Heron Point - Sea Pines

Named South Carolina’s 2015 Golf Course of the Year, Heron Point is poised for even more acclaim. The splendid 18, along with Harbour Town Golf Links, gives The Sea Pines Resort not one but two Dye masterpieces. Experience the Plantation Golf Club, named 2015 Clubhouse of the Year by Golf Inc., when you play Heron Point by Pete Dye. The maestro himself supervised Heron Point’s subtle course modifications in 2014 with the objective of making the course more player friendly. Dye’s team softened the green surrounds and contours, enlarged several putting surfaces, and added ornamental landscape beds throughout the Lowcountry layout. The greens were transitioned to Tif-Eagle Bermuda, the same strand used on famed Harbour Town Golf Links. At 7,000 yards from the back tees the course is a wonderful fusion of short and long holes. It can play considerably shorter if needed as there are seven sets of tees on each hole (including ones for juniors). Golfers are challenged by a cadre of risk-reward holes, fairways that move toward and away from hazards, and Dye’s ubiquitous mounding and swales framing target areas. When first building Heron Point for its 2007 opening, Dye formed new lagoons and reshaped existing bodies of water. On four holes with water guarding the greens, alternating wood and grass walls create conspicuous bulkheads, visually dramatizing the danger and peril and adding a hint of menace. Even more striking, a mixture of sand, mulch and limestone surfaces, as well as a variety of grasses, provides a vivid tapestry of color. It’s a cohabitation of beauty and beast (at times) played within the genteel rules of the ancient game.