To celebrate my birthday this past year, I decided to mix things up and travel north. Being a December baby (12/22), you can argue it’s not the best time of year to be heading up to South Carolina to play golf. Living in Central Florida, it’s hard to beat our warm winter conditions this time of year, and traveling 300 miles north would entail cooler temps. For me, that was part of the attraction, nothing like a little cold air to let you know winter has arrived.
Cooler temperatures also mean cheaper rates and faster rounds. We made the drive up on Thursday night, leaving Orlando around 7 pm. We hopped on I-4, and then took I-95 to South Carolina, exiting the interstate and finishing the last 30 miles or so on local highways before crossing the Byrnes bridge onto Hilton Head Island and arriving at the Sea Pines Inn and Club just before 11 pm.
Arriving after hours was a little tricky, so if you plan on coming after regular check-in hours, be prepared to stop by the visitor center to pick up your parking pass before proceeding directly to The Inn. With a gate pass in hand, we made our way through the local neighborhood, passing a small shopping center and the Plantation Golf Club along the way.
Accommodations
Our room at the Inn was located on the 3rd floor and overlooked the first tee of Harbour Town Golf Links, host venue of The RBC Heritage. The room was exceptional, we had double queen beds with elegant bedding, and the bathroom was fabulous, featuring both a walk-in tower, full tub, and double vanity. In terms of accommodations, we couldn’t have been happier; we even had our own espresso machine in the room, who doesn’t love that?! The staff and hotel facilities were truly 5-star; the turndown service was exceptional, always featuring a nightly gift from the spa.
Atlantic Dunes
Our first tee time was for 9 am on Atlantic Dunes, located at the Plantation Golf Club. We ended up getting pushed back to 9:45 due to a frost delay, the night before the temperature dipped into the 30s. While we had a bit of a chilly start, the weather ended up being fabulous, reaching a high temperature of 57 degrees. My biggest regret of the trip ended up being not playing a second-round that Friday, as I was looking out the window that afternoon as people hit off the tee, I kept kicking myself!
Coming into the trip, I hadn’t done much research on the Plantation Golf Club, which has two 18-hole Championship Courses, Atlantic Dunes, and Heron Point. Davis Love III designed Atlantic Dunes, and Heron Point was designed by Pete Dye, but beyond that, I didn’t know much else. To be honest, my primary motivation for making the trip to Hilton Head was playing Harbour Town and crossing another PGA Tour venue off my list, the fact I got to play both courses at Plantation Golf Club was just a bonus.
Looking back on the trip, I would have changed up the order of play. Atlantic Dunes ended up being a real monster, by far the hardest of the three courses at Sea Pines. I know that sounds funny, playing host to the PGA Tour you would assume Harbour Town would be the most difficult but not the case.
Hindsight 20/20, another change I would have made would have been to employ a forecaddie for our round on Atlantic Dunes. Not knowing the course and what lurked ahead, we found ourselves hitting what we thought were great shots only to find ourselves in significant trouble. Bottom line, Atlantic Dunes was a real test, and we took our lumps, needless to say, the welcoming to Plantation Golf Club was humbling.
Outside the Resort Gates
Friday evening, we decided to wander outside the gates of the resort and explore the town. We had sushi for dinner at a local spot called Hanoki, located just a few miles outside of the Sea Pines gate, and if you’re in the mood for sushi, I highly recommend it.
After dinner, we decide to continue the exploration and visit the local Tanger Outlets. Being there just a few days before Christmas, it was the perfect opportunity to finish up shopping and pick up some last-minute gifts at great prices. We spent several hours exploring the different shops and finding some fantastic deals.
The next day I decided to call an audible, the original plan had us playing 18 holes Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. With a rainstorm moving into the area Saturday night, I had our Sunday tee time on Harbour Town moved to Saturday morning, and decided to play another 18 that afternoon on Heron Point.
Harbour Town Golf Links
Our package at Harbour Town included a forecaddie. Our caddy, Ryan, met us on the putting green and gave us some quick tips before we hit the course. Harbour Town is just a few steps from The Inn, so we were able to walk downstairs from our room and right over to the pro shop. Plan to spend some extra time checking out the clubhouse. There is a lot to see, including a small Pete Dye museum that’s full of interactive exhibits and provides excellent background on Pete and his Harbour Town design. The locker room is another must-see, you’ll walk upstairs to one of the biggest locker rooms you’ve ever seen. Take a few minutes walking around, and you’ll quickly imagine what it must be like when the PGA Tour is in town.
After getting beat up the day before on Atlantic Dunes, I was expecting more of the same. At least this time, we had a caddy to help us navigate the course. Another lesson learned, our package included carts, I would much rather have walked than ride. The course routing was excellent, and everything flowed from green to tee, taking a golf cart was overkill. With the help of our caddy, the round was more comfortable than expected, I ended up playing great and posted my lowest score of the trip, a whopping 12 shots better than my round on Atlantic Dunes.
On the 18th hole, my daughter and I captured the iconic photo on the green with the lighthouse in the background. After patting ourselves on the back for playing such an improved round, we headed over to Plantation for an afternoon round on Heron Point. As we jumped out of the resort shuttle, we could feel an intensity in the wind at Plantation that we didn’t have to deal with at Harbour Town. The staff helping us with our bags said Heron Point was the right choice because, after the first couple of holes, it’s well protected from the wind. My only thought was, no way I’m playing Atlantic Dunes in this type of wind.
Heron Point
Heron Point ended up treating us very well; even without a forecaddie, we had no problem navigating the course and didn’t run into any significant surprises as we had on Atlantic Dunes. We ended up whipping around the course and finished our round in under 3 hours. The longest round of the trip was 3 hours, and 15 minutes on Harbour Town, the offseason does have its benefits.
Go or Stay Home?
Go as fast as you can! Sea Pines Resort provides golfers with a memorable experience, a chance to go out and play where the pros play. The best way I can describe Sea Pines Resort is something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Sea Pines was a rare opportunity for me to take my entire family on a golf trip. Usually, it’s all business and no pleasure. However, this trip was all about spending time with my family at one of the best settings in the country.