Harbour Town® Golf Links

A straight drive is imperative to stay between overhanging branches in a chute only 20 yards wide, but the fairway opens up in the landing area. A short or medium iron should reach a green protected by both sand and grass bunkers.

Long hitters can reach the green in two if they keep the drive on the left side of the fairway. Otherwise, the second shot should be positioned down the left side to open up the green, which lies on a diagonal, for a third shot.

Trees line both sides of the fairway, making a straight shot from the tee important. A large bunker guards the front of the green, with three more positioned to the right. A medium to short iron should get the job done, but the small green can be hard to hold onto.

A classic Pete Dye risk/reward design. There is ample room on the right to bail out, and a hidden bunker behind the green can save your ball from a lagoon.

Aim just to the right of the left fairway bunker and then calculate your odds of making the green in two. The obstacles: a massive strategic bunker to the right, water and a greenside bunker to the left. A deep but narrow green falls off to the right and rear.

Devilishly difficult to master, this dogleg par four requires a precise drive to the middle right, just left of the fairway bunker. Take advantage of the open avenue to the flag and try to avoid the bunkers flanking the green.

The green is surrounded by sand, but the real hazards here are the trees. They will reject any off-line shot and make a successful recovery very tricky. The green is narrow but deep, and pin placement can affect club selection.

Rated the toughest hole on the course, No. 8 makes a well-placed drive essential to avoid water and strategically placed trees. Carrying the dogleg past the first two pines gives you a shot at one of the most elusive greens anywhere. Commend yourself for matching par.

Placement is more important than power on this short but deceptive par four. Drive to the middle of the fairway and avoid battling trees on your approach. The heart-shaped green is protected both in front and behind by sand.

A wide landing area invites a big drive, but temper your gusto if you want to avoid the lagoon on the left. After a good drive, use a medium or long iron to get to a green nestled between woods and two strategically placed bunkers.

Plot your drive to stay within the chute because a dangerous duo of trees and water lurks on both sides of the fairway. From the fairway, a long to medium iron must be rifled to the green, carefully avoiding the trees gracefully protecting the right side. The green is also flanked by bunkers.

Reaching the dogleg off the tee is imperative for any chance at par. Then the green is in range with a medium or long iron, but a back pin placement can make as much as a three-club difference. Two bunkers stand as the final challenge to those optimists in the quest of par.

The tee shot here must be positioned to the right side of the fairway to set up the approach to the green. The second shot will be an iron shot between the two large oaks, but don’t score your par until you’ve surmounted the two final obstacles: a large cypress and the banked bunker that guards the front of the green.

This is a beautiful aquatic layout with water from tee to green on the right. Thanks to overhanging trees, the green is a small, isolated target with an adjacent small pot bunker bound to act as a magnet for the unsuspecting.

You could call No. 15 a thinking challenge, since this great par five demands careful deliberation and shot execution all the way from tee to flag. This will save you from the fate of water on the left and zealous bunker-guardians on both sides.

The exclamation point of sand just about says it all on this interesting dogleg left. Avoid the left but also beware of the slalom-like pines on the right. If you arrive unscathed after that first drive, it’s just a short iron onto the green. Aim carefully; the cluster of bunkers on the right can easily humble par-seekers.

Water, water nearly everywhere says one thing: take that bold iron shot and make it accurate! In this scenario, the 90-yard bunker is the next best thing to a friend since it could save a slightly off-center tee from a watery extension. Still, the head or crosswinds which are the norm of this hole can easily carry a shot into the lagoon.

The 18th hole is one of golf’s most recognizable finishes with the Harbour Town Lighthouse standing sentinel behind the green. The goal is the wide landing area jutting into Calibogue Sound. The long approach to the flag offers ample bailout to the right where the innocent-looking but insidious mounding has caused many to lose a sought-after par.