Golf Communities on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton
Before real estate, I was a PGA Golf Professional. Golf is what brought me to Hilton Head in the first place. So when someone tells me they want a "golf community," my first question isn't about the house. It's about how you actually play.
Three rounds a week or three a month? Do you want to walk on whenever you feel like it, or are you fine booking ahead? Do you mind visitors on your course? Does your spouse play? The answers point to very different communities... and very different annual costs.
Here's how I break it down.
Three Ways Golf Works Here
Membership comes with the house. At some private clubs, buying a home means joining the club. Dues and a transfer or joining fee are part of owning there, whether you play or not. Great if you play a lot. Expensive if you don't.
Golf membership is optional. You buy the home, pay the required base or social fees, and decide separately whether to join for golf.
Courses open to public play. Daily fee courses, sometimes with resident rates or golf plans. More flexibility, more traffic.
Two homes that look identical on paper can carry wildly different yearly costs depending on which of these you're in. I pull the current fee schedule for every community before a client writes an offer.
Private Club Communities: Bluffton and Okatie
Two 18-hole Tom Fazio courses along the Colleton River marshes, behind the gates just off Highway 278. Property owners have historically been required to join the club, so dues are part of the cost of ownership here. If you play often, the math works.
Roughly 960 acres on the Okatie River with two Tom Fazio courses and a large Jeffersonian-style clubhouse. There's also a River Park with access for kayaking, boating and fishing. Club membership has been tied to ownership here too.
Surrounded by water on three sides, with a Jack Nicklaus course, a Pete Dye course and a short practice course. Consistently near the top of the area for annual club costs. The golf is a big part of why.
A Greg Norman course on about 800 acres along the Okatie River. One of the few communities around here with golf, boating and equestrian all inside the gates.
Two George and Tom Fazio courses, Devil's Elbow North and South, on the mainland side of the bridge. The South course runs along the marsh and plays longer and tougher. Private, for members and their guests.
Private Club, Golf Optional
A Pete Dye course that opened in 2004 and stretches past 7,500 yards from the back tees. Owners are required to carry a social membership. Golf membership is optional. That's a big deal if you want a private club setting without paying full golf dues every year.
Three courses: Jack Nicklaus's May River Course, Crossroads (a reversible nine-hole course by King-Collins), and Anson Point by Coore & Crenshaw. Homeowners are required to join the base club. Golf club membership is separate and optional, and the golf joining fee has been reported at $300,000. Caddies are required at May River and Crossroads.
Private Clubs on Hilton Head Island
A private Pete Dye course in the middle of the island, with tennis, fishing, boating and kayaking all inside the gates. Built by people who love golf, and it still feels that way.
A private, gated club community with its own golf course and an interior harbor of about 37 acres. Golf and boating in the same backyard.
Communities With Public or Semi-Private Golf
Home of Harbour Town Golf Links and the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage, plus Heron Point and Atlantic Dunes. There's also the private Sea Pines Country Club for residents who want a members-only option.
Three resort courses by Robert Trent Jones, George Fazio and Arthur Hills, along with three miles of beach. The Jones course has one of the few holes on the island that plays right along the ocean.
Two courses, one by Arthur Hills and one by Robert Cupp, in a quieter wooded setting on the north end.
Four courses, and each one is its own club: Oyster Reef and the Country Club of Hilton Head (both Rees Jones, semi-private), Bear Creek (Rees Jones), and Dolphin Head (Gary Player, private and member-owned). Living here doesn't mean one membership covers everything. You pick the club that fits you.
Two courses today, the Barony and Robber's Row. Robber's Row was redesigned by Pete Dye in 1994 and sits on Civil War ground, with historical markers along the way. A third course, Planter's Row, closed after Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
The Golden Bear Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus design open to public play, plus The Golf Club at Indigo Run on the private side.
An active adult community with three 18-hole courses: Hidden Cypress, Okatie Creek and the executive-length Argent Lakes. All three are open to public play, with golf plans for residents.
A semi-private 18-hole course inside Rose Hill Plantation in Bluffton.
What It Actually Costs
In 2023, the Island Packet reported annual club and POA fees of roughly $27,000 at Colleton River and Spring Island, $24,000 at Berkeley Hall, $20,500 at Belfair, $18,800 at Wexford and $16,400 at Long Cove. Palmetto Bluff's mandatory base fee was about $11,200, before any golf membership.
Those numbers have gone up since, and they don't include transfer fees, initiation or special assessments. I'll pull current numbers for any community you're serious about.
Buying a second home? South Carolina assesses non-primary residences at 6% instead of the 4% primary residence rate. Factor that in next to the club dues.
Here's What I Think
Don't buy into a golf community until you've played the course, had lunch at the club and talked to a few members. The layout matters. The culture of the club matters just as much, and it's the part you can't see in a listing.
If you're not sure how much you'll play, look hard at the communities where golf is optional. You can always join later. Paying mandatory dues on a game you don't play is a cost that never goes away.
No fluff. Just facts. If you want help narrowing it down, I'm happy to talk it through.
Fees and membership rules change. Verify current details with each club before you buy.
