Top 10 Golf Courses in South Carolina
South Carolina has built its golf identity on two very different geographical personalities. The Sea Islands of the Lowcountry — Hilton Head, Kiawah, Fripp, Dataw — deliver courses where ocean wind, salt marsh and the tidal rhythms of the Atlantic shape every round. Inland, the Pee Dee region, the Midlands and the Upcountry offer a different proposition: wooded parkland, elevation changes, and a quieter, more contemplative brand of the game. The Myrtle Beach Grand Strand alone hosts over 60 courses and markets itself aggressively as a golf holiday destination, which it genuinely is for those who want volume. But the courses that define the state's reputation operate at a higher level of ambition — Kiawah's Ocean Course staging the PGA Championship, Harbour Town synonymous with the PGA Tour, and a handful of private clubs that produce conditions as refined as any in the American South.
1. Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island
Harbour Town Golf Links opened in 1969, designed by Pete Dye with significant input from Jack Nicklaus, and immediately set a new standard for American design thinking. Where the prevailing fashion was for long, wide courses demanding pure power, Dye gave Harbour Town tight, tree-lined fairways, small, sloping greens and the famous lighthouse 18th — a par four of 478 yards with the harbour and that iconic red-and-white striped tower forming the backdrop. The course plays to just over 7,100 yards but the scoring average on the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage tells the real story. Harbour Town is part of Sea Pines Resort; visitors can book tee times as resort guests or through the club's daily fee program.
2. Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Ocean Course), Kiawah Island
The Ocean Course is the longest stretch of Atlantic-facing golf in the United States, with ten holes directly alongside the ocean and eight more with water views. Pete Dye completed the design in 1991 just weeks before the Ryder Cup — the War on the Shore — was played on it. The PGA Championship followed in 2012 and 2021, Rory McIlroy winning the first and Phil Mickelson, at 50, the second. The course stretches to over 7,800 yards from the tips; the sea wind that whips off the Atlantic makes club selection a constant exercise in judgment. Kiawah Island Golf Resort offers accommodation packages; visitor tee times are available but at premium rates.
3. The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, Myrtle Beach
The Dunes Golf and Beach Club is the most prestigious private club in the Myrtle Beach area, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design from 1948 that has stood up magnificently to the test of time. The 13th hole — Waterloo, a par five that curls around the edge of a lake — is one of the most demanding and photographed holes in South Carolina golf. The course plays to 7,165 yards and has hosted the LPGA Tour and a number of prestigious amateur events. The Dunes is a private club; access is through member introduction. The conditioning year-round is excellent, and the club maintains the measured, formal atmosphere of a traditional American golf institution.
4. Caledonia Golf and Fish Club, Pawleys Island
Caledonia is one of the most celebrated public-access courses in the American Southeast, a Mike Strantz design from 1994 built on the grounds of a former rice plantation in Pawleys Island. Spanish moss drapes from the ancient live oaks that line nearly every hole, and the routing through wetland, marsh and mature woodland produces one of the most photographed course environments in the country. Par is 70; the course is relatively short at around 6,500 yards, but the routing demands strategic thought on almost every hole. Visitor tee times are available; the green fees place it in the upper tier of daily-fee golf in the region, but the experience justifies the cost.
5. TPC Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet
TPC Myrtle Beach is the area's most prominent resort course with a strong claim to championship credentials. Tom Fazio designed it in 1999 for the TPC network, producing a course that challenges strong players while remaining playable for the resort golfer. It stretches to just over 6,900 yards at par 72 with water in play on many holes. The conditioning is maintained to Tour standards year-round. The Grand Strand location places it within easy reach of dozens of other courses; golfers based in Murrells Inlet can easily manage two or three rounds per day.
6. Yeamans Hall Club, Hanahan
Yeamans Hall is one of the Southeast's great private clubs, a Seth Raynor design from 1925 that has been scrupulously maintained in its original character. Raynor's signature template holes — the Redan, the Short, the Eden, the Biarritz — appear across the routing, and the course is a vivid expression of the classical design philosophy he shared with his mentor Charles Blair Macdonald. The 6,400-yard par-70 layout sits on a former plantation site outside Charleston, its live oaks giving cathedral-like shade over many of the fairways. Access is by member introduction only; the club accepts a modest number of outside visitors at its discretion.
7. Country Club of Charleston, Charleston
The Country Club of Charleston is one of South Carolina's oldest and most respected clubs, a Seth Raynor design that opened in 1925 on James Island overlooking the Charleston harbor. Like Yeamans Hall, it features Raynor template holes executed on a spectacular site; the views of the city and the Ashley and Cooper rivers from the higher points of the course are exceptional. The club hosted the 2019 US Women's Open, the first major championship in Charleston in decades. Private; access through member introduction or during reciprocal periods with affiliated clubs.
8. Colleton River Plantation Club (Nicklaus Course), Bluffton
Colleton River is a private residential community near Bluffton with two 18-hole courses — one designed by Jack Nicklaus and one by Pete Dye. The Nicklaus Course plays to around 7,100 yards along the tidal marshes of Colleton River, with views over the water on numerous holes and demanding carry shots over marsh grass. The quality of conditioning across both courses is among the highest in the Lowcountry. Access is through property ownership or member introduction.
9. True Blue Golf Club, Pawleys Island
True Blue is the sister course to Caledonia and also the work of Mike Strantz, completed in 1998. It takes a bolder, more sculptural approach than Caledonia, with dramatic mounding, waste areas and a more modern aesthetic. The course stretches to 7,000 yards at par 72 and represents one of the best daily-fee challenges in the state. Strantz considered it among his finest works; some players find it even more engaging than Caledonia, particularly those who prefer a more visually striking layout. Visitor tee times are available; booking through the Pawleys Plantation management simplifies the process.
10. Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club, Pawleys Island
Pawleys Plantation, a Jack Nicklaus design from 1988, runs through the tidal marshes and wetlands of Pawleys Island with ten holes featuring carry shots over water or marsh. The routing makes full use of the 400-acre site; the back nine in particular uses the estuary landscape with a confidence that characterises Nicklaus's best resort work. Par is 72; the course plays to around 7,000 yards from the championship tees. The club operates both as a residential community and as a semi-public daily-fee course. The setting is quintessential Lowcountry.
Practical Information
South Carolina golf plays best from mid-October through May, when temperatures in the Lowcountry are mild and the humidity of summer has subsided. The peak winter season — December through March — brings the most visitors and the highest prices to Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach. Summer is playable but demanding, with temperatures regularly above 35 degrees Celsius and high humidity; early morning tee times are essential. Green fees range from under USD 40 at municipal and second-tier Myrtle Beach courses to USD 400 or more for a peak-season round at the Ocean Course. Open the map to see the full concentration of courses across the Sea Islands, the Grand Strand and beyond.