Myrtle Beach Golf News & Updates

The Moorland Course at Legends Resort is a Myrtle Beach golf standout, but it never hurts to have a little local knowledge before attempting to tame a layout Golf Digest ranked America’s 37th toughest.

With that in mind, here are five things you need to know about Moorland:

The Moorland Course at Legend’s Resort is one of Myrtle Beach golf’s most recognized layouts. The P.B. Dye design is the 37th most difficult course in the nation, according to Golf Digest, and it’s one area’s most popular. While Moorland is unquestionably a stern test of golf, it’s much more than that. Dye made great use of pot bunkers, elevation changes and water to create a layout that is as visually appealing as it is challenging. The course is home to

Golf legend Gary Player typically designs his courses with playability for the average golfer in mind, and he succeeded in a big way at Blackmoor Golf Club. Whether you are a scratch golfer or a 25-handicap, the layout has many memorable holes, but with the help of the course’s esteemed head pro, Matt Daly, we’ve identified the three best. Without further ado, here are three holes you will be telling your friends about: No. 5, 376-yard, par 4: The first of Blackmoor’s

Before striking your first shot at Blackmoor Golf Club, here are 10 things to know about the 20-year-old course. Some will help you with course management while others provide a little background on a layout that is full of character.

1. Hold On Tight: Don’t try to be a hero off the first tee. Blackmoor’s opening six holes represent the course’s most difficult stretch. The fairways are relatively narrow over the first third of the day, so play it safe and save your

The first thing you notice on Otter Course at River Oaks Golf Plantation is the sunshine and space, lots more glorious space to spray the golf ball without being in the woods.

River Oaks, just 18 months removed from installing new Champion Ultradwarf Bermuda grass on the Otter and Fox nines, launched a renovation project that has brought a new look to the 27-hole facility. The Otter nine was the first beneficiary of the overhaul, which is being aided by Craig Schreiner, who received rave

Former PGA Tour player Hugh Royer, the director of instruction at Champions Golf Academy, provides a tip gauranteed to improve your short game. Royer, who currently coaches Tour player Garrett Willis, goes over how to hit and effective “putt-chip” in this installment of Nature Valley’s Tips From the Pro.

Don Arndt Jr., decked out in a short sleeve Chicago Bears shirt on an idyllic fall afternoon in early November, was taking pictures with his cell phone and sending them to his buddies at work, taunting them with images of a Myrtle Beach golf trip. Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Hampton was battling his teammates to-be in a high stakes match on the Norman Course at Barefoot Resort. Meanwhile, 670 The Score radio host Dan McNeil was broadcasting his radio show from Barefoot’s clubhouse

When Jay McAllister saw the group in front of him driving back towards the tee, his first thought was, “I must have hit somebody.”

The former Coastal Carolina University golfer had attempted to drive the green on the 335-yard, 4th hole – a dogleg left – on the Lakes Course at Arrowhead Country Club, and thought he had yanked the ball into an unsuspecting group.

As the group got closer, McAllister heard them yelling, but the shouts were of amazement, not

In this week’s installment of Nature Valley’s Tips from the Pro, Ted Frick of the Classic Swing Golf School explains a key to getting spin on your iron shots. Hint: Soil conservation won’t help!

Golf might be what brings you to Myrtle Beach, but you have to eat when you get here. Just as you play new courses when you are in town, here are five local restaurants you should make it a point to frequent.  

Sea Captain's House – Sitting ocean front, the view and food at Sea Captain's House are hard to beat. Every table gets unlimited hush puppies and the menu features, but is not limited to, steak and seafood (I can vouch in the strongest of terms for the

Golf World annually eschews the traditional practice of relying on formal “raters” to evaluate courses and instead polls its readers to determine the top 50 public, resort and private golf courses in America.

The game’s leading weekly publication recently released its 2010 rankings and not surprisingly, readers rated Myrtle Beach golf courses among the nation’s best. Golf World readers ranked Caledonia Golf & Fish Club as the 20th best public course in the

Putting frustrates the best of golfers at one time or another (see Woods, Tiger at the 2009 U.S. Open). Blame is often placed on the flat stick itself  – admit, your garage is full of putters! – but the problems are mostly mechanical.

Brad Redding, the director of instruction at the Grande Dunes Golf Academy and one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers, provides a tip on the essentials of succesful

Tiger’s Eye is one of the Grand Strand’s best and most memorable courses. Elevation changes, coquina boulders and the work of Tim Cate conspired to create a layout that many consider to be among the best Myrtle Beach golf courses.

If you are planning to play the Ocean Ridge Plantation course, enjoy a look at assistant pro Patrick Holloman three favorite holes at Tiger’s Eye.
No. 4, 422-yard, par 4: The ultimate risk-reward hole. The fourth isn’t

It was 1970 and Ron Bingeman, Larry Spangler, Everett Cassel and Bob Hayes had just concluded their first Myrtle Beach golf trip. The group stayed at the Caravelle, played the Dunes Club, Pine Lakes and Litchfield Country Club, but when the trip ended, disappointment was the prevailing emotion.

“We came for four days the first time, and when we went home, we were sick,” Bingeman said. “We said we were never going to (come for only four days) again. We were going to have to get (our stay) up to a week.”
 

That first trip launched a four-decade love affair with Myrtle Beach golf. Bingeman and his buddies made good on their word, staying for a week in 1971, and have come back every year since, recently enjoying their 40th consecutive trip to the area.

When the group began their annual pilgrimage, Richard Nixon was president, the average NFL player salary was $23,000, and there were barely enough Myrtle Beach golf courses to fill their itinerary. Much has obviously changed, but the same experience they enjoyed in 1970 is what brings them back today.

“It’s is absolutely the highlight of the year,” Spangler said. “It’s like being back in college with the boys. It’s a real highlight. Good food, good golf and we get along really well.”

The trip has grown to nine days, but nature and fate have at various times attempted to keep them from coming. The closest the group came to missing the trip was 1989 when Hurricane Hugo slammed the South Carolina coast just days before their arrival.

The hotel they were slated to stay in had its first floor washed out and the area suffered extensive damage, but the suburban Philadelphia residents weren’t deterred. They called every hotel on the beach looking for a place to stay, eventually finding a condo at Oyster Bay in Brunswick County, N.C. The North Strand was spared the worst of the storm and the group forged on.

“There were enough courses open and they had dragged off the trees,” Spangler said. “We just owned the beach. It was so strange to see almost nobody down here. “

In the mid-1970s it was Cassel’s Volkswagen Van that attempted to throw a monkey wrench into their plans, but a mechanical problem stood no chance against the aspiring MacGyvers. The van’s accelerator cable snapped at night on I-95, leaving the foursome scrambling for transportation.

While Cassel was inspecting the situation, Bingeman found a blown out truck tire on the side of the road and wondered if the steel in the tire could be used to replace the cable. Cassel removed a knife from his toolbox, cut out the steel belting, spliced it together and ran it to the engine in the back. The van didn’t exceed 50 miles per hour the rest of the trip but it survived the journey (as a matter of fact, the rigged cable stayed on the van until December of that year). 

“Instead of losing days, we lost about 30 minutes,” Bingeman said.

Other than those two incidents, the group hasn’t faced any substantial threats. They’ve always traveled between mid-September and October, and never had to worry about getting any grief from their spouses.

When Christmas time comes, all they request is a trip to Myrtle Beach.

Just as amazing as the length of time the group has been coming to Myrtle Beach is their continuity. Spangler, Cassel and Bingeman have made the jaunt every year. Hayes, who has since passed away, dropped out after the 1989 trip, but finding a replacement wasn’t difficult.

Bingeman worked with Craig Aiken and the two often played and talked about golf. When Hayes dropped out, Aiken seamlessly filled the void.

“He was always telling me about Myrtle Beach,” Aiken said. “Then one of the guys couldn’t go anymore and Ron suggested I might want to give it a try. Here I am 20 years later.”

On Aiken’s first trip, he was surprised to learn the group stopped somewhere between Philadelphia and Myrtle Beach to play 18 before finishing the journey, but approximately 10 years ago, they began flying. The group now takes a Spirit Air flight out of Atlantic City, allowing them to play the extra round on the Grand Strand.

After 40 years, they have played practically every course – they have the logoed golf balls to prove it – and have made friends along the Grand Strand, starting with Thistle head pro Gene Weldon. As they look forward to their fifth decade of Myrtle Beach golf, they have the knowledge of locals.

Each year they pick a different region of the Strand and concentrate on courses in that particular area. There is no bickering about course selection, restaurants or anything else, despite the fact they spend as much time lobbing verbal grenades as they do hitting the ball.

The Myrtle Beach golf community has changed considerably since 1970, but group’s passion for the game and the Grand Strand have been constants.

“As the new (courses were) developed, we tried to keep up with each one,” Bingeman said. “They just kept outdoing each other, getting better and better.”

Not coincidentally, the arc of their trip has traced that of Myrtle Beach as a golf destination, and they anticipate year number 41 being the best yet.

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

Want to reach the green on a par 5 in two? Being able to hammer a 3-wood in the fairway is a virtual necissity, and in this week's installment of Nature Valley's Tips From the Pro, Ted Frick, the director of instruction at Classic Swing Golf School, tell you how to do it.