Best Golf Courses In Myrtle Beach

Best Golf Courses In Myrtle Beach

Selecting the best golf courses In Myrtle Beach is not a simple matter, as those promoting golf in Myrtle Beach like to describe it as the Capital of Golf. These promoters, and indeed golfing locals,  like even more that Tiger Woods, on a visit here, described it as “the Mecca of Golf.” These monikers reflect the high density of good courses in this part of the world. With a wide array of resort and hotel accommodation also, it is not hard to see why golfers flock to here, especially as so many of the courses are open to the public. But which tracks should these golfers look to make the highlight of their visit? Just what are the best golf courses in and around Myrtle Beach?

Barefoot (Dye)

• Location: North Myrtle Beach
• Designed by: Pete Dye
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,343 Yards
• Green fee: $72-$197

The first thing that probably springs to mind when considering this course is the sheer amount of bunkers and waste areas. The next thing is that this is a tricky course – but then it is the work of Pete Dye. The demands do not let up, indeed perhaps they intensify. The 17th is a par 3 to a narrow green with danger lurking all around and 18 is a long par 4 – 471 yards from the tips – which arcs around water its whole length.

Barefoot (Fazio)

• Location: North Myrtle Beach
• Designed by: Tom Fazio
• Par: 71
• Yardage: 6,834 yards
• Green fee: $72-$197

Water comes into play on 15 of the holes as this course menders a way through marshland and alongside pines and oaks with fairways fringed and speckled with large expanses of sand as they make their way towards large, undulating putting surfaces.

Barefoot (Love)

• Location: North Myrtle Beach
• Designed by: Davis Love III
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,047 yards
• Green fee: $72-$197

Variety is the spice of life, so they say. It also seems to be the design philosophy behind this track, certainly when it comes to hole lengths. Want a short par 3? You’ve got it: the 11th plays from 100 yards and is 136 yards at its utmost. A long par 3? The 9th stretches to 235 yards, just outpacing the 228-yard 15th. The par 4s range from 294 to 463 yards. Par 5s? Well 13 plays from 416 to 484 yards, but the 18th (above) plays to 596 yards and normally into the wind to boot. But there are five tee options here. The longest stretches the layout to 7,047 yards, but the Gold, Green and White tees measure a very manageable 5,346 yards, 5,643 yards and 6,055 yards respectively. This course is about playability, which is also reflected in the often expansive landing areas for drives.

Caledonia Golf & Fish Club

• Location: Pawleys Island
• Designed by: Mike Strantz
• Par: 70
• Yardage: 6,526 yards
• Green fee: $109-$249

In the world of monster par 3s, the 9th stands out as it is only 118 yards, with its shallow green lurking behind a sprawling bunker which defends the entire front of the green. The 17th is another par 3 where the green hides behind a huge bunker. The 13th (above) is a par-4 dogleg with the approach a ribbon of fairway flanked by long bunkers. Expect flamboyant bunkering here, but also imaginative designs, risk-and-reward golf, holes through avenues of mature oak trees and, as you may expect from the club’s name, a fair few water hazards.

Dunes Golf & Beach Club

• Location: Myrtle Beach
• Designed by: Robert Trent Jones
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,340 yards
• Green fee: Semi private, fees on application

The course, which opened in 1948, is one of Robert Trent Jones earlier designs. Water is in play on many holes, and is particularly prominent on the run from 11 to 13. The 11th hole (above) is a right-angled dogleg around a marsh; the 12th is a long par 3 over water, and the 13th is a monster par 5 arcing in an almost semi circle around Lake Singleton. Nicknamed Waterloo, the 13th has ruined many a round – one player carded a 22 here.

Grande Dunes Resort Club

• Location: Myrtle Beach
• Designed by: Roger Rulewich Group
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,618 yards
• Green fee: $73-$219

You are not going to find many dunes here, but what you do find on a bluff overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway are subtly undulating fairways leading to large greens. You also get elevation changes, such as on the par-3 14th (above) which drops 65ft from tee to green. Water appears on most of the holes and water hazards play a key part in the design of all four par 5s.

Legends (Moorland)

• Location: Myrtle Beach
• Designed by: PB Dye
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 6,737 yards
• Green fee: Various packages

There is a pleasing variety to the holes here. This might not seem so initially, as four of the first seven holes have water running down their length on one side, but water then only reappears on the final four holes. The middle section has some greens perched high with large swales running from them as in a links design – demonstrating that greens do not have to have sand or water as their defensive neighbours. Then, a little further on, large waste bunkers wrap themselves around holes. This is a target golf layout laid out with imagination and variety.

Myrtle Beach National (King's North)

• Location: Myrtle Beach
• Designed by: Arnold Palmer
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,017 yards
• Green fee: $70-$175

Its most famous hole, the 6th (above) is known as the Gambler. It is a watery dogleg par 5, but the inside of the dogleg has a stretch of island fairway allowing gambling big hitters to try to cut off the dogleg to get to the a green in two. The 12th, played from between 98 and a 140 yards depending upon the tee used, is to an island green.

Ocean Ridge (Leopard’s Chase)

• Location: Sunset Beach
• Designed by: Tom Cate
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,155 yards
• Green fee: $65-$100

On this layout only the par-3 13th does not have water on it. The 4th is par 3 to an island green. The next hole, a par 4, is also to an island green, but one is surrounded by a huge waste bunker rather than water. The 18th (above) is left-turning par 4 with water on both sides of the fairway and its green is defended by a waterfall.

Thistle

• Location: Sunset Beach
• Designed by: Tom Cate
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 6,997 yards
• Green fee: $79-$159

The club, which opened in 1999, takes its name from the Scottish club that was founded in 1815 in Leith. The club prides itself that its a rolling mounds and pot bunkers pay homage to a Scottish style layout, but the many and huge water hazards and gleaming white sand traps tell you forcefully that you are playing one of the best golf courses in Myrtle Beach not Edinburgh. The club has collected memorabilia from the original club dating back to the early 1800s, which is on show in the clubhouse. There are three nine-hole courses here with the Cameron and MacKay considered the best combination for 18 holes.

Tidewater

• Location: North Myrtle Beach
• Designed by: Ken Tomlinson
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,044 yards
• Green fee: $64-$149

The saltwater marshes and the Intercoastal Waterway make this a scenic and atmospheric place to golf. There are many beautiful holes, not least the par-3 12th (above) played over the tidal marsh to a shallow green fronted by wooded bulkheads and bunkers and protected on each side by more bunkers. The 3rd is another beautiful par 3 and plays in the opposite direction to 12 with the marsh on its left and there is another crescent-shaped formation of bunkers defending the green, this time arcing round the right side above the green.

TPC Myrtle Beach

• Location: Murrells Inlet
• Designed by: Tom Fazio
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 6,950 yards
• Green fee: $65-225

This can be a tough track, depending upon the tee selected, with some forced carries. The back nine starts with a par 4 (above) where the green juts out into water and is a good introduction to this half. Water features far more prominently in the inward nine and closes with a rather fun par 5 with a creek snaking across from the left of the fairway and meandering along the centre right of the fairway before darting off back across the fairway to splash about in a large greenside lake. Children under 16 can play for free when playing with an adult.

True Blue

• Location: Pawleys Island
• Designed by: Mike Strantz
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,126 yards
• Green fee: $109-$239

The fairway landing areas tend to be generous, but a preponderance of doglegs often makes positioning crucial for the second shot – and this is a course that makes demands on the second shot due to some tricky green surrounds with danger lurking beside the often tricky putting surfaces. The three closing holes feature water in a big way, starting with the par-3 16th (above) which has a green sloping towards the water. The 3rd is another pretty one shotter, played to an island green ringed by a huge bunker.