With four championship courses in one destination, choosing where to play at Barefoot Resort isn’t always easy. The Love, Dye, Fazio, and Norman courses each offer a distinct experience, with different layouts, challenges, and styles of play.
If you’re comparing the Barefoot Resort courses, this guide breaks down what makes each one unique and can help you find the best fit for the kind of round you want to play.
What makes Barefoot Resort’s four golf courses different?
The biggest difference comes from the distinct design approaches behind each layout. Each course has its own features, playing characteristics, and overall feel, giving golfers four different experiences within the same resort.
The Love Course combines a traditional Lowcountry setting with wide fairways and memorable visual features. The Dye Course puts more emphasis on hazards, course management, and strategic decisions. Fazio blends the course closely with the natural landscape, while Norman brings a distinctive desert-inspired look to the Carolina coast.
That variety makes it possible to experience several styles of golf without leaving the resort.
What can you expect from the four Barefoot Resort courses?
Barefoot Resort Love Course
Designed by Davis Love III, the Love Course has a traditional Lowcountry character, with several features that give the layout a strong sense of place. Recreated ruins of an old Southern plantation home appear along holes 3 through 7, adding visual interest as you make your way through the course.
The layout offers five sets of tees, ranging from 5,336 to 7,047 yards, so golfers can choose a distance that suits their game. Wide fairways provide generous landing areas, while bunkering and risk-and-reward opportunities add plenty of strategic interest.
The fourth hole is one of the course’s most memorable. This short par 4 features an elevated, well-bunkered green surrounded by replica ruins, creating a memorable setting and an interesting strategic challenge.
Barefoot Resort Dye Club
White sands, native grasses, and rolling waste bunkers shape much of the Dye Course, giving it a distinctive Carolina Bay setting. Designed by Pete Dye, the layout also features wide fairways with generous landing areas, along with water hazards and small, undulating greens.
The course stretches to 7,343 yards from the Tournament tees and offers five sets of tees ranging from 5,021 to 7,343 yards. Its combination of waste bunkers, water hazards, and changing green contours creates strategic challenges throughout the round.
The 18th hole provides a fitting finish. This 415-yard par 4 doglegs left, with water running along the left side and both a pot bunker and water guarding the green.
Barefoot Resort Fazio Course
Live oaks, Carolina pines, natural areas, and lakes create the backdrop for the Fazio Course. Tom Fazio designed the layout around the natural Lowcountry landscape, with elevation changes, native grasses, waste areas, and strategically placed bunkers adding variety along the way.
Five sets of tees range from 4,820 to 6,834 yards, with wide fairways and Champion UltraDwarf Bermuda greens forming the main playing surfaces. The routing also has an unusual feature: the course doesn’t return to the clubhouse after the ninth hole, giving it a more European-style layout.
The sixth hole is a downhill par 3 that plays over a pond toward a green protected by three bunkers. It’s a good example of how the course uses natural features to create both scenery and challenge.
Barefoot Resort Norman Course
Designed by Greg Norman, the Norman Course brings the look and feel of a Southwestern desert course into a natural Lowcountry setting. Seven holes run alongside the Intracoastal Waterway, while wetlands, native rough, and the surrounding landscape frame the course.
Fairways flow into sandy waste areas, creating open green complexes and giving the course a different look from a typical coastal layout. Small MacKenzie-style bunkers and gently undulating greens add definition, while Norman’s use of bump-and-run opportunities gives golfers more options around the greens.
The 10th hole is the signature par 3, playing 203 yards downhill from the Platinum tees. Bunkers protect the green, with the Intracoastal Waterway providing a memorable backdrop.
What should you consider when choosing a Barefoot Resort course?
Your decision doesn’t have to come down to course reputation alone. A few practical factors can help you narrow down your options before booking:
- Consider your skill level: A demanding layout can be a fun test for an experienced golfer but may be less enjoyable for someone who’s still developing their game.
- Think about the type of challenge you enjoy: Some golfers like testing their shot-making and course management, while others prefer a more relaxed round where they can enjoy the setting and time with friends.
- Consider your group: If everyone plays at a similar level, finding the right course may be fairly straightforward. Mixed-ability groups may benefit from a course with several tee options.
- Think about your overall itinerary: If you’re playing several rounds, consider trying more than one of Barefoot Resort’s four courses. If you have just one round, choose the course that best fits what you’re looking for.
Which Barefoot Resort course is right for you?
If you’re deciding which Barefoot Resort course to play, the best choice depends on the kind of round you want.
- Choose Love if you want a more approachable course with broad appeal and memorable Lowcountry character.
- Choose Dye if you want the toughest strategic challenge and enjoy navigating hazards.
- Choose Fazio if scenery and a balanced playing experience are high priorities.
- Choose Norman if you like creative shot-making and a course that looks and plays differently from a traditional coastal layout.
Beginners and higher-handicap golfers may feel most comfortable starting with Love, while experienced players looking for a stronger test may gravitate toward Dye. Fazio and Norman fall somewhere in between, depending on the style of golf you enjoy most.
Why play more than one Barefoot Resort course?
You don’t have to limit your trip to just one layout. Barefoot Resort’s four championship courses give you the chance to experience different designers, course characteristics, and levels of challenge during the same golf getaway.
Playing multiple courses can be especially useful for groups with different preferences. One golfer might enjoy the challenge of Dye, while another may prefer Fazio’s scenery or Love’s more approachable character.
A multi-course itinerary lets you experience more of what makes Barefoot Resort such a popular golf destination, and keeps each round feeling a little different from the last.
Plan your Barefoot Resort golf trip
Once you’ve decided which courses you want to play, you can start putting the rest of your trip together. Tee times, accommodations, the number of rounds, and your group’s schedule all need to line up for a smooth golf getaway.
At Coastal Golfaway, we offer Barefoot Resort golf packages that make it easier to coordinate your accommodations, tee times, and golf itinerary in one place. We can help you choose the right courses and trip details for your group and plan a Barefoot Resort golf getaway that works for everyone.
Frequently asked questions
Which Barefoot Resort course is the easiest?
The Love Course is generally considered the most approachable of the four layouts and offers several tee options for different playing abilities.
What are the four courses at Barefoot Resort?
The four courses are the Love Course, Dye Course, Fazio Course, and Norman Course. Each was designed by a different renowned golf course architect.
Which Barefoot Resort course is best for beginners?
The Love Course can be a good choice for beginners and higher-handicap golfers who want an approachable round with flexible tee options.
How do I choose which Barefoot Resort course to play?
Consider your skill level, preferred level of challenge, group preferences, and the type of golf experience you want from your trip.
Which Barefoot Resort course is the hardest?
The Dye Course is generally regarded as the most challenging of the four Barefoot layouts, with strategic hazards, waste bunkers, water, and undulating greens.