HILTON HEAD GOLF

Golf pros know: Golf can seem terribly complicated to beginners. So many rules, so many different kinds of clubs. And then there's the lingo: birdies, bogeys, bump-and-runs. Golf pros and instructors speak this language every day, but also know it's a language that can scare prospective golfers off before they ever pick up a club.

Give dad the gift of the game with some hot new items for this year.

If you’re reading this, odds are you either have a golfer in the family or you are the golfer in your family. If it’s the first case, and that golfer is your dad, pay attention. We’ve compiled some of the best gear you’re going to find for 2017 – gear that will improve his game or have him hitting the links in style.

International Junior Golf Academy students had a special treat recently when former world No. 1 Sir Nick Faldo visited the academy and gave students a private golf clinic. The three-time Masters champion (1989, 1990 and 1996) and three-time Open champion (1987, 1990 and 1992) also won the Sea Pines Heritage (now the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing) during his career. In total, he has won six major championships and three other PGA Tour events.

Beaufort County golf facility leaders gathered to celebrate their ongoing commitment and collective effort to advance sustainable practices. The group’s 2016 collaboration was honored by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators and received the first-ever International Sustainable Golf Destination Award 2017. Leaders from The Sea Pines Resort, Old South Golf Links, The Legends at Parris Island, Moss Creek Golf Club and Oyster Reef Golf Club were present to swap tips, share their successes and renew their commitments to document and measure their efforts using golf’s eco-label for sustainability, GEO Certified.

Callawassie Island hosted the 2017 Big East Women’s Golf Championship on April 20-23. Six schools competing in the tournament included Butler, Creighton, Georgetown, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Xavier. Callawassie Island also hosts the Big East Men’s Golf Championship each year. The club recently extended its relationship with the Big East through 2022. 

Japanese student starts with four English words, ends with school address

International students are nothing new to the International Junior Golf Academy in Bluffton. The school welcomes students from around the world every year — IJGA, the oldest independent junior golf academy in the country, has students from 28 countries.

But for the students themselves, there is nothing ordinary about it.       

German student uses competitve edge to get ahead in golf and life

Hanna Kiefer came to Hilton Head Island from Germany two years ago with three goals in mind. She wanted to improve her English, her golf game and win a scholarship.

Thanks to some hard work at Hilton Head Prep, where she’s a senior, and at the Junior Players Golf Academy, she quickly achieved two of those goals in her first year.

When the star on the marquee of the three courses at The Sea Pines Resort shines as brightly as does Harbour Town Golf Links, the two other layouts there must be exceptional on their own merits to share in the spotlight.

After all, Harbour Town is not only a coveted “bucket list” course for amateurs seeking to pad respective resumes of top courses played, the Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus co-design is even gushed over by the game’s best practitioners. 

It’s becoming difficult not to notice a new golf powerhouse in the area: Brown Golf.

It bought its first course, the struggling Pinecrest Golf Course, in March 2011. Just six years later, Brown Golf owns or operates 30 golf courses in four states, including six in Bluffton and two on Hilton Head Island.

“I’ve been in the golf business since 1978,” CEO John Brown said. “I was a golf professional, then manger, then general manager. I was working for Troon Golf out of Scottsdale when I decided to start my own company.”