Dataw Island Club

Cotton Dike occupies the southern portion of Dataw Island, a private residential community situated between the Broad River and the inland waterways near Beaufort in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Tom Fazio designed the course in the early 1990s as part of the island's development, working with the region's characteristic maritime forest, tidal marshes, and flat coastal terrain. The layout takes its name from the historic agricultural dikes that once controlled water flow for the island's cotton and indigo plantations during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Fazio's routing incorporates these remnants of the island's plantation past, with several holes playing along or across the old earthen dikes and through corridors of live oaks draped in Spanish moss. The course features relatively modest elevation changes typical of barrier island golf, relying instead on strategic bunkering, water hazards fed by tidal creeks, and prevailing coastal winds for defense. The front nine moves through interior woodlands, while the back nine opens to broader marsh views and more exposed conditions near the water. Cotton Dike serves as one of two courses at Dataw Island Club, the other being Arthur Hills's Morgan River layout. The club operates as an equity membership community, drawing primarily from retirees and seasonal residents attracted to the Lowcountry's temperate climate and coastal setting. The course reflects Fazio's approach to resort and residential design from this period, emphasizing playability across skill levels while preserving the natural character of the Lowcountry landscape.