Dunes West Golf Club

I had not played Dunes West in several years. The last time I did, I remember thinking the greens were not in good shape. However, I booked a. round there Sunday, and I was VERY pleased with the round. The course was in great shape. The fairways and tees were nicely overseeded and the rye was bright green and full. The greens were in great shape. Smooth and rolled at a good pace. The layout is really good. Alot of room off the tee on most holes, not alot of room around the greens. There are several holes with doglegs one way or another. There is some water in play, but not a ton of forced carries, and they are pretty manageable. Two groups in front of us there was a man teaching a woman how to play the game. I mean they were getting out alignment sticks, and swaying their hips back and forth and everything. On hole 5 they allowed the 4 some in front of us to play through. (A 2 some had to let a 4 some through). So we stood on the tee box forever. However, to the credit of this club, a ranger came along and told the man they couldnt be doing that and they needed to move along. The pace was fine after that. All in all its worth a play right now. I will say the rack rate is a little high at $109, but, not alot different than any other course around.

Let me first start off by saying the grounds are very very good. All of the holes were well manicured, the greens rolled consistent and true, bunkers were in great shape with eye popping white sand, and the tee boxes all seemed so be well taken care of. I thought the bunker placement on this course was very soothing to the eye often times framing the exact perfect shot. Every pole had a very gentle, rolling terrain and the holes with a lot of water were very reminiscent of Florida golf. Even though I got rained out after nine holes I was extremely impressed with the course and the layout I will look forward to being back to play the back nine.

Operations were a different story I showed up, expecting to walk, however, was told in the pro shop that walking was only for members. Since I’ve ran into this policy at numerous other courses, I was not surprised, except for the fact that on the website, it is stated that whether you are walking or riding pace of play, should be at four hours and 10 minutes. That’s confusing message led me to believe that walking was allowed at this course.
This confusing message led me to believe that walking was allowed at this course. When I rolled up to the starter, he explained to me that everything was on time, and that we would be out at the time we scheduled. However, as I was minding my own business on the driving range, I overheard the starter talking with another gentleman on the range that did not have a tee time. The starter then squeeze them into a small gap between other teetimes, thus making our starting time delayed by at least 10 minutes. Overall, none of the people I came in contact with had bad customer service or negative attitudes. However I find it disrespectful to mine and everyone else’s time to accommodate a few players who weren’t on the tee sheet to begin with, especially considering it was before 10:00 on a Sunday. And one last issue I took was with the carts. Even though all staff knew we had a full foursome, they allowed us to drive all the way up to the Teebox with three carts. It would have been nice to consolidate us before we are about to tee off.
Overall, I did have a good experience, and I did enjoy the people I was playing with, however, I just wish the operations of the course would have been a little more considerate.

I cannot speak for the previous reviews, but my morning at Dunes West was wonderful! I was paired up with a local member and a couple others. All were very friendly and welcoming (along with all staff) and the layout and conditions were great. Pace of play was just a little slow at 4:10 but not unreasonable. I do not understand the negative reviews, I would play here again in a heartbeat.

If this was a $20 muni, a fivesome could almost be tolerated. But this course boasts about pace of play. Everything about the place was fine, not exceptional, but fine. Then you pull up to the first tee, as a twosome, and find five players in front of you. And they stay right in front of you for seven holes. Only when the group in front of them got two holes ahead did the finally let us play through. This place is a joke.

never coming back. hope our $150 was worth the disgusting customer service. booked tee time, called day before to ensure use of Charleston Golf Passbook coupon. arrived and rude "manager" in red shirt denied our coupon use, despite 1 day earlier staff acknowledging we were using the coupon on our reservation. plenty of courses to play in town, take your business elsewhere.

Dunes West is a very nice course. Even though they are on temporary greens, while the real greens are being replaced, they have done a fantastic job keeping the course in great playing condition. You aren’t going to get much practice putting but working out your irons and chip shots are going to be fun. I’ve played twice in the past week and look forward to playing some more throughout the summer. Pace was kind of slow but I really don’t mind as long as the group behind slows down as well, nobody like being pushed into the next group.

Played nine holes in league play. Price is right, and now costs less as greens are being renewed and temp greens installed. Course usually is a favorite and not overly long or difficult. Good amenities and friendly staff.

The layout, Course conditions, staff, were all decent. Nothing to beam over, but not bad either. I enjoyed it enough to suggest it to others but not enough to be impressed either.

Not the tightest course and has wide fairways, but a good layout lots of fun with some really well thought out holes

I'll tell you, I was looking forward to playing this course for a while, so I was pretty disappointed when I was told the greens had just been aerated. As a golfer that's something you prepare for in the summer in the South, so I sucked it up.
Besides, they gave an "aeration special" for $39.50 which sounded like a steal.
That feeling didn't last long once I realized the greens hadn't been aerated, they were dead. I don't mean dormant, I mean lost. Very little grass on most greens and none on some others. What a shame. The course layout was really nice. Not top shelf, but much better than average. And the condition of the fairways and tee boxes was great. On the bright side, I got paired up with some locals who were lots of fun and great to play with. It was nice having someone give you inside info on the various holes.
This course wasn't overly difficult, although there were some hazards that could jump up and bite you if you lost focus. Dunes West isn't quite as scenic as its neighbor RiverTowne, but it's certainly worth a visit if you're looking for a solid course in the Charleston area. Some forgettable holes, but overall good setup. Definitely call ahead and get the status of the greens before you head up there.

Website: www.duneswestgolfclub.com

I played the Dunes West Golf and River Club outside of Charleston, South Carolina, on 12/3/15 while driving from Clearwater to Myrtle Beach. The par 72 semi-private course is located in a housing community a few miles northeast of Charleston off Routes 41 and 17 east of Charleston. The course was relatively easy to find.

The course is advertised as an Arthur Hills design. I had initially planned on playing somewhere closer to Myrtle Beach, but while staying in Charleston found a discount card in the hotel lobby for Dunes West and researched the course on the internet.

On the day I played, there had been a lot of rain the day before and carts were restricted to cart paths. Some of the holes were quite wide and resulted in very long walks from the cart path because of course we don’t always hit the ball where we aim it.

I played the Gold tees which is one of four sets of tees available. The Gold tees play to 6,508 yards with a rating of 70.9 and slope of 127. The various tees play from 6,859 yards for the Black tees to the Red tees of 5,129 yards with a rating of 69.6 and slope of 120.

The design is the centerpiece of an upscale riverside community. The course had wide fairways and seemed to be playable for players of all abilities if they play the right set of tee boxes. The website offers a flyover of the holes.

The course looked to be very walkable and I did see what I assume were members walking the course.

I had my Sky Caddie which of course helped when playing an unfamiliar course. Most of the holes were different from each other and presented some unique challenges because some of the greens were well-guarded by water. I took pictures of a few holes. Because the many of the holes had wide landing areas, I felt comfortable trying to cut loose off some of the tees.

The course has par four finishing holes on the 9th and 18th holes with a forced carry on #9 and the long 18th running alongside the river. Both holes were very nice and picturesque finishing holes. From the 18th tee, you see the beautiful clubhouse just to the right rear of the 18th green.

Service

I called the course the day I played and was encouraged to come up and play. Everybody was very friendly and encouraged coming back. Due to heavier traffic, and the fact that the course was farther from where I was staying than I realized, I was late for my tee time, but that was no problem.

There was drinking water on four holes. I did notice two bathroom facilities on the 5th, 7th, and 13th holes. There are a lot of houses around the course, but they are set well back of the playing area. There was a girl driving a beverage cart and I saw her on three different occasions.

I was taken by surprise when I was putting on the 18th green and someone got into my cart, and moved it closer to the green. It startled me in the middle of the putt because I thought someone was taking my clubs, but he was cleaning my clubs when I walked over to the cart.

Overall Condition

The course was in very good condition throughout all eighteen holes. All of the fairways and roughs were in very good shape, and the conditioning was what one would expect of an upscale community. The greens had undulations were fairly quick, but held shots well. All greens seemed to putt true.

Clubhouse/Amenities

This course has a restaurant in the clubhouse and advertises itself as an upscale venue for weddings and other types of social events. I didn’t get to utilize any of the practice facilities due to time constraints, but there was a nice driving range and practice green area there.

Value

I played the course at 11:30 AM at a rate of $48 plus tax with the 20% discount coupon from the hotel. I forgot to ask if they had a senior rate.

In summation, I was very glad that I decided to play Dunes West instead of one of the courses up near the Myrtle Beach/Pawleys Island area. I have played many courses in the Myrtle Beach area over the years but none in the Charleston area, and Dunes West was a really nice surprise.

greens consistent not quick. Bunkers w sand and raked. Tee boxes great. Fairways good. Good solid layout no pushover. I love this place, great QPR. Good customer service. Good food and beverage. Cannot go wrong at Dunes West, been playing here for years. Solid B public option.

Reasonably priced. Pace was good. Conditions were great considering the heat.

The Good: Upscale public facility just east of Charleston is built within a large housing community. Interesting course design has an "Augusta" feel with large trees and pine straw areas. Strong Par 5's and nice variety in Par 4's. Very good course conditions and large, undulating greens that putt pretty true. Excellent "old-style" clubhouse with full restaurant and bar, nice on-course restroom areas, and good service. Strong practice area includes excellent driving range and good short area. Decent value at under $100 during peak season.

The Bad: The Par 3's are moderately lackluster compared to the rest of the course. Lack of GPS is a negative. Off-season and twilight rates aren't much lower than peak rates.

The Verdict: Dunes West is one of the best public courses in the Charleston area. Good course for all skill levels and a country club feel, especially the "Masters" style entrance.

Best Hole: The short Par 5 #4 requires a hook around trees and an approach to a long green guarded by a pond left and bunkers right.

Golf course was in great shape. Clubhouse staff friendly, as was the starter , and other members of the course that we met while playing. The greens were narrow some smallish while others were good size,they rolled nicely. For the most part fairly roomy, will play again.