Myrtle Beach is America’s Most Popular Golf Destination, According to National Golf Foundation

If you are taking a Myrtle Beach golf trip this year, you will be in good company.

The National Golf Foundation polled core golfers throughout the United States and Canada about their favorite destinations, and the results reaffirmed Myrtle Beach’s position as North America’s most popular golf trip.

More than 17 percent of core golfers in the United States have played along the Grand Strand the last two years, by far the highest percentage of any destination, according to the NGF. Phoenix/Scottsdale was a distant second at 12.2 percent.

“It’s gratifying to see the NGF research confirm Myrtle Beach’s popularity amongst the constituency that matters most – golfers,” said Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday president Bill Golden. “The Grand Strand has always prided itself on offering great golf and value, a combination that is appealing to everyone.”

When the survey results are broken down by census region, the depth of the Myrtle Beach’s appeal becomes even more apparent. Myrtle Beach (38 percent) was the most popular destination among golfers in the North by a huge margin, attracting a higher percentage of golfers than West Palm Beach (14.5 percent), Orlando (13.2 percent) and Hilton Head (9.5 percent) combined.

In the South, the Grand Strand (20.4 percent) was the most popular destination as well, easily outpolling Orlando (12 percent) and Pinehurst (10 percent). Even in the Midwest, where nonstop flight service is limited, Myrtle Beach was the third most popular trip, attracting 11.1 percent of traveling golfers.

The survey results were equally encouraging in Canada, where Myrtle Beach (15.2 percent) edged Phoenix/Scottsdale (14.7 percent) as the most popular destination. In Ontario, where golfers now enjoy the benefit of nonstop flight service on WestJet, Spirit and Porter Airlines, Myrtle Beach is the dominant locale, attracting 26.4 percent of golfers, more than twice as many as second place Orlando (11.3 percent).

NGF conducted an online survey among a representative sample of core golfers in the U.S. and Canada (adults, aged 18+ who have played 8 or more rounds in the last 12 months).  Golfers were further qualified based on having taken a golf trip in the last two years.  A golf trip is defined as one that originated from their permanent home and involved at least one overnight stay in which the main purpose of the trip was to play golf.

•    Data collection took place in February 2013.
•    A total of 1,005 golf travelers completed the survey in the U.S. and 1,204 in Canada.
•    Data were weighted by age, gender and geography to ensure a representative sample of core golf travelers.

The margin of error is +/-  2.3% at the 95% confidence level.