Myrtle Beach Golf News & Updates

As we head into the winter months, Myrtle Beach still enjoys good golf weather and oysters, a perennial favorite, are in-season. The Grand Strand is home to an abundance of local oyster beds, but where should you go for everyone’s favorite mollusk?

We have recommendations for those of you in search of the area’s best raw bars.

1. Rockefellers – A local’s favorite in North Myrtle Beach, Rockefellers isn’t much to look at from the outside but the food is

River Oaks golf course has undergone a more dramatic change in the last year than any golf course in Myrtle Beach and possibly the region. Signature Golf Group took the reins of the 27-hole facility and course conditions, value and customer service have become the top priorities.

If you haven’t seen the “new” River Oaks, which had its grand reopening on October 21, here are five things about the facility and the recently completed renovation you need to

River Oaks golf course, located in the heart of Myrtle Beach, celebrated its grand re-opening last month and the facility bears little resemblance to the layout golfers played in recent years. The course is much more open, new bunkers have been installed and, in some places, there is additional movement in the fairways.
 

With the changes in mind, we asked Signature Golf Group’s Scott Taylor, who is overseeing the course, to tell us the best hole on each of River Oaks’

Welcome to Charlie’s Corner, the blog home for Golf Channel analyst Charlie Rymer. A lifelong Myrtle Beach golfer, Rymer, with his characteristic wit and unique perspective, will be weighing in on all things for Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday.I’m playing a golf tournament next week.  It’s a four-day event, and I have to keep my own score.  No scramble.  No best ball.  No partner of any kind.  This will be the first time in two years that I’ve done

The Myrtle Beach golf scene is home to many of the game’s most revered architects, past and present. Robert Trent Jones, Pete Dye, Jack Nicholas, Tom Fazio and Arnold Palmer are just a few of the big names that have left their mark on the area.

But an architect of less acclaim has, arguably, the most impressive collection of Myrtle Beach golf courses to his credit. Flying under the national radar, Tim Cate has worked almost exclusively in the Myrtle Beach golf market and his work,

Standing on the second tee at the Dye Course at Barefoot Resort, the challenge and splendor of a Pete Dye golf course emerges in full. There is a carry over wetlands off the tee and a waste bunker runs along the right side of a hole that doglegs the same way.

On the other side of the fairway, large mounds and bunkers await, hazards that seem to be within reach of a driver. The landing area appears to be perilously small.

Reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

The bunkers in the distance are more than 250 yards from the white tees (assuming you can hit the ball where you are aiming), and there is ample room to find the fairway.

The second hole is a primer for golfers enjoying an education in Pete Dye101. The octogenarian architect is one of golf’s all-time greats and visual illusions are one of the reasons why.

The railroad ties, mounding and yawning waste bunkers that Dye is known for are all present at Barefoot Resort. Dye’s work at Barefoot added another considerable entry onto a resume that earned him induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2008.

Dye’s namesake design is the home of one of the nation’s most prominent charity events – the Hootie & The Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am – and it’s one of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, according to Golf Digest.

In addition to his reputation…

Welcome to Charlie's Corner, the blog home for Golf Channel analyst Charlie Rymer. A lifelong Myrtle Beach golfer, Rymer, with his characteristic wit and unique perspective, will be weighing in on all things golf for Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday.

Even though the Majors, Ryder Cup, and Fedex Cup are behind us, there is still plenty of interesting golf being played. And it's golf that I am very familiar with.

Players are jockeying for the final spots for the 2011 PGA Tour season. On

The Dye Course at Barefoot Resort has accumulated numerous accolades in its first decade, earning a reputation as one of best golf courses in Myrtle Beach. Whether you play the course every year or want to book it on your next trip, here are five things about the Dye Course that will be of interest.

1. Hootie’s Home: The Dye Course is home to one of the nation’s best charity events – the Hootie & The Blowfish Monday After The Masters Celebrity Pro-Am. The course has

Pot bunkers, railroad ties and yawning waste bunkers are hallmarks of legendary golf course architect Pete Dye. They are also staples of the highly regarded Dye Course at Barefoot Resort, one of seven Myrtle Beach golf courses ranked among America’s 100 greatest public layouts.

What qualifies as the best at the Dye Course may depend on your thirst for a challenge, but head pro Jeff Diehl shared the layout’s three best holes from his perspective:
 

No. 6, 195-yard, par

Golf courses will often open with an easy hole, allowing players time to find their rhythm. At Meadowlands Golf Club, architect Willard Byrd opted to immediately challenge players, and the results were impressive.

When asked about the best holes at Meadowlands, head pro Mac Hood named the first three. The average golfer  might have selected the seventh, 15th or 17th, holes that provide a chance to pick up a stroke, but Hood likes a challenge. As a result, here are a look at the head

The quest to earn the title of golf’s fifth major seems to be an eternal one, but there is no more debate in air traffic control towers scattered throughout America. Golf’s fifth major is the Schmelli Open, at least to the guys who annually participate. Now in its 10th year, the Schmelli just made its first trek to Myrtle Beach and 19 guys played 10 rounds of golf over five days at Barefoot Resort in hopes of winning money and bragging rights. The Schmelli is the brainchild of Jim

Welcome to Charlie's Corner, the blog home for Golf Channel analyst Charlie Rymer. A lifelong Myrtle Beach golfer, Rymer, with his characteristic wit and unique perspective, will be weighing in on all things golf for Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday.

Here's what I like most about the Ryder Cup: it's an event that makes the guys with the deep pocketbooks nervous.

That's what I can relate to as a former player. And I'm not talking about the deep pocketbook part. 

I

The Dunes Club is the most decorated Myrtle Beach golf course. The PGA, LPGA and Senior Tours have all hosted events at the storied layout and any list of the best at the Dunes Club is certain to spark much debate.

That being said, we asked head pro Dennis Nicholl to name the Robert Trent Jones design’s three-best holes. While the front nine at the Dunes Club is outstanding, the three best holes are all located on the back, according to Nicholl.

Here is a look at the best the Dunes Club has to offer:
 

No. 11, 430-yard, par 4 – The only hole on the course that has been significantly redesigned, the 11th is also one of the best. What was once a short, straight hole is now a dogleg right that plays 370 yards, from the white tees, into a peninsula green.

Drives must stay to the left side of the fairway to avoid the swash. The 11th hole is the beginning of Alligator Alley, arguably the best three-hole stretch on the Myrtle Beach golf scene.

“It’s one of the most picturesque holes we have here,” said Nicholl.

No. 13, 590-yard, par 5 – Known as Waterloo, No. 13 is the most renowned Myrtle Beach golf hole. Once named one of America’s 18 best holes by Sports Illustrated, No. 13 has earned its reputation as the course’s hardest hole.

Lake Singleton plays along the right side and despite the hole’s length – it plays 520 from the white tees – for many people the driver stays in the bag. The best play is to hit the ball about 220 yards off the tee and snuggle up to the lake (without going in!). From there, players can cut as much or as little of the lake as they want in trying to get to the green.

The 13th is a three-shot hole, and the work has only just started when you get to the green.

“People always say the lake is the problem, but really the strength of the 13th hole is the greens complex,” according to Nicholl. “There are a couple deep bunkers (around the green), and you need to have a good wedge coming in to a two-tiered green. If you put it on the wrong side of the green, it’s a three-putt waiting to happen. Anything from birdie to a double digit number is possible.”

No. 18, 430-yard, par 4 – The 18th hole at the Dunes Club has witnessed tournament victories by the likes of Hale Irwin, Gary McCord and Raymond Floyd. It’s a fairly long par 4 with water fronting the green and the prevailing wind coming off the nearby Atlantic is always in your face.

“Check your ego at the door and layup if you have to,” says Nicholl. “So many times I see people 180 to 200 yards out but they don’t take into account the ocean breeze is blowing from the backside of the clubhouse over the top. You might be standing in the fairway and don’t really feel it, hit your ball into the air, and it gets gobbled up and dumped into the water … If you have to take your medicine on 18, sometimes bogey is going to win the hole anyway.”

Any arguments with Nicholl’s choice of the Dunes Club’s three best holes?

The Dunes Golf & Beach Club is one of the oldest and most storied Myrtle Beach golf courses. There is much to know about the Robert Trent Jones design, but here are five facts you may have been unaware of:

On October 29, 1947, when Myrtle Beach was but a sleepy beach town (on a busy day), several area business leaders gathered in Chapin Cabin, yards from the Atlantic Ocean, to discuss the area’s need for more recreational activity. The meeting, which surely included lively discussion and a couple cold drinks, gave rise to the Dunes Golf & Beach Club, and the participants wasted little time in setting a course of action that helped make Myrtle Beach golf what it is today. In May of