The Lowcountry of the Carolinas and Georgia—a sultry region of stoic live oaks, dank pine-tree jungles and sunbaked stretches of intracoastal marsh—is one of the country’s most distinctive environments. But as attractive as the landscape is, it is largely homogenous, making it difficult to create varied golf holes.

What continues to make Harbour Town—situated on South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island—unique is not the famous final two holes that explode upon the shore of Calibogue Sound but rather the individual character Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus were able to draw out of each inland hole.

When Dye and Nicklaus laid out Harbour Town in the late 1960s, the design was a total departure for golf at the time. No mounds, no elevated tees, no elevated greens—just low-profile and abrupt change. Tiny greens hung atop railroad ties directly over water hazards. Trees blocked direct shots. Features that render the modern bomb-and-gauge strategy useless and encourage tour players to revert to a more old school style of play, where accuracy is demanded above all. A quick look at the past champions list for the RBC Heritage proves Harbour Town rewards the methodical over the powerful—Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Brian Gay.

Curious to see if the corridors are as tight or the greens as small as they appear on TV? (They are.) You can play Harbour Town—a member of our 100 Greatest Public list—on your next trip to the Lowcountry, along with the other two courses at Sea Pines Resort. To round out your itinerary for your next golf trip, check out our collection of the best courses you can play in Hilton Head Island, complete with resort options and affordable off-island tracks.