The Appeal of Golf in Charleston
It’s hard to find a city of less than 200,000 people with more to offer than Charleston, S.C. How many have a harbor and miles of beach, Revolutionary and Civil War history, elegant mansions in town, and plantation homes on the outskirts?
If that’s not enough, consider Charleston’s music scene, restaurants, waterfront attractions, and renowned Southern charm. For golfers, “hospitality” might not be the first word that comes to mind at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, which is considered among the toughest in America. Still, the Pete Dye masterpiece must be on any serious player’s bucket list.
Charleston Golf Courses
Kiawah has four other courses, such as “Overshadowed Gems” by Tom Fazio and “Turtle Point” by Jack Nicklaus. Kiawah has the fame, but the forerunner of Charleston public-access golf is Tom Fazio’s Wild Dunes, which includes 36 spectacular holes. In an area full of pricey resort courses, the best bargains are Shadowmoss Golf Club and The Links at Stono Ferry, the 2011 South Carolina Golf Course of the Year.
Legend Oaks Golf Club won the honor the previous year. One of Arnold Palmer’s best works is RiverTowne Country Club. Other excellent selections are Charleston National by Rees Jones, Crowfield Golf and Country Club, The Golf Club at Wescott Plantation, and Patriots Point Links, with spectacular views across the harbor to Fort Sumter and the city.
After several years of coming in second to The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort, The Sea Pines Resort’s Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island was named the best among Lowcountry golf courses in the 2019 “Top Courses You Can Play” as named by the SC Golf Course Ratings Panel.
The much-heralded layout is the site of the annual (since 1969) RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, South Carolina’s only annual PGA TOUR event. Equally as noteworthy, The Sea Pines Resort’s two other championship courses — Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III and Heron Point by Pete Dye — also made the list.
Like The Sea Pines Resort, all of Kiawah’s courses, including Turtle Point (designed by Jack Nicklaus), Osprey Point (Tom Fazio), and Cougar Point (Gary Player), were also selected among the top courses. Kiawah has hosted events such as the 2007 Senior PGA Championship and the 2012 PGA Championship and will host again in 2021.
The Golf Course Ratings Panel made up of more than 100 media, golf business, and player members from across the state, has rated The Ocean Course as South Carolina’s top layout for more than a decade in its every-other-year “Top 50 Courses in South Carolina,” which includes public-access and private courses. The “Top Courses You Can Play” is the list for weekend golfers and vacationers.