Elite 8: Myrtle Beach Golf Courses Designed by PGA Championship Winners

Eight of the area’s 100 golf courses were designed by players who have won the Wanamaker Trophy, providing you plenty of “major” options for your fall golf trip. Here is a look at the PGA Championship winners and the Myrtle Beach golf courses they have designed:

Jack Nicklaus – The 4-time PGA winner has two of the area’s most memorable and popular designs to his credit – Pawleys Plantation Golf Club and Long Bay Club. The back nine at Pawleys plays along a tidal saltmarsh and provides some of the area’s most stunning visuals, highlighted by the 13th, a short par 3 that is as treacherous as it is pretty. Long Bay, which features mounded fairways and the photogenic 10th hole, is widely regarded as one of the area’s best tests.

Gary Player – The Black Knight gave us Blackmoor Golf Club, a hidden gem located along the South Strand. Golfers never forget the par 4 eighth hole, a dogleg right par 4 that provides the option to play through a chute in the woods that shortens the hole dramatically, but it is full of risk.

Raymond Floyd – Arrowhead Country Club was designed by the two-time PGA champion. A 27-hole facility, Arrowhead is home to the Cypress, Lakes and Waterway nines. The course is renowned for its conditioning and being one of six Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday layouts that play along the Intracoastal Waterway.

Lanny Wadkins – The 1977 PGA winner, working in conjunction with Tom Fazio, designed TPC Myrtle Beach, a layout that has been ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses. TPC Myrtle Beach was also the home course for Dustin Johnson, one of the favorites to win this year’s event, when he launched his professional career.

Larry Nelson – The 1981 and ‘87 victor at the PGA gave us the Avocet Course at Wild Wing. The player-friendly layout features one of the Myrtle Beach’s best short par 4s, the 308-yard 14th hole.

Davis Love III – This year’s Ryder Cup captain won his only major at the 1997 PGA at Winged Foot, and four years later he gave us his namesake design – the Love Course at Barefoot Resort. The top 100 public course is renowned for its creativity and the faux ruins of an 18th century plantation home that helps frame holes four through six.

Nick Price – The two-time winner of the Wanamaker Trophy designed the Members Course at Grande Dunes.

How many Myrtle Beach golf courses designed by PGA Championship winners have you played?