The 20 best public golf courses in SC for 2024, USA Today ranking shows. Can you guess No.1?

Dreary, sometimes heavy rain in South Carolina has kept many golfers at home in recent days, but the bad weather can’t last forever.

So the question is, where will you play your next round?

South Carolina is loaded with golf courses. Myrtle Beach alone has more than 90 courses, most of which are public. Golfweek has taken on the challenge to help players decide which courses are the best.

The USA Today publication recently unveiled its ranking of the 20 best public access golf courses in South Carolina. Of those, most are in either the Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach areas.

According to Golfweek, the hundreds of members of its course-rating panel rated the courses based on 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. The overall ratings for each course are then averaged to produce a final rating and the courses are then ranked.
The courses below allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel.

#1 Kiawah Island Golf Resort: The Ocean Course
Located on the eastern-most end the Kiawah Island, the Ocean Course has the most seaside hills in the Northern Hemisphere. The course was designed to give players an unobstructed view of the coastline from every hole. The course can also be particularly challenging, due to strong winds from the Atlantic.

#2 Sea Pines Resort (Harbour Town Golf Links)
This perennial favorite among PGA Tour players is located on Hilton Head Island. The course has undergone recent enhancements, such as new Celebration Bermuda grass for the fairways and a new irrigation system. Since 1969, it has been home to the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

#3 Caledonia Golf & Fish Club
This Pawleys Island golf course opened in 1994 and has been a perennial part of many top 100 golf course lists ever since. The 18-hole course was the first solo design of the late Mike Strantz.

The course’s 18 holes were sculpted with “large, creative greens guarded at times by ponds, streams and imposing bunkers,” the course’s website states.

#4 The Dunes Golf and Beach Club
Built in the 1940s, the Dunes Golf and Beach Club dubs itself as the premier country club in Myrtle Beach. The 18-hole, oceanside course has been host to numerous high-end golf tournaments, from the PGA Senior Tour to the USGA Women’s Open.

#5 True Blue Golf Club
True Blue is known for its vast fairways and impressive elevation changes. It’s also the sister course to the Caledonia in Pawleys Island. The club features an 18-acre practice facility and is just minutes south of central Myrtle Beach.

15 more SC public golf courses on the list
6. Sea Pines Resort (Atlantic Dunes) in Hilton Head

7. Sea Pines Resort (Heron Point) in Hilton Head

8. TPC Myrtle Beach at Murrells Inlet

9. Tidewater in North Myrtle Beach

10. Legends Golf Resort (Moorland) in Myrtle Beach

T11. Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Osprey Point) in Kiawah Island

T11. Myrtle Beach National (King’s North) in Myrtle Beach

13. Legends Golf Resort (Heathlands) in Myrtle Beach

T14. Barefoot Resort & Golf (Dye) in North Myrtle Beach

T14. Grande Dunes Resort Club in Myrtle Beach

T16. Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Cougar Point) in Kiawah Island

T16. Heritage Club in Pawleys Island

T16. Prestwick in Myrtle Beach

19. Palmetto Dunes (Robert Trent Jones) in Hilton Head

20. Barefoot Resort & Golf (Love) in North Myrtle Beach