Championship Golf Courses

Set amidst a nature preserve, the Maples Course has five holes that play along Calabash Creek, bringing great natural beauty to an outstanding design. The Maples Course’s par 5s, the shortest of which is 545 yards, challenge even the longest of hitters but bring a hard-earned sense of satisfaction to a par. Don’t be intimidated by the length of the par 5s; the Maples Course is a very player-friendly layout. There’s plenty of landing room and the greens are smooth and true. Speaking of the greens, they’re the layout’s primary means of defense with substantial undulation, so golfers should pay attention to the pin sheet and make sure they’re aiming for the proper spot.

Diamondback at Woodland Valley is located on the western edge of the Myrtle Beach golf scene, making it a perfect layout to play on your way in or out of town. The Russell Breeden design is carved from the area’s native pine trees, and challenges players with hazards both natural and manmade. Breeden made great use of bunkering, particularly along the fairways, challenging players to drive the ball to proper spot; but the layout is imminently fair throughout. The lakes that run throughout the property add to the layout’s aesthetics and challenge, providing golfers with many take-home memories.

The Dunes Club is Myrtle Beach’s most revered golf course and it remains the area’s bedrock layout. The Dunes Club was the second Myrtle Beach golf course, opening in 1949. However, it’s the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design which brought cache to the market. The course is regarded as one of RTJ’s finest works and it has the resume to support its lofty reputation. The Dunes Club has hosted Senior PGA Tour Championships, the U.S. Women’s Open, and the finals of the PGA Tour’s Q-School (where Lanny Wadkins and Gary McCord earned their cards). Dunes Club is also ranked among America’s 100 greatest public courses by “Golf Digest” and “Golf Magazine.”

Pete Dye is arguably golf’s greatest living architect, and his work at Barefoot Resort is another substantial addition to his legacy. The Dye Course, which has been ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses by “Golf Digest,” is one of the best and most challenging Myrtle Beach golf courses. The course makes great use of Dye’s trademark railroad ties and yawning waste bunkers. The course itself is visually intimidating. Pete Dye doesn’t design pushover golf courses and his namesake layout at Barefoot is no different, but the course is playable.

agle Nest Golf Club is renowned for having three of the toughest finishing holes on the Grand Strand. Holes 16 through 18 all require knee-knocking shots over water, making them ideal way to finish a round on your next Myrtle Beach golf trip. Player’s remember the 17th hole long after they’ve returned home. The penultimate hole at Eagle Nest –stretching 616 yards from the tips - is the third longest hole on the entire Myrtle Beach golf scene! The course opened in 1969, and a recent facelift ensures that the layout is more than able to withstand the advances of modern technology. Gene Hamm, the course’s original architect, handled the redesign and golfers are the unquestioned beneficiary.

The North Strand layout is home to the longest hole on the Myrtle Beach golf scene – the 767-yard, par 6 18th. Farmstead’s closing hole is so long it can’t be contained by state lines! The 18th holes tees off in South Carolina and concludes in North Carolina, making it one of several occasions golfers cross between the Carolinas while playing the layout. Farmstead’s 18th has also attracted national attention as “Golf Digest” named it one of the “Most 18 Fun Holes in America.” But Farmstead is much more than a one-hole wonder. Set on 480 acres, the links-style layout follows the lands natural contours. Fairways are framed by the area’s native grasses and pristine lakes, providing many memorable visuals and a course that allows golfers to use their creativity. The Willard Byrd design plays more than 7,200 yards from the tips – one of five sets of tees – and it has very generous fairways, contributing to its reputation as a player friendly layout.

Fazio has “perfected a certain formula for creating overwhelming, lovely holes that are meticulously manicured and pleasant to play.” Fazio’s course has attracted national acclaim. Off the tees, players will be greeted with stunning visuals and 18 distinct holes that will be remembered after every round. Practice at a 30-acre lighted practice facility complete with teaching school, New York-style pizzeria and deli sports bar. The Fazio Course at Barefoot has a long list of accolades from Golf Digest, GOLF Magazine and Golfweek.

The newest course on the Myrtle Beach Golf scene, Founders Club quickly carved out its niche on the South Strand. Architect Thomas Walker crafted a completely new layout that has been met with applause. Walker used elevated fairways and waste bunkers that run from tee to green in order to create contrast that appeals to the eye. The bunkers do more than serve as a method of framing the fairways and punishing golfers who hit wayward drives, however. The bunkers double as cart paths – the only pavement on the course surrounds the tees and greens – and combined with the elevated fairways, help provide Founders Club with excellent drainage. The result is carts riding the fairways 365 days per year.

Glen Dornoch rewards shot-making and creativity as opposed to raw power alone. Only three of the course’s 10 par 4s play more than 400 yards from the blue tees, and the first three holes all play under 350 yards. But don’t mistake “short” for easy. Glen Dornoch challenges throughout. “Golf Magazine” called Glen Dornoch a “Top 10 Golf Course in Myrtle Beach” and one trip around the property will make the reasons obvious. A 4-star course, according to “Golf Digest’s Best Places to Play” guide, Glen Dornoch brings golfers back year after year.

Golf at Grande Dunes feels at once completely natural yet effortlessly refined. The expansive Bermudagrass fairways ripple with subtle undulations onto large, modestly contoured Champion Ultradwarf greens. The superior links-style design unfolds itself in a relaxed, gracious manner enticing golfers with beauty while taunting them with danger . Fair but challenging, each golf hole presents a different problem to test the most confident scratch handicapper. What really sets Grande Dunes apart from other public courses is its "private club" atmosphere and amenities. Grande Dunes offers an impeccably groomed golf course with multiple teeing areas that provide a variety of driving situations and angles of approach. Nestled among old water oaks, tall pines and rolling landscape, this is truly a golfer's paradise, which is why Golf Magazine selected Grande Dunes as a “Top 10 You Can Play” list in 2002 and Golf Week not only rated it as one of America’s Best “Top 100 Residential Golf Courses” in 2005, but, most recently in 2007, recognized Grande Dunes as a “Best Course You Can Play”.