New course offers low-profile distinction in South Carolina Lowcountry

• Anson Point is a new private golf course in Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.
• Unlike many new courses, Anson Point was built without any surrounding homes, creating a tranquil, core golf experience.
• The course is noted for its subtle, traditional Lowcountry design that makes it feel as if it has been there for decades.

BLUFFTON, S.C. – Anson Point, the latest design to open by the architectural team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, is a welcomed change of pace in today’s market of high-profile course introductions. Its subtlety and Lowcountry charms offer a sense that the course has been there for decades.

Those sensations run contrary to most recent course openings in the Southeast. The past 10 years have seen a huge boom in high-profile private golf in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. In Florida we have seen Panther National, Apogee, High Grove, Soleta, the soon-to-open Miakka and a host of other developments. Georgia has welcomed Ohoopee Match Club and Fall Line. South Carolina has had The Tree Farm, Old Barnwell, Broomsedge, 21 Club and more come online. These offerings are all welcome additions to the golf scene, and they all feel big, bold and new. 

Where those courses zig, Anson Point zags. The private course is located near the southern tip of Palmetto Bluff, a 20,000-acre waterfront development with three golf courses, a marina, two village centers, a Montage hotel and a wide selection of nature activities. The course plays inland through mostly pines and oaks before offering marshland views from multiple holes on the back nine. 

Opened early this year, Anson Point wasn’t ready in time to qualify for the various 2026 course rankings within this magazine, but it’s easy to anticipate the layout landing coveted spots on the lists as enough raters play it. Palmetto Bluff’s two other courses are the Jack Nicklaus-designed May River, which opened in 2004, and the non-traditional, nine-hole Crossroads by Tad King and Rob Collins, which opened in 2024 and offers a reversible layout. 

Unlike many courses within such large developments, including May River, Anson Point is void of surrounding homes. This adds greatly to the tranquility of the experience. Hats off to South Street Partners and Henderson Park, owners of Palmetto Bluff, for taking such an approach on their newest course.

“The scale and conservation ethos of Palmetto Bluff provided South Street with a unique opportunity to site Anson Point on 500 dedicated acres within which Coore and Crenshaw could design a ‘core golf course’ without any single-family homes fronting the course,” said Chris Randolph, managing partner at South Street Partners. “While direct golf frontage real estate has historically driven premium pricing that developers seek when justifying the cost of golf course and clubhouse construction, South Street believes proximity to a world-class golf experience alone should drive even higher premiums across the entirety of the community.”

This approach, which has been the model at several new courses but not all, works well for both golf and homeowners. Residents receive easy access and increased home values with the close affiliation to the course, yet they are not bothered by mowers early in the morning or golfers in their backyards. Most important, the homes don’t impact the golf.

In an era of frequently wide-open golf, Anson differs from many other new developments in that most internal holes — those away from Savannah River’s marsh with its long views toward Georgia — are framed by trees so that the longest view across the course is about 500 yards. This provides an intimate feel that showcases the subtle features incorporated by Coore and Crenshaw. 

Coore spent ample time at Anson Point discovering a routing that takes golfers through the woods and out to the marsh on multiple occasions. Coore and Crenshaw associate Ryan Farrow was the on-site lead and handled much of the shaping. The green-to-tee walks are short, the fairways and greens hug the ground, the bunkering is sparse, and areas between the fairways and the woods vary based on what was there at the outset of the project. The design embraces all the features that were available, starting at No. 1.

“There was a really special little quarry area with exposed sand and mossy edges, and we sited No. 1 green right there and used that feature as our guiding light for how to best showcase the land,” Coore said. “That and the beautiful trees and marsh edges.” 

There is a mixture of holes, long and short with doglegs left and right. A pair of three-hole stretches on each nine showcase the best of Anson Point. 

The par-5 seventh starts wide and gently narrows all the way to the green – players have choices off the tee, on the second shot and all around the green. The long par-4 eighth looks straight in planning, but on the ground players should favor moving the ball left to right. The tiny par-3 ninth plays across a low sandy area to a green set on a diagonal from front-left to back-right. 

On the back nine, the par-4 15th is drivable for many players, with a small bunker that looks greenside but is well short and must be avoided. The par-5 16th moves from right to left and is reachable for long hitters, but the hole location dictates how to attack. The long par-3 17th plays toward the marsh, starting in a narrow shoot before the hole opens up to a green with a strong flash at the back edge, all with views of Savannah some 10 miles across the water. 

These are all the types of holes that would play differently day to day, and a member would learn the subtle nuances and strategies in time. If it were a resort course, Anson Point might feel a bit underwhelming, as it lacks elevation change, multiple water features and expansive bunkering. But as a member’s course, it is a shining example of the long-term relationship one would seek out. 

“We worked hard to uncover and incorporate little details throughout, and I believe it is a golf course that will reveal itself over time,” Coore said. “I imagine members will like and appreciate it even more after years of play.”

At a time when golf development in the Southeast is booming, it is nice to see that a low-profile layout is still welcome in Lowcountry. Gwk

– Jay Blasi is a golf course architect based in California who writes occasional stories for Golfweek and hosts groups of Golfweek’s Best course raters around the world.