One of the more interesting golf course openings of 2024 has been Crossroads at the private Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina. It’s fitting that it was designed by one of golf’s more interesting firms, King-Collins Golf Course Design.
Tad King and Rob Collins are the architects – and now co-owners – of the nine-hole Sweetens Cove, which for the better part of a decade has been the No. 1 ranked public-access layout in Tennessee. They also designed Landmand, which in two years has shot up to become the No. 1 public-access course in Nebraska. Their resume of courses continues to grow, including the new Red Feather in Texas.
At Crossroads, they went back to their nine-hole roots. Situated on 54 acres of rolling dunes alongside an extensive inland waterway, the layout features a mix of par 3s, 4s and 5s integrated into a reversible layout. Playing it in one direction sports the name The Hammer, and the other direction is called The Press as the course crisscrosses itself. Like Sweetens Cove, the layout was built with match play in mind and is a great venue for cross-country golf in which players pick their own holes, should they choose.
Crossroads opened in January of 2024, the second course at Palmetto Bluff following the Jack Nicklaus-designed May River course that opened in 2005. In keeping with a low-key vibe, Crossroads features a pro shop in an Airstream trailer and a food truck on site, plus a 34,000-square-foot Himalayas-style putting green near the first tee. The course is accessible by electric boat or kayak. The course plays anywhere from 1,000 yards to 3,100.
The Crossroads is mostly private, but there are a limited number of tee times available to guests of the onsite and upscale hotel at Montage Palmetto Bluff.
Check out a selection of the latest photos of Crossroads below.
