Dataw Island Club
Dataw Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina · Beaufort & the Sea Islands golf market
- Access
- mandatory
- Holes
- 36
- Architect(s)
- Tom Fazio, Arthur Hills
- Gated
- Yes
- Golf access
- Bundled
Thinking About Living in Dataw Island Club?
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Dataw Island is an 870-acre gated golf, tennis, and boating community in the Sea Islands near Beaufort, distinguished among this market's clubs by having a genuinely mandatory, clearly documented membership structure -- every property purchaser must join the Club and Owners Association, with the specific fee tier depending on whether the property is improved (home built) or unimproved (homesite only). Two full 18-hole courses anchor the club: Tom Fazio's Cotton Dike, which winds through former cotton-plantation dikes reclaimed from coastal marsh, and Arthur Hills's tighter, more demanding Morgan River course.
Golf & Course
Cotton Dike (Tom Fazio) plays over historic dikes originally built to reclaim marsh for cotton cultivation during the plantation era. Morgan River (Arthur Hills) is narrower and demands greater accuracy, with holes framed by massive oaks and water views of the Morgan River and surrounding savannahs. Golf access is included in the standard Resident membership rather than sold as a separate tier.
Membership & Access
Does buying a home here include club membership?
Club and Owners Association membership is mandatory for all Dataw Island property purchasers; the specific fee depends on whether the property is improved or unimproved. Non-owners can access the club separately via Country Club membership ($15,000 initiation, $253/month dues) or a Dining-only membership ($425/year, no initiation fee); a Renter Membership exists for those renting or living aboard a boat on Dataw for 30+ days.
Living in Dataw Island Club
Dataw Island separates governance into two entities: the Property Owners Association (covenants, common areas, roads, gate/security) and the Dataw Island Club (golf, tennis, pool, dining, social programs) -- though club membership itself remains mandatory for owners. The community offers full-service tennis, pickleball, croquet, indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness center, a grand clubhouse, and a deep-water marina with Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic access.
Lifestyle & Amenities
Dataw blends its plantation-era history (the Cotton Dike course literally follows historic agricultural dikes) with a full modern country-club amenity set -- golf, tennis, boating, and dining -- within a secured gated setting near Beaufort's historic downtown.
Location & Surrounding Area
Located on Dataw Island in the Sea Islands east of Beaufort proper, reached via SC-802, within Beaufort County.
Costs & Fees
Figures below are labeled Current only when the source itself frames them as presently accurate. Everything else is labeled Historical — a source checked today does not make an old fee a current one.
Golf membership initiation
Current$38,000
Improved-property (home already built) owners pay $38,000 at closing. Unimproved (homesite-only) owners pay $16,000 at closing plus an additional $22,000 upon completion/purchase of a home -- see initiation_fee_min/max. A separate, lower Country Club (non-owner) membership tier has its own $15,000 initiation, and a Dining-only tier has no initiation fee at all.
Initiation (range low)
Current$15,000
Country Club (non-property-owner) membership initiation fee.
Initiation (range high)
Current$38,000
Improved-property owner initiation fee (the highest published tier).
Annual dues
Current$5,004
Derived from reported $417/month improved-property dues x 12. Unimproved-property owners instead pay $2,570/year (billed semi-annually); Country Club members pay $253/month (~$3,036/year); Dining-only members pay $425/year flat with no initiation fee.
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What Buyers Should Verify
- Independently verify latitude/longitude -- this session used a geographic estimate, not a confirmed geocode.
- Confirm whether any legacy/grandfathered ownership cohorts exist with different (non-mandatory) membership terms, as seen at Callawassie Island.
Notable
- Membership to the Club and Owners Association is contractually mandatory for every property purchaser -- one of the clearest bundled-residential structures found in this market.
- The Cotton Dike course's routing follows historic dikes originally built during the plantation-era cotton economy.
- A currently dated (2026) fee schedule was found directly on the club's own member portal, giving this record unusually high source confidence for this market.
Nearby Golf Communities Worth Comparing
Considering a Move to Dataw Island Club?
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US Golf Living provides independent real-estate research and can connect consumers with real-estate professionals. Golf membership, availability, fees and approval are determined independently by the applicable club.