10 Best Golf Courses in Hilton Head Island

One of the most exemplary golf courses on the PGA Tour, Harbour Town helped put Hilton Head Island on the map as a golfing location after opening in 1969. It’s easy to see why as you make your way around this revered and distinguished course, which remains as challenging and enjoyable for golfing legends as it is for the average golfer. 

The course demands extreme accuracy, finesse and imagination with its small greens, multiple water hazards and plentiful and well-placed overhanging branches. And at the 18th hole you’ll be greeted by one of the most famous sites in golf, the distinctive red and white of adjacent Harbour Town Lighthouse.

Shifting winds from the Atlantic Ocean make every hole play differently at the highly rated Robert Trent Jones course, even if you’ve played them before. Part of the Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort, these links provide quite a unique challenge to amateur and professional level players alike. 

Most holes on the picturesque course wind through lagoons and palmetto trees and feature wide fairways, large greens, and gentle slopes. At the elevated green of the 10th hole, even the most intensely focused and dedicated golfers can find themselves taking a brief timeout to breathe in the sea air and take in the panoramic, sweeping views of the ocean. 

The George Fazio Course, part of the Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort, is considered by experts to be the most challenging course on Hilton Head Island. Its distinctive and challenging layout includes encroaching trees, angled water hazards, and tricky green shapes. It’s the only par 70 on the island with just 2 par 5 holes. 

A challenge for golfers of all skill levels, the course has been lauded as South Carolina Golf Course of the Year and was also one of the youngest courses to be listed in Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 Best Courses. After an enjoyable game, relax in the clubhouse and have a tasty dinner from the Fazio Grill. 

Atlantic Dunes, originally called the Ocean Course, was the first golf course on Hilton Head Island back in 1962. It has since blazed quite a trail for golf on the island. It belongs to the impressive Sea Pines Resort.  

Completely revamped by Davis Love III, the seaside course features coquina shells and native grasses. It offers a Lowcountry feel with water features on most holes, Spanish moss-draped oaks, and even lurking alligators. Holes have been redesigned since its launch to frame scenic corridors for players and to take into consideration modern shot values. Translation: It’s harder than it used to be. If you’d like a little expert help, book a private lesson with the professionals. 

The Arthur Hills Course at Palmetto Dunes offers golfers the opportunity to play on one of South Carolina’s most uniquely challenging courses. You also get to delight in one of Hilton Head Island’s most enjoyable golfing experiences.  

Requiring accuracy and precision over power and distance, the course blends the topographic beauty of the natural environment with the inherent challenges of the sport to provide a demanding experience that requires top levels of skill, concentration, and guile. Among its natural highlights is the network of lagoons which wind their way through and around 10 holes and are always eager to welcome errant golf balls. You can always stock up first at the onsite shop. 

Set amidst winding lagoons, lush vegetation, and oak and pine trees, the course at Oyster Reef Golf Club is one of the favorite courses of in-the-know locals and visiting golfers. It also happens to enjoy some of the most scenic views of the island. 

The course, built in 1982, features a variety of challenging doglegs through tree-lined corridors, and is also home to what many claim is the most spectacular golf hole on the entire island. You can find this at the par 3, number 6 hole, which provide players with a magnificent and serene view of Port Royal Sound. Afterward, nearby Lager Head Tavern is a favored place to discuss your scores, and the scenery. 

Heron Point course designer Pete Dye is described as “a diabolical genius,” so you know you’re in for a challenging time on these celebrated links. 

Part of the Sea Pines Resort, a multi-million-dollar reconstruction project in 2007 dramatically reshaped the fairways of the course with the surrounding mounds and hillocks helping keep players of all levels from ever getting too comfortable. Small greens are surrounded by all manner of natural obstacles including bunkers and water. You’ll need to be at the very top of your game to get out of here at par or below. It’s a short play, so it’s an ideal option to fit in between other Hilton Head activities. 

On an island filled with top-flight golf courses, Golden Bear Golf Club has carved out its own reputation as one of the most attractive and challenging courses on Hilton Head. 

Designed by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus and his son, the 1992 course welcomes golfers of all levels and budgets and has been named one of America’s Top 100 Courses Under $100. For this competitive price point, golfers get to take on a tough, yet forgiving, championship course set in a gorgeous landscape of gently rolling terrain, thick woodlands, and a chain of beautiful lagoons. Finesse and strategy are the key to a low score here. 

Having a great long game, with the driving range of a John Daly or Happy Madison, will not reap benefits for you at the Barony Course. Here accuracy, not length or strength, is key.  

At first glance from the tee box, the holes can look open and straightforward but, be warned, it’s an illusion. The seemingly generous greens are protected by thick rough and unforgiving bunkers, and require a deft touch with small and short irons rather than large drivers. At 40+ years of age, the course was one of the first on Hilton Head Island but remains a perennial favorite of locals and visiting golfers. While you’re here, check out the Robber’s Row course at Port Royal, too. 

Located about half an hour off Hilton Head Island, in Bluffton, May River Golf Club is a Jack Nicklaus-designed course and named “Best New Course” in South Carolina in 2005. Meandering through the May River Forest and set amidst centuries-old oak trees, the well-conditioned course features wide fairways, strategic bunkers, and deceptively undulating greens. They’re all guarded by bunkers with sand imported especially from Ohio. 

A round at May River Golf Club is open to members and guests of the Montage Palmetto Bluff. Caddies are required. It’s recommended to walk the course to take in its natural beauty, but golf carts are available on request.