Opened in 1998, the Reserve Golf Club completely embraces its surrounding environment.

The 350-acre Greg Norman design includes 160 acres of natural wetlands and borders protected conservation areas and takes pains to fit seamlessly into nature. Those efforts have been rewarded. In 2014, the South Carolina Golf Panel ranked the course No. 5 on the Grand Strand and No. 25 in the state.

Norman has said of the course’s wildlife-and-wetlands-centered design: “I like to work with nature, not against it, using the site’s intrinsic features to determine what goes where.”

The layout opens with a bang, in the form of the 541-yard, par-5 first hole, one of four par-5s. The par-5 finishing hole stretches 578 yards, a distance second only to the 585-yard fourth hole.

The longest of the four par-3s (No. 7) measures 186 yards from the back tees. The Reserve also features one of the Grand Strand’s largest driving ranges, complete with elevated target greens and sand bunkers, and a 16,000-square-foot putting green.

Said Norman of his design: “My ultimate goal at The Reserve wasn’t to create an extremely difficult course, just one that’s very challenging. So, while you won’t have to hit straight every hole, you’re always going to have to think straight.”