How to Play the Best Golf in South Carolina

The short answer

South Carolina is one of the great golf states because so much of its best is genuinely playable. The headline round is the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, the Pete Dye monster that staged the 1991 Ryder Cup and the 2012 and 2021 PGA Championships, and the surest way on is a stay at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, which opens up early tee time booking. Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head, the Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus design under the famous lighthouse, is bookable through The Sea Pines Resort, ideally as a package.

The value is just as good as the marquee names. At Pawleys Island, the late Mike Strantz left two of the most characterful courses in the country, Caledonia and True Blue, both bookable direct and a fraction of the resort fees. The huge spread of Myrtle Beach widens the choice further, while the Lowcountry hides the semi private May River at Palmetto Bluff, a Nicklaus design reserved for resort guests and members. Build the trip around the courses that need a stay, and the rest fall into place.

How access works, region by region

On Kiawah Island, the resort holds the keys. Guests of Kiawah Island Golf Resort can reserve the Ocean Course when they book a room, often many months out, which is why a stay is the dependable way to lock a tee time on a course this in demand; players not staying on the island work a much shorter window, roughly 30 days ahead and subject to whatever is left. The resort's other Kiawah courses, including Osprey Point and Turtle Point, are easier to book and round out a stay. On Hilton Head, Harbour Town runs through The Sea Pines Resort on dynamic pricing, so a golf package usually gives both the best access and the best value, alongside the resort's other courses.

At Pawleys Island, an hour up the coast toward Myrtle Beach, Caledonia and True Blue are refreshingly straightforward: book direct, often as a two course ticket, and turn up. They are the connoisseur's value play in the state, Strantz design at public prices. Myrtle Beach proper is the volume capital of American golf, dozens of courses bookable through packages, ideal for a buddies trip. Down in the Lowcountry near Bluffton, May River at Palmetto Bluff is the outlier, a semi private Nicklaus course with no public access, so a stay at the Montage Palmetto Bluff is the only reliable route on.

Where to focus a South Carolina trip

For a bucket list week, base on Kiawah for the Ocean Course and add Charleston's history and restaurants, then run south to Hilton Head for Harbour Town. For a value driven golf trip, anchor at Pawleys Island or Myrtle Beach and play the Strantz pair alongside the best of the Grand Strand. For a luxury Lowcountry escape, the Montage Palmetto Bluff and May River pair beautifully with Hilton Head. Whichever you choose, lock the courses that require a resort stay first, because the rooms and tee times that unlock the Ocean Course and May River go early, and the rest of the itinerary builds around them.