Golf Channel’s Matt Ginella Ranks 3 Myrtle Beach Courses Among America’s Top 50

December 7, 2015

Ginella, who has traveled the world playing the game, included Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (No. 14), Dunes Golf & Beach Club (No. 22) and True Blue Golf Club (No. 42) on his prestigious list and lavished praise on each layout (see embedded videos and complete list below).

Caledonia, with its alley of oak trees entering the property, antebellum style clubhouse, and sublime design has long been a favorite of Ginella’s and nearly everyone else. Mike Strantz’ first design, Caledonia is equal parts art and architecture.

While the course is memorable throughout, the 18th is regarded by many as among the best closing holes in golf. It’s a dogleg right par 4 that requires a carry over water to a multi-tiered green resting in the shadow of the clubhouse. Golfers gather on the clubhouse deck to enjoy a drink and watch their fellow players finish, creating one of the most memorable 19th holes the game has to offer.

The Dunes Club is Myrtle Beach’s most famed layout. The Robert Trent Jones Sr., design was one of the driving forces behind the area’s emergence as a national destination and it’s better now than it has ever been.

A former host of the U.S. Women’s Open and the six Senior PGA Tour Championships, the Dunes Club is a timeless design, highlighted by Alligator Alley, a 3-hole stretch that concludes with Waterloo, the par 5 13th that plays around Lake Singleton.

True Blue, also a Strantz design, shares very few similarities, beyond the architect of record, with Caledonia, its sister course, but it’s no less spectacular. Everything at True Blue is big, starting with the fairways, greens and waste bunkers that create the visual contrast the helps make the course so memorable.

Beginning with a monster par 5 and concluding with a par 4 that rewards precision over power, True Blue tests every part of a player’s game, and the course has deservedly seen it’s national profile rise.

Here is the complete list of Ginella’s top 50 public courses:
1. Pebble Beach Golf Links (Pebble Beach, Calif.)
2. Pacific Dunes (Bandon, Ore.)
3. Pinehurst #2 (Pinehurst, N.C.)
4. Black at Bethpage State Park (Farmingdale, N.Y.)
5. Straits at Whistling Straits (Sheboygan, Wis.)
6. Pasatiempo Golf Club (Santa Cruz, Calif.)
7. Spyglass Hill (Pebble Beach, Calif.)
8. Bandon Trails (Bandon, Ore.)
9. Bandon Dunes (Bandon, Ore.)
10. Forest Dunes Golf Club (Roscommon, Mich.)
11. Red Course at Streaming Resort (Fort Meade, Fla.)
12. Ocean Course (Kiawah Island, S.C.)
13. Harbour Town Golf Links (Hilton Head, S.C.)
14. Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (Pawleys, Island, S.C.)
15. Pine Needles (Southern Pines, N.C.)
16. River Course at Blackwolf Run
17. Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort (Lahaina, Hawaii)
18. Chambers Bay (University Place, Wash.)
19. Pinehurst No. 8 (Pinehurst, N.C.)
20. Seaside Course at Sea Island (St. Simons Island, Ga.)
21. Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass (Ponte Vedra, Fla.)
22. Dunes Golf & Beach Club (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
23. Pinehurst No. 4 at Pinehurst Resort
24. Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club (Southern Pines, N.C.)
25. TPC Harding Park (San Francisco, Calif.)
26. TPC Old White at The Greenbrier (White Sulphur Springs, W.V.)
27. Old MacDonald at Bandon Dunes Resort (Bandon, Ore.)
28. Blue Course at Streamsong Resort (Fort Meade, Fla.)
29. Stadium Course at PGA West (La Quinta, Calif.)
30. South Course at Torrey Pines (La Jolla, Calif.)
31. Arcadia Bluffs (Arcadia, Mich.)
32. Gamble Sands (Brewster, Wash.)
33. Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
34. The Classic at Madden’s on Gull Lake (Brainerd, Minn.)
35. Dormie Club (West End, N.C.)
36. Saguaro at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club (Fountain Hills, Ariz.)
37. Tobacco Road Golf Club (Sanford, N.C.)
38. Erin Hills (Erin, Wisc.)
39. CordeValle Golf Club (San Martin, Calif.)
40. Palmer Course at Turtle Bay (Kahuku, Hawaii)
41. TPC Deere Run (Silivis, Ill.)
42. True Blue Golf Club (Pawleys Island, S.C.)
43. Smith Signature at Treetops Resort (Gaylord, Mich.)
44. Fazio Foothills at Omni Barton Creek (Austin, Texas)
45. Manila Golf Course (Lanai City, Hawaii)
46. Mauna Kea Golf Course (Kohala Coast, Hawaii)
47. Crosswater at Sunriver Resort (Sunriver, Ore.)
48. Bayonet at Bayonet and Blackhorse (Seaside, Calif.)
49. The Quarry at Giants Ridge (Biwabik, Minn.)
50. East Course at The Broadmoor (Colorado Springs, Col.)