After our round at Heron Point my friend and I decided to go for a bonus round. The weather still looked sketchy, but we thought it may keep all the other golfers away. We booked a last-minute tee time at Golden Bear Golf Club, one of the courses I was looking at for this trip.

For those who are directionally confused (me), Golden Bear wasn’t the easiest to find. The road into the community ends near two golf course parking lots. One course is called Indigo Run while the other has a sign out front that says Golden Bear Golf Club. Our reservation said “Golden Bear Golf Club at Indigo Run”. Confusing. Come to find out, Indigo Run is private and Golden Bear was the public course we wanted.

Once we finally found the right course, no one was there. We ended up having the place to ourselves and played in a little over three hours. The best type of rounds.

My friend and I read some of the recent reviews of Golden Bear before our round and everyone seemed to mention that the course was in great shape. We paid $55 for the twilight green fee and I’ll happily add another positive comment about the maintenance. Almost everything was excellent.

The fairways and tees were in the final stages of being overseeded. The turf was lush and a little firmer than Heron Point. The greens were smooth and fast. My only complaint is that the bunkers were rocky and could easily scratch a wedge.

Golden Bear was designed by Jack Nicklaus and has a pretty typical Hilton Head feel. The course plays through a community with homes off to the sides of the holes. Those pesky Lowcountry oak trees and many water hazards are the main challenges. For a Nicklaus course I was surprised by how many holes favored a right to left shot shape. I’d say a right-handed draw works best on half the holes.

We played the blue tees which are 72.7/137/6643. Like most courses I’ve played on the island, the theme at Golden Bear is narrow corridors. The front has some fairways that open up but the back, especially the last four holes, were tight. Bring your straight shot or expect to scramble. I think a few trees could stand to be cut down in the name of playability.

When it comes to signature holes, I thought Golden Bear was lacking in that department. The long 6th, 11th and 17th holes were the most memorable, but for their difficulty. These holes are all long par-4’s (418+ yards) where the tee shot needs to hug the tree line on the left.

Overall, I thought Golden Bear was a good course in even better shape. However, it seemed to lack a unique, captivating characteristic. For our price I’d recommend it, but I’m not sure I’d pay the $105 rack rate often. That is a lot for what you get during the off season.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):