Clubhouse Eats: Sea Pines’ Resort’s shrimp and grits is a winning pairing

Unlike the 2020 PGA Tour season, Carolina shrimping season has been running right on track. It is now hitting its peak, just in time for the RBC Heritage, which kicks off this week at Sea Pines Resort, which was recently honored as one of GOLF’s Top 100 Resorts in North America, on Hilton Head Island. 

Rescheduled from its original date in April, the tournament will play out, as ever, on the best-known of Sea Pines’ three championship layouts: Harbour Town Golf Links, a Pete Dye (with help from Jack Nicklaus) design that most golf fans recognize for the red-and-white striped lighthouse that looms behind 18.

The setting is classic coastal South Carolina. And the cuisine is distinctly local, too. As a showcase of Lowcountry cooking at Sea Pines, it’s hard to do much better than Fraser’s Tavern, a laid-back lunch and dinner spot with two locations at the resort.

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On a menu brightened with Southeastern accents, a must-try dish is shrimp and grits, with sweet, plump shellfish tossed in tasso ham gravy, then bedded on a helping of creamy pan-fried grits. The preparation hews to regional tradition. And local ingredients really make it sing. The shrimp are plucked from nearby waters, and the grits are sourced from Anson Mills, a South Carolina grower of heirloom grains. As a final touch, the kitchen adds a crowning garnish of green onions, so the colors pop along with the flavors. It’s a dish as good on Instagram as it is to eat. 

In a season with no shortage of humps and hurdles, the calendar has finally come together. World-class golf. Shrimp and grits. Sunday promises a winning pairing, no matter who’s leading down the stretch.