Hilton Head National Golf Club

From Old Town Bluffton Inn

By Car	8 Minutes
By Walk	Not Walkable

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Details

Address	60 Hilton Head National Drive, Bluffton, SC 29910.
Phone	+1 843-842-5900
Website	hiltonheadnational.com
Hours	Monday - Sunday 6:30 am - 5:30 pm

Courtesy of @hhngolfclub

Three hundred acres of pine and lagoon, herons working the water's edge, and not one house looking down on a fairway. It is the quietest, best-kept public golf course in the Lowcountry, and the one we send our guests to more than any other. Eight minutes from our front door.

The thing you notice at Hilton Head National is the quiet. It sits on about three hundred acres of pine, lagoon, and marsh on the mainland side of the bridge, and by the third hole you have worked out why it feels different from everywhere else you have played around here. Nothing is built around it. No back porches, no privacy fences, and no neighborhood threaded through the routing. Just the pines, the water, the herons, and the group ahead of you. This is the piece most visitors miss, because almost every other course in this part of the Lowcountry is the centerpiece of a residential community. It has been open to anyone willing to book a tee time since 1989, and for most of those years it has carried the same reputation among people who live here: the best-conditioned public course in the region. The TifEagle greens are the reason. They run fast and true in every season, and the club takes them offline when they need work rather than limping through, which is the sort of decision a course only makes when the people who own it are willing to spend.

Courtesy of @hhngolfclub

The layout is an odd and happy pairing. Bobby Weed drew the front nine, and Gary Player the back, and the two play differently enough to keep a round interesting without giving you whiplash. Weed's holes are more generous off the tee, with bigger and more contoured greens. Player's back nine tightens up and asks a great deal more of your short game. It plays to a par 71 at roughly 6,580 yards from the black tees, which is not long, and with five sets of tees you can play it at whatever length is honest for your game. That last part matters to us, because we send golfers of every stripe over there and they all come back happy. The hole everybody talks about afterward is the par-4 sixth, short enough to tempt you, with the course's largest lagoon down the entire right side and pot bunkers guarding the left, where being brave and being sensible produce very different scorecards. The closing eighteenth is the other one, a narrow par 4 with marsh running its full length into an elevated green. On-site, there is a driving range and putting greens, a golf shop with rentals and instruction, and the Grille afterward. Carts are included and required, so this is not a walking course. They come with Visage GPS, which means nobody is spacing off sprinkler heads. Rates move with the season and the time of day, so it is worth a look before you choose your window.

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Old Town Bluffton Inn

Amenities

High Speed Wifi
L'Occitane en Provence
Hair Dryers
Steamer/Iron Combo
Bath Robes and Slippers*
In-Room Safe
55in Standard TV
Alarm Clock with Outlets
White Noise Machine

*Upon Request

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Courtesy of @hhngolfclub

Why Visit

This is our Inn-sider answer to the question we get more than almost any other: where to play. It has the feel of a private club and the booking sheet of a public one. Open year-round, eight minutes away, and easy enough to get to if you plan a little.

A long held reputation among locals as the best-conditioned public course in the Lowcountry, built on TifEagle greens that stay fast and true through all four seasons
Two designers in a single round, with Bobby Weed's front nine and Gary Player's back, and the short, risk-and-reward par-4 sixth as the hole you will still be arguing about over dinner
Three hundred acres of pine, lagoon, and marsh with no homes anywhere on the property, which is genuinely rare in this part of the Lowcountry
Five sets of tees at a par 71 of about 6,580 yards from the back, so a scratch player and a 25-handicap player can walk off the eighteenth having both enjoyed themselves
Public, open year-round, and consistently better value than the island resort courses, with the friendliest rates in the afternoon and in the summer and winter windows
Eight minutes from the Inn, which means a morning round and then lunch in Old Town on foot. No second drive, no bridge traffic, and more than twenty restaurants within walking distance of your room

Message from the Harrisons

Every time I've played it over the years, it's just been in unbelievable condition. They keep that course as nice as any private club. It's always surprising, as a public-course kind of player myself, to see how nice they keep it.

Vince Harrison

Best Time To Visit

The Lowcountry hands you golf in every month of the calendar, which is the quiet luxury of playing here rather than somewhere with a real winter. Spring and fall are the best of it, roughly March into late May and again from late September into mid-November, when the mornings are cool, the humidity has let go, and the course is at its finest. Those are also the priciest windows and the first to fill. Summer and winter are where the value sits. The golf is still good, the tee sheet is easier, and afternoon and twilight rates drop considerably. Rates change with the season, so have a look at the club's rates page when choosing your dates.

Best Season:

Spring and fall are peak for good reason. Best conditions, best weather, and the two windows every visiting golfer wants. If value matters more to you than perfection, book summer or winter and play the same course for meaningfully less. In any season, afternoon and twilight tee times are the quiet bargain. The course does not get worse at four o'clock.

Weather

Lowcountry summers turn hot and humid by mid-morning, which is why the early tee times go first from June through September. Winter plays cool and comfortable, usually in the fifties and sixties, though the fairways go dormant. Spring and fall are the sweet spot in both directions, and an October morning out there is about as good as golf gets.

Reservations

Book online through the club or call the golf shop. Spring and fall mornings go early, so our advice is to put the tee time on the books when you book your room. If your dates are tight, the club runs a tee time waitlist that is well worth using. Groups are welcome, and the club hosts events, so call ahead if you are bringing more than a foursome.

What to Bring

Soft spikes only, no metal. Carts are included and required, so you will not be walking this one. Sun protection and more water than you think you need from May through September. If you are flying light, the golf shop offers rentals, and the club offers on-site instruction.

Good to Know

The course closes for greens aeration for a stretch in late spring, and overseeding takes a window in mid-October. Both are short, both shift a little year to year, and both are exactly why the course plays the way it does the rest of the time, so check the club's calendar before you lock in dates. The clubhouse and driving range open early every day, and the range closes for maintenance for a few midday hours on Mondays and Thursdays.

A Golf Day Based in Old Town

Coffee before you go

7:00 AM

Fill a cup at the Inn and head out. The course is eight minutes up the parkway on the mainland side, clear of the island traffic.

Tee Off

8:00 AM

Warm up on the range, open from 6:30, and play early while it is coolest and quietest. It matters most in summer.

Lunch in Old Town

12:30 PM

Come off eighteen, park the car, and walk to Bluffton BBQ or Captain Woody's. Neither of them minds golf clothes.

An Afternoon Off the Course

2:00 PM

Slow it down the way Old Town wants you to. Wander the galleries on Calhoun Street, drift down to Oyster Factory Park to watch the tide turn, or take the nap you have more than earned.

Wine at the Inn

4:30 PM

Our complimentary wine bar is poured from three to seven. Find a chair on the porch or settle into the parlor, and let someone relitigate the sixth hole.

Dinner a Short Walk Away

6:30 PM

This is where staying at Old Town Bluffton Inn pays off. More than twenty restaurants sit within walking distance of your room, so nobody moves the car and nobody draws the short straw as the driver.

FAQ

Yes, and it has welcomed anyone with a tee time since 1989. What catches most first-timers off guard is how private it feels for a public course. There are no homes anywhere on the property, so it is just you, the pines, and the group ahead.

About eight minutes. The course sits on the mainland side of the bridge, so you get there without crossing onto the island or sitting in resort traffic. That is the whole reason we send guests over. Play in the morning, and you are back in Old Town in time for lunch.

It is, and that is rather the point. The front nine is a Bobby Weed design, and the back is Gary Player, so you get two distinct styles in one round, but neither asks you to be a scratch player. With several sets of tees, you can play it at whatever length is honest for your game, and most people walk off happy with whatever they shot.

Spring and fall bring the best weather and the best conditions, roughly from March to late May and from late September to mid-November, and those tee times fill up first. Summer and winter are where the value sits, with easier booking and lower afternoon and twilight rates. The course does not get any worse at four o'clock.

Carts are included and required, so this is not a course you walk, and they come with GPS, so you are never guessing yardages. Soft spikes only, no metal. From late spring through early fall, bring sun protection and more water than you think you need.

Book online through the club or call the golf shop at 843-842-5900, and put it on the calendar when you reserve your room, since spring and fall mornings fill up early. If your dates are tight, there is a waitlist worth using, and larger groups should call ahead. Traveling light? The shop offers rentals and instruction on-site.