Only a few miles from the bridge to Hilton Head Island you’ll find one of the most exclusive golf communities in the country. Bordering the South Carolina Nature Preserve and the pristine Colleton River is a unique community of only 700 single-family homesites on 1,500 spectacular acres.
Colleton River Plantation is a community where property ownership offers not only one of the most exclusive memberships in the country, but a setting and lifestyle that is equally special.
Golf is indeed a major focus at Colleton River Plantation, where two of the country’s top-100-ranked golf courses are located, as well as a nine-hole, Augusta National-style par-3 course.
In 1993, Golf Digest named the Jack Nicklaus Signature course Best New Private Course in America. Two years later it was named one of the 100 Greatest Courses in the United States by Golf Magazine. And its spectacular 30,000 square-foot clubhouse, with its large verandas overlooking the four finishing holes and sunsets over the Colleton River, has also received its share of recognition, named as the Best Private Clubhouse in America by Crittenden Golf, Inc.
Both the course and the clubhouse are now undergoing a renovation. The 12-year-old golf course will reopen this fall after a $4.5-million restoration by Nicklaus and his design firm, which will bring the course back to its original design and world-class condition, according to Jim Story, general manager of the club.
“This is one of Jack’s favorites,” he said. “It’s going to be one of the best you’ll want to play.”
If the award-winning Nicklaus course were not enough, in 1998 legendary golf course designer Pete Dye – who had already left his mark on the Lowcountry through his collaboration with Nicklaus on the Harbour Town Golf Links and his top-ranked Long Cove Course – created a new masterpiece at Colleton River.
Only six months after its completion, the Pete Dye Course was included in the 1999 Golf Magazine Top 100 Golf Courses in the U.S. This recognition gave Colleton River Plantation the unique distinction of being the first and only private golf community in the world with two courses on the same top 100 list. The Dye course sits on perhaps the most spectacular marsh site in the Lowcountry, and film director Robert Redford was so impressed he filmed parts of “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” there.
“The opportunity to play the Nicklaus course in the morning and the Dye course in the afternoon is the stuff of dreams,” said development partner Steve Fuller. “It’s an extraordinary experience that cannot be duplicated at any other private golf community in the world.”
While golf undoubtedly reigns supreme, Colleton River offers much more. For social events, residents have two clubhouses – the Nicklaus Clubhouse, as well as the Dye Clubhouse, set at the edge of Port Royal Sound, bordering one of the country’s most pristine estuaries. The club hosts lots of activities and events for members from wine dinners to cooking classes to its “Discovery” lecture series.
The Tennis and Swim Center offers members a Junior Olympic-sized swimming pool and the Stan Smith-designed tennis center with five Har-Tru tennis courts. In addition, residents enjoy deepwater docks, a marina, biking trails, a fitness center, expansive lakes and sweeping Lowcountry vistas – and the 1,200-acre South Carolina Nature Preserve.
In fact, the entrance to Colleton River takes you through some two miles of the nature preserve, giving a preview of what is to come.
“We refer to it as a ‘decompression chamber,’” said Fuller. “It’s a beautiful drive.”
Once you reach the neighborhood that is Colleton, you’ll find one of the lowest housing densities in the area (approximately one homesite for every two acres), as well as a choice of locations and views that include golf, woods, lagoon or waterfront settings with private docks.
A “cottage” community is also part of the plantation, reminiscent of the slate roofed cottages at Augusta National.
Membership in Colleton River is acquired only through property ownership, and of course, this lifestyle comes with a price. Homesites begin at $250,000, with most of the homes topping the $1 million price tag. The annual fee includes club dues, property owner fees, security and common area maintenance.
“We feel Colleton River is the best private golf community in the area,” said Fuller. “It’s an unmatched quality of golf, quality of membership and overall ambience – and an unparalleled piece of land. Nothing else comes close.
