9 Lowcountry Hotels on the Championship Links

Pete Dye built the Ocean Course at Kiawah in the flat coastal scrub, and when it was nearly finished his wife Alice pointed out that the dunes hid the Atlantic from almost every hole. Raising the fairways by about two and a half metres would put the water in view throughout. He did it, moving an enormous quantity of sand, and the result has more seaside holes than any course in the northern hemisphere.

It hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup — the War on the Shore, decided on the final putt — and two PGA Championships since. It is also, by design, one of the hardest courses in America, and it is open to resort guests.

The Gullah Geechee coast

The Sea Islands were rice and indigo country, and the enslaved West Africans brought here were chosen partly for their rice-growing knowledge. Because the islands were isolated — reachable only by boat until the twentieth century — the communities that formed retained more of their African linguistic and cultural inheritance than anywhere else in the United States.

Gullah is a creole language with an English-derived vocabulary and West African grammatical structure, and it is still spoken. The sweetgrass basket weaving sold on the roadsides is a direct continuation of a Sierra Leonean tradition. Congress designated a Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor along this coast in 2006.

It is worth engaging with rather than driving past. The Penn Center on St Helena Island, founded in 1862 as one of the first schools for freed people, covers the history properly.

The islands

Kiawah, forty minutes from Charleston, is a gated barrier island with ten miles of beach, five golf courses and a strict development code that keeps buildings below the tree line.

Hilton Head, ninety minutes south, is older and larger — the first American resort community to write environmental design standards, in 1956, which is why the signage is brown and the buildings are hidden.

Palmetto Bluff, on the mainland near Bluffton, is a 20,000-acre estate on the May River.

Beaufort, between them, is an antebellum town of oak-shaded streets that has stood in for the South in a long list of films.

The nine below are grouped by island.

Kiawah

The barrier island and the Ocean Course.

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort occupies a beachfront position on Kiawah with a spa, several pools and access to all five courses including the Ocean Course. It is the best resort hotel in the American South.

Andell Inn sits at the island's entrance in a smaller property with a pool, a good restaurant and the same course access at a considerably lower rate.

Hilton Head and Sea Pines

The older resort island.

The Inn & Club at Harbour Town occupies a position beside the Harbour Town marina and its red and white lighthouse, with the golf course that hosts the RBC Heritage outside.

The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa sits oceanfront with several pools, a spa and full family facilities.

Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort occupies a beachfront site with a lagoon pool, a children's programme and direct sand access.

Sonesta Resort Hilton Head Island sits on the beach with a pool, tennis and a long-standing family clientele.

Palmetto Bluff and Bluffton

The mainland estate.

Montage Palmetto Bluff occupies a village on a 20,000-acre estate along the May River, with cottages, a golf course, a shooting club and oak avenues. It is the most complete property on this coast.

Beaufort

The antebellum town.

The Anchorage 1770 sits on the Beaufort waterfront in a restored 1770s house with a small room count and the historic district outside.

Beaufort Inn occupies a nineteenth-century building in the Beaufort historic district with a garden and a porch.

What we have left off

The villa rentals across Kiawah and Hilton Head are excluded, and on both islands they are the majority of the accommodation, particularly for families and golf groups. They are houses rather than hotels.

What to do

Play the Ocean Course if you can get on it, and take a caddie — walking is compulsory and the wind decides the round.

Go to the Penn Center on St Helena and buy a sweetgrass basket from the weaver rather than a shop. The craft is a direct Sierra Leonean inheritance and the makers will explain it.

Cycle Hilton Head or Kiawah. Both islands have extensive paved trails and the beaches are hard-packed enough to ride at low tide.

Kayak the May River or the Kiawah marshes at dawn for dolphins, which on this coast strand-feed — driving fish onto mud banks and sliding after them, a behaviour recorded almost nowhere else.

Eat Lowcountry: shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, oyster roasts in winter, and Charleston is forty minutes from Kiawah.

Practical notes

Charleston and Savannah airports serve the north and south ends; Hilton Head has a small airport.

March to May and September to November are best. Summer is hot, humid and busy with families. Winter is mild and the golf rates drop substantially.

Both islands restrict signage and development, which means navigation is deliberately harder than usual. Take directions rather than relying on landmarks.

Why does the Ocean Course have so many sea views?

Pete Dye raised the fairways about two and a half metres after his wife pointed out the dunes were hiding the Atlantic.

What is Gullah Geechee?

A creole language and culture retained by Sea Island communities descended from enslaved West Africans, with a federally designated heritage corridor since 2006.

Kiawah or Hilton Head?

Kiawah for the golf and a stricter, quieter island. Hilton Head for more to do and a wider range of prices.

How many nights?

Five. Three on an island with a day in Charleston or Beaufort.

If you only book one