Half a century ago, Hilton Head Island had three hundred residents. Most were native Gullah islanders, descendants of slaves, who lived off the land. Today, Hilton Head has 34,000 full-time residents and twenty-three golf courses—plus another twenty-two in neighboring Bluffton—which together draw two million visitors a year. Some Gullah are still here, but Hilton Head is now, uniquely, the island that golf built.
Golf, that is, and a developer named Charles Fraser. Fraser, who died two years ago at the age of seventy-three, was the key figure in Hilton Head's environmentally sensitive growth. As owner of the Hilton Head Company, he was instrumental in bringing the first solid bridge to the mainland, and he contracted for Hilton Head's first layout, the Ocean Course at Sea Pines. In 1969, Fraser hired Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus to build Harbour Town Golf Links, and the rest is history.
Yes, Hilton Head mostly missed out on the late-'90s course-building boom, but spend a week on its tranquil shores and you'll find an island that still exudes the essence of golf. Amble around the shops by the harbor, bicycle beneath a canopy of Spanish moss, ride the ferry across glistening Calibogue Sound, and the grace and languor and beauty of it all inspires you to get out early again the next day. That feeling is seldom found in this country, and it's one worth traveling for—and worth treasuring.
Hilton Head has long been synonymous with Harbour Town, the course that's hosted a PGA Tour event every year since its debut and has in the process become one of America's best-loved layouts. So central is Harbour Town to the island's identity that when the tournament's sponsorship was threatened by the collapse of WorldCom, the town council passed an ultimately unnecessary tax increase to keep the event alive.
But there is more to Hilton Head than Harbour Town, especially if you get out on the island's private courses. Dye's Long Cove battles his Harbour Town to a draw; throw in Chechessee Creek, Colleton River and the like, and it's a collection of private clubs that kowtows to no place. Long story short: Start cross-referencing your Rolodex with club membership guides.
As for the accessible courses, after a period of growth in the late 1980s, course construction on these forty-two square miles has waned a tad. Still, the public tracks are trying harder—several have recently been renovated or restored. Nor can their variety be faulted: From classic Low Country (Melrose) to quasi-links (Old South) to postmodern zany (Palmetto Hall's Robert Cupp), if you choose smartly from round to round, you might almost forget about a place called Harbour Town.
HARBOUR TOWN GOLF LINKS
11 Lighthouse Lane, Hilton Head Island; 800-955-8337, seapines.com. Yardage: 6,973. Par: 71. Slope: 146. Architect: Pete Dye with Jack Nicklaus, 1969. Greens Fees: $179-$250.
T+L GOLF Rating: ****1/2
Playing Harbour Town is like downing eighteen straight espressos: Each tastes equally good and yet you become ever jumpier. The agony and the ecstasy of this masterwork is that there's absolutely no letdown, not a single "let it fly" shot. It's as exacting as a New Yorker copy editor. The par threes are justifiably renowned as one of golf's best collections, all as precise (like the "split the oak uprights to the faux island green" seventh) as the famous waterfront seventeenth is gorgeous. It's the two- and three-shot holes, however, that are for us the heart of the course: Placement, trajectory and curvature must always be controlled for any chance of finding and holding the wee greens in regulation. One minor caveat: The conditioning on our last visit was fine, but not quite worthy of the big ticket—a longstanding issue here.
DAUFUSKIE ISLAND RESORT & SPA, MELROSE
Avenue of the Oaks, Daufuskie Island; 888-909-4653, daufuskieresort.com. Yardage: 7,081. Par: 72. Slope: 138. Architect: Jack Nicklaus, 1987. Greens Fees: $76-$130 (nonresort); $70-$115 (resort). T+L GOLF Rating: ****
From the greenside bunkers deep and small as test tubes to bantam greens to bulkheads on the par threes, this early period Nicklaus design shows a lot of Pete Dye influence. Yes, play often favors Jack's patented high left-to-right shots, but there are some smart, refined par fours where the shorter route has an obscured view and requires a more delicate approach. Melrose's finishing threesome is unique to the area, all along the Atlantic and building to a crescendo at the last, an unforgettable split-fairway hole divided by a treacherous fairway bunker, with a green that necks out into the ocean. Indeed, it seems to be sticking its chin out at Harbour Town's lighthouse—visible from here—as if to say, "I can hold my own with your closer."
OLD SOUTH GOLF LINKS
50 Buckingham Plantation Drive, Bluffton; 800-257-8997, oldsouthgolf.com. Yardage: 6,772. Par: 72. Slope: 141. Architect: Clyde Johnston, 1991. Greens Fees: $69-$92. T+L GOLF Rating: ***1/2
The best-conditioned public track in the area and plenty of fun, Old South actually seems more New South for its polyglot nature. Its spine is a pasture-like rolling links, but sprinkled throughout the layout are holes that run through oak forests and traverse tidal marshes. The big greens have mostly unencumbered entrances but are well contoured, and thus like a celebrity prove less welcoming the closer you get to them. Number seven, a 370-yard dogleg-right par four, has a terrifying, awkward tee shot to a peninsula landing area, then an approach to a narrow, diagonal-set green with bunkers front and back. One of the prettiest holes on the trip, whether you think it's fair may depend on your score.
PALMETTO DUNES, ROBERT TRENT JONES OCEANFRONT
7 Trent Jones Lane, Hilton Head Island; 800-827-3006, palmettodunesresort.com. Yardage: 7,005. Par: 72. Slope: 138. Architect: Robert Trent Jones, 1969. Greens Fees: $85-$140. T+L GOLF Rating: ***1/2
The name is both awkward and misleading: The only thing "oceanfront" here is the back of the tenth green. But the hyperbole is unnecessary. After Roger Rulewich's $3.1 million overhaul in 2002, this strong resort layout is not just better conditioned but also fairer. Holes four through eight rather unfortunately parallel the busy William Hilton Parkway, marring a good, tough, tree-lined run of holes; more enjoyable is the blustery, links-like, water-laden stretch from eleven through fifteen.
PALMETTO HALL PLANTATION, ARTHUR HILLS COURSE
108 Fort Howell Drive, Hilton Head Island; 800-827-3006. Yardage: 6,918. Par: 72. Slope: 136. Architect: Arthur Hills, 1991. Greens Fees: $85-$140. T+L GOLF Rating: ***1/2
To start, the finish: Our foursome of single-digit handicappers hit eight straight shots into the alligator holding pen that escorts the entire left side of the fairway to the green on this brutal 434-yard dogleg-left closer. The trees right and out-of-bounds beyond appeared to be the other option, although in fact there was a narrow landing strip canted toward the water, too. Love it or hate it, it's a dramatic, tournament-quality eighteenth. Absent the strong but repetitive stretch from fourteen to sixteen, this is a varied, probing layout. It isn't the prettiest course around, but it's pretty darn enjoyable—if you can find the eighteenth fairway with your tee shot (and if you do, let us know).
DAUFUSKIE ISLAND RESORT & SPA, BLOODY POINT
Avenue of the Oaks, Daufuskie Island; 888-909-4653, daufuskieresort.com. Yardage: 6,900. Par: 72. Slope: 135. Architects: Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, 1991. Greens Fees: $68-$115 (nonresort); $68-$105 (resort). T+L GOLF Rating: ***
The friendlier of Daufuskie's pair (ignore the intimidating name, which references an Anglo-Indian skirmish here) and designed for walking (there are no cart paths), Bloody Point has water in play on fourteen holes, though it is relevant only a third of the time. It's a pleasant, rolling and unfairly overlooked course that doesn't demand the grinding of Melrose. Fun flourishes include a shared green and a bunker in the middle of the eighteenth green, à la Riviera's sixth.
COUNTRY CLUB OF HILTON HEAD
70 Skull Creek Drive, Hilton Head Island; 843-681-4653, hiltonheadclub.com. Yardage: 6,919. Par: 72. Slope: 132. Architect: Rees Jones, 1987. Greens Fees: $49-$105. T+L GOLF Rating: ***
This unusual course appears to have been dropped here from the Northeast; still, Rees Jones did some nice work given an uninspiring piece of land. It's perhaps the least Low Country of our sampling but compensates with some strong par fours. Despite a few quibbles—a lack of variety in the par threes, some fairway bunkering a touch too severe in spots—it's a good, testing loop at the right price.
PALMETTO HALL PLANTATION, ROBERT CUPP COURSE
108 Fort Howell Drive, Hilton Head Island; 800-827-3006. Yardage: 7,079. Par: 72. Slope: 149. Architect: Robert Cupp, 1993. Greens Fees: $85-$140. T+L GOLF Rating: ***
Had the Klingons conquered Earth and gone into course design, they would have built layouts like this. Notorious for its computer-designed, geometrically shaped mounds and bunkering that are best appreciated via helicopter, this is still one to play if only for bragging rights. Granted, there are a few awkward holes (like a semiblind layup drive on the par-five second), and many of the straight edges have been allowed to get ragged over the last decade, perhaps as an act of art criticism. But there are some excellent holes, too, especially the stretch from twelve to fourteen, which begins with a 231-yard par three as long, simple and flowing as a wedding dress.
BEST OF THE REST
Palmetto Dunes, George Fazio course ($85-$140; 800-827-3006) has a testing back nine and mean fairway bunkers; its sister course, Arthur Hills ($85-$140; 800-827-3006), is fun in spots, dopey in others, but mostly just adequate. Old Carolina ($65-$85; 888-785-7274) has a few ungainly forced carries but is considered a tougher (if not as pretty) test than its sister course, Old South. Oyster Reef ($72-$120; 800-234-6318) is a solid early Rees Jones design. Civil War remains are featured at Robber's Row, one of three layouts at Port Royal ($63-$99; 800-234-6318). The Ocean course at Sea Pines Resort ($66-$115; 800-955-8337) is a nice warm-up to nearby Harbour Town.
PRIVATE GEMS
Belfair Golf Club, Bluffton. Gorgeous, bold, dramatic: Yes, these are two Tom Fazio courses. The East (1998) is tougher around the greens, with closely mowed rollaway areas, but the West (1995) gets the nod among the local cognoscenti as the better overall test.
Berkeley Hall, Bluffton. Its new parkland South (2002) nicely complements the earlier Fazio layout, the sterner, coastal North (2001); but perhaps the biggest star here is the world-class learning center.
Chechessee Creek Club, Okatie (2000). Our golf course in heaven is designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, and it's not unlike this one. Generous fairways lead to truly complex green complexes, and a quartet of wonderful short par fours proves that length isn't everything. Like a great middle-distance runner, these guys make their task look so easy you wonder why everyone can't do likewise.
Colleton River Plantation, Bluffton. By general consensus the area's strongest one-two punch, courtesy of Jack Nicklaus (1992) and Pete Dye (1998). The former is more of a parkland layout, while the latter is links-like; both are lovely and fun but tough as all get-out.
Haig Point Club, Daufuskie Island (1986). One of Rees Jones's first high-profile solo designs, its signature course is a superb test of driving, demanding long, straight tee shots to reach doglegs or to have any chance to hold the often elevated, unreceptive greens. There are twenty-nine holes in total, including an easier nine and two alternate holes meant to assuage the big eighteen's often-harsh demands.
Long Cove Club, Hilton Head Island (1981). This splendid Pete Dye design is generally thought of by better players to be the strongest and fairest test around and demanding of all aspects of the game—to our mind, it has a touch more variety than Harbour Town, with which it shares the need to thoughtfully position your ball.
Old Tabby Links at Spring Island, Okatie (1992). One of Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay's finest, least-forced layouts, this great everyday course is easily walked and makes wonderful use of the native trees. It features an all-world, all-carry par three, the 205-yard seventeenth, but mostly consists of one engaging hole after another.
Secession Golf Club, Beaufort (1992). This old-school, walking-only club begins with one of the scariest opening shots in golf—a two-hundred-yard carry over marsh to what appears to be a sliver of fairway set perpendicular to the tee; from this point on, the Bruce Devlin design turns into a prototypical Low Country delight.
ORIENTATION
You can fly into Hilton Head Island Airport from Charlotte, North Carolina, via U.S. Airways Express, but more likely you'll drive the forty-five minutes up I-95 from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. The island itself is shaped like a foot, and it's an easy place to navigate during the day, with most everything connecting to two main roads, William Hilton Parkway (Highway 278) and the Cross Island Parkway. But at night the paucity of streetlights (a local ordinance to allow for better stargazing) can make road signs quite difficult to see.
OTHER ATTRACTIONS
The twelve miles of beaches are a lovely place to start, and boaters could hardly find a nicer spot to cast about. The Harbour Town Yacht Basin (843-671-2704) offers fishing charters, cruising and sailing.
Your credit card can get a nice workout at Hilton Head Factory Stores 1 & 2 (shophiltonhead.com), found just off the island and with a wide range of stores. Fans of golf art should seek either counseling or the Linda Hartough Gallery (843-671-6500) in Harbour Town, where you'll find "golf landscapes" from one of the game's preeminent artists.
There are plenty of loftier pursuits within an hour of Hilton Head. You can check out historic Beaufort and its antebellum homes, tour the unspoiled beauty of Daufuskie Island with Outside Hilton Head (800-686-6996; also the place for outdoor enthusiasts), or take in all the charms of America's charm capital, Savannah, Georgia. You can even get there by boat on the Spirit of Harbour Town (843-842-7179).
There's something on Hilton Head in every style and price range. Marriott alone has eleven properties on the island (talk about being all over it), with a strong supply of family-friendly suites, cottages and villas.
DAUFUSKIE ISLAND RESORT & SPA Avenue of the Oaks, Daufuskie Island; 800-648-6778, daufuskieresort.com. Rooms: $89-$255. Cottages: $199-$499.
One nautical mile by private passenger ferry from Hilton Head and the setting for Pat Conroy's The Water Is Wide, Daufuskie Island Resort is the getaway from the getaway. The elegant antebellum inn has fifty-two rooms, all overlooking the Atlantic, as well as the brand-new Breathe Spa, with eight treatment rooms and so many spa services to choose from you may get stressed out trying to decide.
DISNEY'S HILTON HEAD ISLAND RESORT 22 Harbourside Lane; 407-934-7639, disneyvacationclub.com. Studios: $105-$275. Villas: $150-$710.
No, there are no Mickey Mouse courses to be found on this property, a rustic compound of Goofy fun set on a fifteen-acre island. What you will find are the three Palmetto Dunes courses just down the street, as well as a healthy dollop of family-oriented amusements centered around the 13,000-square-foot beach house.
HILTON OCEANFRONT RESORT 23 Ocean Lane; 800-845-8001, hiltonheadhilton.com. Studios: $99-$275; One-Bedrooms: $199-$499.
Located in Palmetto Dunes, this beachfront resort offers 303 studio suites and twenty oceanfront one-bedroom suites, all of which have minikitchens and balconies. Two pools are available for those who can't drag themselves the additional few feet to the private beach access. There's live entertainment five nights a week in the Regatta Lounge, which a fifty-something playing partner swore to me was "hopping with ladies, mostly my age, but still."
THE INN AT HARBOUR TOWN One Lighthouse Lane; 800-732-7463, seapines.com. Rooms: $146-$295.
The rather bland cream exterior of this sixty-room inn set adjacent to the golf links quickly gives way to an intimate, comfortable interior. There is a butler on call at all times whose duties range from recommendations to reservations; activities include tennis at the Sea Pines Racquet Club, whose twenty-three clay courts helped the resort garner the status of Tennis Magazine's number-two American tennis resort.
MARRIOTT'S HERITAGE CLUB AT HARBOUR TOWN & MARRIOTT'S HARBOUR CLUB 1044 William Hilton Parkway; 800-228-9290, vacationclub.com. Villas: $190-$330 (Heritage); $140-$280 (Harbour).
These get the nod among the island's copious Marriotts for their intimacy (there are only seventy villas) and proximity to the Calibogue Sound and Harbour Town (obviating the need for on-site restaurants). Each of their big two-bedroom-two-bath villas has all the goodies and gizmos you could want, from whirlpool tubs to balcony patios.
More than 200 eateries offer enough seafood to remind you you're on vacation, but there's ample cuisine for those who like meals to have legs.
CHARLEY'S CRAB (Seafood) Two Hudson Road; 843-342-9066. $$$
Sophisticated dining in a relaxed waterfront setting where the voices rarely rise above a contented murmur. Follow the waiter's tip and focus on the house specialties: luscious she-crab soup, teeming seafood chowder and truly crabby crab cakes that make Tim "Lumpy" Herron seem merely chubby by comparison.
HAROLD'S DINER (Diner) 641 William Hilton Parkway; 843-842-9292. $
The kind of authentic greasy spoon every golf destination should be required by law to have. You order at the counter from a guy who tells a loudmouth, "If you want to talk, go eat at Barnes & Noble." Someone (okay, me) who forgot to write his name on the bottom of the paper menu on which you check off your selection was asked, "What am I, your mother?" By the way, said menu fails to indicate that the "Big 'H' Burger" is one entire heart-stopping pound of meat.
OLD FORT PUB (Southern) 65 Skull Creek Drive; 843-681-2386. $$$
Generally regarded as the best place in Hilton Head to take a date—even if that date happens to be your spouse—this romantic eatery serves up succulent Southern fare along with more than 250 wines. Panoramic windows afford each diner a view of the spectacular sunsets from the banks of Skull Creek.
SANTA FE CAFE (Southwestern) 700 Plantation Center; 843-785-3838. $$$
Weather permitting, eat on the upstairs patio, where a roaring fireplace cuts the evening chill. The high vaulted ceiling and dark wood inside help create a cozy, clubby atmosphere, and the menu does equally well with the common (the "Outrageous Chimichanga") and the uncommon (wood-roasted quail).
TRUFFLES CAFE (Café) 71 Lighthouse Road; 843-671-6136. $$
There's a pleasant buzz here; Truffles serves the kind of food, including gourmet pizza, pasta and steaks, that you can enjoy and talk through at the same time—it's a nice spot for a postround lunch in particular. The "Chicken New Orleans" is a standout; if eaten for dinner, its thick, spicy cream sauce should preclude the need for breakfast the next morning. More than thirty wines are available by the glass.
TWO ELEVEN PARK WINE BAR & BISTRO (Fusion) 211 Park Plaza; 843-686-5212. $$$
This rollicking upscale bistro has perhaps the island's most bustling bar scene (excluding the nearby "Barmuda Triangle," located outside the gates of Sea Pines). Once you've made it to your table, you'll enjoy a convergence of American, Southern and international influences in dishes like "Rasta Pasta" and "Smothered Shrimp." The sprawling wine list spans 100 by the glass and 300 by the bottle.
