Myrtle Beach Golf News & Updates

When golfers hear the name TPC, it conjures up images of the PGA Tour and island greens. When players think of Myrtle Beach, great golf courses, good times and the ultimate buddy golf trip come to mind.

Given the strength of the respective brands, the marriage between one of golf’s most respected group of courses and the game’s most popular destination, Myrtle Beach was a natural one. The TPC-Myrtle Beach opened in 1999, hosted the Senior PGA Tour Championship, and hasn’t looked back.

The golf course, designed by Tom Fazio and Lanny Wadkins, immediately took its place among the best Myrtle Beach golf courses, delivering a stout challenge and conditions, from the bag drop to the 19th hole, that provide traveling golfers with a glimpse of what life is like for Tour pros.
 

TPC’s locker room is the area’s nicest, the practice facility (which is open at all times to any Nationwide, Champions Tour or PGA Tour professional) is expansive, and the greens are fast.  The TPC-Myrtle Beach even has caddy paths cut in, despite requiring a cart for resort play.

It all plays a part in delivering the TPC experience.

“(Golfers) want that feeling they… aren’t used to having,” course owner Chip Smith said. “For the most part we keep our greens a little firmer, a little faster than most people … but (golfers) know they are experiencing a little more of what they see on TV.”

TPC-Myrtle Beach can rightfully say it gives players a little more of what they see on television because it has been there. Tom Watson won the Senior PGA Tour Championship when it was played at TPC-Myrtle Beach in 2000. The course also hosts one of the nation’s best collegiate tournaments, the General Hackler Invitational, every spring.

If that weren’t evidence enough, PGA Tour star Dustin Johnson calls the course home. He practices, plays and occasionally hangs out at TPC watching events he isn’t playing in.

“It’s a great golf course,” Johnson said. “It’s always…

The 12th hole at Pawleys Plantation is the easiest on the course, according to the scorecard. A short dogleg right – just 382 yards from the tips – with a fairway bunker that meanders from tee to green, it’s one of many outstanding holes at the Jack Nicklaus design.

What makes No. 12 memorable comes as golfers near the green. After 11 holes carved through a pine forest, the marsh that separates Pawleys Island from the mainland erupts into view around the 12th green.

The marsh, which provides some of the Grand Strand’s most stunning scenery, is visible on six of Pawleys Plantation’s last seven holes, elevating a very good course to the level of truly memorable.

Golfers have to traverse a dike to reach the 13th and 17th tee boxes, and the tidal marsh is a factor on 14, 16 and 18 as well.

“The dike going to 13 and 17, if you don’t remember that something is wrong,” Dale Ketola, an assistant pro at Pawleys Plantation said. “It’s so beautiful you can’t help but remember it.”

Pawleys Plantation is home to the type of natural beauty all the money in Dubai can’t buy, but the course offers much more than visuals. Nicklaus has earned a reputation as one of golf’s best architects by creating courses that are challenging yet fair.

Nicklaus has been involved in the design of 269 courses, and Pawleys Plantation is considered by many to be among his best. Playing 7,026 yards from the appropriately named Golden Bear tees, the course can offer as stiff a challenge as any in Myrtle Beach. But Pawleys has five sets of tees, all named after birds that call the property home, that allow players of varying skill levels to enjoy the layout.

True to his design philosophy, Nicklaus created a course at Pawleys that rewards intelligence and precision far more than raw power. The fairways are open but the pine forest and marsh demand accuracy.

Pawleys Plantations’ greens generally slope from… 

SouthCreek, an Arnold Palmer design at Myrtle Beach National, relies on a simple recipe for success: the course gives golfers what they want. The layout is playable, the staff is friendly, and players have the chance to score well. Nearly a million people make the annual pilgrimage for a Myrtle Beach golf trip, and SouthCreek is an ideal course to have as part of a package. The 4-star design has been one of the area’s most popular layouts since its 1975 opening, providing the

As the home of 27 holes – on the Stewart, Cameron and MacKay nines – Thistle Golf Club offers an embarrassment of riches. The Tim Cate design is good from start to finish, regardless of which combination of nines you are playing.

Identifying the best of the best at the North Strand facility isn’t easy, but after some gnashing of teeth, head pro Gene Weldon was able to name his three favorites. Without further ado, here are Thistle’s three best holes from the perspective of its longtime head pro.

If you are taking a Myrtle Beach golf trip this year, you will be in good company.

The National Golf Foundation polled core golfers throughout the United States and Canada about their favorite destinations, and the results reaffirmed Myrtle Beach’s position as North America’s most popular golf trip.

More than 17 percent of core golfers in the United States have played along the Grand Strand the last two years, by far the highest percentage of any destination, according to

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…