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It comes as no surprise that, when surveying the public-access golf courses in South Carolina, two names stand out:Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course, and Hilton Head’s Harbour Town Golf Links. The former, after all, hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup and the 2012 PGA Championship; the latter has been a favorite stop on the PGA Tour (The Heritage) since 1969.
So your South Carolina golfing “bucket list” probably starts with those two Pete Dye designs/co-designs. Now, the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel — a collection of writers, amateurs and professionals who love the game — gives you 30 more to add to that.
The Ratings Panel shares some of its top courses below. And although a majority of the selections are located along the coast, as you might expect, the list spans the state from border to border.
For example: While Harbour Town and Kiawah share honors for best in the Lowcountry, the No. 3 course is the Grand Strand’s Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, created by Mike Strantz, a Mount Pleasant resident until his death. Tops in the Midlands are Florence’s Country Club of South Carolina and North Augusta’s Mount Vintage Plantation and Golf Club, while Clemson’s Walker Course heads the Upstate list.
Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Charleston, Florence, North Augusta and the Upstate's Clemson rounds it out to every corner of the state. Here’s the complete list; note that three courses tied for 30th.
1-2. (tie) Ocean Course and Harbour Town
4. Dunes Golf & Beach Club (Myrtle Beach)
5. Links Course @ Wild Dunes Resort (Isle of Palms)
6-7. (tie) Turtle Point @ Kiawah Island Resort and True Blue Plantation (Pawleys Island)
8. Tidewater Golf Club (North Myrtle Beach)
9. Resort Club @ Grande Dunes (Myrtle Beach)
10. Osprey Point @ Kiawah Island Resort
11. TPC of Myrtle Beach (Pawleys Island)
12-13. (tie) Country Club of South Carolina (Florence) and Mount Vintage Plantation & GC (North Augusta)
14-15. (tie) May River GC @ Palmetto Bluff (Bluffton) and Dye Course @ Barefoot Resort (Myrtle Beach)
16.. Heron Point by Pete Dye @ Sea Pines Resort (Hilton Head)
17. Pawleys Plantation G&CC (Pawleys Island)
18. Walker Course @ Clemson University
19. RiverTowne Country Club (Mount Pleasant)
20. Fazio Course @ Barefoot Resort (Myrtle Beach)
21. Seabrook Island Club/Crooked Oaks Course
22. Seabrook Island Club/Ocean Winds Course
23-25. (tie) Furman University Golf Club (Greenville), Love Course @ Barefoot Resort (Myrtle Beach) and Pine Lakes Country Club (Myrtle Beach)
26. Daufuskie Island Resort/Melrose
27. Heritage Club 40 (Pawleys Island)
28-29. (tie) Palmetto Dunes Resort/Arthur Hills Course (Hilton Head) and Glen Dornoch Waterway Golf Links (Little River)
30-32. (tie) Prestwick Country Club (Myrtle Beach), Founders Club @ Pawleys Island and Legends Resort/Heathland Course (North Myrtle Beach)
For more information on golf in South Carolina, visit www.SouthCarolinaGolf.com. For additional information regarding South Carolina's vast array of unique opportunities for enrichment, excitement and escape, as well as a free copy of our special downloadable/printable South Carolina Barbecue Trail Map, featuring more than 200 barbecue restaurants, please visit DiscoverSouthCarolina.com or SouthCarolinaParks.com.
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