Hilton Head Island – The Natural Place to Golf

By Tom Lang

Hilton Head Island is a more tranquil golf getaway than many resort regions – primarily thanks to its initial modern development in the 1950s with the intent of keeping the area natural, offering a place for humans to populate but share and maintain the natural surroundings with wildlife. A staple of the island is that its surrounding water ways are a safe haven for sea turtles, and dolphins are very active in the area as well.

While golf vacationers have all the modern comforts of travel available with great accommodations, outstanding food options and other activities like biking, tennis, pickleball, boating and the oceanfront beaches – the overall experience feels very uncommercialized.

To keep a natural look to the island all these decades later, there are rules such as: no billboards allowed, no neon signs (only signs made of wood) and no street lights. Most accommodations are vacation condo and home rentals, as there are only a handful of hotels on the entire island.

I hadn’t been to Hilton Head in five years but recently returned to visit family who moved there – a cousin and his wife. What a great time we had for a few days playing golf and exploring other historic areas like Beaufort, Bluffton and Savannah.

We played two courses at Palmetto Dunes; the layout by Michigander Arthur Hills, and the George Fazio design. The resort also has a third course first developed in the 1960s by Robert Trent Jones that was revitalized in 2002 to return what were man-made flatter fairways into the more rolling ground one would find with flowing sand dunes near the ocean.

Hills Course:

This is a challenging course but one that is very fair. It’s not overly-long but is a shot-makers target style golf layout. Like all the Palmetto Dunes’ courses, there is a beautiful mix of palm trees and old oaks, with a ton of tropical vegetation surrounding. The fifth hole has a historic lighthouse as a backdrop that was first built in 1880. Near it is an oak tree considered one of the oldest on the island at about 450 years young.

My favorite stretch was holes 11-through-13.

Hole 11 is a par 3 with varying levels of tee boxes to a nice green complex below with huge bunkers guarding it left and right.

Hole 12 is a sweeping left to right dogleg with water all along the right side. As golfers approach the green, there is a set of a half dozen mature palm trees guarding the left side with all water still on the right. 

Hole 13 has a tee shot going over the water canal system that defines Hilton Head’s recreational boat travel interior. The hole becomes a hard dogleg right par 5 for two more shots, with a large pond guarding the right side, and bail-out room on the left. 

I feel that 17 should be their signature hole. Golfers tee off with the canal along the left as they aim to a wide fairway that turns left – as does the water canal. The approach requires a shot back over the same water feature to a green on the other side surrounded by trees in back.

“I think it’s a creative layout because they don’t have a ton of property here, but they did a really nice job of setting the course up so you didn’t feel like the course was wedged into a small piece of property,” my cousin said. He added the course had lots of interesting water hazards that were in play but there was no reason to be super intimidated by it. “Absolutely you could get in trouble with it but it’s not like you stood there worrying about clearing the water or were terrified of it.”

The one exception for me was the tee shot at 13, which that day was into a stiff wind. I cleared the water canal, but my ball dropped into tall grasses along the edge. I was advised that with snakes and alligators being a natural part of the island to let that ball go and dig a new one out of my bag.

Fazio Course:

This layout was more open than the Hills, with sand as a major feature. Some holes the sand traps were double the size of the largest greens. On 18, there seemed to be as much sand to navigate as there was fairway grass. The tee shot provides a tall palm tree on either side that act as directional ‘goalposts’ to the fairway that is slightly blind from the tee box.

Holes 5 and 6 were almost identical to holes 13 and 14 – shorter par 4 sharp dogleg lefts followed by a par 3. Hole 11 was an interesting par 4 that turned slightly right to a double green shared with hole 16, which came in from the opposite direction.

Hole 7 is a beautiful looking hole, especially for one that ventures straight ahead with no visual turns. After the tee shot, golfers must clear one of the canals to an elevated green surrounded left and right by thicker stands of trees than most any other part of the design.

Jones Ocean Course:

I did not play the third course on this mid-February trip, but it was on my list five years ago. I recall the front nine as mostly tree-lined but never too tight – with good sand and water features to navigate.

Once reaching the 9th tee, golfers turn toward the Atlantic Ocean with two consecutive par 5s. The Atlantic is directly behind the 10th green, which offers an excellent view of a public, sandy beach with shrimp boats trolling along the ocean front. Starting at the 10th the course feels more open as much of the back 9 is played in a section that has a lagoon and its many creek-like features meandering throughout the hole designs. The waterway is very popular for kayaks and canoes and adds an extra touch of beauty while providing some strategic thinking about club selection.

The prevailing breezes off the Atlantic also play from behind or as a diagonal cross breeze on holes 11-15, often giving golfers some extra yardage.

History Galore:

Hilton Head’s specific, long-ago planned development to allow humans a place to live and play without harming the natural surroundings remains a staple today. The island also played a large role in the Civil War and the surrounding towns off the island provide a ton of opportunities to experience old southern architecture and a slower pace of life. 

Whether your interests are only golf at any of the nearly three dozen courses in the region – or you like to bike, hike, boat, play tennis, go on a dolphin tour or eat excellent seafood – Hilton Head Island is the peaceful place to be.

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