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Sea Pines

Sea Pines features three courses, Harbour Town, Sea Marsh and the Ocean course. Harbour Town Golf Links, site of the MCI Heritage tournament, has hosted a PGA Tour event every year since 1969 and even most of the pros who compete there can't solve its mystery. Only players like five-time winner Davis Love, Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Hale Irwin have games to match it.

It isn't overly long at 6,973 yards, but it requires precise tee shots to set up tricky approaches. Dye re-designed the course in 2000, but left it pretty much alone, only re-building his dilapidated railroad ties, tees and greens.

Harbour Town is also known for the excellence of its par-3s and its short-but-difficult par-4s, Nos. 9 and 13. The wind swirling off Calibogue makes the 185-yard 17th longer and dangerous and the closing 18th par-4 is one of toughest holes anywhere.

Sea Marsh is a 6,515-yard layout by George Cobb with a 1990 re-design by Clyde Johnston, a Hilton Head resident. Considered too short by many, it has a "mini-marsh" set of tees for juniors and is marketed as a family-fun course.

The Ocean course is the oldest on the island, opening in 1962. Despite its name, there is only one hole that plays along the ocean, as opposed to the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, which has expansive ocean views. Mark McCumber re-designed it in 1995, emphasizing the lagoons and tidal marshes.