Golf course fairway with Lowcountry live oaks on Hilton Head Island

⛳ Hilton Head Island

Best Golf Courses on Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island has more than 20 championship golf courses packed into 12 miles of island. The range is genuine — from the PGA Tour's crown jewel at Harbour Town to oceanfront resort courses and Lowcountry layouts winding through live oaks and tidal marshes. This is our ranked guide to the ten worth booking a tee time on.

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Harbour Town Golf Links 18th hole with lighthouse, Sea Pines, Hilton Head Island
PGA TourPete Dye DesignChampionshipIconic$$$$

Harbour Town Golf Links

Pete Dye's masterpiece and the only PGA Tour course on Hilton Head — host of the RBC Heritage since 1969.

Harbour Town Golf Links is one of the most important golf courses built in the twentieth century. Pete Dye — with input from a then-unknown Jack Nicklaus — designed it in 1969, and the par-71 layout immediately changed how architects thought about coastal golf: tight fairways, small greens, pot bunkers, and the famous 18th hole framed by the red-and-white lighthouse over Calibogue Sound. It hosts the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage every April — South Carolina's only Tour event — which means the conditioning standards are maintained at Tour level year-round. Playing it is the central golf pilgrimage on Hilton Head Island.

📍11 Lighthouse Ln, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

📞(843) 842-8484

🕐Tee times approx. 7am–5:30pm daily (closed ~4 weeks/year for RBC Heritage)

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Top golf courses & clubs on Hilton Head Island

Heron Point by Pete Dye golf course, Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island
$$$
Pete Dye DesignChampionshipSea Pines

Heron Point by Pete Dye

Sea Pines' most playable championship layout — a full Pete Dye redesign through marshland and lagoons.

Heron Point is the rebuilt version of Sea Pines' original Sea Marsh Course, completely redesigned by Pete Dye and reopened in 2007 after a multi-million-dollar renovation. The result is a course with authentic Dye DNA — waste bunkers, railroad ties, elevation changes within a flat coastal landscape — but a routing that rewards strategic play over pure power. The marsh and lagoon views throughout the back nine are among the best golf scenery on the island.

📍100 N Sea Pines Dr, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

📞(843) 842-8484

🕐Daily 8am–6pm (seasonal)

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Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III golf course, Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island
$$$
Davis Love III DesignLinks StyleSea Pines

Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III

A 2016 redesign of Hilton Head's very first golf course — links-style coastal terrain with native dunes and ocean views.

Atlantic Dunes sits on the footprint of Hilton Head's original golf course — the Ocean Course, built in 1960 — completely redesigned by Davis Love III and reopened in 2016. The redesign restored the natural coastal dune system, introduced bermuda fairways and bentgrass greens, and incorporated native vegetation throughout. It won South Carolina Golf Course of the Year the year it opened. The routing makes the most of its oceanside real estate: several holes play alongside the Atlantic with genuine sea-breeze variables.

📍100 N Sea Pines Dr, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

📞(843) 842-1477

🕐Daily 8am–6pm (seasonal)

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Robert Trent Jones Oceanside Course at Palmetto Dunes, Hilton Head Island
$$$
Robert Trent JonesOceanfrontPalmetto Dunes

Robert Trent Jones Oceanside Course

Palmetto Dunes' flagship course — one of the few layouts on Hilton Head with an oceanfront hole.

The Robert Trent Jones Oceanside Course at Palmetto Dunes was designed in 1969 — the same year as Harbour Town — and is the only other course on Hilton Head with a hole that genuinely plays alongside the Atlantic Ocean. The par-3 10th is that hole, and it's worth the round on its own. The course was renovated by Roger Rulewich and named South Carolina Golf Course of the Year in 2003. At par 72 and 6,710 yards from the tips, it challenges competitive players while remaining accessible to a wide range of handicaps.

📍7 Trent Jones Ln, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

📞(844) 207-9301

🕐Daily; pro shop approx. 7am–6pm

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Arthur Hills Golf Course at Palmetto Dunes, Hilton Head Island
$$$
Arthur Hills DesignPalmetto DunesChampionship

Arthur Hills Course at Palmetto Dunes

Palmetto Dunes' most demanding layout — precision driving through tightly wooded corridors and lagoons.

The Arthur Hills Course is the most technically demanding of Palmetto Dunes' three offerings. Opened in 1986, it routes through natural hardwoods and wetlands with tight fairways that punish wayward drives and greens that require specific approach angles to hold. It's the course at Palmetto Dunes that low-handicappers prefer for the challenge, and the condition-to-price ratio is consistently among the best on the island.

📍2 Leamington Ln, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

📞(843) 686-9138

🕐Daily; open year-round

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George Fazio Golf Course at Palmetto Dunes, Hilton Head Island
$$
George Fazio DesignPalmetto DunesPar-70

George Fazio Course at Palmetto Dunes

The island's only par-70 public course — deceptively difficult, with heavy bunkering and complex approach angles.

The George Fazio Course is often the entry point for first-time golfers at Palmetto Dunes — it plays shorter than its sister courses and the fairways are more forgiving. But the 'beginner-friendly' label understates its complexity: the par-70 design features some of the most intricate bunkering on the resort, and the greens reward players who understand approach angles rather than just hit hard. It was designed by Tom Fazio's uncle George Fazio and opened in 1974.

📍7 Carnoustie Rd, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

📞(844) 207-9301

🕐Pro shop 6:30am–6pm daily

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Shipyard Golf Club fairway through Carolina pines, Hilton Head Island
$$
27 HolesHeritage GolfSemi-Private

Shipyard Golf Club

27 holes through Carolina pines and lagoons — a former Senior PGA Tour host with the island's most distinctive alligator holes.

Shipyard Golf Club's 27 holes are divided into three nine-hole courses — Clipper, Galleon, and Brigantine — routing through the Shipyard Plantation's interior forest of Carolina pines, live oaks, and waterways. It hosted the Senior PGA Tour in the early 1980s. The so-called 'Alligator Cove' stretch on one of the nines is a perennial talking point — sightings are genuine and frequent. For value and variety, Shipyard offers more combination options (18 from three possible configurations) than most courses on the island.

📍45 Shipyard Dr, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

📞(843) 681-1503

🕐Mon–Sat 7am–8pm; open year-round

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Palmetto Hall Plantation golf course, Hilton Head Island
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36 HolesArthur HillsRobert Cupp

Palmetto Hall Plantation

Two championship layouts by Arthur Hills and Robert Cupp — 36 holes of risk-reward golf on the island's north end.

Palmetto Hall is the 36-hole campus in the north of the island operated by Heritage Golf Group. The Arthur Hills Course (1991) emphasizes precision through wooded corridors; the Robert Cupp Course (1993) opens up with more generous landing areas and bolder risk-reward architecture. Having two distinct design philosophies in one complex lets golfers choose their challenge level — methodical versus aggressive — without driving to a different club.

📍108 Fort Howell Dr, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926

📞(843) 342-2582

🕐Open year-round; hours seasonal

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Country Club of Hilton Head golf course, Hilton Head Plantation
$$$
Rees Jones DesignSemi-PrivateHilton Head Plantation

Country Club of Hilton Head

A Rees Jones design inside Hilton Head Plantation — has hosted USGA qualifiers and plays at slope 147.

The Country Club of Hilton Head is a Rees Jones design inside the gated Hilton Head Plantation community, playing to a slope rating of 147 from the championship tees — among the more demanding slope ratings on the island. It has hosted a USGA U.S. Open Qualifier and operates as a private club (Invited/ClubCorp) with reciprocal access for members of affiliated clubs. The north-end location keeps it quieter than the resort courses despite its championship credentials.

📍70 Skull Creek Dr, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926

📞(843) 681-2582

🕐Mon–Fri 5:30am–9pm, Sat 6am–6pm, Sun 7:30am–6pm

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Hilton Head National Golf Club fairway, Bluffton near Hilton Head Island
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Gary Player DesignPublic AccessNo Homes

Hilton Head National Golf Club

Gary Player and Bobby Weed's public course — no homes on the fairways, consistently ranked among SC's best public layouts.

Hilton Head National is technically just outside the island in Bluffton, but it draws Hilton Head visitors specifically because no homes border any of its fairways or greens — a rarity in a market dominated by plantation-community courses where residential development competes with the golf experience. Designed by Gary Player and Bobby Weed, it opened in 1989 and is consistently ranked among South Carolina's top public access courses. The price-to-quality ratio is the best in the Hilton Head area.

📍60 Hilton Head National Dr, Bluffton, SC 29910

📞(843) 842-5900

🕐Daily 8am–5:30pm; open year-round

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Frequently asked questions

How many golf courses are on Hilton Head Island?+

There are more than 20 championship golf courses on and immediately around Hilton Head Island, with additional courses in nearby Bluffton. Sea Pines alone has three — including Harbour Town Golf Links, host of the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage.

Is Harbour Town Golf Links open to the public?+

Harbour Town Golf Links is a semi-private course within Sea Pines Resort. Non-resort guests can book tee times but pay a higher green fee. During the RBC Heritage tournament week in April, the course is closed to public play.

What is the best golf course in Hilton Head for beginners?+

The George Fazio Course at Palmetto Dunes is widely considered the most forgiving of the premier resort courses — wide fairways and relatively few forced carries. Hilton Head National also has courses that work well for higher-handicap players.

Can I book a golf package on Hilton Head?+

Yes — most Hilton Head travel consultants including Hilton Ahead specialize in building golf packages combining villa accommodation with pre-booked tee times at multiple courses. Booking these together (rather than separately) typically saves money and ensures preferred tee times.

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