Best golf courses in South Carolina for 2024-25

As portion of GOLF’s rigorous ratings process for our recently released Top 100 Courses successful the U.S. and Top 100 Courses You Can Play rankings, our fleet of 100-plus master panelists identified the champion play courses successful each state.

You tin cheque retired the links beneath to browse each of our people rankings, aliases scroll down to spot the champion courses successful South Carolina. And if you’re looking to create your ain travel successful the future, you’d beryllium wise to fto GOLF’s caller Course Finder instrumentality assistance you. Here, you tin toggle each of our lists — Top 100 public, champion munis, champion short courses, champion par-3s and much — aliases select by value to create the cleanable itinerary for your adjacent trip.

GOLF’s different people rankings: Top 100 Courses successful the World | Top 100 Courses successful the U.S. | Top 100 Courses You Can Play | Top 100 Value Courses successful the U.S. | America’s Best Municipal Courses | The 100 Best Short Courses successful the World

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The champion play courses successful South Carolina (2024/2025)

SYMBOL GUIDE
# = Top 100 Course successful the U.S.
Y = Top 100 You Can Play successful the U.S.
V = Top 100 Value Course successful the U.S.
P = Public/Resort

Ed. note: Some courses were omitted from our rankings because they did not person capable votes.

1. Kiawah Island – Ocean (Kiawah Island) [#, Y, P]

The blend of tidal marshes, scrub-topped dunes, unrecorded oaks and the soothing sound of the Atlantic connected each spread makes this 1 of the South’s astir memorable playing experiences. Though the people conscionable turned 30 years old, it already has an illustrious history of hosting big-time events, nary much memorable than the drama-filled 1991 “War by the Shore” Ryder Cup. Much much short writer has been added astir the greenish complexes since then, and now the creation is much thought-provoking alternatively than terror-inducing. Many of its greens are plateaued, pinch immoderate of the much pronounced coming connected the 3rd, 11th and 14th holes. Phil Mickelson much than handled the putting surfaces connected his measurement to his historical triumph astatine the 2021 PGA Championship.

2. Yeamans Hall (Hanahan) [#]

Marrying classical Seth Raynor creation pinch coastal South Carolina topography, Yeamans presents a charming circuit of redan, biarritz and roadworthy holes woven done marshland and magnificent unrecorded oaks. A two-decade-long renewal based connected Raynor’s original spot maps — discovered successful the clubhouse attic — has returned this Golden Age masterpiece to its original brilliance. Jim Urbina oversaw overmuch of the activity that has seen the greens blown backmost retired to their original size and each consequential bunker restored, moreover the astir frustrating ones, for illustration those recovered successful the 4th fairway. The greenside bunkers aren’t truthful overmuch heavy arsenic the greenish pads are tall, and they create nervy moments specified arsenic astatine the Cape 10th hole, wherever missing the greenish near aliases correct leaves a taxing betterment shot, moreover though the spread is played complete level land. Though the wide vibe astatine Yeamans is tranquil, a greenish pad for illustration the 1 built up astatine the Knoll 14th is arsenic pugnacious arsenic it gets. Hard to fathom tackling the people pinch hickory clubs arsenic they did backmost successful the day! 

3. Old Barnwell (Aiken) [#]

Architects Brian Schneider and Blake Conant borrowed classical creation principles and applied them successful a caller measurement connected a sandy parcel of rolling onshore extracurricular of Aiken. The firmness of the turf that superintendent Davis Verner routinely achieves (thanks, successful part, to an absence of overseeding) allows the nuances of this creation to sparkle. Half-par holes abound. Can you scope the unfastened but agelong greenish astatine the par-5 opener? Should you effort to thrust the 2nd aliases 14th greens? (If you effort and fail, the huntsman quickly becomes the hunted arsenic heavy bunkers defender these 2 short 4s.) Can you usage the mounds astatine the par-4 8th to footwear an attack adjacent connected the inverted L-shaped green? Or really astir trying to bounce 1 onto the rolling greenish astatine the 235-yard 11th? Meanwhile, the rust colour of the centipede unsmooth lends this unfastened people a heathland-like feel. Completing the perfect is the club’s ethos of giving backmost to the crippled and the community, arsenic established by Old Barnwell laminitis Nick Schreiber.

4. Harbour Town (Hilton Head Island) [#, Y, P]

Small greens. Snug fairways. Subtleties galore. Since 1969, the Dye-Nicklaus collaboration has been a activity of caller aerial arsenic an yearly extremity connected the PGA Tour, a break from the same-old bomb-and-gouge designs. Modest successful yardage but agelong successful character, Harbour Town demands accuracy disconnected the tee and dead-eye robust play to fairways and greens framed by stately pines and knobby unrecorded oaks. Standout features see the V-shaped greenish connected the short par-4 9th, and the railroad ties astir the 13th green, a Dye signature first inspired by the architect’s travels pinch his wife, Alice, to Scotland successful the 1960s. The closing agelong from 13 connected provides an particularly rousing finale, punctuated by the show of the red-and-white striped lighthouse, looming down the 18th green.

5. Palmetto GC (Aiken) 

6. Congaree (Ridgeland)

7. Tree Farm (Batesburg) 

8. Country Club of Charleston (Charleston) 

9. Long Cove (Hilton Head Island) 

10. Sage Valley (Graniteville) 

11. Secession (Beaufort) 

12. Chechessee Creek (Okatie) 

13. Palmetto Bluff – May River (Bluffton) [Y, P] 

This graceful creation captures the allure of Lowcountry golf. Many of the features are glued to the crushed arsenic the people meanders crossed the property. On immoderate holes, for illustration astatine the par-3 2nd, the wetland is good short of the green; connected others, specified arsenic astatine the vulnerable short par-4 7th, the hazard is flush against the putting surface. At the par-5 15th, a brace of Spectacle bunkers hide the agelong attack to the green, creating a consciousness of mystery. Holes 13 and 14 ooze charm and embody the benignant of play that you would for illustration to play each day.

14. The Dunes (Myrtle Beach) [Y, P]

Before World War II, Robert Trent Jones Sr. worked for the legendary Canadian architect, Stanley Thompson. Jones’ early solo works, particularly astatine Peachtree and present astatine the Dunes, show a akin creation flair to that which made the Toronto Terror truthful famous. The 2nd 9 is anchored by the iconic par-5 13th that sweeps astir the lake. Indeed, galore see the 2nd 9 1 of the finest successful the Palmetto State. But the first 9 is astir arsenic good, pinch the dogleg 2nd and 4th holes favoring cleanable draws disconnected each tee, and the greenish astatine the one-shot 9th affording the champion position of the Atlantic Ocean. For much than 50 years, the Golf Writers Association of America was smart capable to convene present the week earlier the Masters.

15. Colleton River Club – Pete Dye (Bluffton) 

16. Quixote Club (Sumter)

17. Bull’s Bay (Awendaw) 

18. Kiawah Island – Cassique (Kiawah Island) 

19. Old Tabby Links (Okatie) 

20. Kiawah Island – River (Kiawah) 

21. Caledonia (Pawleys Island) [Y, P]

Strantz’s wildly creator style — “You either emotion it, aliases you don’t understand it yet,” a shrewd perceiver erstwhile noted — has attracted a cult-like pursuing since his 2005 death. Of his 9 original designs, Caledonia was his first; he followed it soon pinch a sister creation astatine adjacent True Blue. Among the classical Strantz touches present are an isthmus of fairway connected the par-4 13th and a “devil’s ***hole” bunker astatine the par-3 17th, group against a Lowcountry backdrop of Spanish Moss and meandering swamps. Strantz’s designs are afloat of strategical brilliant and analyzable visuals. Caledonia is nary exception.

22. Camden Country Club (Camden) 

23. Greenville CC – Chanticleer (Greenville) 

24. Colleton River Club – Nicklaus (Bluffton) 

25. Musgrove Mill (Clinton) 

How we rank our courses

For our recently released Top 100 U.S. and Top 100 You Can Play lists — a process that helped america create 50 best-in-state rankings — each panelist was provided a ballot that consisted of 609 courses. Beside the database of courses were 11 “buckets,” aliases groupings. If our panelists considered a people to beryllium among the apical 3 successful the U.S., they ticked that first column. If they believed the people to beryllium among Nos. 4-10, they checked that column, followed by 11-25, 26-50, and truthful connected retired to 250+ and moreover a file for “remove.” Panelists were besides free to constitute successful courses that they felt should person been included connected the ballot.

Points were assigned to each bucket; to get astatine an mean people for each course, we disagreement its aggregate people by the number of votes. From those constituent tallies, the courses are past classed accordingly. It is an intentionally elemental and straightforward process. Why? Because it historically has produced results that are wide lauded. Like the crippled itself, there’s nary request to unnecessarily complicate things aliases effort to hole thing that already useful truthful well.

The cardinal to the process is the acquisition and expertise of our panel. Hailing from 15 nations and each the worldwide play meccas, each of our 127 handpicked panelists has a keen oculus for architecture, some regionally and globally. Many of our panelists person played much than 1,000 courses successful 20-plus countries, immoderate complete 2,000. Their handicaps scope from +5 to 15.

Because the quality of people standing is truthful intensely subjective, nary 1 sentiment carries the day. The only way, then, to build meaningful statement is to incorporated this diverseness of panelists and experiences into 1 ranking.

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