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All are five star, have at least two golf courses and a plethora of attractions and accommodations and each is set in upwards of a thousand acres of scenic marsh and coastal duneland. The common standards are peerless; I'd find it difficult to recommend one in preference to the others. The disparity of golf aside, the accommodations will have your eyeballs rolling.
Consider Wild Dunes first. It covers 1,400 acres, with a long stretch of beach, two courses and every facility and amenity. There are one to three bedroomed villas, there are various dining options and a 150 roomed five star hotel opened in 1998. Total luxury is the keynote and it needn't be expensive.
Golf aside, there's every pastime to gainfully amuse every member of the family, from the beach to whatever sport you care to name. A youngster could be bored here but he'd have to persevere.
The two golf courses, both designed by Tom Fazio, are the Links and the Harbour, the old and the relatively new. Those who admire Fazio's work acclaim the Links as one of his finest but, good as it is, Fazio himself says the Harbour lay-out is among his favourites.
Consider that since its opening in 1980 the Links has been ranked among the nation's leading 100 courses and in the top 25 resort courses. It has been described as a cross between Scotland and the Caribbean, its 18th, a par-5 along the ocean, as the best finishing hole east of Pebble Beach.
Huge sand dunes, salt water marshes, rolling fairways and pot bunkers equate to a man-sized challenge from the tiger tees (6,722 yards, par-72) and yet Fazio, the master of illusion, presents options that leave the average handicapper itching to play it again.
The Harbour course (6,446 yards from the back) has larger greens than its neighbour but with more severe hazards. The par of 70 hints at the degree of challenge and with water lurking on 17 holes it is target golf personified, a stern test with three par-5s and six par-3s.
Play it cool is sound advice; if in doubt lay-up and bring a solid short game and a hot putter.
Non-golfers will have a ball here because, Charleston aside, the apres golf action brings a bonus that will win you lots of gold stars from the non-golfers. This applies to Kiawah and Seabrook Island, too. There is simply no excuse for not having a good time around here.
At Seabrook Island, for instance, they don't simply accept youngsters, they have a department that caters for them.
There are lavishly equipped villas, many fronting the three mile long beach and reached via quiet, tree-lined avenues. There are loads of places to eat informally and activities enough to keep the kids occupied from morn 'til dusk, whether they're tots or teenagers. You'll be voted Dad of The Year.
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