Island West Golf Club
About
Designed by Clyde Johnston and popular PGA Tour star Fuzzy Zoeller, the Island West Golf Club is a course built around natural marshland and follows the landscape presenting a rolling, tree-lined course.
As one would imagine a course with Zoeller's fingerprints, Island West in Bluffton was built to be a fun, entertaining play, and has succeeded in its mission. Playing to 6,803 with a 129 slope rating from the tips, it's a solid test for the skillful yet playable for the not-so skillful.
Water comes in to play on 10 holes here, so the bold will have many risk-reward opportunities. Accuracy off the tee is a must on many of the tree-lined holes, yet other holes feature wide fairways. Island West is exactly the type of course you'd imagine Zoeller being a part of, but Johnston's expertise also shines through.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 72 | 6803 yards | 73.3 | 140 |
| White | 72 | 6208 yards | 70.1 | 127 |
| Silver | 72 | 5454 yards | 67.2 | 108 |
| Red (W) | 72 | 4856 yards | 69.5 | 123 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue M: 72.9/144 | 491 | 156 | 402 | 527 | 371 | 404 | 392 | 187 | 423 | 3353 | 378 | 354 | 174 | 400 | 527 | 395 | 613 | 193 | 416 | 3450 | 6803 |
| White M: 69.7/132 W: 76.0/140 | 477 | 132 | 372 | 498 | 329 | 348 | 368 | 158 | 372 | 3054 | 341 | 334 | 155 | 380 | 506 | 374 | 518 | 166 | 380 | 3154 | 6208 |
| White/Silver M: 68.5/125 W: 74.3/136 | 477 | 132 | 372 | 442 | 329 | 348 | 368 | 158 | 356 | 2982 | 341 | 334 | 155 | 315 | 496 | 275 | 460 | 166 | 316 | 2858 | 5840 |
| Silver M: 67.7/117 W: 72.8/134 | 455 | 102 | 288 | 442 | 323 | 330 | 279 | 140 | 356 | 2715 | 326 | 302 | 130 | 315 | 496 | 275 | 460 | 119 | 316 | 2739 | 5454 |
| Red M: 64.6/105 W: 69.6/116 | 410 | 96 | 288 | 442 | 259 | 253 | 242 | 128 | 268 | 2386 | 258 | 266 | 125 | 304 | 421 | 244 | 432 | 114 | 306 | 2470 | 4856 |
| Handicap | 13 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 6 | |||
| Par | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 5 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 6 |
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Reviews
Reviewer Photos
Wow what a disappointment
Right now the course is in TERRIBLE condition. The fairways are hard as rock..was like hitting off cement. The greens are in between season, so they had little to no actual grass on them and where also hard as rock....I have played this course all winter and it was in great shape, one of brown's best values. For now I would say don't waste your money and play somewhere else .
Dissapointed
We have played Iland West since it opened. It's not in terrible shape but it's not a $45 course. Many greens have bare spots. The portions of the greens that don't were nice. We will try it again in another year or so.
Greens are horrible
Hard to believe they are charging full price for greens in this condition. Many of the holes were dried mud.
Nice layout with struggling greens.
We annually try to return to this course since the layout is very enjoyable to play. This year the pace of play was great but probably due to the greens, which were as bad as we have every seen them. The starter/cart person was very concerned of our round and thoroughly explained the problems with the greens. We appreciated that and for the price of the round, we weren't extremely upset as probably the others were. We will still return in the coming years.
Enjoyable Course to play
First round of golf for the 2016 season Island West is one of my favourite courses to play during our vacation in Hilton Head. Course conditions were generally good for this early in the season. A couple of greens had suffered from 'winter kill' but new grass was evident.
We plan to play Island West a few more times before returning to Nova Scotia.
Greens were Burnt out
Appears that the Island West Club has issues with the irrigation system and greens are clearly burnt out (like putting on dirt driveway). Only played 9 holes and decided to make a run for it. Very disappointing given the amount paid for the quality received.
Fun Course
I really enjoy this course. It's a fair design for beginners and intermediate players. The fairways are in decent shap for this time of year, but the greens were going through some maintenance today. Pretty much shaved bare on the front nine. Give this place a try. I think you'll enjoy yourself.
Challenging layout
I enjoyed the layout and for the price we paid it is a value. I also enjoyed the greens they seemed to be hit hard by the wet winter but they are coming back. Very playable course.
Not what was expected
The course was in rough shape. After experiencing other Brown Golf Group courses,(Eagle's Pointe and Cresent Point) this one was very disappointing. Not sure if it just didn't weather well this winter, but the greens were blotchy and uneven at best and the fairways patchy. Good layout for beginner or high handicapper.
Woman and high handicappers will enjoy this course
The course is shorter than most in the Hilton Head area. There are challenging holes for the low handicappers hitting from the back tee's, but with the selection of tee blocks, high handicappers will find the course to be friendly. There are a few fescue areas to crossover on the par 4's and 5's and a couple par 3's cross over a pond. other than that, high handicappers can get from tee to green fairly easy with little to no obstructions. The traps are well cared for and the greens were in better shape than most off island courses. The pace of play was amazing as we were able to get around as a twosome in 2 hours 40 minutes. Keep in mind, we did start just before 8:00 am. The 16th hole (I think) was a 613 yard par 5 from the back tee block. Now that is a very challenging par!!
need a map
There was no printed layout of the course on the card or the tee signs. For the first time out, the marsh areas and encroaching water were sometimes hard to see. Need more yardage indicators.
A little wet but playable
A few cart path holes and a couple that probably should have been but weren't! Hard wet traps...some muddy tee boxes... slow greens (long and wet)... Overall, not in the best shape (I have played here at least a dozen times) but still very "playable". Enjoyed the round...
Good Round
The course has a good variety of holes and brings water into play quite often I played it early in the year so it was not in the best of condition. It seemed hard to get the green to hold. However, the greens rolled fairly true. I would play it again.
Good course layout, challenging and good value.
Tee time 9:56. My wife and I found this to be a good challenging layout we enjoyed and completed in just under 4 hours. Only saw three other groups on the course during our round. The greens were in good condition and got better and better as we got deeper into our round. Very nice day and a good value.
Had course to our selves!
Nice layout, challenging and enjoyable. The greens ran true and were in pretty good shape and got better and better deeper into the round. My wife and I enjoyed the round very much. Great value and very nice course. We had a 9:56 tee time and only saw three other groups on the course throughout our round.
fast play econmical
Good for wife and I. Course is not in great shape but greens were true and fast.No attendant don't know if that is usual.
Enjoyed no monatary or time stress.
Fun and challenging course by Fuzzy
An enjoyable, but challenging layout with a good combination of tighter tree lined and open holes. The greens were fast and the fairways gave good lies for February weather. The staff was friendly and attentive. Good value. We will definitely play again soon.
crazy canuck
Most of the courses in the low country needs to try out, they had a lot of rain for February. The course conditions was wet, soggy, muddy etc...your ball is forever plugged and full of mud, greens were rough in certain areas overall they were ok. Very nice layout with great holes, would go back for sure.
Enjoyable round
Excellent playing conditions despite the time of year. Very nice cou she layout. Will play here again.
Course too wet
I have enjoyed playing Island West when it was dry. Current condition is too wet. There has been just too much rain and muddy. The fairway is so wet, the ball sunk in the mud. I would play it again only when it is dry.
Well Crescent and Eagles Pointe have almost caught up to IW which still l eads the pack as terrible courses.