South Carolina Golf Travel

Palmetto Dunes Stays Ahead Of The Curve

By Brad King, Contributing Writer

Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort on Hilton Head Island celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018. Equally feted were the resort’s trio of outstanding golf courses designed by architectural legends: the Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront Course, the Arthur Hills Course and the George Fazio Course. All three of Palmetto Dunes’ magnificent layouts have been named South Carolina’s “Golf Course of the Year.” Palmetto Dunes is a 2,000-acre resort destination located in the middle of Hilton Head Island, S.C., bounded by 3 miles of Atlantic Ocean beach on one side and a sheltered Intracoastal Waterway marina on the other. Named No. 3 “Best Resort in the South” in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards and to the top 25 World’s Best Family Getaways by Travel + Leisure, the resort features vacation home and villa rentals, three world-class golf courses, an award-winning tennis and pickleball center, an 11-mile inland salt-water lagoon system for kayaking and fishing, and Hilton Head Outfitters for bike rentals, canoes, kayaks, fishing and much more. In the Condé Nast poll, Palmetto Dunes catapulted nine spots. The big move places the iconic Hilton Head resort ahead of popular southern enclaves such as Montage Palmetto Bluff (No. 5), The Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah Island (No. 6), Wild Dunes Resort (No. 10) and The Cloister (No. 19). The Mediterranean-style Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina — Hilton Head Island’s largest deep-water marina, located right across from Palmetto Dunes — features waterfront shopping and dining and a wide variety of charters, including nature cruises, dolphin tours, sport crabbing and fishing. Remaining on the cusp of resort innovation, this year Palmetto Dunes introduced a fleet of autonomous golf caddie units. The “Tempo Walk” by Club Car provides golfers with the enjoyment of walking the course, enhancing play, and fostering health and wellness. State-of-the-art wireless technology including GPS yardage and hands-free remote allows golfers the control to maneuver easily around the course. Additional technology features include a USB port and touchscreen tablet along with traditional golf car offerings such as a cup holder, cooler, divot repair and sand bottle. Palmetto Dunes has eight units that are available for use at the Jones and Fazio courses. “We are delighted to introduce this enhancement to the Palmetto Dunes golf experience,” said Palmetto Dunes Director of Golf Clark Sinclair. “It’s already generating quite a buzz from our

resort guests.” In addition to the Tempo Walk, golfers can also pedal from hole to hole. The first resort in the Carolinas and along the East Coast to offer the revolutionary Golf Bike, Palmetto Dunes visitors can boost their calorie-burning quotient while teeing it up on some of the south’s most beautiful and challenging courses. The resort has also introduced a new fleet of nimble BagBoy pushcarts by on all three golf courses to further promote walking. Palmetto Dunes also boasts a state-of-the-art fleet of golf carts produced by Club Car. The fleets at Palmetto Dunes include golf carts equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS), as well as USB ports to charge cell phones and play music devices — all designed to suit a golfer’s enjoyment and functionality.

In addition, Palmetto Dunes offers a dozen four-person golf carts that serve a host of capabilities: Family foursomes playing out of one cart, while also getting in some walking, small corporate outings and scramble tournaments with all four players in the same golf cart, adding a sense of team and relationship building, and more. “We’ve always tried to do things a little different here at Palmetto Dunes,” said Samm Wolfe, the head golf professional and general manager at the Arthur Hills Course. “We have a way of looking at things outside the box. All these things make us unique in the area.” In addition, Palmetto Dunes partners with SwingFit, a state-of-the-art club-fitting technology housed at the Robert Trent Jones clubhouse. SwingFit is a true, custom club fitter and club maker. They are brand agnostic to fit all major manufacturers. SwingFit’s Chris Wycoff became a Mizuno Top 100 fitter in 2014 and has been included on Golf Digest’s list of the 100 Best Club Fitters in America for the past three years. He is also a member of the International Clubmakers Guild and is FlightScope and Gears Golf certified. Most recently, Golf.com named SwingFit among the “Top 25 Elite Clubfitters across the United States.” “It’s a nice honor from the industry,” Wycoff said. “It’s further validation that we’re working down the right path, improving our services to golfers. We’re trying to help people play better and have more fun out there.” Last but certainly not least, one of Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort’s popular attractions is the complimentary, interactive Monday golf exhibition and clinic, where participants experience the effective and entertaining style of longtime Director of Golf Instruction Doug Weaver, a former PGA Tour player and member of the Lowcountry Golf Hall of Fame, and the rest of the Palmetto Dunes teaching staff. GRD

For more information: PALMETTODUNES.COM 877.567.6513