South Carolina Golf: Best Courses, Tee Times & Golf Vacations

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South Carolina Golf: Best Courses, Tee Times & Golf Vacations

South Carolina is one of the strongest golf destinations in the United States, particularly for travelers who want more than a single resort course. Myrtle Beach offers exceptional concentration and choice, Hilton Head Island combines golf with an upscale coastal atmosphere, while Charleston and Kiawah Island bring together championship golf, history, restaurants and one of the most distinctive travel environments in the American South.

For golfers planning their own trip, South Carolina works particularly well because it is easy to combine several courses with beaches, coastal towns and cultural experiences. This guide is designed to help you move quickly from inspiration to planning: choose where to play, compare tee times, find golf-friendly stays and build the rest of the trip around the golf.

Plan Your South Carolina Golf Trip

If South Carolina is already on your shortlist, start with the practical decisions. Compare golf courses and tee times, look at accommodation across the state and then use the wider AmerExperience Golf network to continue building the trip.

Where to Play Golf in South Carolina

South Carolina is better understood as several distinct golf destinations rather than one large golf market. Myrtle Beach is about enormous choice and multi-round trips. Hilton Head Island combines resort golf with beaches and Lowcountry lifestyle. Charleston and Kiawah Island offer golf alongside one of the most interesting historic and culinary destinations in the American South.

Myrtle Beach Golf

Myrtle Beach is the natural choice when playing golf is the main purpose of the trip. The concentration of courses allows golfers to build three-, four- or five-round itineraries without repeatedly changing hotels or moving long distances between destinations.

This is also where South Carolina becomes particularly commercial for independent golf travelers. You can compare tee times separately, then choose whether to book a hotel or build a broader Expedia golf vacation combining accommodation with flights or a rental car.

Golf does not have to occupy every hour of the trip. Myrtle Beach also has coastal activities, entertainment and excursions that work particularly well for couples, families or groups where not everyone wants to play every round.

Hilton Head Island Golf

Hilton Head Island is a different kind of golf trip. The island combines well-known golf with beaches, cycling, restaurants and a polished resort environment. Harbour Town Golf Links gives Hilton Head international recognition, but golfers have a broader selection of courses around the island and nearby Lowcountry.

Hilton Head is particularly strong for couples and mixed-interest trips. Golf can be the reason for choosing the island without having to become the only activity once you arrive.

Charleston & Kiawah Island Golf

Charleston offers perhaps the richest combination of golf and destination travel in South Carolina. A golf trip here does not finish on the 18th green. Charleston adds historic neighborhoods, architecture, excellent restaurants and the distinctive Lowcountry culture that gives this part of South Carolina its identity.

Kiawah Island adds the championship-golf dimension. Expedia’s Charleston Golf Vacations inventory also includes stays such as The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, making the Charleston region especially useful for golfers who want to combine premium golf with a broader vacation rather than simply maximize the number of rounds.

Which South Carolina Golf Destination Should You Choose?

The best choice depends less on which destination has the most famous course and more on the kind of trip you want to experience.

Choose Myrtle Beach if golf is the central purpose of the journey and you want maximum course choice, several rounds and a destination organized naturally around golf tourism.

Choose Hilton Head Island if you want resort golf, beaches and a more relaxed upscale coastal environment where golf forms part of the vacation rather than occupying every day.

Choose Charleston and Kiawah Island if you want memorable golf combined with history, architecture, restaurants, culture and a stronger sense of place.

When to Play Golf in South Carolina

Spring and autumn are especially attractive for South Carolina golf because they offer a useful balance between comfortable playing temperatures and the possibility of enjoying the coast before or after the round. Winter can also work well, particularly for golfers arriving from colder climates, although conditions are less reliably warm than in southern Florida.

Summer brings heat and humidity, particularly around midday. Early tee times can make considerably more sense, leaving the afternoon for the beach, sightseeing, restaurants or other coastal activities.

South Carolina vs Florida for a Golf Trip

Florida and South Carolina are natural competitors for golfers planning a trip to the southeastern United States, but they should not be viewed as interchangeable destinations.

Florida offers extraordinary scale, extensive winter golf and an enormous selection of resort, public and championship courses. South Carolina offers something different: highly concentrated golf destinations with strong individual personalities. Myrtle Beach feels like a dedicated golf playground, Hilton Head combines golf and resort life, while Charleston adds cultural depth that relatively few major golf destinations can match.

South Carolina as Part of a Bigger Golf Journey

South Carolina also fits naturally into a longer southeastern United States golf journey. Hilton Head and Charleston can be combined with Florida, while Myrtle Beach can form part of a broader Atlantic Coast itinerary. For international golfers in particular, this opens the possibility of combining several very different golfing environments within one trip rather than flying across the Atlantic for a single resort.

The advantage is variety. Different landscapes, course designs, coastal conditions and destination cultures turn the journey itself into part of the golf experience.

AmerExperience Golf

AmerExperience Golf brings together golf travel, tee times, destination research and practical ideas for golfers who enjoy discovering the game beyond their home course. Golf travel is not only about collecting famous courses. Different climates, grasses, winds, landscapes and course designs challenge us to adapt, think differently and understand our own game better.

Lassi Pensikkala is a Finnish economist, international travel professional and avid golfer with decades of experience in international tourism and destination management. Having lived and worked across Europe and South America, he looks at golf travel from both sides of the journey: as a golfer choosing where he genuinely wants to play, and as a travel professional who understands what makes a destination work beyond the course.