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SPACE precludes my reviewing all 24 courses but let me give a taster of nine or so that welcome visitors and are reckoned to be the pick of the bunch.
Harbour Town at Sea Pines Plantation, always ranked among the nation's leading courses, is the obvious starting point. It is wooded parkland and is tight, tight, tight. Narrow fairways, small, keenly bunkered and crowned greens with collars of Bermuda rough make this a challenge like no other I've known. Just miss the fairway, or even the prescribed line, and your troubles begin. Just miss a green and you'll think you're playing a US Open course.
The pros seem to like it and while it's no doubt a great course it would be too demanding of the average player, except perhaps from the most forward tees.
There are three courses at Sea Pines and of them the Ocean course, the original on the island, is much more appealing, a beauty of a holiday course. In 1995 it was redesigned by Mark McCumber, obviously an architectural traditionalist and a minimalist who hates to see grown men cry.
His greens are generally flat with subtle breaks, his fairway targets are relatively generous, most of the bunkers are the saucer-type and there's under-stated mounding. A series of lagoons are the major hazard, the views the principal distraction. Think before you leap is the golden rule here; plot your way around and you'll have a ball. And wait until you see the par-3 15th!
Arthur Hills is a major player in US design and he has several notable creations around the island. Two of them fall into our selection, those at the twin resorts of Palmetto Hall and Palmetto Dunes. The first has been described as "a graceful masterpiece with a touch of genius.". It's all undulations and gentle curves, enough to make your mouth water. Not to be missed. Most people I surveyed, mainly club pros, had it on their list.
His course at the Dunes is just as the name suggests: a lay-out that rambles through duneland with dramatic but natural changes in elevation. It's spectacular in places. Oddly, there's little rough and no fairway bunkers. Awkward stances and the ocean breeze join forces with a chain of lagoons to keep you honest. Riveting. And the newly revamped greens set local standards.
Pete Dye is big around here, too (he laid out Harbour Town) and his latest project is the reworked Robber's Row at Port Royal Plantation.
It's scenic and with generous landing areas but tightly defended greens and if you're feeling bushy tailed you might want to tackle this one from the back tees. The card reads a mere 6,642 yards, par-72. Sounds easy peasy? Don't believe it...
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