Harbourtown
My wife took me here for my 40th in 2005. Played with three older guys from New York and really enjoyed the course with them. I say older guys, but they’re probably my age now. It was fun listening to the three of them volley insults back and forth. It was a while ago so a lot doesn’t really stand out but I definitely remember the last three holes including the 18th with the iconic lighthouse (above). We had an old-fashioned camera that we had to – get ready for this – actually have the photos developed. The focus and coloring are not great – amazing that just 15 years later no one uses a regular camera anymore. Wish I had a good camera phone back then, I would have a lot more photos of the courses I have played.
I haven’t seen Harbourtown in the Golf Digest rankings anymore. It used to be a staple there but now it seems to be getting squeezed out. As recently as 1997 it was #60 but last appeared at #100 in 2011 and has been nowhere to be seen in the recent rankings. Oddly enough, it’s still at #73 in Golf’s 2020 ranking (which I find more aligned to my thinking) and #56 in Golfweek’s Modern rankings. So why the disparity? It’ll be interesting when Golf Digest changes its scoring a little for 2021. If you read the changes they are making, it might put a course like Harbourtown back into the ranking. I don’t know but it’s a fun course and of course the PGA stop here every year (and computer golf game) made it a very familiar track to me. Conditioning was good and from what I remember it was just a fun experience.
I don’t remember where we went for eats though I do remember that on a whole (15 years ago) Hilton Head was the classy SC shore/golf destination versus the Hootersville that is Myrtle Beach. It’s in the scrapbook here. The first photo below is borrowed. I thought this view of the 18th (probably looking from the top of the lighthouse) is pretty cool as it shows you the tee, the fairway landing area and the green.
Golf Scrapbook 