Myrtle Beach Golf News & Updates

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!
 

The Myrtle Beach 9-11 Unity Memorial will hold its annual remembrance ceremony on Wednesday, September 11 at 7 p.m. on the 29th Avenue side of Broadway at the Beach.

The public is invited to attend the event free of charge.

The annual ceremony is hosted by the friends of the Unity Memorial and the Chicora District of the Pee Dee Area Council, BSA, and the featured speakers will include former FDNY firefighter Nicholas Giordano.

A retired member of FDNY, Giordano was involved in

The top golf courses in Pawleys Island are as good as any in America.

Tucked away on the South Strand, golf courses in Pawleys Island offer a respite from the hustle of Myrtle Beach. Rollicking nights give way to casual charm and one of the nation’s highest concentrations of elite layouts.

Three golf courses in Pawleys Island have earned a spot on Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses and all 10 are 4-star courses.

Without further ado, here is a look at golf courses in Pawleys Island:

Caledonia Golf & Fish Club – Mike Strantz’s first solo design is a classic. Caledonia is, arguably, Myrtle Beach’s most popular course, and it’s certainly among the most scenic. Caledonia is ranked among America’s Top 100 by Golf Digest, Golf Magazine and Golfweek.

Founders Club – Myrtle Beach’s newest course, Founders Club is defined by waste bunkers that run alongside side practically every fairway. The bunkers also double as cart paths, meaning the only pavement on the course is around the greens and tee boxes.

Heritage Club – The 33rd ranked public course in America, Heritage Club is a perfect combination of natural beauty and great golf course architecture. Hundreds of soaring oak trees create visual appeal, and the layout has some of the area’s largest and most undulating greens.

Litchfield Country Club – One of the area’s original courses, Litchfield provides a country club experience. The layout, which received 4.5 stars from Golf Digest, is a traditional design that rewards precision and creativity.

Pawleys Plantation – A Jack Nicklaus design, Pawleys Plantation offers one of the area’s most memorable rounds. Several holes on the back nine play along the marsh and it’s a spectacular setting.

River Club – Yet another 4.5-star Golf Digest course, River Club is true to its name, featuring water on 15 of 18 holes and over 100 bunkers.

Tradition Club – Set amidst property that was home to a plantation centuries ago, Tradition Club lets players test their power off the tee. Combined with exceptional beauty, it’s a course that is as enjoyable to play as it is challenging.

True Blue – The Mike Strantz design has been ranked among America’s Top 100 and it’s one of the area’s most visually dramatic layouts. The rolling terrain and native vegetation of the once thriving indigo and rice plantation makes for a spectacular round of golf.

Willbrook Plantation – One of Myrtle Beach’s most underrated layouts, Willbrook is among the top golf courses in Pawleys Island and the entire Grand Strand. Carved from the site of two Carolina plantations, Willbrook offers a tranquil blend of golf and wildlife.

A pair of area giants have received one of Myrtle Beach golf’s greatest honors.

Casper Benton and Ed Jerdon were enshrined into the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame and honored at Pine Lakes Country Club, Aug. 25.
 
A true pioneer, Casper Benton left Myrtle Beach in the 1920s for New York to learn the business of golf course construction. He returned in 1927 to build Ocean Forest Country Club, the first course in what would become the “Golf Capital of the U.S.”.

Market Common is one of Myrtle Beach’s most attractive destinations. Featuring a Town Center atmosphere, Market Common is home to assorted restaurants, bars and shopping options. Come along as Myrtle Beach Golf Buzz host Blair O’Neal provides an overview of everything the area has to offer from Nacho Hippo and P.F. Chang’s to a movie theatre. 

The newest addition to the entertainment lineup at the Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship will be a familiar one to fans of the hit Golf Channel show Big Break. On Wednesday night, Big Break Greenbrier winner Mark Silvers will be a special guest at the World’s Largest 19th Hole. Silvers will appear onstage, providing a behind the scenes account of life on the show and talking about trying to secure a PGA Tour card. A native of Savannah, Ga., Silvers won Big Break in 2012

The first four holes at Rivers Edge are very good, but as golfers make the climb to the fifth tee box, the beauty of one the Myrtle Beach area’s most stunning golf courses is fully revealed.

The 143-yard par 3 is secondary in thought to the Shallotte River and the surrounding marshland that come into full view. From the fifth tee box, the ninth hole is visible along with the expansive marsh. It’s one of many views the course offers that rival any along the Grand Strand.

The course’s natural beauty and Arnold Palmer’s design work have long made the layout a favorite of Myrtle Beach golfers and the game’s elite. In 2007, Golf Digest ranked Rivers Edge among “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses,” and it has consistently been ranked among North Carolina’s best layouts (Rivers Edge is located in Shallotte).

Seven holes at Rivers Edge, including the final four, play along the Shallotte River. The view from each of the seven holes is spectacular, but it wasn’t without its costs. In recent years, drought-like conditions occasionally affected the quality of the course’s irrigation water from the salty river, making it difficult to maintain the greens at the standard Rivers Edge desired, particularly during the summer months.

In June, Rivers Edge and its management company, Signature Golf, moved to eliminate any inconsistency in the layout’s greens, installing Seadwarf Paspalum grass. Paspalum has a high tolerance for sodium, making it ideal for a layout drawing water from a saltwater marsh.

Rivers Edge underwent a…

The Palmetto Course at Myrtlewood Golf Club has long been a Myrtle Beach golf favorite. Good conditions, good value and a good layout have made the course a regular on many Myrtle Beach golf trip itineraries.

When you tee it up on the Edmund Alt design, what can you expect to find? We ask head pro Rick Schultz to tell us the course’s three best holes and he obliged.

South Carolina’s best resides along the Grand Strand.

Barefoot Resort & Golf’s Dye Course has been named Golf Course of the Year by the South Carolina Golf Course Owner’s Association, and National Golf Management’s regional operations manager, Frank Coughlin, has been named employee of the year.

This comes just a month after being named “Myrtle Beach Golf Course of the Year” too! By virtue of the capturing the state honor, the Dye Club advances to

In an area with more than 100 golf courses, it’s challenging for a layout to separate itself from the pack. But True Blue Golf Plantation isn’t an ordinary golf course. Everything about the Pawleys Island layout is oversized – the fairways, greens, bunkers and most importantly, the experience.  The Mike Strantz desig

In an area with more than 100 golf courses, it’s challenging for a layout to separate itself from the pack. But True Blue Golf Plantation isn’t an ordinary golf course.

Everything about the Pawleys Island layout is oversized – the fairways, greens, bunkers and most importantly, the experience. 

The Mike Strantz design has distinguished itself from its peers locally and nationally since its 1998 opening. The uniqueness of True Blue’s design is a tribute to the late Strantz, the iconoclastic architect who also designed Caledonia.

A golf course was as much a work of art as architecture for Strantz, who was more concerned with creating a memorable layout than he was conformity. The result at True Blue, which has five par 5s and five par 3s, is one of Myrtle Beach golf’s boldest designs.

Golf Digest has ranked the layout… 

The South Strand of the Myrtle Beach golf scene is home to one of the best cluster of courses in the nation.

The course lineup reads like a who’s who of great golf. Caledonia, True Blue, Pawleys Plantation, TPC Myrtle Beach and Heritage Club are on the short list of the area’s best. With so many great layouts within a Dustin Johnson drive of one another, it’s inevitable that deserved attention will elude someone.

Don’t let Willbrook Plantation escape your attention. The Dan Maples design is outstanding; it’s arguably the most underrated Myrtle Beach golf course.

Willbrook has reached full maturity, and enjoys a beautiful piece of lowcountry property, winding through hundreds of live oak trees, and the creativity of Maples.

Set on land that once housed a thriving rice plantation, there is water on 15 of 18 holes but it’s not overwhelming. Most of the water sits well off to the side, meaning only shots that deserve to drown end up wet.

Playing 6,732 yards from the tips, Willbrook is widely regarded as…  

The north end of Myrtle Beach’s Grand Strand is chocked full of quality courses, many of them providing an outstanding experience while flying under the radar.

Count Brick Landing among the layouts that quietly delivers a memorable round.  The Dan Maples design starts and ends along the Intracoastal Waterway, providing a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

The waterway views set the tone for an enjoyable day at the Ocean Isle Beach course. Affectionately referred to as The Brick, the course takes advantage of the area’s coastal beauty.

Once the layout turns inland, it’s equally charming, playing through a tidal, saltwater marsh and a hardwood forest. Measuring 6,586 yards from the tips, the layout places a greater premium on accuracy than raw power.  

Brick Landing is a very playable 6,024 yards from the white tees, but it’s a par 71 so don’t delude yourself into thinking the course is overly short. There are a pair of long par 4s (from the white tees) on the back nine, the 424-yard 10th hole and the mammoth 444-yard 17th hole.

The meaty par 4s are offset by a pair of short par 5s – No. 14 and No. 16 – neither of which plays longer than 480 yards. Mix in the short 12th hole, a 327-yard par 4, and the home nine offers an interesting collection of holes.

Brick Landing demands precision and execution, but offers in return a good, stern test and memorable waterway views.
 

Golf Channel stars Kelly Tilghman and Charlie Rymer were in Myrtle Beach to help support a fundraiser for the area First Tee chapters. Tilghman, who was raised in North Myrtle Beach, and Rymer, whose family vacationed along the Grand Strand, are both intimately familiar with the area.

The duo made live appearances on the hit Golf Channel show Morning Drive from Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, where the tournament was held.

Rymer and Tilghman took time to talk with us about