[ChrisHervochon]

Hello all.  I'm an infrequent poster, but a frequent lurker and was wondering if you guys had any opinions on where some good places to play in Charleston are?

Last year my wife and I got married in Charleston, and this year we are going back at the end of the month with the whole family to celebrate multiple wedding anniversaries.  Naturally, my father-in-law and I are looking to play some golf.  Last year I had my wedding weekend tournament at Shadowmoss plantation, which is a nice little track that I'd bet we'll be going back to.  We also played the Ocean, but I think this year might be a bit cost prohibitive.  We've played Wild Dunes, which we liked, but we'll be staying at Seabrook Island, and that's a bit of a drive.  I don't have any connections to the private clubs, so, with all of that said, what are some good public tracks that you guys can recommend?  Has anybody played the course(s) at Seabrook?

[JNC Lyon]

Chris,

I've played both courses at Seabrook a few times.  Both are housing courses, no doubt, but they have their good aspects.  Ocean Winds is more interesting, with a "Jekyll and Hyde" routing where the front nine runs through the woods and back nine runs through dunes and marsh.  Seabrook is a very laid-back place, and it will be a good place to play golf while staying there for a few days.

Honestly, the public golf is not tremendous in that part of the world.  There are several good private courses (Cassique, River Course, Briar's Creek, CC of Charleston, Yeamans Hall) in the area, but the public golf is very lean outside of the Ocean Course (top-notch but very pricey).  My advice: stay on Seabrook, enjoy the golf there, and jump to play one of the privates if you get the chance.

[PCCraig]

Chris:

JNC is pretty spot on. Most of my time spent in the area is on Kiawah Island, and I haven't yet played the Seabrook courses. If you have access to Briar's Creek, Cassique, or the River Course nearby or YH or CC of Charleston near the city go for it as they are all good. If you feel like getting in a low key round check out the City of Charleston course, which Seth Raynor helped build when he was in the area building YH and the CC. It's not great, or even good, but it's a fun place for a late afternoon round with a couple beers trying to look for the spots where there is some Raynor left.

Also, try the Fat Hen for dinner one night... great place close to Seabrook on the way into Charleston.

[Carl Johnson]

I played Patriots Point a couple of years ago.  It was nothing special but still enjoyable  It is close to downtown Charleston and, at the time, was well maintained.  http://www.patriotspointlinks.com/resortquest

[Brent Hutto]

If for any reason you're heading south on Hwy 17 from Seabrook you can get a round in at Stono Ferry in the town of Hollywood. It is not worth a separate day trip if your main gig is on Seabrook and in Charleston but it's certainly the best option within an hour or two south of there. I've played, let's see, maybe three different times and at least for 10-15-20 handicappers it's a fun round and by Lowcountry norms is fairly well drained. A couple of holes out on the Stono River are lovely. Not expensive, mid-priced for the area.

[Mark Pritchett]

I agree with Brent about Stono Ferry as it is a good public option, though let me preface that by saying that it has been a few years since I last played it.  Pat is spot on about Charleston Municipal course as well. 

[Richard Hetzel]

I played Patriot's Point back in December and really enjoyed it. Don't show up expecting a true "links" course, but still an enjoyable round just the same.

I liked the Links of Stono Ferry as well. You could also give Charleston National a go as well.

Charleston Municipal looked to be decent enough, but I could not play due to a loooooong FROST delay back in December when I was there.

[Brent Hutto]

I forgot to add that I did enjoy my round at The Muni several years back.

[Conley Hurst]

I'll be in Charleston in mid-October for a college reunion and am looking for suggestions on good places to play on a Sunday morning. We're staying on Kiawah Island and are playing a couple of the resort courses. I am also working on YH and CC of C. Any update on the condition of Patriots Point? And any suggestions on good public courses near-ish the airport would be great. Thanks!

[Joe Hellrung]

Patriot's Point is on the water and in a great area.  Fun, easy round.

[Doug Wright]

Chris/Conley,

I was on Kiawah last week and played Shadowmoss and Yeaman's Hall on Wednesday and Cougar Point on Thursday. Shadowmoss is a residential course about 20 minutes from the airport. It was very wet from overnight rains and drained poorly. Although a good value, I found the course to be pretty uninteresting except for a couple decent par 3s. I was dropping a daughter at the airport so I was looking for a nearby course; I wouldn't go back there otherwise. From my research I'd try the Charleston Municipal course or Patriot's Point if I was going off island again.

I'm planning to post about Yeaman's Hall on another thread specific to that course. All I can say here is that it's excellent and worth playing if you can get there.

I've played Cougar Point on Kiawah Island a few times over the years, and I liked it better than the other public Kiawah courses not named The Ocean Course. This is a Gary Player design that has some very good holes and some average holes; the course was totally redone last year with new grass and bunker work/sand but not anything from a design standpoint really except perhaps some green expansion. The greens are still being brought along and were very lush and slow, putted like Velcro but might be better in a couple months. The course winds through the houses with some long cart rides so is more a collection of 18 holes than a cohesive golf course. Still, not bad for a resort course. I don't know how it compares to the Seabrook Island resort courses.

I'd like to try to play Cassique next time I'm on Kiawah; it sounds like a more fun (and perhaps more interesting?) course than The Ocean Course.

[Rob Marshall]

I played Patriots Point last Thanksgiving. It’s not bad. Fairly easy but it’s got some pretty good holes. Snee Farms was decent. I’m heading back down for Thanksgiving this year again and working on YH.

[PCCraig]

I love the Charleston Muni.


The back nine is a blast and there are about 6 awesome holes along the water. Most of the public courses like Patriots Point are bland, mid-90's junk that costs about 5x it should.

[Amol Yajnik]

I'll be in Charleston in mid-October for a college reunion and am looking for suggestions on good places to play on a Sunday morning. We're staying on Kiawah Island and are playing a couple of the resort courses. I am also working on YH and CC of C. Any update on the condition of Patriots Point? And any suggestions on good public courses near-ish the airport would be great. Thanks!

From Kiawah, you're looking at about an hour's drive to get to Patriots Point.  Slightly closer to Kiawah, I would look at the Links at Stono Ferry as a good public option there.

[Bill Seitz]

I've played Cougar Point on Kiawah Island a few times over the years, and I liked it better than the other public Kiawah courses not named The Ocean Course. This is a Gary Player design that has some very good holes and some average holes; the course was totally redone last year with new grass and bunker work/sand but not anything from a design standpoint really except perhaps some green expansion. The greens are still being brought along and were very lush and slow, putted like Velcro but might be better in a couple months. The course winds through the houses with some long cart rides so is more a collection of 18 holes than a cohesive golf course. Still, not bad for a resort course. I don't know how it compares to the Seabrook Island resort courses.

I liked Cougar Point, and agree with everything you said about it, though it was a couple years ago that we played it.  The marsh holes were pretty and it had some interesting holes.  Of course, it could also be that we had just played Turtle Point that morning, which may be the worst golf course I've ever played, so nearly anything would have been a major step up.  Heard good thing about Osprey Point as well, but they had just redone it when we were there and we were told it was playing like cement. 

[Mark Pritchett]

Haven't played Stono in a while, but always enjoyed my time there. 

[PCCraig]

I've played Cougar Point on Kiawah Island a few times over the years, and I liked it better than the other public Kiawah courses not named The Ocean Course. This is a Gary Player design that has some very good holes and some average holes; the course was totally redone last year with new grass and bunker work/sand but not anything from a design standpoint really except perhaps some green expansion. The greens are still being brought along and were very lush and slow, putted like Velcro but might be better in a couple months. The course winds through the houses with some long cart rides so is more a collection of 18 holes than a cohesive golf course. Still, not bad for a resort course. I don't know how it compares to the Seabrook Island resort courses.

I liked Cougar Point, and agree with everything you said about it, though it was a couple years ago that we played it.  The marsh holes were pretty and it had some interesting holes.  Of course, it could also be that we had just played Turtle Point that morning, which may be the worst golf course I've ever played, so nearly anything would have been a major step up.  Heard good thing about Osprey Point as well, but they had just redone it when we were there and we were told it was playing like cement.

Cougar Point is the best non-Ocean Course public option on Kiawah. Turtle Point is not good. Osprey is pretty and a fine resort course, but not worth the $200+ they charge. Most golfers would be best served on a multiple day golf trip playing the Ocean Course twice and skipping the rest, or perhaps adding a warm up round at Cougar. Essentially, take the $400 you would spend on Turtle and Osprey and go play another round at the Ocean Course.

[Bill Seitz]

Cougar Point is the best non-Ocean Course public option on Kiawah. Turtle Point is not good. Osprey is pretty and a fine resort course, but not worth the $200+ they charge. Most golfers would be best served on a multiple day golf trip playing the Ocean Course twice and skipping the rest, or perhaps adding a warm up round at Cougar. Essentially, take the $400 you would spend on Turtle and Osprey and go play another round at the Ocean Course.

My favorite aspect of Turtle Point was how they made the three holes that play along the ocean the big selling point.  When you get to those holes, you realize that a) one of them doesn't really play along the ocean, but rather toward the ocean, and b) you can't actually see the ocean from any of the holes, because there's a big sand berm between the golf course and the beach.  That said, the par three 16th was maybe the best hole on the golf course, which is admittedly a pretty low bar. 

[Rob Marshall]

"you can't actually see the ocean from any of the holes, because there's a big sand berm between the golf course and the beach. "

Can't the same thing be said about the front nine of the Ocean Course? I don't remember being able to see the ocean until you start heading in on the back nine. I never understood what was so great about the Ocean Course. Admittedly I know very little about architecture. I just never got it from a players stand point.

[James Brown]

I can’t imagine why anyone would stay at Kiawah and drive to play Patriot’s Point.  Seems like that would cause a rift in the Doak Scale fabric of the universe. 

[Mike Feeney]

Hope for Charleston Municipal?
My favorite quote from article below: “It’s not a Seth Raynor golf course, but if you squint a little bit you can start to see those elements,” said Miller, who envisions using some of the Raynor design elements in the reconstruction."
https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/charleston-municipal-golf-course-to-get-million-makeover-years-after/article_48595ac8-d882-11e8-b41d-5f7ea116e4cf.html

[PCCraig]

Does anyone know this architect?


I know they just replaced irrigation a few years ago, so hard to imagine where the $3.0mln is going.


It would be great if just trees are removed and grassing lines were restored. Looks like said architect has more in store, especially bunkering and expanding water hazards.

[BigEdSC]

The plans have been in the works for a while.  From what I understand is they are taking most of the dense trees out between 12, 13 and 14, and putting in an irrigation pond.  Also the greens currently are pretty bland, but you can see the old bones to them.  A well overdue renovation.  The drainage aspect is a top priority.  I also see some new bunkering incorporated.


Ronnie Miller has been in the golf business forever.  He still might be one of the head professionals at Kiawah.  Great guy.

[Ed Brzezowski]

No love for Bulls Bay?   While a bit pricy it really was a different track. Some really interesting greens.

[Michael Whitaker]

Haven't played Stono in a while, but always enjoyed my time there.

Mark - Stono is a fun course with some very scenic areas. I really liked the way they tie the local history into the course with signage and plaques. It is reasonably priced and they offer a very warm welcome.

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