Tour Hilton Head Island by playing Golden Bear Golf Club at Indigo Run
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Golden Bear Golf Club at Indigo Run will embark on an improvement project in 2013 that will enhance all 52 bunkers with new drainage and sand. The semi-private club will also begin trimming back a number of trees that encroach upon the fairways of this 7,014-yard design created in 1992.
But Head Golf Professional Jeremy Steiner said the maintenance staff will be careful not to overdo it. Overhanging limbs and well placed trees make numerous holes, such as No. 2, No. 13 and No. 17, more strategic.
"I don't want to cut them back too much because that adds to the hole," Steiner said. "I don't want to make it completely open. It adds character to the course."
The only Jack Nicklaus course open to public play on the island does not have a hotel to attract players. Relatively affordable greens fees do the trick instead.
The condos and houses lining Golden Bear sometimes pinch in close and cause an out-of-bounds penalty, but for the most part, the layout treats golfers to a pleasant tour of the island's watery natural habitat.
Steiner said the club was the only golf course on Hilton Head with an active bald eagle's nest as of December 2012.
"People like the aesthetics," he added.
- Ten reasons to take your next golf vacation on Hilton Head Island
- A gourmet guide to the best on-site dining options after golf on Hilton Head Island
Golden Bear Golf Course at Indigo Run