By Tom Lang
Hilton Head Island is a more tranquil golf getaway than many resort regions – primarily thanks to its initial modern development in the 1950s with the intent of keeping the area natural, offering a place for humans to populate but share and maintain the natural surroundings with wildlife.
While golf vacationers have all the normal comforts of travel available with great accommodations, outstanding food options and other activities like biking, boating and the oceanfront beaches – the overall experience feels very uncommercialized.
To keep a natural look to the island all these decades later there are rules such as: no billboards allowed, no neon signs (only signs made of wood) and no street lights. Most accommodations are vacation condo and home rentals, as there are only four hotels on the entire island.
Harbour Town Golf Links at Sea Pines Resort 
Arguably the best-known course at Hilton Head is Harbour Town Golf Links, host site of the annual PGA Tour event that follows The Masters each April.
A common descriptor for tackling Harbour Town is that playing it well takes brains, not brawn. It’s a tight course but is also one of the shortest on the PGA Tour and playable for all.
It’s a Pete Dye design with consultation from Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear’s first ever. Dye credits the acceptance and admiration for Harbour Town to really launching his career.
The property has a gorgeous new clubhouse. It’s not over-stated but very elegant and tasteful, with classy features. All golfers are welcome to use the new 4,000-square foot locker room, the same one the PGA Tour pros use with all amenities included – making for a private club experience that’s open to the public. Be sure to check out the Pete Dye Museum inside.
My favorite stretch on the front is holes 4-6. Hole 4 is a great par 3 over water that cuts across on an angle between the tees and green. Hole 5 is a par 5 dogleg left to a green that is elevated and skinny side to side, but deep. It has water left and attractive sand waste areas to the right for both aesthetics and hazard. Hole 6 is a slight dog leg right par 4. It’s best to keep left but there’s waste sand almost the entire length of left side.
Holes 16-18 are a truly wonderful way to finish any round. Hole 16 is a par 4 dog leg that turns 90 degrees left and still resembles the first 15 holes with tree trouble and sand waste guarding the elbow. Holes 17 and 18 are the only ones open to the waterfront. Hole 17 is a shorter par 3 with trouble all the way around but looks gorgeous with its water and sand features and huge bay horizon backdrop.
Hole 18 is the iconic par 4 lighthouse hole (414 yards from middle tees) that has the widest fairway on the PGA Tour but with huge wetlands to navigate and clear to reach the tiny green on the approach. More info at: www.SeaPines.com.
Palmetto Dunes at Oceanfront Resort:
Palmetto Dunes provides a great mix of tree-lined fairways and open, links style holes.
The front nine is mostly tree-lined but never too tight – with good sand and water features to navigate.
Once reaching the 9th tee, golfers turn toward the Atlantic Ocean with two consecutive par 5s. The Atlantic is directly behind the 10th green, which offers an excellent view of a public, sandy beach with shrimp boats trolling along the ocean front. Starting at the 10th the course feels more open as much of the back 9 is played in a section that has a lagoon and its many creek-like features meandering throughout the hole designs. The waterway is very popular for kayaks and canoes and adds an extra touch of beauty while providing some strategic thinking about club selection.
The original design is from Robert Trent Jones in the 1960s, but it went through a re-design in 2002 to return what were man-made flatter fairways into the more rolling ground one would find with flowing sand dunes near the ocean. The prevailing breezes off the Atlantic also play from behind or as a diagonal cross breeze on holes 11-15, often giving golfers some extra yardage.
Every single hole has a dedicated set of tees moved up to make every hole play as a par 3 option, offering a course within a course if you will.
Two other courses on property are the Arthur Hills Course – which Golf Digest called the best of the three – and the George Fazio Course. More info at: www.PalmettoDunes.com.
Oyster Reef Golf Club:
Located near the tip of the northeast region of the island, overlooking parts of Port Royal Sound – a key Civil War battle zone – Oyster Reef offers an excellent, lower-cost option for vacationing golfers.
Hurricane Matthew in 2016 all but ruined the bunkers at the course so it gave staff an opportunity to redo them all. The construction process just ended this summer and they are spectacular – well-shaped and filled with soft, white sand.
An excellent stretch if holes are numbers 4-7. Hole 4 is a par 4 dogleg left that opens up a little between all the stately southern pines found across the entire property. The 6th is the signature hole – a par 3 to an elevated green with Royal Port Sound in the background. Hole 7 is a right turning dog leg up hill off the tee requiring a strong poke to have a clear approach shot to the green, which has a wrap-around bunker and tall pines as its backdrop.
Holes 15 and 16 are also fun. The 15th is a par 5 left turn dogleg by almost 90 degrees to an open green complex still two shots away. The 16th has no trees in play, but a pond to clear to the par 3 green. While the entire course is tree-lined (but not as tight as Harbour Town), good shots are required to place your ball in spots to get around many dog leg corners. More info at: www.HiltonHeadGolf.net.
Golden Bear Golf Club at Indigo Run:
For a Jack Nicklaus design, this course has much less water than his layouts can be known for, which seems uncharacteristic for an island. But beauty and challenges still await golfers as they attack a course that’s dotted with beautifully unique, stately Live Oaks – especially those found on the 9th hole.
My favorite holes were:
- Hole 5, a short dogleg left to a well-guarded green.
- Hole 7, a dogleg right bending around trees and a small pond.
- Hole 13, a hard-turning right to left dogleg that could be the prettiest hole on the course.
- Hole 15, a par 5 dogleg right that has an extremely thin approach to the green (water left) that boldly tests the decision for laying up or going for it all.
More info at: www.goldenbear-indigorun.com
Whether your interests are only golf – or you like to bike, hike, boat, play tennis, go on a dolphin tour or eat excellent seafood – Hilton Head Island is the peaceful place to be.
