Designer: Pete Dye/Alice Dye (1981)
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
History: Long Cove was initially routed by Arnold Palmer and Frank Duane in the early 1970s, but the project eventually went to Pete Dye, whose design opened in 1981. Dye worked on the course with his wife Alice, but also numerous future architects working under him at the time including Tom Doak, Bobby Weed, and P.B. Dye. A private club open to property-owners in Long Cove, the course was met with immediate acclaim and opened as the 19th best course (!) in America by Golf Digest in 1985. It hosted the 1991 U.S. Mid-Amateur, 2013 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, and has played annual host to the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate tournament since 2012.
Like nearby Harbour Town, Long Cove has fallen a bit in the rankings since its inception, but is still considered one of the finest golf courses in the country, owning the following awards:
- #71 Best Modern Course in America – Golfweek (2025)
- #20 Best Residential Course in America – Golfweek (2025)
- #9 Best Course in South Carolina – Golf Digest (2025)
- #9 Best Course in South Carolina – Golf Magazine (2024)
- #9 Best Course in South Carolina – Top100golfcourses.com (2024)
- #7 Best Private Course in South Carolina – Golfweek (2025)
Conditions: 9/10, Long Cove is in excellent condition with firm, fast fairways and true-rolling Bermuda greens. The tight Bermuda surrounding these greens makes for difficult chipping but gives the golfer plenty of options.
Value: N/A, This is a private course.
Scorecard:
Tee Par Yardage Rating Slope
Gold 71 7094 75.2 147
Blue 71 6577 72.6 140
Black 71 6354 71.7 137
White 71 6060 70.3 136
Silver 71 5810 69.1 132
Green 71 5469 72.7 134
Red 71 5069 70.6 127
Hole Descriptions: The debate over the best course in Hilton Head is a fun one and there are many excellent courses in the area worthy of discussion. While Harbour Town usually gets the nod, likely due to its national prominence hosting the PGA Tour and historical significance, my favorite course in the area is the lesser known Pete Dye private design, Long Cove. Separated by a decade and only several miles, the two courses share many similarities but the reason I prefer Long Cove is due to its superior variety. While Harbour Town’s small greens and tight corridors make for a unique shotmaker’s paradise, it does feel a bit repetitive and I have a hard time remembering many of the individual holes until you reach the Calibogue Sound on the 16th approach. Long Cove similarly plays through a residential community over flat, swampy terrain, but features a layout with more memorable holes and greater strategic risk/reward options. There are holes that feel very Harbour Town-inspired like 4, 11, and 15 with tree trouble on the approach, but also holes along the marshes, as well as a wonderful stretch on the front 9 playing inland with some impressive land movement for the area. While less claustrophobic than Harbour Town, Long Cove is still a considerable challenge with no fewer than 10 holes containing significant water hazards and larger, more undulating greens. As new courses are built in South Carolina at a rapid pace and Pete Dye’s influence wanes, Long Cove has fallen out of the Top 200, but make no mistake – this is superb low-country golf with plenty of challenge, excellent conditioning, and numerous standout holes. Membership is very fortunate to have this now somewhat hidden gem at their disposal.
I prefer the front 9 at Long Cove and the course begins with an excellent opening hole in the 400 yard par 4 1st. Tom Doak considers this one of the finest opening holes in golf and I agree it gives you a great taste of the strategy and challenges to come. A slight dogleg right, this difficult hole features a fairway angled to the right with water and a long waste bunker down the right for nearly the entire length of the fairway. While the fairway is generous here, OB lines the far left the entire way and the golfer is immediately forced to pick a line on their first swing of the day. Even once in the fairway, you are not free from danger yet as the green juts out to the right with water long and right and a particularly deep, devil’s asshole-like bunker short right. The safe miss is short left, which leaves plenty of room to attack this left-to-right sloped putting surface.
The par threes are spread out well and offer strong variety, with your first coming at the 162 yard 2nd hole. While not long, this one-shotter requires an immediate forced carry over water to a Redan-like, right-to-left sloped green that juts out into the water down the left. Anything left or short is likely wet, but misses long and right will flirt with sand or mounds of rough and leave very difficult up-and-downs. A large wastebunker can be found well-short of the green as well.
I’m not usually a huge fan of par fives being the number 1 handicap, but with the 3rd hole at Long Cove I can understand it. A marathon 527 yard par 5, this is a fascinating hole with plenty of danger throughout and lots of potential for disaster. It begins with a teebox sitting in the back left corner and a brief forced carry over water to a diagonal fairway set to the left. The fairway itself is on the narrow side with OB and houses to the right and water running down the left the entire way. While the hole is a dogleg left, you can’t really cut much off on the teeshot and an ideal aiming spot is towards a right crossbunker at 250 yards. The teeshot is intimdating, but I think the lay-up is more difficult, as the fairway begins to sweep steadily to the left for the second half of the hole with water continuing down the left the entire way. A classic Pete Dye bunker runs for about 100 yards down the left in the layup area and golfers will also need to be wary of running through the fairway to the right and being blocked out by trees. Pin position matters a lot here, with a large, elevated, diagonally set green featuring a back left plateau and lots of undulation. Steep slopes defend long and short and bunkers line either side. Par is a commendable score here.
To score well at Long Cove, you need to take advantage of the stretch from 4-7, which are some of the easier holes on the property. The 4th hole is the first of what I consider to be the Harbour Town-inspired holes as a 362 yard par 4. Accuracy is more important than power here, with an extremely tight fairway lined by tall trees and pine straw. At about 240 yards, the fairway turns slightly to the left and golfers will want to stay on the left side to avoid being blocked out by trees on the right. An additional tree just short left of this green creates somewhat of a “field goal” effect on your approach and this putting surface mainly slopes back-to-front.
At 305 yards, the 5th hole is one of the most memorable holes at Long Cove and also one of my favorites. This risk/reward par 4 begins with a brief forced carry over water to a fairway down the right. While the fairway itself is wide, a mound of rough juts in on the right at around 160 yards and water runs down the left side the entire way. The initial fairway ends at about 270 yards and the green sits off to the left over a giant mound of potbunkers and rough. The beauty of this hole is that the green is visible from the teebox, tantalizing longer hitters to try to reach in one. Those who opt to lay-up but take aggressive lines down the left side of the fairway may have a good angle into the green, but careless golfers who play it safe down the right side of the fairway will have a completely blind shot in over the mound. The green itself is narrow and slopes back-to-front, with water skirting its left and short sides and a bunker long as well. While the risk/reward nature of this hole is perhaps best achieved only for better players, it is a wildly unique and beautiful hole and one of the best short par fours you’ll find anywhere.
Of the three par fives at Long Cove, my favorite is the 6th, which starts an excellent stretch of holes with some strong land movement along the edge of the property. This 527 yarder begins with a downhill teeshot and significant forced carry over a residential road and water hazard. The initial fairway starts down the left around 180 yards and eventually widens, although water continues down the right and a giant bunker lines the right between 210 and 300 yards. This is not the easiest lay-up in the world as the fairway narrows near the green with giant mounds of rough and fescue on the left and several bunkers down the right over the final 100 yards. Longer hitters will likely have the chance to reach this green in two, but doing so requires great accuracy as this green is very narrow and perched into the side of the hill. It slopes left-to-right and anything with too much spin will likely find a steep collection area or bunker short right.
The 7th hole continues in the same direction as a strong 430 yard par 4. From another elevated teebox, this straightaway par 4 features a generous fairway with a left-to-right cant lined by mounds of fescue on the left and two large bunkers down the right between 215 and 265 yards. This large green is one of the most interesting on the course, with numerous internal mounds and tiers and a false front and collection area short.
At 195 yards, the 8th hole is the longest and most demanding par 3 on the course and arguably the best as well. Playing from yet another elevated teebox, this gorgeous downhill one-shotter plays through a corridor of trees towards a large, two-tier, back-to-front sloped green. A steep slope of rough and two giant wastebunkers to the right yield few up-and-downs, but golfers can use the left-to-right slope of the land to find the green from the left side as long as they miss a small but highly penal bunker.
The 9th hole returns you to the clubhouse as a medium-length dogleg right 385 yard par 4. Playing slightly downhill, this is solid hole with a generous fairway defended by a right bunker around 190 yards and a hidden bunker down the left at 240 yards. Numerous bunkers and mounds of rough sit well-short of a large green containing several plateaus and lined by a water hazard right.
After a somewhat lengthy walk by the parking lot and range, you reach the 10th hole, a 398 yard par 4. Somewhat similar to Harbour Town’s 10th, this is a dogleg left with a water hazard running down the left the entire length of the hole. A narrow bunker also lines the left side of the fairway and might be the longest bunker in America at over 220 yards long. This green contains several ridges and plateaus and is defended by water left and bunkers short and long.
The 11th is another hole with serious Harbour Town vibes as a 372 yard par 4. Although not a long hole by any means, this is somewhat of a double dogleg with a teeshot out to the left and then a turn back to the right around 260 yards. This tree-lined fairway is quite wide but functionally on the narrow side, as tall “field goal” trees near the dogleg force you to shape the ball unless you’re in the dead center of the fairway. This green is one of the most challenging on the course, with an overall right-to-left slope and large right plateau. A collection area sits just left of the green and bunkers defend it short, right, and long.
At 420 yards, the 12th is one of the toughest holes at Long Cove and plays as a dogleg left par 4. While the teeshot feels a bit tight with trees down either side, the fairway is on the wider side and turns to the left around 260 yards with a speed slot at this point. There’s a small bunker down the right at around 240 yards and a hidden water hazard begins on the left at 255 yards. This water continues all the way to a large, back right-to-front left sloped green also lined by a bunker short left.
The 13th hole brings you to the banks of Broad Creek as the shortest par 3 on the course at 137 yards. This is a pretty hole featuring a carry the entire way over marshland to a wide yet shallow green lined by a bunker long right. Water wraps around left and long of the green as well and the only acceptable miss here is to the right. While this is definitely one of the easiest holes, it is also one of the windiest and can play much longer.
Another hole that lines the water is the 14th, a 388 yard dogleg left par 4 and the number 2 handicap. This hole is demanding off the tee, with a narrow fairway bending left around marshland and OB down the right. In ideal conditions, longer hitters can cut the corner here and leave themselves a short shot in, but in the typical crosswind or headwind, this becomes a very difficult hole. Those who find the marsh left may actually find their ball at low tide, but I recommend against playing it as you’ll be guaranteed a terrible lie and potential disaster (trust me). This approach is more straightforward, playing towards a large, back-to-front sloped green lined by bunkers right and short left.
While Long Cove certainly has the upper hand on Harbour Town through the first 14 holes, its closing stretch is much less memorable and takes you back inland towards the clubhouse. The 15th hole is the final par 5 on the course and also the longest at 565 yards. A true three-shot hole for all but the longest hitters, this is a sweeping dogleg left with an initially wide fairway that begins to turn left around 270 yards. There’s a huge wastebunker for the first 220 yards down the left and trees on either side but otherwise this is a pretty straightforward teeshot. On their lay-up, golfers will need to be wary of right bunkers 200 and 90 yards short of the green but there is plenty of room otherwise. The most notable feature of this hole is a pair of trees on the front corners of the green, creating another field goal effect on your approach. Bunkers also defend this green on either side and the putting surface features lots of movement, with significant slopes both left-to-right and back-to-front.
The 16th hole plays somewhat similarly to the 7th as a straightaway 389 yard par 4 with ample fairway to the left and a long right bunker occupying between 145 and 260 yards down the right. Another giant wastebunker with a peculiar tree in the middle defends short and left of a large, back-to-front sloped green.
Long Cove’s penultimate hole is its final par 3 at 186 yards. This is a solid one-shotter and one I’ve seen before from Pete Dye, with a carry the entire way over water to a large green also lined by water on the right. The putting surface features several plateaus and mostly slopes towards the water with four bunkers surrounding it as well.
The closing hole is one of the longest par fours on the course at 429 yards. From the Gold Tees, this is a monstrous par 4, playing straightaway over water, but from the other tees, this is a dogleg right with a teebox tucked in the right corner. The fairway here is wide, but requires a carry over a giant right wastebunker and is lined by OB left and the driving range down the right. This approach plays a bit uphill to an elevated, two-tier, back-to-front sloped green lined by deep bunkers short left. This is by far the largest green on the course and one of the biggest you’ll find anywhere.
General Comments: As with almost all golf in Hilton Head, Long Cove is an ideal walking course and pace of play is always strong. Practice facilities include a full range near the 10th tee and short game area near the 1st. Members are required to own property in the community and also get to enjoy pickleball, tennis, and a pool.
Verdict: A wonderful residential Pete Dye design in Hilton Head Island, Long Cove is my personal favorite course in a very good golf area with a number of memorable holes, strong challenge, and great variety. If you get an opportunity to play here, I highly recommend it.
