South Carolina

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Golf South Carolina

Most everyone who has ever picked up a golf club knows that Myrtle Beach, SC has been heralded as the golf capital of the world. Within public courses, the Palmetto State picks up Golf Digest’s 10th, 12th and 15th top courses in the country for 2006. Hilton Head and Kiawah islands, within the Intracoastal Waterway, are sublime amongst the barrier islands which are home to many of these magnificent world-class courses and resorts.

The critics are often divided as to which courses are the best. You’ll find that to be true in all of the states. Local opinions are valuable as well, but can lack the broader national and international perspective with which to compare. What is indisputable is that these courses are some of the most magnificent, beautiful golf courses on the planet.

All agree that Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head, designed by Peter Dye & Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1969, comes in high standing, with the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, (also a Peter Dye design, not to be confused with the Ocean Course at Hilton Head) right alongside it. Harbour Town is a 6,973 yard par-71 course with a course rating of 74 and a slope rating of 136. This course’s setting is gorgeous enough to give one pause at each and every shot. Its design is such that you must exercise precision and finesse your shots. Water hazards, trees and deceptively difficult elevations combine to test your skills. The SeaPines Resort realizes the great responsibility they have in being host to such greatness, and treats every player as a cherished guest, seeing to all the details so that you can focus on being at the very top of your game for this unique and exquisite golf vacation destination.

If Harbour Town is a course by which many are measured and weighed, then the Kiawah Island’s "Ocean Course" with its 7,296 yd par-72 course’s arrival in 1991 gave birth to yet another standard. Benefiting from 2 decades’ further experience in design and a slightly more rugged environment, the Oceans Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort is a marvelous, masterful, magnificent course rendition owing apology to no one. The Atlantic beckons, as waves break upon the shore just a shot away at every one of the 18 holes, while the course before you is sculpted from a raw, otherworldly terrain as exotic as one could possibly imagine. You’ll know by that flavor that you’re playing on a world-class course of unique greatness. Ranked the #8 public course in the country, and one of only 16 courses in the nation to earn a full five-star rating. The location of a shot in the film "The Legend of Bagger Vance," (the hole was specifically designed for that film) Ocean Course has also gained "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary" and named "Golf Course of the Year" by the National Golf Course Owners Association. If you were only allowed to play one course in your life, this would certainly be the one those in the know would choose.

Amongst other courses worthy of mention are the Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, Dunes Golf & Beach Club, May River Course, Tidewater Golf Club, TPC at Myrtle Beach, Wild Dunes (Links) at the Isle of Palm, Grand Dunes, and Barefoot Landing Resort. One could play only the courses on the barrier islands and still have more than enough beauty, challenge and excitement for any vacation. It’s easy to see why some consider South Carolina to be THE golf capital of the world, and one incredibly sound choice for a golf vacation destination.