4 stunning courses to play in Myrtle Beach

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Glen Dornoch

4 courses to play in Myrtle Beach

Stand on the tee of Glen Dornoch’s par-3 17th and you learn exactly what golf in Myrtle Beach is all about. Hitting you like a four-club wind is a panorama of forest, sky and expansive, buzzing marshland. Pleasure boats drift past on the hazy Intracoastal Waterway while above, red-tailed hawks mew. Somewhere in the middle of all this, 170 yards distant, is an immaculate green. Deep and narrow, and protected by a series of moon-crater bunkers, its blue-flagged pin waits more in hope than expectation. Target golf against a beautiful, natural backdrop is the name of the game in Myrtle Beach. It’s true that despite the region’s name, that backdrop is rarely the Atlantic; indeed, of the 101 courses the area boasts, the par-3 9th of the Dunes Club is one of the very few views the golfer gets of the epic, south-east coastal sweep known as the Grand Strand. Yet the ubiquitous marshland and the thousands of towering live oak trees, often draped in frozen waterfalls of Spanish moss, give this low-country landscape an appeal that rivals cliff and beach.

 

Caledonia

4 courses to play in Myrtle Beach

Caledonia is considered one of Myrtle Beach’s finest tracks, As you head up its oak-framed drive to a pristine and elegant colonial clubhouse, it’s not hard to imagine you are arriving at a version of Augusta National; immaculate maintenance and landscaping does little to break the spell. The course itself at times approaches fantasy golf, a stunning sequence of fleeting, sinuous fairways leading to perfectly sited greens protected by pond, branch and sand. It demands strategy and accuracy but the Mike Strantz test is never less than fair and exhilarating. For As you reach the 16th tee, you start to hear cheers ahead. The clubhouse deck overlooks the water-guarded 18th green and you will have a demanding gallery for your final approach. Position your tee shot to the right and you can leave as little as 140 yards in… giving you the chance to create your own moment of glory.

True Blue

4 courses to play in Myrtle Beach

Across the road, Caledonia’s sister course, True Blue is the perfect accompaniment. Yawning expanses of fairway give you the chance to open your shoulders, while the many sandy waste areas aren’t especially penal and amplify the visual appeal. As with Caledonia, one picturebook hole follows another, right from the opener – an epic, sweeping 600-yard par 5 with an unmissable fairway and an unhittable green.

 

The Dunes

4 courses to play in Myrtle Beach

Almost midway between True Blue and Glen Dornoch is the course that triggered the Myrtle Beach golf boom. “The Dunes Club was built by Robert Trent Jones in 1949,” says Chris King, communications director for Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday. “It put the place on the map. It’s hosted six senior PGAs, a US Women’s Open, the finals of Q school, and the PGA Professional National Championships.” The course itself doesn’t exactly run along the Ocean front, but the clubhouse is there. The course itself has much more natural movement and elevation than others in the area, and offers Ocean glimpses. But the course is considered a classic of architecture, and should be on anyone’s Myrtle itinerary.

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