MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Around 4 million rounds of golf are played each year on the 100-plus golf courses on the Grand Strand. So picking the perfect itinerary out of the pack for your group can be a formidable task.
We've tried to divvy all you golf groups up into specific categories, and list a few golf courses that will fit you best.
I am looking for the best courses: I don't care how much I pay or where they are.
Check out this TravelGolf.com Top 10 list, or this feature on the top names in golf design in Myrtle Beach. Also, Golf Digest has included 10 Grand Strand courses in its list of the Top 100 Places You Can Play list for 2007.
I want some "bang-for-your-buck" courses those in the know keep coming back to.
A few guys I bowl with swear by Possum Trot for its overachieving layout and conditions on the cheap. You can get on for as little as $29 in the right season. Wicked Stick, Aberdeen C.C., Indian Wells and Burning Ridge are also affordable area favorites.
I want to play some laid-back, lemonade-sippin' lowcountry golf
This is what makes the South Strand tick, from Murrells Inlet past Pawleys Island (also known as the Waccamaw Golf Trail). Loads of courses are nestled among centuries old mossy oaks, making you feel stuck in time. Upscale gems Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and Heritage Plantation are the cream of the crop. Then there's a Myrtle Beach classic, Litchfield C.C., which has loads of character and is a favorite of seniors and walkers. In this same neck of the woods, The Founders Club will open in February and promises that same lowcountry charm.
We're going to Myrtle Beach with the family mostly for the beach, but I'm hoping I can sneak away for a quick round here and there.
Pine Lakes (closed until spring '09), Waterway Hills, Grande Dunes, Myrtlewood and The Dunes Club are all just minutes from the heart of Myrtle Beach. You'll be there and back before the little ones can finish their sand castle.
Any good "replica" courses?
World Tour Golf Links features 27 replica holes from famous courses like Augusta National, St. Andrews and Pine Valley. Tom Doak did his homework at the Heathlands course at Legends and made the Grand Strand's best "links style" course. Shaftesbury Glen pays homage to the design style of A.W. Tillinghast (Bethpage Black, Winged Foot).
I'm coming from the land-locked Midwest and crave the salt water air in my nostrils!
It's all about the signature hole! What courses have the most memorable holes?
Most designs in Myrtle Beach try to create that one hole that will remain in your head for life.
King's North's "Gambler" with an island fairway, Pawleys Plantation's devilish island green 13th hole, Dunes Club's par-5 13th, "Waterloo," are among the most famous. Farmstead Golf Links boasts the area's only par 6 that plays in both North and South Carolina. Leopard's Chase has a stunning 18th with a two-tiered water fixture front-left of the green. Glen Dornoch's long, downhill 16th toward the waterway is one of the prettiest - and most challenging - in the state.
Where have the pros played? I'm no pro, but at least I can say I've played where they have
The Dunes Club and TPC Myrtle Beach hosted the Senior Tour Championship for a number of years before it left town. The Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Pro-Am is hosted on the Dye Course at Barefoot each April and features tour players like John Daly and Andy North. Wachesaw East has also hosted four LPGA events in recent history.
What are the top courses for women?
For low-handicapping women, King's North has a unique set of "Women's Championship Tees" that play just in front of the black tees.
What clubs are going to treat us like a king?
TPC of Myrtle Beach has lavish, tour-ready facilities and service. Thistle is known for its 12-minute tee time intervals for leisurely play. Free range balls can be found at most upper-end courses like Dunes Club, True Blue and Barefoot Resort, which also provides icy cold towels upon completion of your round in the summer.
I want a good multi-course facility that makes a 36-hole day easy even in the winter
Legends Resort off 501 has three courses of equal quality but varying playing styles right next to each other and offers cheap replays. Just down the road at Myrtle Beach National, King's North is anchored by two value courses that many people play as a warm-up to the main event. Ocean Ridge Plantation has four (soon to be five in 2009) courses, including two highly-rated gems: Tiger's Eye and the new Leopard's Chase. Sea Trail has modest courses from three different architects. Then there's of course the four-course Barefoot Resort.
What courses are in the best condition?
This answer can change depending on the seasons and the last time they renovated their greens. One course in particular whose greens are enjoying the fruits of recent renovations is Willbrook Plantation, whose greens were in pristine shape even in the height of summer this year. The Heathlands at Legends reopened this fall after replacing greens as well. Pawleys Plantation and Dunes Club also have sterling, year-round reputations.
My foursome is playing our first rounds of the season, or we're going to be hungover, or we're just simply awful. What courses can we play that won't eat us alive?
Our group is looking for a course with no imitations!
There are plenty of bold courses.
True Blue has a very bold, imaginative design by Mike Strantz, including a hole with alternate right and left greens. Grande Dunes has a dramatic stage, perched overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway. Tiger's Eye has some of the most elevation change of any Grand Strand course, up to 60 feet. Man 'O War is Myrtle Beach's "Waterworld," according to WorldGolf.com Senior Writer Chris Baldwin, featuring water on every hole, including island fairways and greens.
I'm a scratch golfer (or I'm just looking for a valid excuse for a terrible score). Where are the hardest courses?
Prestwick and Barefoot Dye (Pete Dye), Pawleys Plantation and Long Bay (Nicklaus). The Moorland at Legends (P.B. Dye) was ranked in Golf Digest's "50 Toughest," though the Parkland course there is longer and has a much higher rating (74.9). Robert Trent Jones' Dunes Club has spectacular splashed bunkering and raised green complexes.
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