising is that in a state that stretches inland some 250 miles with a diverse landscape that rolls up toward the Appalachian Mountains in the west, all the state’s top-ranked public-access courses are near the beach. Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list includes 15 courses in the Palmetto State, and each of them is near the coast.
My recent rounds on the top five on the list showcased the best of coastal South Carolina golf. Included with the highlights of my trip are comments from Golfweek’s Best raters, on whose opinions our comprehensive course-ranking system is built.
5. Caledonia Golf and Fish Club
Pawleys Island
Carved through a coastal forest with a routing that crosses the Waccamaw River marsh on No. 18, Caledonia (No. 163 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses) opened in 1994 as the first solo effort by Mike Strantz. The somewhat polarizing designer, who died in 2005, was known for extreme designs and moving a lot of earth to create previously unimagined landforms that pushed the bounds of classic golf architecture. In 2000 he was named one of the greatest 10 course designers of all time by Golfweek.
The relatively tight tract of land was once part of a rice plantation, and the 150 or so acres didn’t offer a lot of room. The course isn’t long at 6,526 yards off the back tees, and there was no space for a driving range (players can warm up across the street at sister property True Blue, another Strantz design that ranks No. 6 in the state).
Despite those tight quarters, Caledonia never feels squeezed. Old-growth oaks and pines divide the holes, and playing corridors are more than ample. Unlike most coastal courses, there are no houses or condos. And as with all great courses, it’s the approach angles, the greens and their surrounds that make or break greatness.
For the most part, Caledonia lacks the extremities of other Strantz courses. A wayward approach or careless chip to several greens can leave the ball perched precariously above the hole, but it’s nothing that can’t be handled.
Then there’s No. 8.
The downhill, 528-yard par 5 has a pond short of the green, which might be the most forgiving or the most challenging on the course, depending on where the hole is cut. The front of the green is set low near the water, and the extreme slope up to the back tier serves as a backstop. But that slope of some four feet switches from friend to foe when the pin is in the rear portion of the green. Good luck to the big-hitters trying to stop a long approach shot back there – the task is daunting even to most golfers who lay up short of the pond and have a wedge in their hands. Caledonia proves that fun isn’t measured by yardage.
Rater’s comments: The shaping work is (in my opinion) some of the best by Strantz. On a tight parcel, features too bold would stick out and be too much. There is the perfect amount of quirk and variety on this charming course. Greens are superb, in line with feature shaping – plenty of Strantz flavor without going over the top. – Brian Finn, Charlotte, N.C.
4. The Dunes Golf and Beach Club
Myrtle Beach
Nestled a few hundred yards from the beach atop surprisingly rolling terrain in this mostly flat region of the state, the Dunes (No. 118 on Golfweek’s Best list of classic courses) is one of the granddaddies of the Grand Strand. Built by Robert Trent Jones in 1949, the course has hosted the PGA Professional National Championship, the PGA Tour Champions’ Tour Championship and multiple USGA championships including the U.S. Women’s Open.
Rees Jones, Robert’s son, completed a renovation in 2013 that changed the greens from bentgrass to Ultradwarf Champion Bermuda. Even late in the summer heat just days after Hurricane Dorian dumped significant rain on the coast, the putting surfaces were among the best a player could expect to find in the South. The starter warned that downhill putts easily could race past the hole, but he failed to mention how even uphill putts could get away from you. Summer greens in the South simply aren’t supposed to be this good: smooth, grain-free and speedy.
The front nine plays inland through fairly wide corridors, but don’t mistake all that grass out there for fairway. The targets can be somewhat tight as bunkers pinch into the landing strips, and while the rough was not extreme on my trip, the potential for tall grass is there for championships.
The early holes on the back nine play along a salt marsh before reaching No. 13, a love-it-or-hate-it par 5 shaped like a boomerang around and across a lake. A long tee shot is nearly meaningless as the water slices into the fairway before the hole nearly doubles back on itself to the right – I hit a 4-hybrid tee shot, a 3-wood across the lake, then an 8-iron into the green. There is no safe way to avoid a forced carry here – the elder Jones called it one of his best examples of “heroic architecture.”
The Dunes is mostly a members club with a great vibe focused on the golf itself, but public access is granted to players staying at select hotels with which the course has arrangements. That limited-access policy is enough to grant it a spot on the Best Courses You Can Play list.
Rater’s comments: A wonderful, traditional Robert Trent Jones course. The green complexes (often elevated) and surrounding bunkers steal the show. The greens are subtle yet challenging. The chipping areas and bunkers frame each green well. The course is home to one of the most unique par 5s I’ve ever played … every player will remember No. 13 after they leave the property. – Eric King, Lexington, Ky.
3. May River Golf Course
Bluffton
Located west of Hilton Head Island and part of the gated Montage Palmetto Bluff community, May River is a big Jack Nicklaus design that plays through forested terrain with several holes along the river and coastal wetlands. Public-access play is granted to guests of the resort.
In excellent condition with smooth Champions Bermuda greens, the entire facility (No. 136 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses) wows with a relaxed atmosphere and uncrowded course. The 7,171-yard track opened in 2004 and received modifications from Nicklaus – especially to bunkering – in recent years. The course plays to a par of 72, but the back nine offers three par 3s, three par 4s and three par 5s, breaking from the typical routing of two par 3s with two par 5s.
The fairways are generally wide, sometimes nearing 50 yards at their widest. But Nicklaus incorporated centerline fairway bunkers into many of the landing areas, forcing players to choose a line toward the fairway edges. The greens frequently feature heaving contours with nearby run-offs, and with deep greenside bunkering the putting surfaces are best approached from select sides of those centerline bunkers.
Two holes stand out, not for their length but for their marshland environment and strategic challenge.
No. 7 is a 336-yard, dogleg-left par 4 that plays over and along the marsh with a landing-area bunker that forces most players to seek safety to the right off the tee. From there it’s a wedge or short iron to a peninsula green perched above water and sand. A flag on the left presents one of the smallest targets any player will ever want to take on. The hole’s short length brings to mind a great scoring opportunity, but double bogey or worse waits on every shot for overly aggressive play.
No. 14 is a 190-yard par 3 that plays along the river, with bunkers left and right of the green. A front pin is relatively straightforward, but a back-right flag requires a precise shot to hold the surface. It’s a Nicklaus style of shot if ever there was one, with the best way to get the ball close being a towering fade. Even so, the golf shots can easily take a backseat here, as the marsh opens up to the right with one of the prettiest river views of my entire trip.
Rater’s comments: Beautiful surroundings and fantastic conditioning. Challenging course which has a variety of holes. It’s a course one can play every day and marvel at the sights and the quality of golf. – Sanjay Shah, Fayetteville, N.C.
2. Harbour Town Golf Links
Hilton Head Island
This Pete Dye course (with collaboration from then-fledgling designer Nicklaus) at Sea Pines Resort opened in 1969 and soon became home to what is now the RBC Heritage. From the start, Harbour Town was a different kind of golf course by a different kind of designer.
PGA Tour fans will recognize the 18th hole with its exposed fairway and green alongside Calibogue Sound – and the red-and-white lighthouse rising from the nearby marina – but most of Harbour Town (No. 54 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses) plays just the opposite of the closing hole’s width.
The opening 16 holes amble through neighborhoods and wooded areas, with trees strategically guarding approach shots to many of the perched, TifEagle Bermuda greens. On several holes it’s possible to be in the short grass but on the wrong side of the fairway with almost no shot to the green except a low runner beneath the branches. Tee selection is critical for amateurs, as playing the 7,099-yard course at too great a distance can leave a player blocked out on doglegs.
As American-style golf has become an aerial game, the frequent trees effectively present vertical challenges that ground-height humps, bumps and even water hazards cannot. The entire setup can be extremely challenging – almost shocking – to players who make assumptions about ease of use whenever they are swinging from the short grass.
The overall effect is a stunning test of shotmaking, with the ability to think and then curve shots both ways more rewarding than power alone. The list of PGA Tour winners here proves that point, with most of the biggest stars of the past 50 years having won. Those include Arnold Palmer, Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin and Tom Watson among the early champions.
The march through the pines and oaks reaches a crescendo after the tee shot on No. 16, with the picturesque estuary in view for the first time. The 185-yard, par-3 17th over water and sand is followed by the famous 472-yard, par-4 closer, both incredible marsh holes with wide-open views and plenty of opportunity for heroic play or lost balls – and no trees blocking the lines of play.
Since building Harbour Town, Dye has become famous for testing players with little patience for careless or incapable swings. This is one of his greatest examples of that challenging approach.
Rater’s comments: A shotmaker’s course and a Pete Dye classic that hasn’t lost its interest. Tight fairways lined by native trees challenge ball movement. The original railroad ties are a Dye signature that were subsequently replicated on so many of his courses. – Gregg Feinberg, Allentown, Pa.
1. The Ocean Course
Kiawah Island
If Harbour Town is all about shotmaking around frequent vertical obstructions, Pete Dye’s leading effort (with a co-design credit to his wife, Alice, who died in February) at Kiawah Island Golf Resort is all about exposure to the elements. Perched at the northwest end of the barrier island among tall dunes and native grasses, the 7,356-yard course opened in 1991 with a Dye-style twist on oceanside golf.
Instead of playing beneath or alongside the dunes, the Ocean Course (No. 13 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses) sits atop the sandhills – credit for that idea goes to Alice. This gives little relief from the Atlantic winds, which can challenge every shot. Unlike its Dye cousin to the south at Harbour Town, the Ocean course has almost no trees in play.
Simply put, there’s nowhere to hide on the Ocean Course when the weather is blowing. A low-handicap player might have plenty of scoring opportunities on a calm day, but good luck choosing one of those.
The course has 10 holes playing tight to the beach with the other eight perched just beyond. This whole end of the island is made for cameras – it’s impossible to find a bad view from a fairway or tee.
But woe to the player who strays into the natural waste areas, which present all kinds of hills, dips, native vegetation and precarious lies. The layout features plenty of width off the tee, but the winds can push errant shots away from the short grass into steep, penal fairway bunkers and scrub.
The routing consists of two out-and-back, nine-hole loops that roughly parallel the beach. That means about half the par 4s and par 5s might play relatively easy as the wind assists, but turning back into the wind as the loops redirect brings on a completely different thrill ride.
Overall, the greens feature less extreme contours with fewer greenside bunkers than Dye normally built into his courses. Those obstacles simply aren’t necessary, as the wind and waste areas do the trick. All in all, it’s one of the greatest tests in the United States. Players need every bit of skill and imagination to keep it in play through the incredible setting and strong breezes.
Rater’s comments: This course is all you could ask for in a resort challenge. The fairways are generous. The greens are challenging but not crazy fast. It is truly a second-shot course. The ocean and the setting of the clubhouse make the back nine very memorable. Dye uses his trickery and subterfuge to entice you to trouble. – James Groschan, Lutherville, Md.
