Best golf courses: Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island: the table below provides brief details about the top golf courses in and around this city. Each golf club has been visited and/or researched by Where2Golf. Click on the course name below to discover more. The course ratings below range from 5 highest, to 2 lowest. They attempt to provide an indication of the golfing experience you might expect at the course (based on its design, condition and surroundings). Hover your cursor above the Rating Key below for the rating definitions.
Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Hilton Head Island
Jones, Rees

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Rees Jones

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Palmer, Arnold

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

An Arnold Palmer Signature Course.

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Weiskopf & Morrish

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Original design by Tom Weiskopf & Jay Morrish (1991); renovated in 2011 by Davis Love III (of Love Golf Design).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
(Closed in 2017)
Hilton Head Island
Nicklaus, Jack

Visitors?

(Closed in 2017)

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Jack Nicklaus

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Love III, Davis

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Davis Love III (signature course)

Unrated: Well regarded course not yet visited by the Where2Golf team.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Love III, Davis

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Davis Love III

Unrated: Well regarded course not yet visited by the Where2Golf team.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Cobb, George

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

George W. Cobb

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Nicklaus, Jack

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Jack Nicklaus

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Hilton Head Island
Jones, Rees

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Rees Jones designed the original layout (1986) and subsequent restoration (2007).

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Dye & Nicklaus

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Husband/wife team of Pete & Alice Dye in collaboration with Jack Nicklaus.

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Player, Gary

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Gary Player designed the National-nine (now the layout's back-nine) and the Player-nine (now closed). Bobby Weed designed the Weed-nine (now the front-nine).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Hilton Head Island
Dye, Pete

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Original design by husband/wife team Pete & Alice Dye (1982); modifications by Bobby Weed (2018).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Nicklaus, Jack

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Jack Nicklaus

3-star: Good course – an enjoyable test for your game.
(Closed in 2016)
Hilton Head Island
Johnston, Clyde

Visitors?

(Closed in 2016)

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Clyde Johnston

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Johnston, Clyde

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Clyde Johnston

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Jones, Rees

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Rees Jones

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Hills, Arthur

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Arthur Hills

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Fazio, George

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

George Fazio

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Jones Sr, Robert Trent

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Original design by Robert Trent Jones Sr.; later revisions by Roger Rulewich.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Hills, Arthur

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Arthur Hills

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Cupp, Bob

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Bob Cupp.

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Cobb, George

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

George C. Cobb

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Dye, Pete

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Original course design by George C. Cobb and Willard C. Byrd (1967); redesigned by Pete Dye (1994).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Love III, Davis

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Original layout by George Cobb (1962) with a later redesign by Mark McCumber (1995). Completely redesigned by Davis Love III (2015).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Dye, Pete

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

Original layout by George Cobb (1964) with later re-modelling by Clyde Johnston (1990). Completely redesigned by Pete Dye (2007).

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Hilton Head Island
Cobb & Byrd

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Hilton Head Island

Designer

George C. Cobb designed the Clipper and Galleon nines (1970). Willard C. Byrd designed the Brigantine-nine (1982).

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Tournaments

The Sentry: known for many years as the Tournament of Champions, the PGA Tour’s 2025 season-opener gets underway on Kapalua’s Plantation course (Jan 2-5). Chris Kirk defends.

Tournament of Champions: the LPGA Tour’s 2025 season is launched at Lake Nona with the their Tournament of Champions (Jan 30-Feb 2). The 2024 edition gave Lydia Ko her 20th LPGA Tour title.

Who's Who

Attahya Thitikul: also known as “Jeeno”, the Thai golfer won the LPGA Tour’s 2024 CME Group Tour Championship … and an eye-watering $4 million, the richest first-prize in women’s golf.

Rory McIlroy: scooped the 2024 European (DP World) Tour season-long Order of Merit title, joining Seve Ballesteros as a six-time winner of this prestigious award.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

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