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Take architect Pete Dye at his best and add the late Mike Strantz’ artistic genius. Next, dip into history for an antique called the Aiken Golf Club that features the fingerprints of Donald Ross and stir in the products of famed designers named Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio and Robert Trent Jones.
The recipe produces a cross-section of South Carolina’s golf courses open to public play.
Indeed, the Palmetto State has an embarrassment of riches in golf courses, a fact emphasized in the South Carolina Golf Course Rating Panel’s choices for the “Best You Can Play” in 2021.
“We’re very fortunate to have some of the finest courses in the nation,” said Biff Lathrop, executive director of the South Carolina Golf Association.
The rating panel, which includes 125 golf enthusiasts who represent a diverse range of occupations, handicaps and backgrounds, agrees. The group’s objective is to promote excellence in the state’s golf course design and operation through competitive ranking, education and public advocacy.
The “Best 50” courses, public or private, are chosen in even-numbered years and the “Best You Can Play” are announced in odd-numbered years. Criteria used in judging include routing, variety, strategy, equity, memorability, aesthetics and the golfer’s experience.
“There are so many outstanding courses that you’re really splitting hairs in the voting,” said Michael Whitaker, the panel’s executive director. “When you think about the number of really good golf courses in this state and reduce that number to 30, it’s a daunting task.
“It’s our good fortune to live in a state where even some of the finest courses do not make the ‘best’ lists.”
To emphasize the depth of quality, consider that private courses are not eligible for consideration on this year’s “Best You Can Play” list. The restriction eliminates acclaimed gems such as the Country Club of Charleston and Yeamans Hall (Seth Raynor), Camden Country Club (Ross), Chanticleer at Greenville Country Club (Jones), Berkeley Hall and Belfair (Fazio), Colleton River (Dye and Nicklaus) and the works of Nicklaus, Fazio and Gary Player at mountain layouts.
The PGA of America brings its flagship event, the PGA Championship, to Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course for the second time in May. And the United States Golf Association frequently utilizes South Carolina courses.
“Just think about the national tournaments we’ve had recently,” Lathrop said, referring to a list that includes the U.S. Women’s Open, the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball. The U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur comes this fall.
The Ocean Course garnered the most votes in this year’s survey. Other results are listed alphabetically.
The tourist-heavy areas dominate the list with 25 of the 30 along the Atlantic coast from Little River to Hilton Head Island. Thirteen are located on the Grand Strand, eight in the Charleston area and four in the Lowcountry.
Best golf courses you can play in SC
(Selected by the South Carolina Golf Course Rating Panel and listed alphabetically)
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Aiken Golf Club
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Atlantic Dunes, Hilton Head Island
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Barefoot Dye Course, North Myrtle Beach
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Barefoot Fazio Course, North Myrtle Beach
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Barefoot Love Course, North Myrtle Beach
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Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, Pawleys Island
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Country Club of South Carolina, Florence
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Crooked Oaks Course, Seabrook Island
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Dunes Golf & Beach Club, Myrtle Beach
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Furman Golf Club, Greenville
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Grande Dunes Resort Club, Myrtle Beach
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Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island
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Heritage Club, Pawleys Island
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Heron Point by Pete Dye, Hilton Head Island
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Kiawah Island Cougar Point Course
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Kiawah Island Ocean Course
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Kiawah Island Osprey Point Course
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Kiawah Island Turtle Point Course
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May River Golf Club, Palmetto Bluff
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Ocean Winds Course, Seabrook Island
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Orangeburg Country Club
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Pawleys Plantation, Pawleys Island
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Pine Lakes Country Club, Myrtle Beach
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Prestwick Country Club, Myrtle Beach
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Tidewater Golf Club & Plantation, Little River
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TPC of Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet
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True Blue Plantation, Pawleys Island
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Walker Course, Clemson
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Wild Dunes Harbor Course, Isle of Palms
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Wild Dunes Links Course, Isle of Palms
Best You Can Play on Grand Strand
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Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, Pawleys Island
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Dunes Golf & Beach Club, Myrtle Beach
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Pawleys Plantation, Pawleys Island
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TPC of Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet
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True Blue Plantation, Pawleys Island
Best You Can Play in Greater Charleston
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Kiawah Island Cougar Point Course
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Kiawah Island Ocean Course
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Kiawah Island Osprey Point Course
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Kiawah Island Turtle Point Course
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Wild Dunes Links Course, Isle of Palms
Best You Can Play in Lowcountry
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Atlantic Dunes, Hilton Head Island
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Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island
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Heron Point by Pete Dye, Hilton Head Island
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May River Golf Club, Palmetto Bluff
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Robert T. Jones Course, Hilton Head Island
Best You Can Play in Midlands
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Aiken Golf Club
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Country Club of South Carolina, Florence
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Mount Vintage Golf Club, North Augusta
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Orangeburg Country Club
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The River Golf Club, North Augusta
Best You Can Play in Upstate
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Furman Golf Club, Greenville
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Greenwood Country Club
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Links at Stoney Point, Greenwood
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Monticello Course, Savannah Lakes
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The Preserve at Verdae, Greenville
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Walker Course, Clemson
Gamecocks win latest tournament
With Pauline Roussin-Bouchard and Ana Pelaez finishing first and second individually, South Carolina’s women’s team set multiple school records in winning the Valspar Augusta Invitational. In the team’s third win of the season, Roussin-Bouchard posted the program’s best 54-hole total, 15-under-par 201, and the team’s 30-under 834 set a standard for a three-round event. The performance returned the Gamecocks to No. 1 in the Golfstat national poll. … Led by senior Jamie Wilson, USC’s men placed fifth in the Tiger Invitational at Opelika, Alabama.
Chip shots. Isabella Rawl (Lexington) and Smith Kniffle (Murrells Inlet) joined forces to capture he WSCGA’s Team Championship at Camden CC. … The team of South Carolina PGA professionals out-dueled the SCGA’s amateur squad to capture the Palmetto Cup matches at The Reserve GC at Pawleys Island. … Senior Turk Pettit finished fourth in leading Clemson’s men to a sixth-place finish in the Valspar Collegiate in Palm City, Florida. … Ivy Shepherd placed third individually and the Clemson’s women took fourth in the team competition in the Clover Cup in Mesa, Arizona.
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