Most Myrtle Beach golf courses double tee, meaning groups go off the first and 10th holes each morning. It’s a practice that allows more golfers to tee off during the most desired times (7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. each morning), but there’s a quartet of area courses that don’t turn at the clubhouse.
If your group has no desire to play early in the morning, and you are unlikely to replay, Myrtlewood’s Palmetto Course, Wild Wing-Avocet and the Fazio and Norman courses at Barefoot offer tee time flexibility throughout the day. Here is a look at each layout and what it has to offer.
● Myrtlewood’s Palmetto Course enjoys a central location, but that’s far from the most important reason golfers flock to the layout. The venerable course is the perfect combination of challenging and playable, and a round at the Edmund Alt design concludes with the dramatic par-4 18th along the Intracoastal Waterway. The combination of generous fairways and quality greens complexes is a recipe for a great day, and Palmetto offers both. If you tee off mid-morning, you will pass the “Dog House” on holes 5, 13 and 16, so make it a point to get a specialty hot dog. It’s a decision you won’t regret.
● The Norman Course at Barefoot Resort features a classic out and back design, and players never forget the return to the clubhouse. Holes 10, 14, 16 and 17 play along the Waterway, making the homestretch unforgettable. In particular, the 10th hole is one of the Grand Strand’s most dramatic par 3s, playing from an elevated tee to a green that resides along the Intracoastal.
● Barefoot’s Fazio Course is regarded by many as the 72-hole property’s best, but that’s certainly a subjective debate. What’s not in question is the quality of the design, which is on the short list of the area’s best. With sprawling waste bunkers and water on 15 holes, the Fazio Course is a demanding test of golf in all the best ways. It won’t take your group long to see why the layout hosted the championship match of Golf Channel’s Big Break Myrtle Beach.
● Wild Wing was once one of Myrtle Beach’s most acclaimed properties, but the facility receded from the spotlight after the Falcon, Woodstork and nine holes on the Hummingbird closed, but smart group leaders have long enjoyed the good times of the Avocet Course. The first word that comes to mind with Jeff Brauer-Larry Nelson is fun. From the drivable, par-4 14th hole to the dual green that holes 6 and 17 share and everything in between, Avocet is one of the area’s most underrated layouts.
If you are looking for tee time flexibility, Palmetto, Avocet and the Norman and Fazio courses will deliver a good time.