Hilton Head
The Best of Hilton Head Not Hard to Find
By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer
 HILTON
HEAD, S.C. (July 22, 2002) -- It is 96 degrees in the shade even as the
sun starts to dive behind the Lowcountry
landscape of this bastion of summer golf. Back in the island's myriad
of baby blue pools, thousands of tourists are sipping drinks and playing
Marco Polo with their kids. The beaches are clogged with lily-white northerners
and the tennis courts are teeming with weekend warriors working on their
backhands.
But the golf course is empty, and somehow the solitude makes the bead
of sweat dripping down your nose, the dozen mosquitoes buzzing around
your ankles, and the painful sunburn on the back of your neck seem worth
the price of admission. John Mellencamp might say that golfing in Hilton
Head in July and August "hurts so good." Big Head Todd and
the Monsters would chalk the experience up to being "Bittersweet."
Musical asides aside, summer is the time to take in some affordable golf
in one of the East Coast's priciest golf destinations. One hundred and
fifty dollar courses become $80 rounds in the morning and $60 in the afternoon.
One hundred and fifty pound men in the morning become 80-pound men by
the afternoon, but that is why God invented fried seafood and stout beer.
And fried seafood and beer is the name of the game at Captain Woody's
Bar and Grill (843-785-2400) , our choice for Best Neighborhood
Restaurant on the island. Actually, the Grouper Melt is the house
specialty sandwich, but a fried seafood platter is available come supper
time that includes shrimp, oysters, flounder, clam strips, scallops or
crab cakes lightly fried and served with seasoned fries, cole slaw and
hush puppies. The crowd is decidedly local, and most of them would like
to keep it that way, so keep the Hilton
Head golf shirts and hats in the suitcase.
Best Place to Grab a Microbrew and Chicken Wings - The Hilton Head Brewing
Company
Known as the "Brew Pub" to locals, the Hilton Head Brewing
Company (843-785-BREW) was South
Carolina's first brewery and restaurant post prohibition. It also
happens to be home to the island's best wings and an assortment of pub
fare that includes wood fired pizzas, burgers, and salads. Interesting
twists include a weekend brunch that includes Brew Pub French Toast, omelets,
and breakfast wraps; seasonal brews that will quench your thirst in the
thick of summer or chill of winter; and a jukebox that is second to none
for folk rock loving Gen-Xers.
Best Place to Spend $250 on a Round of Golf - Harbour Town Golf Links
Harbour
Town Golf Links at Sea
Pines Resort is the best - and only - golf track where you can drop
an entire car payment on a round of golf. You know the story by now: modern
Pete
Dye design, home of the PGA's most popular Tour stop (the Heritage
of Golf), and the faux lighthouse behind the 18th hole. What you may not
know is that this hefty sum is not negotiable. Not in the summer. Not
two hours before dark. Never. So it is up to you and your definition of
disposable income as to whether or not this Dye dandy is $170 better than
the Hills
Course at Palmetto Hall. You certainly won't be disappointed with
the overall design (strategic, crafty, fair, and borderline brilliant),
but you may be a little miffed with the overall conditions (a few crispy
greens and fairways).
 Best
Place Not to Spend $250 on a Round of
Golf - Eagle Pointe Golf Club
Eagle
Pointe Golf Club (888-325-1833) in Bluffton
is priced to please the workingman, with rates dipping as low as $35 in
the summer months after 3 p.m. With the sun setting around 9 p.m. and
only mosquitoes and no-see-em's on the course, 18 holes in the late afternoon
is more probable than possible. Love Enterprises and Associates, the design
firm of PGA
Tour player Davis Love III, cut the layout through inland pine trees
and coastal bogs. Course conditions are well above average, there's a
good mix of par 4's and a couple of memorable par 3's, and for the price,
you actually walk away feeling like you pulled one over on them.
Best Place to Take the Kids (of all ages) on a Tuesday Night - Shelter
Cove
Shelter
Cove, located across from Palmetto Dunes, is already the family place
to be any night of the week. But during the summer, a sneaky-awesome fireworks
display erupts every Tuesday night above the harbor as live music bellows
from the amphitheater and tourists stroll between restaurants and shops.
It is also home to one of the island's best Mexican food joints, San Miguel's,
where you can actually purchase a foot-long burrito stuffed full of seasoned
ground beef and smothered with spicy chili. What's better than that?
Best Place To Hang Out If You're Under 35, Single, Without Kids, and
Scared To Death of Fireworks -- Coligny Plaza
Coligny Plaza is the oldest shopping center in the island, but the folks
that hang out there aren't … old that is. A pretty decent little
nightlife has popped up, anchored by Steamer's Raw Bar, the Frosty Frog
Café and Stu's Surfside. You can catch some type of live music
almost any night of the week, but we recommend a cold long neck beer and
a set from the Lowcountry Boil Bluegrass Band.
Best Place to Stay and Play - Hilton Head Marriott Beach and Golf Resort
Snuggled right in the heart of Palmetto Dunes and its three outstanding
resort courses, the Hilton Head Marriott Beach and Golf Resort (843-686-8400)
is one of only two oceanfront hotels on the island. Marriott recently
bought the place from Hyatt and wasted little time in spending $24 million
worth of renovations on the property. The result is a top notch, full
service hotel with two restaurants, an oceanside pool, suites, basic rooms,
a fitness center, a gift shop and (most importantly) proximity to three
upscale resort courses. The Robert
Trent Jones, Arthur Hills and George Fazio courses are on site at
"PD," and the Marriott also has golf packages with neighboring
Palmetto Hall and its two resort tracks.
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