The Cliffs and Palmetto Bluff have the same owner, South Street Partners, and almost nothing else in common. The Cliffs is seven separate private club communities spread across Lake Keowee, the mountains around Greenville and the hills near Asheville, with seven golf courses under one Full Golf membership. Palmetto Bluff is one property of about 20,000 acres in Bluffton, with 32 miles of May River frontage, walkable villages, a Jack Nicklaus course and a Montage resort on site. Choose The Cliffs for four seasons, lake and mountain variety, and Greenville as your nearby city. Choose Palmetto Bluff for tidal water, a single village and Lowcountry weather year round, along with its heat, humidity and hurricane exposure. Neither is the better club. They suit different people.
Who This Is For (and Who It's Not)
Ideal for
- The Cliffs: golfers who want variety, buyers who want real seasons, lake people, and households who want Greenville's airport, hospitals and downtown nearby.
- Palmetto Bluff: buyers who want to walk to dinner, boaters who want tidal water and a route to the ocean, and people who like having a five-star resort next door.
Not ideal for
- The Cliffs: anyone who wants a walkable village center, or who dislikes ice days and steep roads.
- Palmetto Bluff: anyone who wants cool summers, prefers zero resort traffic, or does not want to think about flood zones and wind deductibles.
Lifestyle Reality
Setting. Palmetto Bluff is one place. Everything happens on one conservation-focused property along the May River, between Bluffton and Savannah. The Cliffs is a family of seven places: Glassy in Landrum, Cliffs Valley in Travelers Rest, Mountain Park in Marietta, Walnut Cove in Arden near Asheville, and Keowee Falls, Keowee Springs and Keowee Vineyards on Lake Keowee. You live in one and drive to the others.
Golf. Full Golf at The Cliffs covers unlimited play on seven courses with no greens fees: two by Jack Nicklaus, two by Tom Fazio, plus Gary Player at Mountain Park, Tom Jackson at Glassy and Ben Wright at Cliffs Valley. Palmetto Bluff centers on May River, a Nicklaus Signature course private to members with limited access for Montage guests, plus Crossroads. The Cliffs gives you more courses. Palmetto Bluff gives you a shorter drive to the first tee.
Village versus clubhouse. Wilson Village and Moreland Village give Palmetto Bluff a walkable center, and Anson Village is a newer phase. Cliffs social life runs through clubhouses, so your week is shaped by which one is closest.
The resort factor. Montage Palmetto Bluff sits on property, and resort guests share some of the setting. The Cliffs has no comparable flagship resort hotel. That makes it quieter, with fewer unfamiliar faces and fewer amenities that run on a hotel schedule.
Climate. Palmetto Bluff is Lowcountry: long, humid summers, mild winters and hurricane season. The Cliffs has four seasons, cooler summers at Glassy and Mountain Park, and real winter at elevation.
Water. Palmetto Bluff has a tidal river with the ocean nearby. The Cliffs has Lake Keowee, a Duke Energy lake where Duke Energy sets the shoreline and dock rules.
City access. From The Cliffs, Greenville supplies the airport, Prisma Health and downtown. From Palmetto Bluff, it is Old Town Bluffton, Hilton Head and Savannah, with SAV the main airport.
Real Estate Reality
| The Cliffs | Palmetto Bluff | |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | South Street Partners (since 2019) | South Street Partners (acquired 2021) |
| Layout | Seven separate communities, SC and NC | One property, about 20,000 acres |
| Water | Lake Keowee (Duke Energy rules) | 32 miles of May River frontage |
| Golf | Seven courses: Nicklaus, Fazio, Player, Jackson, Ben Wright | May River (Nicklaus Signature), plus Crossroads |
| Resort | No flagship resort hotel | Montage Palmetto Bluff |
| Membership | Full Golf or Active | Golf, boating, shooting; most join the Palmetto Bluff Club |
At both, the club is a separate purchase from the house. At The Cliffs the 2026 schedule offers two choices: Full Golf at a $100,000 initiation plus $1,710 a month, with unlimited play on all seven courses, or Active at $50,000 plus $850 a month, covering everything except courses and ranges. Both add a one-time $3,000 home club improvement fee. You can own at The Cliffs without joining.
Palmetto Bluff structures it differently. Golf, boating and shooting are sold as separate memberships, and most owners join the Palmetto Bluff Club for pools, fitness and member dining. Get its current initiation and dues in writing before you compare totals, because the add-on structure makes a simple side-by-side misleading.
Pricing at both depends heavily on water and view. Palmetto Bluff buyers pay for river frontage and walkability. Cliffs buyers pay for lake frontage or a long mountain view, and building on a ridge costs more than building on flat Lowcountry ground.
Insider Perspective: What Most Buyers Miss
Same owner does not mean shared access. Buyers assume a Palmetto Bluff membership opens doors at The Cliffs, or the reverse. Do not assume it. Ask both clubs, in writing, what privileges, if any, carry across.
You are making two choices at each, and they are different choices. At The Cliffs you pick a community and a membership tier. At Palmetto Bluff you pick a village and then which add-on memberships you want. Comparing "the cost of each club" side by side misses that the structures do not line up.
"Which clubhouse is home" matters more than people expect at The Cliffs. Full Golf covers seven courses, but dinner, friends and routine happen near your house. A Keowee Falls owner and a Glassy owner belong to the same club and live very different weeks.
The resort cuts both ways. Some Palmetto Bluff owners love having Montage dining and a steady flow of guests. Others feel it every holiday weekend. Visit on one.
Climate risk carries over into ownership costs. Palmetto Bluff ownership comes with Lowcountry wind and flood questions. The Cliffs trades those for steep driveways and the occasional ice day. Neither is free.
Duke Energy rules the Keowee shoreline. Dock permissions follow Duke Energy's rules, not the seller's description. A tidal riverfront lot and a Keowee lot are different kinds of waterfront.
Three trade-offs worth sitting with
- Variety versus cohesion. Seven courses across lake, mountain and Asheville country, or one village you can walk.
- Seasons versus sea. Cooler summers and real winter, or year-round warmth and hurricane season.
- Privacy versus a resort next door. No resort hotel at The Cliffs, or Montage service and its guests at Palmetto Bluff.
Related Insights
Start with whether living in The Cliffs is worth it, then see how the seven Cliffs communities compare and what a Cliffs membership includes. Lowcountry owners weighing a second home should read why Hilton Head households are adding The Cliffs, alongside how Lake Keowee stacks up against other lake markets and the mistakes buyers make in private club communities.
A Local, Advisory Perspective
Damian Hall Group works The Cliffs from Greenville and serves Hilton Head as well, so we see buyers comparing these two clubs more often than the marketing suggests. Because both share an owner, the brochures can sound alike. The deciding factors are on the ground: how you want to spend July, whether you want to walk to dinner, and whether a resort next door appeals to you or wears on you. Spend a weekend at each in the season you dread most. That visit tells you more than any comparison chart.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Cliffs owned by the same company as Palmetto Bluff?
Yes, South Street Partners owns both, acquiring The Cliffs in 2019 and Palmetto Bluff in 2021. The shared owner means a similar operator philosophy, but the settings are completely different. Shared ownership should not be read as shared club access without confirming it directly.
Which has better golf, The Cliffs or Palmetto Bluff?
The Cliffs offers more variety, with seven courses by Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Gary Player, Tom Jackson and Ben Wright under one Full Golf membership. Palmetto Bluff has the Nicklaus Signature May River course plus a second course, Crossroads. Golfers who want range lean toward The Cliffs, and those who want their golf close to home lean toward Palmetto Bluff.
How do club memberships differ between The Cliffs and Palmetto Bluff?
The Cliffs sells two tiers, Full Golf and Active, while Palmetto Bluff sells golf, boating and shooting as separate memberships alongside the Palmetto Bluff Club most owners join. In 2026, Cliffs Full Golf is a $100,000 initiation plus $1,710 a month, and Active is $50,000 plus $850 a month. At both, membership is a separate purchase from the home.
Is Palmetto Bluff more walkable than The Cliffs?
Yes, Palmetto Bluff's Wilson and Moreland villages give it a walkable center that The Cliffs does not have. Cliffs life is spread across seven communities, so owners drive between clubhouses and courses. Which clubhouse sits closest to your home shapes your week more than most buyers expect.
Which is better for year-round living, The Cliffs or Palmetto Bluff?
It depends on which climate you can live with: The Cliffs has four seasons and real winter at elevation, while Palmetto Bluff has mild winters and long, humid summers with hurricane exposure. The Cliffs puts Greenville close by, and Palmetto Bluff puts Bluffton, Hilton Head and Savannah close by. Visiting each in the season you dread most is the most honest test.
Thinking of selling? A written valuation, with the reasoning, from the team that holds the records. Buying? The Quiet List hears first.
