Dataw Island (Cotton Dike)

Many islands make up the South Carolina shore north of Hilton Head, and Dataw Island may be one of the most ideal...specifically because it is almost entirely filled with golf. The island’s club hosts two 18-hole courses: The second is Arthur Hills’s Morgan River route, which was preceded by Tom Fazio’s Cotton Dike course.

Players should expect a playing experience similar to the famous Harbour Town course, with tree-lined fairways separating players from those on other holes. On the other half of the course, Fazio hugs the ocean and saltwater marshes, which open out to expansive views.

The Cotton Dike can afford many such views, as the course stays along the thin south side of the island as well as its Eastern shore. No. 18 will be fine closer to the round, emulating Pebble Beach in the way this reachable par five features saltwater all the way down its left side.

The closer to the front half might be more exciting, however, as players will launch over the water to a fairway that runs perpendicular to the tee; a single tree will direct players to go left of it for the more conservative route, or try for big distance to the right.