Take on the King at Crescent Pointe Golf Club in Bluffton hear Hilton Head

By Staff

With so many courses around Hilton Head Island, it can be easy to overlook what could become your favorite golf course. Just ask John Ailor, a 12-handicap from Maryland who visits Hilton Head often.

In Bluffton, Arnold Palmer's Crescent Pointe scores high marks for challenge and conditioning.

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"For whatever reason I had avoided Crescent Pointe in my many previous visits to Hilton Head," he wrote in his January review of Crescent Pointe Golf Club in Bluffton, S.C. "After two rounds there in the past week, it has become my favorite course in the area, and I've played most of them."

As one of the most user-reviewed South Carolina golf courses on GolfNow, the secret appears to be getting out.

Located in Bluffton on the Highway 278 corridor that heads towards Hilton Head Island, Crescent Pointe is the area's only public-access Arnold Palmer signature course. It plays 6,773 yards from the championship tees (with four sets of tees total), and average golfers rate it one of the tougher tests in the destination. Like so many of the courses near the Carolina coast, it's a scenic round, too. The course winds through Lowcountry terrain full of mossy oaks, pines and magnolias and also dotted with wetlands and views of the Port Royal Sound.

The challenge of the course seems to come as a blessing to single-digit handicaps, who enjoy the many options off the tee and difficulties in approach shots. Higher-handicap players sometimes lament it, especially if they play from a tee box too far back. Hopping up to the white tees, which play just 6,013 yards, could give these players a more enjoyable experience.

"It bears all the marks of a classic Palmer signature course," wrote Richard Burnside, a 6-handicap after his round in early March. His 5-star rating was higher than the 4-star rating he gave nearby Hilton head National on the same trip. "Bring your 'A' game. Even at full price this time of year, it is a must play. I have seen many much higher priced courses that weren't as worthy a play as this."

The Lowcountry Golf Association voted Crescent Pointe's Kevin Morgan Superintendent of the Year in 2011 as well as 2010 Course of the Year, so it comes as no surprise the course earns high marks for course conditioning. Weekend rack rates can run up to $92, which puts it in a price bracket lower than the resorts on Hilton Head Island like Sea Pines Resort and Palmetto Dunes.

89 percent of GolfNow reviewers recommend others play the course, and Crescent Pointe also scores high marks for its friendliness and helpfulness of staff, and golf carts are equipped with GPS units.

Managed by Billy Casper Golf, Crescent Pointe has a sister course in the area -- the Davis Love III-designed Eagle Pointe Golf Club -- and offers stay-and-play packages that include rounds on both.

April 18, 2013