The 25 best SC golf courses you can play in the New Year 2025, golfing experts say
It may currently be too cold and windy for a good game of golf in South Carolina, but planning ahead doesn’t hurt.
Spring will be here before long, providing plenty of chances to step onto the green, maybe try out those new clubs you got for Christmas and, hopefully, avoid sand traps.
But if you plan to enjoy several rounds of golf in South Carolina in the new year, shouldn’t you aim for the best courses in the state?
Golf Magazine ranks golf courses across the U.S. every year using a large team of expert panelists. And the magazine recently unveiled its 25 best South Carolina golf courses for 2025.
According to Golf Magazine, to determine the ranking, each panelist is given a list of hundreds of courses and groupings and checks off which ones they believe to be the best. They are also free to write in courses.
The panelists themselves are all handpicked and hail from 15 nations and all the golf meccas around the world. Many of the panelists have played more than 1,000 courses in 20-plus countries, the magazine’s website states.
Here is a listing with descriptions of the top five South Carolina golf courses for 2025.
Top 5 SC golf courses
#1 Kiawah Island Golf Resort: The Ocean Course
Located on the easternmost end of 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 blend of tidal marshes, scrub-topped dunes, live oaks, and the soothing sound of the Atlantic on every hole makes this one of the South’s most memorable playing experiences,” Golf Magazine states.
#2 Yeamans Hall
The Yeamans Hall Club golf course was designed in 1925 in Charleston. The course offers a “charming tour of Redan, Biarritz, and Road holes woven through marshland and magnificent live oaks,” Golf Magazine states. A two-decade-long renovation has restored the course to its original glory.
“Though the overall vibe at Yeamans is tranquil, a green pad like the one built up at the Knoll 14th is as pugnacious as it gets,” Golf Magazine states.
#3 Old Barnwell
Old Barnwell is nestled on 575 acres of sandy soil and rolling hills, surrounded by longleaf and loblolly pines near historic Aiken.
“The firmness of the turf that superintendent Davis Verner routinely achieves (thanks, in part, to an absence of overseeding) allows the nuances of this design to sparkle,” Golf Magazine states. “Meanwhile, the rust color of the centipede rough lends this open course a heathland-like feel.”
#4 Harbour Town
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.
“Standout features include the V-shaped green on the short par-4 9th, and the railroad ties around the 13th green, a Dye signature first inspired by the architect’s travels with his wife, Alice, to Scotland in the 1960s,” Golf Magazine states.
#5 Palmetto Golf Club
Founded in 1892, the Palmetto Golf Club is the oldest, continually operated 18-hole golf course in its original location in the Southeast, the golf club’s website states. The course has seen its fair share of prominent players and famously people over the years, from Masters Champions Byron Nelson and Ben Crenshaw, to Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and William Taft.
20 more SC courses
Here is a list of the remaining 20 best South Carolina golf courses for 2025.
- Congaree (Ridgeland)
- Tree Farm (Batesburg)
- Country Club of Charleston (Charleston)
- Long Cove (Hilton Head)
- Sage Valley (Graniteville)
- Secession (Beaufort)
- Chechessee Creek (Okatie)
- Palmetto Bluff - May River (Bluffton)
- The Dunes (Myrtle Beach)
- Colleton River Club - Pete Dye (Bluffton)
- Quixote Club (Sumter)
- Bull’s Bay (Awendaw)
- Kiawah Island - Cassique (Kiawah Island)
- Old Tabby Links (Okatie)
- Kiawah Island - River (Kiawah)
- Caledonia (Pawleys Island)
- Camden Country Club (Camden)
- Greenville CC - Chanticleer (Greenville)
- Colleton River Club - Nicklaus (Bluffton)
- Musgrove Mill (Clinton)
