Ah. Hilton Head in early December. The crowds were down, the temps were up in the 80's, and I was...where else?... playing golf. Heaven on Earth? You bet! An early Christmas for sure in '98 -- 12 glorious, unseasonably warm days on some of the finest golf courses in the Carolina low country.

South Carolina is the "Palmetto State." But here on this environmentally progressive resort island that delightful palm shares the spotlight with the live oak. Draped in necklaces of Spanish Moss, the oak presides over the island's lush interior, a symbol of continuity and tradition, twin hallmarks of the deep South.

Once harvested to dangerously low numbers by a once strong island timber industry, the oak now thrives limb to limb with the pines, providing a dense green canopy over the island whose tidal marshes, serpentine rivers and inlets, and stunning seascapes also captivate the imagination.

Because these bounteous natural elements are so central to Hilton Head's charm, golfers are well advised not to keep their heads down too long, or they will miss an important part of what the sport is all about.

Civic leaders and island planners, led by Augusta, Ga., attorney Charles Fraser, who developed Sea Pines Plantation in the ?60s, had the good sense to protect this rich natural heritage and to keep Hilton Head from going the way of other resort destinations. For example, the minimal number of road signs fit tastefully into the environment. And the homes and business sites look as if they grew in place just under the pines and oaks.

The new home market has all but given way to the resale market on the island, which has been 95% developed. New development has spread to the 278 and 170 corridors on the mainland. As more and more people discover the area's desirability, real estate will likely remain bullish in the foreseeable future.

As for golf, my early "12 Days of Christmas" in the Hilton Head area began with a weekend of socializing and spirited co-ed team golf sponsored by the American Singles Golf Association, which is based in Charlotte, N.C. Our convivial party of 180 men and women, ages 31 - 70, stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Palmetto Dunes, a fine resort with three excellent golf courses. Our scrambles and closest-to-the-pin contests were held at Port Royal, a Westin resort with three courses that are especially suited for resort and vacation play.

Port Royal has one clubhouse and staging area, making it a logistically sensible place to hold a shotgun event of so many people. Each morning, our caravan of golf carts, resembling a kind of motorized armored division, headed out to our respective starting holes on two of Port Royal's three courses, Planters Row and Barony. Planters Row, as the name suggests, is a parkland course whose holes weave back and forth like a shuttle cock, while the Barony features a greater variety of holes, some of which offer peace-instilling marsh vistas.

On Monday following the weekend, a dozen of the group played the Country Club of Hilton Head, a semi-private club within the gates of the Hilton Head Plantation, which lies off Rt. 278 near the bridge linking the island to the mainland. CCHH, designed by Rees Jones, is one of the best layouts in the area. Set amidst tall pines, oaks and cypress on the front nine, the course opens up a bit on the back, which features a fabulous dogleg par-5 of 545 yards that winds up hill and down dale to a green bordering a tidal marsh. There are 13 doglegs on this very challenging but fair test, and Jones has made excellent use of trees, water, marsh and bunkers on a course I think is without a weak hole.

Six-figure homes dot the course but are well set back, a common feature of all of Hilton Head's golf/residential communities, including Palmetto Hall Plantation.

Near CCHH and within a 3-wood of the airport, Palmetto Hall is also a semi-private club, which boasts two good layouts by Arthur Hills and Robert Cupp. Originally designed on computer, the Cupp course has a slope of 144 from the back but is much more manageable from the forward tees. Preferred by some club members to the Hills course, Cupp's layout features geometrically shaped bunkers, greens, and berms, with one fairway looking like the folds of a large green blanket. Even the cart path is laid out in straight lines and angles.

For all these design quirks, I still found the course to be an honest test of golf. Given a choice, however, I would prefer the Hills course. With the exception of the 18th, a monster 445-yard dogleg left with a lake on the left (a la Pete Dye), the Hills track is slightly easier and a bit more visually appealing, though that is strictly subjective.

Early December was a great time to play Harbour Town, the island's marquee course and one of the best anywhere. (The locals will tell you Long Cove, a private course also designed by Pete Dye, is the best on the island but gaining access is like trying to infiltrate Fort Knox.) Harbour Town's fees were down a tad and the course was far less crowded than during the warmer months when a round of golf can typically take 5 hours or more.