Harbour Town Golf Links

Harbour Town opened in 1969 on Hilton Head Island as a bold departure from the era's long, wide-open courses. Pete Dye, working with a young Jack Nicklaus as consultant, built a tight, low-profile layout that prizes precision over power, threading narrow fairways through corridors of live oaks and defending small greens with railroad-tie bunkers, waste areas and lagoons. It was an early showcase of Dye's distinctive style and helped launch Nicklaus's design career. The course debuted that Thanksgiving week by hosting the inaugural Heritage Classic, where Arnold Palmer ended a long winless stretch, bringing the young resort national attention. The event, now the RBC Heritage, has been played there ever since. The closing par-four 18th runs alongside Calibogue Sound beneath the candy-striped Harbour Town Lighthouse, one of golf's most recognizable finishing backdrops and a symbol of the island itself.