Myrtle Beach Golf News & Updates

In the absence of a brand new Myrtle Beach golf course, Members Club at Grande Dunes has delivered the next best thing: an outstanding private course opening its fairways to some public play for the first time.

Members Club opened on June 2, 2005 as one of the centerpiece amenities of Grande Dunes, the area’s most upscale development. Access to the Nick Price design was limited, but word of its quality and luxury spread, making it one of the Grand Strand’s most sought-after tee

The team lead PGA pro Kevin Kisner and actor Alfonso Ribeiro captured the 19th annual Hootie & The Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am title with an 18-under par score of 54 at Barefoot Resort’s Dye Course.

The squad led by PGA Tour star Dustin Johnson and hockey legend Wayne Gretkzy tied for second at 17-under-par. They tied with PGA Tour player Ken Duke and former football star Sterling Sharpe.

For the eighth consecutive year, a sellout crowd of 6,000+ fans

Due to the threat of inclement weather Monday morning, the broadcast location of ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning Show has been moved to the House of Blue Music Hall. The show, which will also be simulcast live on ESPN2, will air from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and the public is welcome to attend free of charge.

Dunkin Donuts will be serving free breakfast to the first 200 people. Doors to the House of Blues will open at 5:30 a.m.

The Mike & Mike broadcast will kick off

An already strong Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am field has received a Hall of Fame caliber boost.

Wayne Gretzky, widely regarded as the greatest hockey player to ever live, and legendary Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino have committed to play in the 19th annual event. (complete celebrity list)

The Monday After the Masters, which sold out in record time, will be played Monday, April 15 at the Dye Club, the event’s longtime host.

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By Nick Nicholas

Crow Creek Golf Club is relatively new among the Golf Capital of the World’s fairway of choices, but the Crow Creek name carries an outstanding reputation.

Word of mouth continues to grow, pushing Crow Creek’s status to a larger audience taking aim on its North Strand location.

Open for play in 2000, Crow Creek developed into an instant hit. Golf Digest nominated it as a candidate for America’s top new public course and it eventually became a four-star success. A one-time partner of the Jack Nicklaus architect team, Rick Robbins designed Crow Creek.

Robbins is one of golf’s top architects, fastening his signature to courses worldwide including seven new pending facilities in China.

Robbins carved Crow Creek amid a stunning, unscathed piece of property two miles from the North Carolina/South Carolina border. Crow Creek’s standing as a “must play’’ course on the Grand Strand developed in part because of near flawless greens. The L-93 bentgrass surfaces continue to be recognized as some of the area’s best.

Moreover, excellent conditions from tee to green complement Crow Creek’s easy on the eyes and blade putting surfaces.

The course can be stretched to more than 7,100 yards. While its length could challenge Myrtle Beach’s favorite son and PGA Tour standout Dustin Johnson, Crow Creek has the ability to transform itself into a player-friendly course.  Six different teeing areas create a unique opportunity for players of all levels. There are two different starting points for senior men and women.

Crow Creek has approximately 90 bunkers and water on nearly every hole, but the hazards, despite their abundance, don’t overwhelm players. The yawning waste bunkers and water define holes, clearly showing golfers where the ball should and shouldn’t be hit.

Crow Creek’s greens are typically open in front, allowing players to run the ball up, but that avenue is only available to those in the fairway.

If you've played it, please share your review on the Crow Creek page!

On a list of the Myrtle Beach golf scene’s under-the-radar gems, Thistle Golf Club has to rank near the top. Home to 27 holes, all designed by Tim Cate, Thistle earned 4.5 stars in Golf Digest’s Best Places to Play guide and is one of the area’s best and most well maintained facilities. So what do you need to know before teeing it up on this North Strand beauty? – Thistle is the Grand Strand’s standard-bearer in encouraging a healthy pace of play. The club has

By Nick Nicholas

Golfers will find the finish at Eagle Nest Golf Club can lead to new beginnings. Three unforgettable challenges allure players of all talents.

This 4-star Golf Digest “Best Places to Play’’ selection and old hand among the Golf Capital of the World’s many outstanding courses is recognized for having three of the toughest finishing holes on the Grand Strand.

Eagle Nest opened two years after Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.  Forty years later course architect Gene Hamm’s venerable design – complete with a renovation upgrade a few years ago – continues to triumph over golf’s space-age technology.

You’ve heard of the 1927 New York Yankees’ Murder’s Row. Among Myrtle Beach golf courses, Eagle Nest has its own Murder’s Row.

Nos. 16-18 each has lengthy forced carries over water and all three have fairways winding through giant Carolina pines. The 16th is a par-4 that seems to play longer than its 449-yard listed distance. Next is a three- or more likely for mere mortals a four-shot 616-yard par-5.

Take an extra club on the 185-yard, par 3 home hole over water as well.

Grand Strand courses and Champions Tour tested The Dunes Golf & Beach Club and Tournament Players Club Myrtle Beach are each known for tough finishes. But visitors to Myrtle Beach may discover that trying to tame the Eagle Nest trio is just as difficult.

The remainder of the 6,901 layout isn’t simply a day at the beach. Water comes into play on eight additional holes.

Also making the course popular are its player-friendly rates and prime playing conditions. Birdie watchers can spot Eagle Nest off Highway 17 within an easy drive to the Barefoot Resort, Restaurant Row, a trip Calabash, N.C. and its unique way with culinary delights and of course, the 60 miles of beach voted among the country’s top 10 by U.S. News & Travel.

Forsyth Country Day shot a 295 on the Rees Jones Course at Sea Trail Golf Plantation to win the 16th annual Palmetto High School Golf Championship. Forsyth shot a team total of 602 to edge Forestview High School by two strokes. (Complete team and individual results: Championship Flight, First Flight)

Ben Schlottman of Forsyth Country Day shot a 4 under-par 68 on Saturday and birdied the first playoff hole – the par 5 18th on the Jones Course – to edge Forestview’s Will

The Grand Strand’s emergence as the nation’s premier golf destination has included numerous courses that have opened to national acclaim, but the birth of Pearl Golf Links was a seminal moment on par with nearly any Myrtle Beach golf course opening, though its significance sometimes goes unrecognized.

At the heart of the Myrtle Beach golf boom was the course development just across the state line in North Carolina, and Pearl Golf Links was the first multi-course facility to open in Brunswick County. The first tee shot at the Pearl was struck in 1987 and 24 years later, the facility, both the East and West courses, continue to please golfers.

The success of the Pearl helped pave the way for the numerous multi-course facilities that followed, but the Pearl has maintained its popularity, especially the 4.5-star West Course.

The West Course long ago earned a reputation for playability. The Dan Maples design, with its sweeping fairways, has a links-style feel that encourages players to swing away with the driver.

“The West is similar to… 

As players bring clubs to the bag drop, their eyes are naturally drawn to the Intracoastal Waterway, which meanders by Glen Dornoch on its way to the nearby Atlantic Ocean. When players check in, it’s almost impossible not to look out over the double-green the ninth and 18th holes share and admire the backdrop the water provides.

Long after leaving the course, the eighth, ninth, 16th, 17th and 18th holes, which bring golfers to the edge of the waterway, stir memories. The Intracoastal runs from Maine to Florida, and the more than half-mile stretch that runs alongside Glen Dornoch defines the Clyde Johnston design.

Boats pass by the clubhouse almost as often as golf balls find a watery grave, and on the other side of the Intracoastal, only undisturbed wetlands and trees block a view of the Atlantic. The scenery puts Glen Dornoch in any discussion involving the most scenic Myrtle Beach golf courses.

Pretty as the course may be, people come to the Little River layout for golf, and Glen Dornoch delivers on that account as well.

The course, which opened in 1996, isn’t exceedingly…

Man O’War Golf Club is built around a 107-acre lake, has consecutive island greens, and a stretch locals refer to as Amen Corner. Identifying the three best holes at the Dan Maples layout is a matter of taste as opposed to consensus.

With that in mind, course owner Claude Pardue shared his three favorites, and they are, not surprisingly, long on water and challenges.

Chicks dig the long ball and golf course architects apparently do too, but there remains substantial charm in a hole that is short on distance and long on challenge.

Golf Digest’s architecture editor, Ron Whitten, is a fan of the game’s more subtle challenges, with a particular affinity for perilous par 3s, writing:  

“A one-shot hole that is a delicate pitch to a daunting target has been all but forgotten. Not that they were ever that popular. The best took

One of the great events on the sporting calendar – the NCAA Tournament – is upon us and it happens to coincide with the busiest part of the Myrtle Beach golf season. So if you are in town, where are the best places to watch the Big Dance and monitor your progress in the office pool?

The Grand Strand is home to a lot of outstanding sports bars, including Buffalo Wild Wings in Carolina Forest and Wild Wing Café at Barefoot Landing, but here are five local establishments

Generous fairways. Superb conditions. Outstanding customer service.

Many factors combine to make Tradition Club a 4.5-star layout, according to Golf Digest, and contribute to its inviting atmosphere.

Tradition isn’t one of seven Myrtle Beach golf courses ranked among America’s 100 Greatest, but it delivers an outstanding round of golf and a good value. It’s the type of course people want to play year after year.

The Ron Garl design earned its name; Tradition isn’t a tricked up layout. The challenge is in front of golfers as Garl’s only Grand Strand layout features wide fairways, many of them lined with Carolina pine trees, and some of area’s largest greens.

From a design perspective, Tradition offers great variety. The par 4s range in length from 329 to 475 yards. Some holes encourage players to bomb away with the driver while others demand precision off the tee. Unlike many area courses, water isn’t a huge factor, coming into view on nine holes, but Tradition does have a pair of island greens that are memorable.

Two of the course’s four par 5s are… 

The field for the 19th annual Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am will feature a high profile cast of current and former sports and music stars.

Headlining the field for this year’s event, which will be played April 15 at Barefoot Resort’s Dye Club in North Myrtle Beach, are PGA Tour star Dustin Johnson, NASCAR standout Denny Hamlin, former Ryder Cup captain and 20-time PGA Tour winner Davis Love III, LPGA icon Nancy Lopez, former NFL legends