National Magazine Ranks 3 Myrtle Beach Golf Courses Among America’s Top 50

October 12, 2009

clubhouse2.jpgGolf 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 nation and its sister course, True Blue, was ranked 26th among public facilities in America.

On the resort side, Dunes Golf & Beach Club was ranked 42nd.

The Golf World honor tops off a banner year for  Caledonia and Dunes Club, both which were also ranked among the Top 100 in the nation by Golf Digest, Golfweek and Golf Magazine in 2009.

True Blue has been ranked among Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Public Courses as well.

“It’s a great honor to have Golf World readers recognize three Myrtle Beach golf courses as being among the top 50 in the nation,” Bill Golden, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday’s president, said. “Caledonia, Dunes Club and True Blue have long been among the area’s most popular layouts, and it’s rewarding to have that popularity affirmed at the national level.”

Just as impressive as three Myrtle Beach golf courses being ranked among America’s 50 best were the number of layouts Golf World readers recognized as being worthy of consideration. Any course that received at least 75 points, earned a spot on Golf World’s Best in State list. Thirty-two Grand Strand golf courses earned that distinction, a number that, while impressive, is artificially low because multi-course facilities like Ocean Ridge Plantation, Myrtle Beach National and Legends Resorts, were ranked as one property.

“Myrtle Beach is the world’s premier golf destination due to the quality and quantity of courses we offer,” Golden said. “The fact that 32 area courses were recognized as being among the ‘Best in State’ is further affirmation of the depth of the Myrtle Beach golf market.”

To put the number of Grand Strand golf courses that received a ‘Best in State’ ranking into perspective, only four states, including North Carolina and South Carolina, had more courses earn the designation. California had 39 courses earn Best in State honors and Florida had 35.

The Myrtle Beach area courses that earned Best in State honors were: Arrowhead Country Club, Barefoot Resort, Caledonia, Dunes Club, Glen Dornoch, Grande Dunes, Heather Glen, Heritage Club, International Club, The Legends, Litchfield Country Club, Long Bay Club, Man O’War, Myrtle Beach National, Myrtlewood, Pawleys Plantation, Pine Lakes, River Club, River Hills, Tidewater, TPC of Myrtle Beach, True Blue, Wachesaw Plantation East, Wild Wing, The Witch, The Wizard, Crow Creek, Ocean Ridge, Oyster Bay, Rivers Edge, Sea Trail and Thistle.