South Carolina

SC has 13 of the best resort golf courses in the US for 2024, USA Today ranking shows. Take a look

Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course
Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course Gary W. Kellner PGA of America

It may be too cold, rainy and windy for golf in South Carolina right now, but better weather will be here before you know it.

Spring is just the around the corner, offering warm, sunny weather for golf enthusiasts. But where should you tee off this year to get the best bang for your buck?

The Palmetto State isn’t hurting for golf courses. But how about you treat yourself to the best resort golf courses the state has to offer?

Golfweek can help.

The USA Today publication recently unveiled its top 200 resort golf courses in the U.S. for 2024. Of those, 13 are in South Carolina.

According to Golfweek, the hundreds of members of its course-rating panel rated the courses based on 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. The overall ratings for each course are then averaged to produce a final rating and the courses are then ranked.

The ranking focuses on the golf courses and not the resorts as a whole or other amenities, Golfweek states.

Here are the three highest-rated South Carolina courses and their rankings on the list.

#9 Kiawah Island Golf Resort: The Ocean Course

Located on the eastern-most end the Kiawah Island, the Ocean Course has the most seaside hills in the Northern Hemisphere. The course was designed to give players an unobstructed view of the coastline from every hole. The course can also be particularly challenging, due to strong winds from the Atlantic.

The Ocean Course has been called one of the toughest and one of the most beautiful courses in the world. Toughest because the wind always blows and there is lots of trouble (water, sand, etc). Beautiful because of the ocean views. Here, the porch overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort opens with a relatively short par-4, giving the player an opportunity to get their round off to a good start. This may be the narrowest fairway on the course. Still, there is plenty of room between the waste bunker that guards the right side of the fairway from tee to green and the thick dune grass that borders the left. A good drive will leave a short iron to a gently undulating green tucked into a natural dune area with a generous opening from the left. A pond stretches halfway down the right side, but doesnaɬ¢a¢,Äö¬¨a¢,Äû¬¢t come into play.
The Ocean Course has been called one of the toughest and one of the most beautiful courses in the world. Toughest because the wind always blows and there is lots of trouble (water, sand, etc). Beautiful because of the ocean views. Here, the porch overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort opens with a relatively short par-4, giving the player an opportunity to get their round off to a good start. This may be the narrowest fairway on the course. Still, there is plenty of room between the waste bunker that guards the right side of the fairway from tee to green and the thick dune grass that borders the left. A good drive will leave a short iron to a gently undulating green tucked into a natural dune area with a generous opening from the left. A pond stretches halfway down the right side, but doesnaɬ¢a¢,Äö¬¨a¢,Äû¬¢t come into play. tdominick@thestate.com

#21 Sea Pines Resort (Harbour Town Golf Links)

This perennial favorite among PGA Tour players is located on Hilton Head Island. The course has undergone recent enhancements, such as new Celebration Bermuda grass for the fairways and a new irrigation system. Since 1969, it has been home to the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

Spectators observe Shane Lowry’s shot towards the green of the second hole during the third round of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing at Harbour Town Golf Links on Saturday, April 15, 2023 in Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island.
Spectators observe Shane Lowry’s shot towards the green of the second hole during the third round of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing at Harbour Town Golf Links on Saturday, April 15, 2023 in Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island. Eston Parker III for The Island Packet

#46 Caledonia Golf & Fish Club

This Pawleys Island golf course opened in 1994 and has been a perennial part of many top 100 golf course lists ever since. The 18-hole course was the first solo design of the late Mike Strantz.

The course’s 18 holes were sculpted with “large, creative greens guarded at times by ponds, streams and imposing bunkers,” the course’s website states.

Beautiful azaleas and other blooming flowers form a backdrop to the Par 3, No. 11 green at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawleys Island.
Beautiful azaleas and other blooming flowers form a backdrop to the Par 3, No. 11 green at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawleys Island. The Sun News file photo

10 more South Carolina courses on the list

  • #48 Dunes Golf & Beach Club

  • #86 True Blue on Pawleys Island

  • #125 Sea Pines Resort (Atlantic Dunes)

  • #150 Sea Pines Resort (Heron Point)

  • #177 Legends Golf Resort (Moorland)

  • #181 Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Osprey Point)

  • #181 (tied) Myrtle Beach National (King’s North)

  • #191 Grande Dunes Resort Club

  • #195 Barefoot Resort & Golf

  • #197 Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Cougar Point)

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Patrick McCreless
The State
803-771-8353
Patrick McCreless is the Southeast service journalism editor for McClatchy, who leads and edits a team of six reporters in South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. The team writes about trending news of the day and topics that help readers in their daily lives and better informs them about their communities. He attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama and grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL.
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