Port Royal Golf & Racquet Club, Hilton Head Island, SC

Port Royal Golf & Racquet Club is located in the very pristine Port Royal Plantation and features 36 holes of championship golf. Legendary golf architects such as George Cobb, Pete Dye, and Willard Byrd have left their marks on Port Royal. The club’s golf accolades include a #7 ranking in “The Best 18 – The Greatest Holes of Hilton Head and Bluffton” by Hilton Head Monthly in 2015 and as a “Top 75 U.S. Golf Resorts,” by Golf Digest magazine. In addition to fantastic golf, Port Royal Golf & Racquet Club is also an award-winning tennis destination.

The Barony Course is best known for its generous greens and challenging bunkers. Golf course architect George W. Cobb designed The Barony Course in the early 1960s making it one of the first courses on Hilton Head Island. From the tee, you’ll get the idea that many of the holes are relatively open, but as you make your way toward the Bermuda greens, you’ll begin to figure it out. These large greens are protected by thick, rough, and unforgiving bunkers. This places an emphasis on accurate approach shots or a really good sand game! It truly is a course where brains over brawn are necessary.

Port Royal has excellent practice facilities including a full-length driving range, short game area, and practice green. The staff of PGA Professionals at any of these courses can help you get the most out of your game. They offer private lessons, group lessons, camps, and clinics for golfers of all skill levels. There’s no excuse not to play your best when you step up to the first tee.

Heritage Golf Group has partnered with two local resorts: The Westin Resort & Spa and The Sonesta Resort. To get to the Sonesta Resort, you drive right by the Shipyard’s clubhouse, making it easy to get in an extra nine holes in the evening.

The Sonesta Resort is a AAA Four Diamond family-friendly beach resort that recently underwent a $30 million renovation. The renovation included a spectacular new swimming pool complex with a shaded lap pool and Jacuzzi, a zero-entry heated lagoon swimming pool, and a children’s area. The 340 spacious guest rooms and suites offer views of the Shipyard Plantation grounds, lush tropical gardens, swimming pools, and the Atlantic Ocean. The resort offers indoor and al fresco dining at Bayley’s Lobby Bar & Terrace, Seacrest Restaurant and Terrace, and Sweet Cane restaurants.

At the Westin Resort & Spa, coastal splendor meets southern hospitality. The resort sits nestled amid natural dunes and Hilton Head Island’s pristine white sands, The Westin Resort & Spa offers its guests oceanfront resort views from most guest rooms, the Heavenly Spa by Westin, and three outdoor pools. All of Westin’s bright, open rooms include WiFi, a flat-screen cable TV, a small refrigerator, and coffee-making facilities. There’s family-friendly dining in the Carolina Room, poolside dining at Splash, with additional dining at View 32 and Ingredients.

Any or all of these courses can be packaged together through The Heritage Golf Collection with a single phone call

A good solid course typical of the other two courses in Port Royal plantation. The course meanders through the Port Royal Plantation neighborhood.

One irksome hole is number 13, a dogleg left with trees all over the place near the green. There is hardly any room for you to place your second shot. The trees need to be trimmed. Unless your tee shot is perfectly lined up or can hit a golf ball a country mile high over trees, you will not be able to reach this green in two.

Other than that hole, the course is in fine shape and a recommended play.