From two of Pete Dye’s seminal American designs to a pair of modern masterpieces near historic Aiken, here’s our list of the top 10 courses in South Carolina.
1. THE OCEAN COURSE, Kiawah Island
Both the best and toughest test in the state, arguably the Southeast. Pete Dye’s design genius combines with the ever-present wind to offer a relentless examination in shotmaking. It has hosted a Ryder Cup and two PGA Championships with a third scheduled for 2031.
2. YEAMANS HALL, Hanahan
A Seth Raynor gem just north of Charleston, restored by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina in a sublime Lowcountry setting. Broad fairways lined by tall pines and moss-draped oaks lead to enormous, imaginatively contoured greens that are a joyful challenge to decipher and putt. The club celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
3. HARBOUR TOWN, Hilton Head Island
In the era of expansive course design, Pete Dye broke every rule, creating slivers of twisting fairways and tiny, tightly bunkered greens. Site of the annual RBC Heritage, it was a hit the day it opened and remains so.
4. OLD BARNWELL, Aiken
The promising new architectural team of Brian Schneider and Blake Conant brought their full creativity to bear on a sandy, rolling, pine-lined landscape, blending strategy with a bit of whimsy to create a course that requires full attention from the tees and fairways and both imagination and touch around the greens.
5. CONGAREE, Ridgeland
Built by a pair of billionaires on a former rice plantation, this Tom Fazio design gained instant acclaim, and why not? It has the feel of Pine Valley, the bunkering of the Australian Sandbelt courses, and the fast-running conditions of a Scottish links.
6. THE TREE FARM, Batesburg
For years, PGA Tour player Zac Blair yearned to create a course and club where he could bring his friends just to have a great time—and this is it. Every aspect of The Tree Farm has been curated to provide enjoyment, starting with a Tom Doak routing that is open, rolling, rarely penal, and never strays more than two holes from the clubhouse bar.
7. SAGE VALLEY, Graniteville
Less than half an hour from Augusta National sits this unabashed homage to the Masters site: broad, pine-clad fairways, winding streams, abundant azaleas, immaculate conditions, compulsory caddies, and even green jackets for the members.
8. PALMETTO, Aiken
One of America’s oldest clubs, Palmetto began in 1892, but the current course is very much the work of Alister MacKenzie, who worked on it at around the same time he did Augusta National. Diabolical bunkering and small elevated greens, ingeniously contoured, are its hallmarks.
9. MAY RIVER, Bluffton
Jack Nicklaus joins the list with this private layout at Palmetto Bluff. The Bear was generous off the tee with wide fairways and light rough, but the green complexes offer plenty to think about and the surfaces are both fiercely sloped and fast.
10. LONG COVE, Hilton Head Island
Pete Dye followed his success at Harbour Town with this private club a few miles down the road where the corridors are a bit more expansive and the greens more contoured. Water comes in play on a dozen holes, most scenically at the 13th and 14th beside Broad Creek.
