The Sea Pines Resort
Harbour Town Golf Links
7,213 Yards / Par-71 / 75.9 Course Rating / 152 Slope
Architect: Pete & Alice Dye with design consultant Jack Nicklaus (1969)
Updated: Davis Love III (2025)
Hilton Head Island, SC, USA
Ratings Guide – Eagle +
Harbour Town’s emergence in 1969 was an unmistakable game changer. The Hilton Head Island course provided a clear turning point in the evolution of American golf architecture.
The impact was no less significant than what earlier contributions had demonstrated with the likes of The National Golf Links of America via Charles Blair Macdonald, Augusta National with Bob Jones and Alister MacKenzie and Peachtree in Atlanta by Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
Harbour Town’s architecture showcased a connection back to the game’s roots in Scotland and provided a rocket-like ascension for the husband and wife architectural duo – Pete and Alice Dye.
Although “Links” is in its name title, the proclaimed connection is a clear stretch of credulity given the Lowcountry topography of coastal South Carolina. Nonetheless, the imaginative holes and the manner by which they weave throughout the property propel a golfer into an unforgettable immersive experience – culminating with the iconic lighthouse providing the ideal backdrop for the epic closing hole.
Pete Dye, who started his professional career in the insurance business, made a career switch to golf course design a few years prior to Harbour Town. His first notable success came at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis. That was followed by The Golf Club in greater Columbus, OH. In both of those instances Dye brought to life a style of golf that paid homage to the game’s roots.
Dye’s vision was bolstered after visiting Scotland. He was smitten by the clever usage of aerial and ground games intersecting and bringing forward an ideal synergy where a greater array of shotmaking skills were called upon. The role of vetted bunkers and the insertion of railroad ties were clear elements that Dye used in the creation of Harbour Town.
Dye’s good fortune came when selected by the original owner Charles Fraser. But Dye’s involvement came in a rather circuitous manner. The developer’s grand vision for the 5000+ acres of land located in the far southern portion of Hilton Head Island was having golf play a central role of emphasis. Fraser initially reached out to Mark McCormack, the brain trust of IMG who recommended Jack Nicklaus for the project since the Golden Bear was one of his clients and already a force in elite pro golf.
Fraser reached Nicklaus but Jack suggested the best man for the job would be Pete Dye. The developer did not know of Dye but Jack had worked with Dye when The Golf Club was created and had great respect for what Dye could do architecturally.
Harbour Town opened just prior to hosting the inaugural Heritage PGA Tour event. That event was played during the Thanksgiving period and won remarkably by Arnold Palmer.
The pedigree of the course would soon expand to other notable winners with the likes of Hale Irwin, Johnny Miller and Nicklaus himself winning in 1975. The television exposure jumpstarted the course’s appeal immeasurably.
The appeal of the course spread like wild fire and the Dye name was launched.
In his autobiography, “Bury Me in a Pot Bunker,” Dye wrote: “To have this respected champion (Nicklaus) associate with me was an enormous boost to my confidence. I will always be grateful to Jack’s belief in me.”
Dye’s original maximum yardage for Harbour Town was just over 6,600 yards — since stretched to 7,213 yards. The central ingredient in playing the course has always been its dogged insistence on precision.
The tree-lined fairways provide ample deterrent for wayward driving. You see this immediately at the opening hole. Playing just over 400 yards the hole appears rather rudimentary but requires critical placement on the right side of the fairway in order to secure the optimum approach angle.
Harbour Town is relatively flat. Creating holes as natural as possible yet still with each being individually thought-provoking was Dye’s clear challenge. Dye did not overly disturb the site. The end result? Holes smoothly flowing from one distinct test to another and doing so via a walkable design with tees smartly placed close by the preceding green.
In 1999 the course was freshened and the admonition from a wide variety of key pro golfers was not to disturb the fundamental character of the layout. Fast forward to the most recent involvement by 5-time RBC Heritage winner Davis Love III and the same marching orders were stated by the latest generation of tour players.
All green complexes, tees, bunkers, and bulkheads were completely replaced. Amazingly, over 4,000 railroad ties were replaced.
The effort by Love, in concert with his brother Mark and architect Scot Sherman, showed keen judgement in only enhancing the already scintillating layout. Some length was added and a few of the transition areas were angled smartly to tighten landing areas.
The opening two holes provide an avenue for scoring but only when precision and placement are achieved.
The 4th is the first of the four par-3 holes and is a marvelous test of nerve and distance control. Protected by a penalty area that guards nearly all of the frontage area of the green. the 7th is the longest at 216 yards and is flanked by an encroachment of limbs that hang perilously close. The slightest push or pull can mean a near certain rendezvous with them.
The 14th was enhanced with the addition of two pot bunkers in the rear-left area. Originally, there was a single such bunker in that position but then removed. The original teeing area was roughly 170 yards but has been stretched to 192. The penalty area to the right of the green hugs the putting surface as tightly as a kindergartner clutching his mother on the first day of school.
The penultimate hole rounds out the par-3s and it’s nothing short of spectacular. There are two rear teeing areas. The one on the left provides a slightly shorter shot under 180 yards. The extended tee on the right side can push the length to over 200 yards.
The challenge extends beyond the different angled teeing areas. Generally, the wind pattern increases as one comes around the bend at the 16th via winds coming off Calibogue Sound. Fluctuating gusts are not uncommon and only add to the complications in club selection.
Complicating matters, for those playing later in the day, is dealing with the rays of the setting sun. This is especially so at the 17th. The green is kidney-shaped with an extended tongue area on the far-right side. A longish bunker protects the left side and the perimeter is fortified by railroad ties.
Those missing too far right will have to overcome a drop-off area to that side. A pin placement in the rear far right position requires a deft play that gauges the distance and does so by marrying the needed trajectory so one’s ball can sit quietly upon landing.
Dye’s brilliance at Harbour Town comes with the artful variety of two-shot holes. There are a few longish ones— on the outward side holes 3 and 8 play in different directions and are quite finicky in the requirements players must provide — most notably the latter.
The side concludes with an engrossing short par-4 — playing 332 yards. The hole features a heart-shaped green and a frontal bunker shaped like a bow-tie. Three smaller bunkers are aligned in a “T” position in the rear section, providing a split between the far left and right sections of the green. The 9th showcases the needed skillset in securing the proper position off the tee and then demonstrating a high degree of proficiency with most likely a wedge club.
The inward half of holes begins with a demanding trio of long par-4 holes. Hole 10 moves left on the tee shot to a narrow green opening. Hole 11 has a fairway that tapers down considerably the longer the tee shot travels. Hole 12 features a green tucked behind an array of trees mandating an approach play from the left side.
The final six holes are a glorious mixture of varying challenges.
Hole 13 is among the finest of short par-4 holes globally. Credit for the hole goes to Alice Dye who pushed her husband Pete to create the challenge she envisioned. The green is protected by a “U” shape bunker bolstered by railroad ties. A sliver of green is in the very front and the putting surface widens out on both sides. What’s really imperative is securing the proper approach angle as tree limbs do pinch the landing zone most notably on the left side.
Alice Dye has been instrumental in the design of numerous golf courses, including TPC Sawgrass and its famous island green. She is a two-time #USSrWomensAm champion and was a member of the victorious 1970 USA @CurtisCup Team. #WomenInGolf pic.twitter.com/cJIrZMVzLR
— USGA (@USGA) May 10, 2018
The 14th that follows has already been outlined for the rigors it provides. The par-5 15th is a birdie hole provided the tee shot is placed correctly on the right side. Players opting for the green must deal with a tree canopy that blocks out the left side and is additionally defended by a menacing pond for those who stray too far to that side. The green is narrow in front and expands in the rear area.
The dog-leg par-4 16th is a stunning hole as the journey takes you from the encroachment of trees to the open exposure of the varying winds coming off Calibogue Sounds. The long transition area down the left side pushes players out to the right. The approach is tested with the twin issue of wind and a smallish green.
The par-3 17th has already been outlined and only ramps up the shotmaking requirements when reached.
Harbour Town’s closing hole is the exclamation point on the round. The iconic Lighthouse can be seen as soon as you step onto the teeing area. The exposure to Calibogue Sound is most certainly present. No matter if played downwind or into a headwind, the pressure to execute at the highest level is always present.
Hole 18 provides the widest fairway at Harbour Town. There’s sufficient landing area but when downwind, one must remain short of the marshland that cuts off the fairway. When played into a headwind, one must make sure to have sufficient club to fly over the same marshland with the approach. The most confounding aspect is gauging the needed distance as the green sits low enough that the visual connection for the player in the fairway can mean a difficult assignment to decipher. This is especially when daily winds complicate such matters.
The green is placed close enough to the marshland that any shot missed left can inflict a scorecard wrecker. Those opting away from the green and missing right must overcome an elevated right side ridge that has sufficient impact on any half-hearted pitch shot from that side.
A concluding hole should provide the final culmination of the 18 holes played. Harbour Town’s closer does that spectacularly.
One of the most undervalued aspects of Harbour Town is the ingenuity Fraser implemented in making sure the proper balance between development and preservation was kept uppermost in what actually ensued.
Yes, housing is scattered throughout the routing but its placement is both set far enough away from playing corridors and the architectural design of those buildings meshes neatly into the existing foliage so that it is camouflaged smartly.
As the round concludes, the housing fades into the background and the engaging connection between golf and the Lowcountry is front and center. A keen sensitivity to the natural environment remains uppermost.
Credit must also go to The Riverstone Group, a private company owned by William H. “Bill” Goodwin, Jr., Richmond, VA., who acquired the resort in March 2005. The resort was renamed The Sea Pines Resort — dropping the original “Plantation” name. Goodwin’s son Matthew now serves as Chairman.
The main issue to monitor will be sound tree management. Canopies have a place in determining shotmaking but prudent trimming maintains an ideal balancing act for appropriate deterrence while preventing invasive claustrophobia.
Kudos are also warranted to Superintendent Jon Wright and his team for the clean look in which the holes present themselves. There is no unnecessary clutter pulling one’s eye away from the pathway of promise each hole showcases.
Harbour Town Golf Links pays rightful homage to Fraser’s original vision in tandem with Pete Dye’s brilliance in marrying an alluring Lowcountry vibe and tying it to an ancient game that blossomed in Scotland and now calls home Hilton Head Island in the Palmetto State.
Alice and Pete Dye are no longer with us – both passed in 2019 and 2020 respectively. One other thing those coming to Sea Pines need to allot a bit of time for is visiting the wonderfully created Pete Dye room located within the clubhouse. The presentation of all the info and items is engrossing.
It cannot be stated enough how Davis Love III and his talented team avoided placing their fingerprints on Dye’s masterpiece. Davis smartly enhanced the core while skillfully avoiding the temerity to “improve” it. Pete, years later would concede, “Harbour Town made my career” and Love wisely honored that.
Resort golf is a difficult balancing act. Harbour Town is an engaging course to play every day, and, at the same time, has proven to be a clear identifier of supreme golf talent. Few courses can intersect Joe Sixpack and Scottie Scheffler so magically.
The words “must play” are often overused and fall far short of their ultimate meaning. If you pride yourself as a golf course connoisseur, then trek to the golf course with the shining lighthouse beckoning.
That “Dye-lightful” vision remains on full display at Harbour Town.
Ratings AssessmentDouble Eagle Not a hole to be missed. Compelling architecture throughout testing mental and physical resolve. Your heart bumps with exhilaration from 1st tee to 18th green. Eagle + Superior shotmaking values in tandem with related turf quality melding an experience of the highest order. Eagle Like its namesake – flies high in the clouds. Consistent variety with strategic holes demonstrating brilliance at various moments. Birdie + Engaging design providing thoughtful intersections with creative results front and center. Birdie Quality architecture exists but held back by limited standout holes encountered. Par+ Has several holes of note but too many pedestrian ones subtract from the experience. Par Enjoyable but like vanilla ice cream – mainly ordinary. Bogey Little substance of note – has design fumbles that are more prevalent than need be. Double-bogey A total mistake — in need of upgrades with substandard holes, inferior routing and substandard conditioning. Triple-bogey An utter mess. Avoid the pain of the experience and the loss of time / money. ***
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