HILTON HEAD NATIONAL

By Joel Zuckerman

ilton Head National is a golf course that’s as refreshing and unexpected as a cool breeze in August. Arriving with limited expectations, I was pleasantly surprised by the course’s natural beauty, challenge and condition. It was kind of like agreeing to a blind date, and assuming she’ll look like Marilyn Manson. Instead, you find a girl who looks more like Marilyn Monroe.

You might wonder; what inspired the initial pessimism? The answer is past experience. The Carolina Lowcountry has a number of fantastic golf courses, but a fair percentage of the public and resort facilities can most fairly be described as “pleasant”. These courses all have fine individual features, but as a whole they can be blandly formulaic. The most forgettable among them will usually meander through housing developments, O.B. stakes on nearly every hole, with lagoons and bunkers set down as if the architect was using some sort of paint-by-numbers set. This was the mind-set coming in, and I was way off base. Expecting it to be ho-hum, I instead found this 27-hole layout to be an unexpected gem.

Gary Player designed Hilton Head National’s original 18 holes in 1989. Bobby Weed added the third nine in 1998. The three nines are now referred to as the Player, National and Weed, and they are played in all combinations. Each nine is about 3350 yards from the back tees, and slightly over 3000 from the middle. If it hasn’t been pouring, then the fairways will actually give you bounce and roll, so the course plays slightly shorter than the advertised length.

All three nines are solid routings, but the Weed course has the single most memorable hole. #6 is a shimmering beauty; a driveable par 4 of less than 300 yards. Water guards the entire right side, while a bunker series on the left can capture a conservatively played tee shot. The Weed course greens feature more crowns then the House of Windsor. An accurate approach to the putting surface will yield a reasonable putt. A ball that fades away, or scurries off of the back will lead to a dilemma. A prudent play is to stick with the putter; just bang the ball up the incline, and take your chances.

Another reason Hilton Head National is such a great place to play is because the facility offers the rarest of island sensations; isolation. Not a house, condo, duplex or patio home is in sight. The one incongruity is the gas station/convenience store near the McDonald’s on 278. Both businesses are in view from the tee of the pretty par 3 eighth hole on the Player nine. It’s not really that bad; it serves as a dramatic counterpoint to all of the glorious tranquility elsewhere. Besides, if you happen to drown your ball after making a sorry swing, you’re not too far away from a Happy Meal.

The National nine is probably the toughest of the three; it certainly contains the hardest hole in the complex. #3 is a brute par 4, stretching over 450 yards from the back tees, with water guarding the left side of the landing area. The fact that the golf professional I was enjoying the day with sliced a 2 iron to 10 feet and made birdie there is irrelevant. Most anyone else would be willing to take a bogey five, and bound happily to the next tee.

This course is on the short list of “must play” resort and public access destinations in the Lowcountry. Hilton Head National, all 300 glorious acres, is definitely a regional treasure.

Joel Zuckerman is the author of “Golf in the Lowcountry--An Extraordinary Journey Through Hilton Head Island & Savannah,” available at fine book stores and pro shops throughout the area. His new book “Golf Charms of Charleston” will be released in the fall. For more information or personalized copies visit www.vagabondgolfer.com