Palmetto Dunes’ Robert Trent Jones Course cracks Golfweek Top 20 list in South Carolina

Long renowned as one of the South Carolina Lowcountry’s most popular places to tee it up, the Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront Course at Palmetto Dunes has been voted among the state’s Top 20 public-access golf courses by Golfweek magazine.

Golfweek ranked the Jones Course No. 17 among the best public-access golf courses in South Carolina

Golfweek’s 2025 “Best Courses You Can Play” list for the top public-access layouts in each state is judged by the outlet’s nationwide network of raters. The courses on the list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. 

The hundreds of members of Golfweek’s course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria and on a points basis of 1 through 10. The raters also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all the Golfweek’s Best course rankings.

Experience Robert Trent Jones Signature Oceanfront Hole

The Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront Course is consistently rated among the finest and most memorable courses in the southeast. The Jones Course’s signature hole, the dramatic par-5 10th, is one of Hilton Head Island’s only two oceanfront holes.  

The Jones Course has previously been named the “Golf Course of the Year” by The South Carolina Board of Directors of the National Golf Course Owners Association. All three Palmetto Dunes courses have received that same honor in the past two decades. In addition, the Jones Course has been designated a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” for its commitment to providing a sanctuary for wildlife.

In 2021, GolfPass named the Jones Course among their Golfers’ Choice “Top 25 Most Improved Golf Courses” in America.

View the list of Golfweek’s 2025 rankings and start planning your next round of golf at Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort.

Back to blog