Myrtle Beach Golf News & Updates

On January 15, US Air flight 1549 crash landed in the frigid Hudson River. Six of the passengers were en route to a Myrtle Beach golf trip. The group recently returned to the Grand Strand for four days in the Golf Capital of the World. Hear how the accident changed their lives and why Myrtle Beach is their favorite golf destination.

Photos of Flight 1549

Caledonia is one of the Grand Strand’s most acclaimed layouts, gaining top 100 accolades from every substantive list, and many players will tell you it’s their favorite Myrtle Beach golf course.

The expectations of players that turn onto Caledonia Drive and travel nearly a half-mile to the course’s clubhouse are higher than the soaring oak trees the line both sides of the road. Caledonia faces the daunting task of being the course everyone circles on their itinerary, and it always seems to deliver.

 “It will exceed your expectations every time,” said Al Serafino, a Brookville, Md. resident. “You get excited every time you play a new course and it always seems to not live up to the hype, but here it’s just the opposite. We love it.”

The late Mike Strantz was denied the opportunity to assemble an extended resume as an elite golf course architect due to the ravages of cancer. But Strantz was supernova on the architecture scene, shining brightly during more than a decade-long stint working on his own. Renowned as equal parts artist and architect, much of Strantz’s lofty reputation is derived from his work at Caledonia.

The Pawleys Island course was Strantz’s first design and he was given complete autonomy. Set on property that a thriving rice plantation called home through most of the 19th century, Strantz crafted a course that is as good technically as it is beautiful.

A 6,500-yard, par 70, Caledonia isn’t exceedingly long, but it is a thinking man’s golf course that delivers one memorable hole after another. Players shouldn’t be fooled by the distance, three front nine par 3s, make the course seem a little shorter than it plays. Caledonia has several meaty par 4s, particularly on the back side, and isn’t susceptible to being gouged by anyone with a new driver and a sleeve of Pro-V1s.

Caledonia has greens that are three clubs long (60 yards) in some instances and are typically defended by sand, water or even the centuries old oak trees on the property. Ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by Golf Digest and the Top 100 You Can Play by Golf Magazine, Caledonia is a second shot course.

With the size of some of the greens…

Looking for an argument everyone enjoys? Ask them to name their three favorite holes at Caledonia. The quality of the highly regarded layout doesn’t relent, making debate over favorite holes even more subjective than usual.

That being said, no one knows Caledonia better than Todd Weldon, the only head pro the course has known. Weldon started with Caledonia upon its opening in 1994, and his stewardship has been vital to the course’s development into one of the nation’s

Caledonia is one of the most acclaimed Myrtle Beach golf courses, earning Top 100 honors on every relevant list. But more important than rankings is what Caledonia's most important constituency – its players – say.

A father leads his excited children into the stadium. Friends, young and old, share a laugh, a drink and ponder who on the field will make it will make it to The Show. The intimate ballpark allows fans a close look at rising professional athletes and the most expensive seat ($11) is equal to the cost of a 16-ounce beer at the new Yankee Stadium.

A minor league baseball game is an attractive entertainment option because of its broad appeal, and nowhere is that more evident than BB&T

The family stories that pour out of the Martin’s PGA TOUR Superstore Father-Son Team Classic are many, and every tale of a happy family enjoying the event puts a smile on the face of tournament organizers. But the world’s largest father-son golf tournament can be every bit as therapeutic as it is celebratory.

The 12th annual Father-Son Golf Classic, which will be held July 16-18 in Myrtle Beach, has used the power of golf to heal family wounds.

“We get stories that

The mercury is rising and the beaches are filling, but Myrtle Beach remains the Golf Capital of the World in the summer months as well. If you are making a family beach trip, don’t forget to pack your clubs because summer is as good a time as any to play.

Summer has emerged as the “secret” season in Myrtle Beach. Course conditions are excellent, greens fees are lower and premium tee times are easier to get. With that in mind, here five tips as you prepare for a summer

NFL Hall of Famer Dan Hampton and Comcast SportsNet media star Dave Kaplan recently accompanied six Chicago-area golfers on a trip to Myrtle Beach to celebrate the launch of Spirit Air's new direct service from O'Hare to Myrtle.

See what the Windy City stars had to say about their trip to the Golf Capital of the World.

Possum Trot is one of Myrtle Beach’s 10 oldest golf courses and the Russell Breeden design has gotten better with age. The course is nearly always in impeccable condition and has grown into one of the area’s most popular layouts.

We consulted with Possum Trot staff and players to determine the course’s three favorite holes and after much deliberation, here is our list:

No. 11, 460-yard, par 4 – The Big Possum, as it’s affectionately known, is the

Possum Trot opened its doors in 1968 and has been a Myrtle Beach golf institution ever since. Under the stewardship of the Glens Group, the layout has evolved over time, maintaining its place as one of the Grand Strand's most popular layouts.

It’s early evening after a round on your favorite Myrtle Beach golf course and your stomach is rumbling louder than a stock car on a speedway.  This isn’t the time for a high-end sit down dinner. Good food, fast service and a check with one digit on the left side of the decimal are the priorities

So what are the options for a group looking for a quality dinner that costs less than $10 per entrée? In Myrtle Beach the choices are many, but we’ve made things

Golf Digest dispatched more than 900 raters to play the best courses America has to offer, and its team of experts came to the same conclusion millions of golfers have – there are more great layouts in Myrtle Beach than any destination in the country.

Golf Digest unveiled its prestigious biennial ranking of “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” in its May issue, and the list included seven Myrtle Beach area golf courses, more than any other destination. To put that number into perspective, California (9) was the only other state to have more than seven courses on the list and Florida had just four layouts make the cut.
The highest rated Myrtle Beach golf course was No. 33 Heritage Club, followed by the Dunes Club (No. 38), Tidewater (No. 41), Caledonia (No. 66), Grande Dunes Resort Club (No. 77) and the Fazio (No. 96) and Dye courses (No. 99) at Barefoot Resort & Golf.

Golf Digest ranked courses on a scale of 1 to 10 in seven categories – shot values, resistance to scoring, design variety, memorability, aesthetics, conditioning and ambience. The magazine didn’t list the score for America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, just the order of finish.
 
Heritage, Dunes Club, Caledonia, Tidewater and the Fazio Course were all ranked among the Top 100 on the 2007-08 list. Grande Dunes and the Dye Club are making their Top 100 debut, though neither is a surprise entry.

Grande Dunes is a Roger Rulewich design that features generous fairways and stunning views of the Intracoastal Waterway. The Dye Club is the third course at Barefoot Resort & Golf to earn a Top 100 ranking from Golf Digest (Love is the other). Designed by Pete Dye, the challenge is substantial but universally regarded as fair.

Built on 600 acres of property that used to be home to a pair of historic plantations, Heritage improved 13 spots in the new rankings. The course plays along the Waccamaw River and oozes lowcountry charm with an abundance of live oaks, fresh water marshes and lakes.

The Dunes Club is a member of every meaningful ranking of America’s top public courses, the only real suspense being where it will be ranked. The Robert Trent Jones design is the Grand Strand’s most decorated layout.

Tidewater is arguably the most scenic Myrtle Beach golf course. Tidewater has several holes that play along Cherry Grove Inlet and the nearby Atlantic is visible in spots.

The question at Caledonia is also where, as opposed to if, it will be ranked. Like Heritage, Caledonia is built on the grounds of an old plantation and the views are stunning. The centuries old oak trees and landscaping that rivals that of a botanical garden make the Mike Strantz design one of the area’s most popular courses.

The Fazio Course is yet another repeat member of the list. Tom Fazio is one of the game’s leading architects and his work at the Barefoot course leaves no doubt as to why. The Fazio Course is outstanding from beginning to end and equally pleasing to the eye.

Golf Holiday is the ultimate source for information on Myrtle Beach golf.

The Hootie & the Blowfish Monday after the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am celebrated its 15th birthday with a star-studded field and its fourth consecutive sellout. More than 6,000 people lined the fairways at Barefoot Resort & Golf’s Dye Club to watch Bill Murray, Samuel L. Jackson, Jerome Bettis, Annika Sorenstam and many more play one of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses.

The team led by Murray, PGA TOUR pro Woody Austin and Hootie guitarist Mark Bryan birdied the

Pinewood Prep coach Greg Baechtle brought his team to the Palmetto High School Golf Championship the previous four years, using the nation’s largest high school tournament as a barometer for the Panthers’ strength. In 2010, the tournament field will use the North Charleston school as its measuring stick.

Led by medalist winner Austin Cody, the 41st ranked junior player in the world, according to Golfweek, the Panthers had three of the top six individual finishers and roared

In the few steps its takes to climb from the cart path to the fifth tee box, the architectural and visual beauty of the Fazio Course at Barefoot Resort reveals itself in full, leaving little doubt as to why the layout is ranked among “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses” and one of the best Myrtle Beach golf courses.

A large pond runs up the right side and fairway bunkers loom on both sides, framing the fifth hole like a favorite family portrait. An elevated green flanked by two bunkers looms 499 yards in the distance, golf gold at the end of a rainbow.

Tom Fazio’s reputation as his generation’s greatest architect is secure. He has designed more than 20 top 100 layouts and redesigned Augusta National, plaudits his contemporaries are unable to match. When Barefoot Resort & Golf launched one of the most ambitious projects in travel golf history – opening four high-end layouts at the same time – it was only natural that Fazio was one of the architects involved.

He didn’t disappoint.

The Fazio Course at Barefoot Resort is a top 100 course and there are no shortage of players who believe it’s the facility’s best layout, though the Love, Norman and Dye courses can also make a persuasive case.

The fifth hole is Fazio at his finest, combining beauty and challenge to create a memorable golf experience. Visually the tee shot is intimidating. The bunkers create the illusion of a landing area that appears much smaller than it actually is, but the hole is more than fair from tee to green. Good shots are rewarded, bad shots are punished. It’s a simple premise for good golf course architecture and Fazio abides by it.

While No. 5 stands out, it’s hardly alone. The layout’s greatest asset is…