George Fazio Golf Course — Attraction in Hilton Head Island

Down from CLT on a short getaway and decided last minute to play the Fazio Course at Palmetto Dunes. Upon arrival the guys in the shop were welcoming - I was playing as a single - having arrived early they asked if I wanted to get out early (big yes). Headed toward the first tee, was paired up with a couple of great guys on vacation from Ohio. A couple of practice putts and off to the first tee with a warning not to go left - all day. As a guy that plays a draw off every tee that left me with a bit of trepidation. But the starter was jovial and friendly and that’s always appreciated.

Is there trouble left, yes. Is it unfair, not at all! Tee boxes were in really good shape. Fairways were great and honestly, much wider than they look like. And most importantly the greens were smooth and rolled at a consistent pace on every hole.

There is a quite a bit of water on the course, but very little of it ever comes into play. The Fazio course offers a great blend of short and long par 4’s - the par 3’s are fair - and as a par 70 layout there are only 2 par 5’s. I haven’t played a par 70 course in years, but I may start looking for more as I finished the day with a solid 79. For a guy that doesn’t practice and plays twice a month, I’ll take it!

We saw the beverage cart a half dozen times (rare these days).

The golf course is beautiful - yes it probably favors the player who hits the power fade, but it is very playable for a guy like me that draws it off the tee.

If you miss greens, highly recommend you miss in the bunkers (sand quality and consistency was 9 out of 10) as the green side Bermuda rough was difficult at best. (If you play Bermuda you know how difficult it can be to control the ball green side when the ball sits down in 2-3 inches of rough. So, hit a lot of greens and if you miss, miss short in the fairway grass or in the bunkers.

All in, if you appreciate a well designed golf course that is fair yet challenging, has greens in great condition, beautiful scenery, a great variety of holes, and at par 70 gives you a little better shot at breaking 80, then put the Fazio course at Palmetto Dunes on your list. Yes it’s resort golf so the round is going to be 4 1/2 but the GPS in cart tries to keep groups moving to 4:15. Speaking of GPS - the in cart GPS is very accurate, and the carts have built in speakers and pairing your phone is a breeze and playing your own music without having to worry about forgetting and losing your speaker is a nice touch too.

So, 5 stars for the Fazio course. I can’t wait to play here again and you should put it on your list the next time you are in Hilton Head! (And Hawk who came and hung out and watched our tee shots on number 2 was...

Unfortunately my recent experience with the Jones and Arthur Hills courses was a disaster. I hosted my brothers for a 3 day golf trip in HH. I have played both courses in the past and I knew it would be a great experience for them. I shelled out over $1000 for the 2 tee times this past Wednesday, Nov 15th. When I booked these tee times I was made aware that it would be "cart path only" due to the overseeding and was completely ok with that because we don't mind a little extra exercise. We were the first group off on the Jones Course and expected a great round with great conditions. I was shocked when I got to the first green and noticed how "furry" it was and the dew was still on the greens. Thought it might have been a fluke....turns out the entire course was like this with every green incredibly slow. I was actually embarrassed in that I was raving to my brothers about how awesome Jones course is. After that round we went to Arthur Hills. Once again we were aware of the cart path only but no one made us aware of the conditions of the greens until after the round, one of the cart attendants asked us why we played there today since it was "common knowledge" that when they overseed they don't cut the greens. He was perplexed as why no one from Palmetto Dunes told us that when I booked these 2 rounds. Not sure what you can do to remedy my experience but needless to say I was not happy on Wednesday afternoon. As a homeowner in Palmetto Dunes, I expected more....... Bottom line is that when i booked these times, I should have been notified that the greens would not be in good condition. I would have thanked them for their honesty and...

When my husband and I arrived to the course we were not greeted by the golf cart attendant, he was no where in sight. We proceeded to the pro shop to check in again no one was around, waited, finally a gentleman came in and checked us in. We were about 30 minutes early and the pro shop employee told us we can grab a cart, there is no starter , we can do what ever we want , start anytime and suggested we get out there before the foursome gets here. The course seemed to be in good shape. We had a guy driving a leaf blower following us for 3 holes it started to become annoying, as we were going to call the pro shop the guy went the other way.. when we arrived on hole 10 a group of 5 just teed off. We followed for a couple of holes and they let us play through. I noticed before then another group of 5 a couple holes behind us. I’m not sure if this is a regular thing, no golf cart attendant, no starter and groups of 5 players. The girl in the snack shop was sitting at a table I think on her phone. When she seen me she jumped up didn’t say a word to me, I handed her 2 bags of pretzels, she rang them up and still didn’t say a word. Also this course could use a ranger or two to keep the pace of play in check . I have never been to a golf course that was basically self serve. For the 2 of us it was around $275. I think that is expensive for the treatment...