Charleston might be the best big-town golf destination in the Southeast. The Lowcountry gives you everything in one trip: a genuine major-championship links with three miles of Atlantic frontage, two resort courses a short drive up the coast, a harbor-side track with the prettiest skyline views in the city, and one of the most artistically ambitious municipal courses in America. Every course below is genuinely open to a traveling golfer — no member invitation needed — and the whole set sits within about 45 minutes of downtown.
1. The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, Kiawah Island
The round every golfer has seen on television. Pete Dye — with help from his wife, Alice — built the Ocean Course on short notice for the 1991 Ryder Cup, the famous "War on the Shore" decided by a single point, and it has been collecting majors ever since: Rory McIlroy's runaway 2012 PGA Championship win, Phil Mickelson's improbable 2021 PGA Championship at age 50, and another PGA Championship already awarded for 2031. Strung along nearly three miles of Atlantic coastline, it's ranked 5th in Golf Digest's 2025–'26 100 Greatest Public and has been the top-ranked course in South Carolina since 2011 — and Golf Digest lists its facility type as public, so any visitor can book it.
This is the round to build the trip around, and it rewards planning. Day-to-day the resort sets the course up more gently than tournament week, but the coastal winds are real, so take an early tee time before the afternoon breeze builds and play the tees that match your game — the course is long and humbling from the tips. Book as far ahead as you can, especially in spring and fall, and pair it with one of Kiawah's four other resort courses (Turtle Point or Osprey Point make good company) rather than stacking a second championship test on the same day. It's roughly 45 minutes from downtown Charleston, so a Kiawah day works as a day trip, but the stay-and-play packages make the resort-resident discount and the short drive to the first tee hard to beat.
Kiawah Island Golf Resort: The Ocean Course — Golf Digest course page ↗
2. Wild Dunes Links Course, Isle of Palms
Tom Fazio's first solo design, opened in 1980 on the north end of Isle of Palms, and one of two public Fazio courses at the Wild Dunes resort. The routing makes the most of its skinny barrier-island site: the front nine works through marshland and surprisingly hilly dunes, the back nine flattens out and pushes toward the Atlantic, and the finish runs along the beach — the 18th hole itself was washed out by beach erosion in 2008 and rebuilt with Fazio's help, restoring the closing hole to its original par-5 character in 2009. It's a classic resort test: scorable from the right tees, demanding from the wrong ones.
Wild Dunes works best as a stay-and-play base rather than a drop-in. Resort guests get the easiest path to tee times, and the natural pairing is the neighboring Harbor Course — book Links in the morning and Harbor in the afternoon for a full 36-hole resort day without moving the car. The sea breeze is a year-round factor, so spring and fall are the sweet spots, and the Links is a good course for a golfer who enjoys strategizing with the wind rather than overpowering it. Stay on the island the night before an early tee time: the drive from downtown Charleston is short but the island morning traffic is real.
3. Patriots Point Links, Mount Pleasant
Five minutes from downtown Charleston, at the foot of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, the 1979 Byrd design sits right on Charleston Harbor with the kind of scenery that wins over everyone: the downtown skyline across the water, Fort Sumter in the middle distance, and the USS Yorktown moored practically next door. The par-3 17th — a tee shot over marsh to a small, bunker-guarded green with the harbor behind it — has been repeatedly named the best par-3 in the Lowcountry, and the course was voted South Carolina's Course of the Year by the National Golf Course Owners Association in 2001. It's public daily-fee, and the course markets itself as five minutes from downtown — the closest quality 18 to the historic district.
This is your arrival-day or departure-day round. It's the one course on this list you can play with a normal wake-up time, be back downtown for lunch, and still have a full sightseeing afternoon. Book online ahead of time — it's a popular spot and weekend mornings go — and plan a late-afternoon tee time if you can: the sunset rounds over the harbor with the Yorktown in frame are the reason to bring a camera. It's an inviting layout for mid-handicaps, with four tee sets that scale the test, so it's also the friendliest first round of the trip before the Kiawah test that follows.
Patriots Point Golf Links — Foretee course profile ↗
Mount Pleasant Open slated at Patriots Point — The Golf Wire ↗
4. The Links at Stono Ferry, Hollywood
A Ron Garl design from 1989 set along the Intracoastal Waterway and the Stono River, less than 30 minutes from downtown — and the most history-dense golf on this list. The course sits on the site of the 1779 Battle of Stono Ferry, with a cannon still pointing at the old ferry landing on the 12th hole and one bunker built on Revolutionary War ground. It's a semi-private club that openly welcomes local and vacationing public play, and the golf backs up the setting: an island-green 18th for the finish, Champion bermudagrass greens, and awards including Charleston Area Golf Course of the Year (2003 and 2011) and South Carolina Golf Course of the Year.
Stono Ferry is the natural second course on a Kiawah day. It's billed as the closest course off Kiawah and Seabrook Islands, so play your early round at the Ocean Course, then head to Stono Ferry for a relaxed afternoon round on the Intracoastal — a completely different flavor of Lowcountry golf for a fraction of the headline-test effort. Give yourself time before the round to walk the historic markers; the battle history is part of what makes this one memorable. The course is popular with vacation groups, so book a day or two ahead rather than hoping for walk-on luck.
The Links at Stono Ferry: Stono Ferry — Golf Digest course page ↗
The Links at Stono Ferry: South Carolina's reigning Golf Course of the Year — The Golf Wire ↗
5. Charleston Municipal Golf Course, Charleston
The people's course, and proof that a muni can be an architectural destination. The original 1929 layout was rebuilt in a 2020 renovation led by Charleston architect Troy Miller — who grew up playing the course and lives across the street from it — with the green complexes and bunkering rebuilt around the template holes of C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor: Redan, Punchbowl, Biarritz, Eden, and more. Raynor's great private designs at Yeamans Hall and the Country Club of Charleston are closed to almost everyone; this is where a public golfer in Charleston can actually play those ideas. Golf Digest called the reopened course thrifty but artistically ambitious, and it's now one of the most talked-about munis in the country.
Book the Muni like a concert ticket: the course is city-owned, famously affordable, and tee times go fast — book online as soon as the window opens. It's the ideal morning round of the trip: walk it, enjoy the Stono River views that were opened up in the renovation, and be back downtown by early afternoon. Pair it with Patriots Point on the same day for a full double — harbor views in the morning, muni golf after — or use it as the easy warmup round before Kiawah. It plays to 50,000–60,000 rounds a year, so weekday mornings are the move if you want the course to feel like it did when the locals had it to themselves.
Charleston Municipal Golf Course — Golf Digest course page ↗
Charleston Municipal gets a Raynor-style renovation — Fried Egg Golf ↗
This guide was created with AI assistance using the linked sources. Course access, rates, and conditions can change; confirm details directly before booking.
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