Dunes West is the golf club of a gated community on the north side of Mount Pleasant, where Wagner Creek runs out into the Wando River. Golfbreaks lists it as semi-private: the club sells resident and non-resident memberships, yet the Book a Tee Time button on its home page opens an online tee sheet for everyone else. The club bills itself as Charleston’s favourite 18-hole course. The reasons to make the drive are an Arthur Hills layout that keeps coming back to open marsh, an antebellum-style clubhouse at the end of an oak avenue, and a last green that the creek cuts in two.
Dunes West Golf Club green fees and tee times.
Public tee times go through the club’s online booking engine, linked from the top of the club’s website, and the pro shop takes calls on 843-856-9000. No rate card is published on the site, so the green fee for your date shows in the booking engine or comes from the shop. The website sets no handicap limit and no visitor-only window. The course sits behind a guard gate inside the Dunes West community: turn off Dunes West Boulevard at the third left, check in at the gate, then drive straight on for about a mile to the clubhouse. Group outings and tournaments are arranged with the club rather than through the public tee sheet.
The round, in perspective.
Arthur Hills designed the course, a par 72 that the club lists at 6,871 yards; Golfbreaks dates its opening to 1991. The club’s own course notes describe the first holes as having wide landing areas, with the rolling contours and bunkering typical of Hills, while the back nine turns towards the marsh and the water views open up. The finish is the part people remember. The 18th ends on a dual green split by the marshes of Wagner Creek, so the approach is played across tidal grass to one of two putting surfaces, with the clubhouse watching from the bank above. Golf Magazine and Golf Digest have both named Dunes West among their top ten resort courses, a line the club still quotes. Despite the name, there are no dunes: think live oaks, spartina and creek edges rather than sand hills.
Know before you go.
Pace of play
4:15 target for the round, riding or walking
Format
Ready golf; record scores on the next tee
Tees
Choose the set that matches your experience
Access
Gated community; check in at the guard gate
Practice
Driving range and pro shop
Make the trip work.
Dunes West runs a 4:15 time par and holds walkers and riders to the same target. The club asks for ready golf, which means hitting in the order of who is ready rather than who is away, and for scores to be written at the next tee instead of on the green. If you want a tune-up, it offers private and group lessons and clinics. The clubhouse kitchen covers breakfast and lunch, with a Thursday dinner and a Sunday brunch. The racquet club, athletic club and boat storage belong to the wider community.
From Charleston International, take I-526 east for 13 miles to exit 29B, follow Clements Ferry Road for 4.5 miles, merge onto Highway 41 for about 3 miles and turn left onto Dunes West Boulevard. The gate and clubhouse add roughly 2 miles, so allow about 22 miles. From downtown, cross the Ravenel Bridge on US 17 north, then take Highway 41 for 2.9 miles.
Dunes West has no accommodation of its own. Golfbreaks bases its Dunes West trips at the Francis Marion Hotel on Marion Square in downtown Charleston, and says several Lowcountry courses lie within 30 minutes of it. To be closer to the first tee, look at the hotels along US 17 in Mount Pleasant, near the seafood restaurants of Shem Creek. Wild Dunes Resort on the Isle of Palms, also on the Golfbreaks list, rents condos, townhouses and homes beside its own 36 holes.
Make a trip of it.
RiverTowne Country Club, an Arnold Palmer Signature course, is also reached from Highway 41, so you can play both from the same Mount Pleasant hotel on consecutive days. Charleston National is another Mount Pleasant option, and the Links Course at Wild Dunes brings the Atlantic into the round on the Isle of Palms. The Ocean Course on Kiawah Island lies south of the city and needs a day of its own. Off the course, Boone Hall Plantation sits on Long Point Road, and the USS Yorktown is moored at Patriots Point.
Find your season.
March to May and late September to November are the most comfortable months for Lowcountry golf. July and August bring heat, humidity and afternoon thunderstorms, so take the earliest tee times you can get. Mild winter days are common, and the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to the end of November.
Yes. Dunes West sells memberships but also takes public tee times through the online booking engine on its website. The course is inside a gated community, so expect to stop at the guard gate before the last mile to the clubhouse.
Who designed Dunes West?
Arthur Hills, the Ohio architect whose work spans hundreds of American public and resort courses. Here he laid out a par 72 of 6,871 yards beside the Wando River and Wagner Creek. Golfbreaks gives 1991 as the opening year.
How much are green fees at Dunes West?
The website carries no rate table. The price for each date and start time appears in the online booking engine, or the pro shop on 843-856-9000 can quote it before you commit to a time.
Last checked 11 November 2026. This is an independent planning guide, not a first-hand review or a booking service. Check live availability, access, fees and travel details with the operator before booking. Airport suggestions are starting points for route planning.
