Myrtle Beach Golf News

Twenty four golfers gathered around the bag drop at Barefoot Resort. Smiles were as plentiful as the fall sunshine and from a distance the group looked like the countless others that flock to Myrtle Beach for a golf vacation.

But when half of the group started talking, accents rarely heard on Myrtle Beach golf courses began filling the air. We aren’t talking about a New Yawk accent or even the one our friends from Bahston bring – they are among our most loyal visitors –

Beware of the Bear along the Myrtle Beach golf scene’s North Strand: the Long Bay Club.

Open for business in 1988, Long Bay Club is a distinctive, albeit totally diverse style course designed by golf’s all-time major champion Jack Nicklaus, one of two Myrtle Beach golf courses to his credit.

Nicklaus’ signature of favoring left-to-right shot making isn’t the focal part of this design. Instead, the Golden Bear and his design team force golfers to hurdle greenside

The name Indian Wells has a coast-to-coast connection with golfers.

Many are familiar with the Indian Wells located in California: the resort hotel founded by legendary entertainers Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in the ‘50s whose course eventually became the annual host for the PGA Tour’s Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

But the Myrtle Beach golf scene has its own Indian Wells: the one designed by architect Gene Hamm in 1984, renovated by Hamm in 2002 and two years later named

When we’ve ranked restaurants in the past (everything from seafood and steak to chicken wings and oysters), we’ve tried to stay with locally owned establishments. But a lot of people find comfort in chain restaurants where the food is a known quantity.

With that in mind, we offer you a look at the area's five best restaurants that have familiar names and, in most cases, multiple locations for your convenience on a Myrtle Beach golf trip.

1. Ruth’s Chris – It

Azalea Sands Golf Club was a landmark long before Myrtle Beach became christened Golf Capital of the World.

Next year the North Strand course will celebrate its 40th birthday, and Azalea Sands, a long-established staple of many Myrtle Beach golf trips, is as popular as ever.

Playing alongside the Intracoastal Waterway, Azalea Sands prides itself on offering players a fast-paced by round. By no means is it a layout that favors the short hitter. It begins and ends with 500-yard plus par 5s and in-between has four lengthy par 3s including two that stretch 207 and 221 yards, respectively.

Azalea Sands’ is a traditional layout with tree-lined fairways and well-guarded Bermuda greens. Another “old-style’’ tradition golfers appreciate is uninterrupted scenery without condos or home in the sightlines.

The course can be stretched to nearly 7,000 yards (6,907), but has several favorable teeing areas for all levels of play. You’ll definitely use all 14 clubs in the golf bag when attempting to tackle Azalea Sands on a Myrtle Beach golf vacation.

The course was renovated in 2009, Golf Magazine Top 100 nominee teacher Glen Davis offers on-site instruction, and the recognizable Azalea Sands marquee that frequently informs thousands of golfers about discounted rates welcomes players.

Architect Gene Hamm’s work is recognizable to golfers who frequent the Grand Strand. Other Hamm Myrtle Beach courses are Beachwood Golf Club, Burning Ridge Golf Club, Eagle Nest Golf Club, Indian Wells Golf Club and Quail Creek Golf Club.
 

With almost 100 Myrtle Beach golf courses to choose from, all the big-name designers have built links on the Grand Strand.

Names like Nicklaus, Fazio, Dye and Palmer, just to name a few, have all left their marks on the Myrtle Beach golf scene.

But perhaps none left their fingerprints along the Grand Strand more than Tom Jackson, who has had a hand in designing six courses on the Grand Strand.

One doesn't have to look hard to find Jackson's handiwork, a craft he honed while

The Palmetto Course at Myrtlewood has long been a Myrtle Beach golf favorite. Myrtlewood’s head pro, Rick Schultz, and Bill Hickey from Knoxville, Tn., tell you what you can expect at the Edmund Alt design.

The downhill slider is one of the most frightening putts in golf. Professionals get antsy standing over a shot that practically screams, “I'm the first of three putts!!” But in this installment of Nature Valley's Tips From the Pro, Classic Swing Golf School's Ted Frick shows you how to take the fear out of your stroke.

More Video Golf Tips, Please!

In the nearly 40 years since it opened, Myrtlewood’s Palmetto Course has pleased countless players and will continue to do so in the future.

Taking a Myrtle Beach golf trip this fall doesn’t mean you have to be away from your favorite team. Myrtle Beach is filled with sports bars that carry the NFL Sunday Ticket and cater to fans from other cities who brought their football allegiances with them. If you are taking a Myrtle Beach golf trip and are a fan of the Steelers, Giants, Redskins, Browns or Eagles, here are places you can go to find friendly faces this fall. * Pittsburgh Steelers: Fans from the Steel City are all over

Mike Swanson never anticipated comparing schedules with PGA Tour star and Myrtle Beach golf spokesman Dustin Johnson would be part of his to-do list this fall. Then again, he never dreamed he would be the winner of the Golf For a Year in Myrtle Beach sweepstakes, which included a round at TPC Myrtle Beach with Johnson. When Swanson received an email informing him he had won Golf For a Year, it didn’t move to the top of his priority list – who hasn’t received a message

The East Course at the Pearl is the latest Myrtle Beach golf course to add its name to the list of layouts making the switch to MiniVerde Bermuda grass greens. The East Course, a 4-star layout, according to Golf Digest’s prestigious Best Places to Play guide, reopened on Saturday, October 1 and the early results are positive. After closing in August, the old bentgrass greens on the East Course were fumigated and the greens complexes were sprigged with MiniVerde. The grow-in

There are more than 1,000 restaurants along the Grand Strand, and Gulfstream Cafe is almost universally regarded as one of the best.Gulfstream is located beside Marlin Quay Marina, just south of the Garden City Connector, and much like Myrtle Beach, it’s an ideal blend of quality and casual. Specializing in seafood and steak, Gulfstream provides an outstanding dining experience and unforgettable views of Murrells Inlet.Cost: $10-$30 per entreeAtmosphere: Casual. Seating is available

Fall golf season is nearly upon us and the seven Myrtle Beach golf courses that installed new putting greens this summer will be ready to welcome golfers, and keep Myrtle Beach on par with the world’s leading luxury golf resorts. Each of the seven golf courses installed an ultradwarf Bermuda grass that replicates the best qualities of bentgrass while thriving during the warm summer months in Myrtle Beach. The most popular of the new ultradwarf grasses are Champion and MiniVerde and they were

Claude Pardue, owner of the three Mystical Golf courses – Man O’War, The Witch and The Wizard – likes to say all golfers know beauty, and his layouts deliver it in spades, particularly Man O’War. The Dan Maples design features and abundance of scenery and, not coincidentally, fans. The course, with a 107-acre lake as its centerpiece, is one of the Myrtle Beach area’s most recognizable. Before you tee it up at Man O’War, here are five things you need to know:1. H2O