It is located on the Isle of Palms Wild dunesa South Carolina golf retreat that seems to have it all: towering live oaks draped in Spanish moss, palm trees criss-crossing the greens, marshland stretching along nearby fairways and the glistening Atlantic just beyond the dunes.
It’s the kind of coastal scene that makes you slow down so much you almost forget you’re supposed to be keeping score. The Port Coursehowever, he has a way of bringing it back to the task at hand.
After an $8 million renovation, the course was thoughtfully updated with playability and long-term sustainability in mind. The greens were rebuilt and widened, bunkers redesigned, tees leveled and the irrigation system replaced – all changes that make the course cleaner and more enjoyable to play.
While improving the gaming experience was certainly a priority, conservation was never far behind. Along the Intracoastal Waterway, portions of the course have been raised to better withstand the demands of a coastal environment, helping the Harbor Course to remain playable and resilient for years to come. It was a fitting approach for a course so profoundly shaped by its surroundings.
The changes are certainly noticeable, but they do not compromise the character of the course. If anything, let them shine a little more.
The playing surfaces feel noticeably improved and the layout has a more elevated feel, but the scenery remains the star. Just don’t let all those beautiful scenery fool you. The Port Course may be easy on the eyes, but it also has a lot of bite.
The mix of long and short holes will keep you on your toes, while the marshes that lie just within reach will make you think twice before taking a risky line. And then there’s one of the most influential factors of the course – one you can’t even see. At the Harbor Course, the wind has a say in almost every decision.
It’s a layout that rewards patience, and in many cases, knowing when to play it safe rather than attempt the unlikely hero shot.
Somewhere around the ninth hole, though, I stopped thinking about all that. As we made the turn, I learned more about what had occupied this land long before it became a golf course.
Holes 10 and 11 on the Harbor Course offer more than a panoramic view of the Intracoastal Waterway. Beneath those two fairways is a piece of Isle of Palms history that connects to a larger chapter of the United States’ past.
The land was once part of the old Isle of Palms Airport, an airstrip built in the early 1950s that became an important part of the island’s aviation history. Among those connected to it was Haywood “Woody” Faison, a Citadel graduate and World War II Army Air Corps veteran who flew 35 B-29 combat missions in the Pacific Theater and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. What initially looked like another stretch of fairway suddenly had a story behind it.
Knowing that gave the following holes a different feel as we continued around the course.
After navigating the tightest and most strategic holes, we entered the final stretch and the course began to open up again. The marsh and Intracoastal came back into view, while the wind swirled around us, making sure we didn’t forget it.
As we headed down the finishing holes, we took in one last dose of quintessential lowland scenery before heading back to the clubhouse.
When we finished, I realized that I had a little more out of the round than I expected. The Harbor Course is certainly better for the renovation, but what stuck with me was how naturally the golf, scenery and history all fit together.