Featured Golf Trip: Sea Pines Resort

You know what, with Harbour Town set to reopen, let’s go ahead and dig into all that Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head, South Carolina, has to offer.

There are three courses on property: Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III and the two Dye tracks—Harbour Town, home to the RBC Heritage, and Heron Point.

We had the chance to play Harbour Town a few years back, and despite some unsightly numbers on the scorecard, it remains one of our most memorable rounds of golf. There’s not a golf experience you’ll find that feels more peaceful and quiet, cut out of old South Carolina homes and pine straw and coastal oaks and swampland. It’s golf in idyllic southern surrounds.

And the course fires the imagination at every turn. Railroad ties surround greens and bunkers and offer visual—and sometimes, like when you’re sizing up whether an exploded lob wedge could clear, truly physical—intimidation. Green surrounds run off into bunkers the size of kiddie pools. Par 5s demand accuracy and placement, winding through tall trees and waste bunkers. Par 4s look easy enough on the scorecard, and then you step on the tee box. Double bogey lurks at every water-guarded par 3 (all of them). And gators creep across the fairways like they own the place (they do).

Although we didn’t get the chance to play them, Atlantic Dunes and Heron Point hold their own, from most reports. The former sits among the top 40 courses in a crowded golf state, according to Golf Digest, while the latter offers a more playable entry into Dye’s twisted mind. Elite conditioning extends across all three.

Of course, ranked 21st on the composite list of the top 100 public golf courses in the U.S., Harbour Town has priced itself in the highest tier of American greens fees—topping out at $650 during our spring analysis. Atlantic Dunes and Heron Point offer a minor reprieve, with dynamic pricing that sits around $335 and $205, respectively, at current check. Resort life won’t help your budget, but you do have the option to explore the area’s vacation rental scene. One way or another, if you get the chance, make a Sea Pines trip happen.

This piece originally ran in the GTG newsletter. Subscribe here for free and get pricing details alongside the weekly featured stop—plus news on openings, redesigns, and more—in your inbox each Thursday afternoon.