Get Your Free 2026 Vacation Guide

Start planning your ultimate South Carolina adventure with a free copy of the 2026 Vacation Guide. Request your free copy, view the guide online or download a PDF version below.

Vacation Guide Cover
View Our Other Guides

SC’s Top Jack Nicklaus Golf Courses

Bob Gillespie Bob Gillespie
Bob is a former sports writer at Columbia’s The State newspaper. He enjoys golf at South Carolina’s 350-plus courses, and after a round, sampling craft beers from the Palmetto State’s breweries.
More from "Bob Gillespie"
Pawleys Plantation.
The 12th hole at Pawleys Plantation shows the wide expanse of marsh and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance.

Jack Nicklaus is best known for his 18 major championships, including a record six wins in the Masters. But the Golden Bear is renowned equally or more these days for his golf course design work, with more than 300 courses in operation worldwide.

Eleven of his finest can be found in South Carolina, and five of them are open to the public. Here are our rankings:


May River Golf Club at Palmetto Bluff
, Bluffton, 843.706.6580

May River Golf Course
May River Golf Course is a Jack Nicklaus design that will test any golfer.

This is arguably Nicklaus' best work in SC and is regularly considered one of the state's finest courses, period, with generous use of marshland, woodlands, water and sand.


Long Bay Golf Club
, Longs, 800.344.5590

A bit off the beaten path on the Strand's North End, but home to a number of the area's best and most memorable holes.

Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, 843.363.8385

Harbour Town Golf Links
Put your game to the ultimate test at Harbour Town Golf Links, one of the most celebrated courses on the PGA TOUR.

One of the Golden Bear's earliest efforts (co-designed in 1969 with Pete Dye), it's still a favorite among PGA Tour players who come annually for the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.


Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club
, Pawleys Island, 843.237.6000

Among the top layouts on the Grand Strand's golf-rich South End, with plenty of the area's Lowcountry terrain, Pawleys also serves as home to the Mel Sole Golf School.

Kiawah Island Resort/Turtle Point, Kiawah, 800.576.1570

Kiawah Island Resort/Turtle Point, Kiawah, 800.576.1570
One of Pete Dye’s most superb designs, the Ocean Course was named "America's Toughest Course" and the fourth best overall public course in the United States by Golf Digest.

Another older design, part of Kiawah Resort's strong lineup of on-island courses along with courses by Dye, Tom Fazio and Gary Player.

Nicklaus designed six other courses in South Carolina:

  • Golf Club at Indigo Run, Hilton Head
  • Colleton River Plantation, Bluffton
  • Golden Bear Golf Club at Indigo Run, Hilton Head
  • The Cliffs at Keowee Falls, Sunset
  • The Reserve at Lake Keowee, Sunset
  • The Reserve Club at Woodside Plantation, Aiken
Bob Gillespie
Bob is a former sports writer at Columbia’s The State newspaper. He enjoys golf at South Carolina’s 350-plus courses, and after a round, sampling craft beers from the Palmetto State’s breweries.