Hilton Head Sports

At a recent speaking engagement in Canada, Dan Santorum passed along a bit of advice that might come as a surprise given his lengthy list of accolades.

“Never apply for an award,” Santorum told the crowd, “because you’ll never be disappointed, and if you do get an award it will be a pleasant surprise.”

As the fall approaches, so does the promise of crisp, Lowcountry evenings under Friday night lights. For some area football teams, a new season means a new era. For others, it’s a chance to keep building from an already firm foundation.

Last season started and ended with some turbulence as Bluffton High School saw its first game go to forfeiture and Hilton Head Christian Academy said goodbye to its head coach. But local football coaches feel only excitement and hope as the first days of practice and first steps onto the field creep closer and closer.

IF THE FIELD FOR THIS YEAR'S PLAYERS AMATEUR SEEMS ESPECIALLY TOUGH, THAT'S BECAUSE IT TENDS TO HAPPEN IN ODD YEARS — BETTER KNOWN IN AMATEUR GOLF CIRCLES AS WALKER CUP YEARS.

The world's best amateurs will tee up in the Lowcountry for the 16th consecutive year when the Players Amateur moves to Berkeley Hall Club’s North Course for the first time from July 9-12, and with Walker Cup invitations likely hanging in the balance, the competition should be as steamy as a South Carolina summer.

“Three all,” booms the man’s voice, still as loud and clear as it was years ago when he presided over the biggest tennis matches of the day.

Norm Chryst is not chairing this contest, however; he is serving in the match tiebreaker.

Wearing his hat backwards, a black polo and Rogers Cup shorts, Chryst tosses the ball, rocks back and leaps forward to strike a flat first serve.

One take on the greatest holes Hilton Head and Bluffton have to offer

This list isn’t right. It isn’t wrong. It’s just an opinion, and you know what they say about opinions. Everyone has one.

At the very least, here are 18 fantastic holes to play in the area, either for their design or the views from them. There are another 18 in the area that are equally good, and another and another. With more than 30 public and private courses lining one of the most beautiful places on earth, that’s 540 holes of golf and not a bad one among them. Really. Not one.

The Lowcountry has a well-deserved reputation as a premier golf destination with stunningly beautiful courses and talented local players. With the help of golf programs at area high schools, Hilton Head Island and the surrounding communities are sure to maintain that reputation for years to come.

Chris Cuneo has been around the University of South Carolina Beaufort golf programs long enough to see the ups and downs, though, to be fair, the downs hardly qualify as such.

LOWCOUNTRY GOLF HALL OF FAME RECOGNIZES THOSE WHO PUT — AND KEEP — HILTON HEAD ATOP GOLFERS’ FAVORITE DESTINATIONS

For decades, Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and the rest of Beaufort County have been golf destinations, drawing thousands of players a year to private and public courses and communities made famous by the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, movies such as “The Legend of Bagger Vance” and poll results that list Hilton Head as the favorite location for PGA Tour players. 

Since 1969, when swashbuckling Arnold Palmer mesmerized television viewers with one of his patented final-round charges on Harbour Town Golf Links to win the inaugural Heritage Classic (as it was then called), the Sea Pines Resort has topped the charts as a must-play golf destination. Myriad honors from top golf publications have followed year after year, but no one would ever accuse the Lowcountry legend of resting on its laurels.