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 |
Course Details
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Reviews
Reviewer Photos
Good bang for the buck.
The course has a variety of holes that require shot placement and some holes that require distance and some that require both.
Greens ran true with consistent speed. Overall a bargain considering how courses on HHI have jacked up their prices.
Very poor conditions
The staff was so nice and accommodating, but the course was in terrible condition. There was almost no grass on the fairways and the greens were in bad shape. Acknowledging that it had rained the previous day and perhaps that was why the rough was so muddy and water was in the bunkers, it still was in worse condition than other off island courses.
Moist Conditions
Cart path only but that’s what you get when it rains all day the day before. Staff was super helpful giving me the hole by hole directions where to hit it. First one of the day to tee off so pace of play was excellent. Even with all the rain on the previous day, the course was still firm in some areas. Can’t say how the bunkers are. First time in a long time I didn’t hit one in a round but they all looked very well maintained. Greens rolled true, not many blemishes. Would go back and play. Really enjoyed the sister par 3s with a “shared” green.
Challenging
My impression is the front is tighter than the back. Not good for my game (lol). Overall course is nice, tee boxes are very sad, fairways are fair to good, greens are good and roll very well, rough is, well, rough and bunkers are okay but a bit firm under the first layer of sand. Pace was good, 4 hour round, and staff was very helpful. Would love to play again and try to tame the front.
Cart path only
Course was wet so cart path only. Because of that we had the whole course to ourselves and finished 18 in 3 hours and change.
We are senior golfers and started on the white tees. I would recommend playing the grays at about 5500 yards as that provides a much more enjoyable, yet challenging round.
I think they’re trying to improve the course so I would play again in normal dry conditions.
Poor condition but they are working on it.
It is obvious that they are working on the course, we saw staff sanding and repairing greens so what we experienced may not be fair to the course. However, sand traps were rock hard, my wedge bounced off the hard base.and greens were in a poor condition with bare spots and patched repairs .
There are several very tight holes on the course and when the grass is back to summer conditions, it could be a challenging pleasure to play.