Myrtle Beach Golf News & Updates

Bill Hickey and his group of eight concluded their recent Myrtle Beach golf trip at Myrtlewood’s Palmetto Course, and walking off the 18th green, which overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway, Hickey couldn’t have been happier with his trip-topper.

Like so many golfers since the Palmetto opened in 1972, Hickey found a course that emphasized good conditions and customer service, in addition to a memorable layout.

“The greens are wonderful,” the Knoxville, Tn., resident said. “It’s a very fair golf course and we really enjoyed playing it. Of the four we played this week, I’d say this one would rank right up at the top.”

The Palmetto’s closing stretch certainly sends players home on a high note. Holes 16 through 18 are the layout’s best, capped by the par 4 18th that plays along the Intracoastal. As one of only seven courses on the Myrtle Beach golf scene that plays along the waterway, the 18th offers a stunning conclusion. 

It’s the Palmetto’s longest two-shotter, but with a runway-wide fairway, it takes a herculean hook to find the water.

The par 3, 17th hole, which has a trio of… 

River Hills, a Tom Jackson design, is a prime example of why Myrtle Beach is the game’s most popular destination. Beyond a good layout, superior conditions and great customer service, what can you expect at River Hills? We take a look at five things you need to know about this quiet star. 1. There are no parallel holes at River Hills, so you feel like yours is the only group on the course. 2. A Myrtle Beach golf trip typically means flat coastal terrain, but the property at

River Hills Golf Club is tucked away off Highway 17, an outstanding course located on of the area’s primary arteries that manages to keep a low profile.

Located in Little River, River Hills opened in 1988 and offers a tremendous combination of quality and value. We asked Harris D’Antignac, the course’s long-time head pro and a Myrtle Beach golf veteran, to provide us tips on how to play the three best holes at River Hills.

It was a sun-drenched Tuesday afternoon in early October and the parking lot at Meadowlands Golf Club was full. After finishing a morning round, golfers filled the clubhouse, sharing lunch, drinks and a surplus of laughs.

Meadowlands isn’t among the seven Myrtle Beach golf courses ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, and that’s okay. What Meadowlands offers people are great conditions, value, customer service and consistency of experience, all qualities that people seek in a course.

The parkland layout places an emphasis on playability. There are no blind shots from the middle of the fairway, no elephants buried under the greens, or long forced carries. Meadowlands isn’t a pushover, but it rewards good shots and doesn’t unnecessarily penalize mid to high-handicappers.

A prime example, several years Meadowlands removed 11 bunkers.  The bunkers never came into play for low handicap players, but were positioned to gobble up balls hit by golfers who need the most help. The idea wasn’t to ease the challenge but to make sure high handicappers didn’t consistently have to face an additional set of hazards.

“We try to work on …

Golf Digest surveyed a panel of 1,200 of the leading instructors in America to assemble its biennial ranking of “The Best Teachers in America 2013+2014.”

As part of the effort, Golf Digest ranked the top instructors in each state, and one of Myrtle Beach’s finest was named the best teacher in South Carolina.

Brad Redding, who works out of the Members Club at Grande Dunes, has long been regarded as one of America’s premier instructors, so his spot atop the

You could go to a different restaurant at Broadway at the Beach every night for three weeks before you had to eat at the same place twice.

That's the best thing about taking your foursome to the popular entertainment, shopping and dining complex on a Myrtle Beach golf trip; when some want surf and others want turf, you can find something to satisfy everyone.

But if it's quality, not quantity, you're ultimately looking for, and Broadway has plenty of that to go around. Here are five Broadway hot spots you don't want to miss:

* Capriz Italian Feast: This new restaurant is more like going to visit an Italian family for dinner. It's all you can eat and you will not go home hungry.

Serving all the Italian favorites plus some signature items from Brazilian sister-restaurant Rioz, the staff delivers pasta and meat dishes to your table.

Capriz also has an Italian buffet table featuring more than 20 items in addition to the rotating specials that include skewers of garlic sirloin, parmesean pork.

* Key West Grill: A little slice of America's southernmost city sits just steps away from Celebrity Square.

Key West Grill incorporates all the tastes of the Caribbean, with Cuban, Mexican and Jamaican influences as well as the Florida Keys, into an extensive menu that can make everyone happy.

Of course, seafood reigns at Key West Grill, with fresh-catch specials on a nightly basis and excellent shrimp, crab and scallop dishes.

* Liberty Steakhouse & Brewery: This restaurant/brew pub has been packing them in since Broadway opened in 1995, and for good reason.

The menu is extensive and consistently good, from burgers and cheese fries all the way up to surf and turf. The house specials, like meats marinated in their own home brews, are the best bets in the house.

Liberty is best known for its happy hour specials, featuring $2 drafts from their outstanding selection of in-house beers and ales, and a discounted appetizer menu that is as filling as a meal.

* Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery: Many believe that “Tilted Kilt” is Scottish for “Hooters,” and they're not far from wrong.

In addition to featuring scantily clad waitresses serving cold beer and hot wings to mostly male patrons, the atmosphere is festive and sports-oriented, perfect for Myrtle Beach golf groups.

It's hard to find a seat in the house that isn't within view of five large screen TVs, each tuned to a different sports event. Of course, the big game isn't the only scenery worth checking out at the Tilted Kilt.

* Yamato Steak House: When half your dining party says “Tom-A-to” and other half “Tom-ah-to,” throw them a curve ball and take them to Yamato.

They don't have to like Japanese food to have a good time and great meal at this hibachi-style restaurant. Your chef comes to your table and slices and dices up a tasty mix of meats, vegetables and rice.

Do you have a favorite restuarant at Broadway at the Beach? Please post it in the comments below!

MORE GREAT “TOP 5” LISTS FOR MYRTLE BEACH

Let me preface this by saying, I’m not a fan of buffets. To my way of thinking, a place that makes everything often doesn’t do anything particularly well.

But there are exceptions to every rule.

Simply Southern Smokehouse, a barbeque and country buffet, is that exception.

One of the area’s newest eateries, Simply Southern is located on 10th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach, next to the, ahem, Masters Club.

As the name implies, Simply Southern smokes it’s pork

Quality golf instruction abounds along the Grand Strand and in this installment of Myrtle Beach Golf Buzz, Blair O’Neal pays a visit to one of the area’s best schools, the Steve Dresser Golf Academy. Get an inside look at the golf academy and what you can expect to learn at the facility. Based at True Blue, the Steve Dresser Golf Academy offers a variety of instructional packages and has an offering for every level of

A new day has dawned at Carolina Shores.

The layout, once renowned as one of the toughest along the Grand Strand, has transformed itself into one of the area’s most playable, value-laden venues.

The process began six years ago with the removal of more than half of the facility’s bunkers, the vast majority of which menaced fairways, making life difficult on mid-to-high handicappers. Improvement wasn’t confined to the bunker removal project, as course conditioning has become priority No. 1.

[PHOTO GALLERY: Carolina Shores]

“The conditions have improved, and they are the best they have ever been,” Philippe Bureau, Carolina Shores’ general manager said. “It’s a great layout, and you are going to get treated extremely well. We treat everybody like family, and we want everyone to have a good time.”

When Carolina Shores opened its fairways…

With its tree-lined fairways, natural waste areas and deep bunkers, the Parkland Course is a classic, American-style golf course, which makes it the exception to the rule at Legends Resort.

Parkland completed the triumvirate at Legends, providing an ideal complement to the Moorland and Heathland layouts, which are wide open, more links-style courses that place an emphasis on the short game.

Parkland is a modern design, challenging golfers with length and well bunkered greens. A 4-star layout, according to Golf Digest’s Best Places to Play guide, Parkland has been popular with players since its 1992 opening.

With vast waste areas the course enjoys the benefit natural and architectural beauty. Holes are framed by native pines, hardwood trees and Doak-designed mounding, creating a layout that allows players to see the challenge in front of them.

The biggest test at Parkland is…

Carolina Shores is the first golf course players see when entering Brunswick County on route 179 from Myrtle Beach. Nestled amidst the quiet charm of Calabash, Carolina Shores paved the way for Brunswick County’s emergence as a golf hotspot. What do you need to know before teeing it up at the Tom Jackson design? Plenty. Here are five things to consider before playing Carolina Shores. 1. When the course’s original owners commissioned Jackson to design the layout, they

Carolina Shores is a classic design, utilizing tree-lined fairways and dramatic bunkering to provide a stern yet exceedingly fair challenge.

The course, which opened in 1974, has long been a favorite among skilled golfers, because it allows them to test all facets of their game.

Which holes offer the most memorable challenges at Carolina Shores?

We consulted with the course’s general manager, Philippe Bureau, for his three favorite tests on the venerable layout.

— The first

Ron Gala lined up a six-foot putt on the final hole at Heather Glen. His three playing partners looked on pensively from the green while 24 friends, most with cigars in their mouths or a beer in hand (both in some cases), shouted encouragement or reminded him of the difficulty of the pending putt.

The Blakely Golf Association is an eight-day trip that, as it seemingly always does, came down to the final hole. In the 29th playing of the “event,” Gala had a bogey putt for

Sea Trail Resort opened its fairways in the late 1980s, a pioneering multicourse resort with layouts designed by high profile architects. Rees Jones, Dan Maples and Willard Byrd crafted courses at the North Strand facility, but Jones is the most recognizable name of the trio and his namesake course is arguably the most popular.

The Rees Jones Course relies on a combination of expansive fairways and challenging greens complexes to deliver a layout that is inviting to high handicappers but remains a test for single digit players as well.

The open fairways are the first thing players notice about the Jones Course. There are few significant forced carries on the par 4s and 5s, allowing players to swing those 460cc drivers with comfort provided by the sight of open green grass.

“(Jones) gives players plenty of room to hit the ball off the tee,” said Eddie Pratt, Sea Trail’s head pro. “Where it becomes fun is around the greens; that’s the thrill factor.”

The Jones Course’s L93 bentgrass greens and the surrounding hazards bring sweaty palms and plenty of excitement to the venerable layout. The greens are large, undulating and most always elevated.

Combine those factors with…

Myrtle Beach’s most iconic course, the Dunes Golf & Beach Club, has reopened after a summer renovation project that included the installation of new Champion Bermuda grass greens.

Rees Jones, son of the Dunes Club’s architect, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and highly acclaimed for his work renovating seven U.S. Open layouts, oversaw the changes on a Dunes Club course that has graced many national top 100 lists and will host the 2014 PGA Professional National Championship, June 22-25. He said he considers the Dunes Club to be one of his father’s “true masterpieces.”
 
“It has been one of the highlights of my career to have had the opportunity to restore and enhance the original design intent,” said Rees Jones. “The course is now positioned for play by today's golfers.”
 
The recent choice of many top golf courses in the Southeast, Champion Bermuda putting surfaces can be maintained at a higher quality throughout the year with faster speed than bent grass.
 
Other improvements completed over a 90-day period included a 50-percent expansion of the driving range; creation or extension of back tee boxes on eight holes; and new or rebuilt bunkers on Nos. 1, 7 and 11. A beautiful new brick bridge crosses over the water that runs in front of the opening tee and the 18th green.
 
An improvement golfers especially should enjoy is a new tee complex right of the previous tee box at the dogleg-left No. 2 that gives them a better opportunity to cut yardage off the long, difficult par-4 hole.
 
With 185 yards added to its back tees, the course now stretches to 7,370 yards. About 30 yards were added to the world-famous par-5 13th hole, “Waterloo,” extending it to 620 yards from the back tees.

If you've played it, please share your review on The Dunes Golf & Beach Club page!