Myrtle Beach must plays

[evinkc05]

My wife and I are taking a trip to Myrtle Beach in April and we are planning on playing about 4 rounds of golf while there.  This is our first time going, and we are a little overwhelmed by the abundance of great courses there.  Are there any courses that we should not miss out on while there?  Any recommendations as to courses that we should look into, and why?  If you were faced with the choice, what would be the 4 that you play, and why?  Thanks for all of your help.

[sabram]

I've played more than 60 courses in MB. I wouldn't say that there is an abundance of great courses there. There is an abundance of good  courses and an abundance of mediocre courses. The must plays are The Dunes Club , Caledonia and True Blue . After that there are a dozen or more good choices. PIck anyb one of these for your fourth round:

Starting at the South end and moving north

Heritage

Legends Moorland or Heathland

Grande Dunes

Barefoot -  Dye, Fazio and Love

Tidewater

Glen Dornoch

Oyster Bay

Tigers Eye

Leopards Chase

Rivers Edge

Other good courses are Prestwick, TPC, Kings North, the Witch, Willbrook, Pawleys Plantation, Founders Club, Wildwing, Heather Glen, Thistle and World Tour.

No reason to consider any of the other 75 courses unless you are looking to play on the cheap.

Here are links to photo tours of most of the MB area courses:

http://golfcoursephotos.weebly.com/south-carolina.html SC Course photos

http://golfcoursephotos.weebly.com/north-carolina.html NC Course photos

[Lefty-Golfer]

Originally Posted by evinkc05

My wife and I are taking a trip to Myrtle Beach in April and we are planning on playing about 4 rounds of golf while there.  This is our first time going, and we are a little overwhelmed by the abundance of great courses there.  Are there any courses that we should not miss out on while there?  Any recommendations as to courses that we should look into, and why?  If you were faced with the choice, what would be the 4 that you play, and why?  Thanks for all of your help.

Well my group plays Caledonia twice, every year for the last 4 years. before that we only played it once a trip but it was the top pick for every golfer...some time we play it on 2 separate days other years we play it twice in a day.

i am huge fan of the dunes club, the TPC is top notch as well, tidewater is a great golf course. Prestiwck is a bit unknown but i like it, kings north is a fun layout.

[kathybhylton]

Originally Posted by sabram

I've played more than 60 courses in MB. I wouldn't say that there is an abundance of great courses there. There is an abundance of good  courses and an abundance of mediocre courses. The must plays are The Dunes Club, Caledonia and True Blue. After that there are a dozen or more good choices. PIck anyb one of these for your fourth round:

Starting at the South end and moving north

Heritage

Legends Moorland or Heathland

Grande Dunes

Barefoot -  Dye, Fazio and Love

Tidewater

Glen Dornoch

Oyster Bay

Tigers Eye

Leopards Chase

Rivers Edge

Other good courses are Prestwick, TPC, Kings North, the Witch, Willbrook, Pawleys Plantation, Founders Club, Wildwing, Heather Glen, Thistle and World Tour.

No reason to consider any of the other 75 courses unless you are looking to play on the cheap.

Here are links to photo tours of most of the MB area courses:

http://golfcoursephotos.weebly.com/south-carolina.html  SC Course photos

http://golfcoursephotos.weebly.com/north-carolina.html  NC Course photos

Great choices! Caledonia is amazing. Its a very beautiful place and great for other outdoor fun.

[Lefty-Golfer]

Just returned from our 2012 Myrtle beach excursion…as always we had a great time. 7 rounds in 4 days travel home the 5 ^th . Report below

Barefoot Love- Nice course in great condition, greens were smooth and rolled well, decent speed but not fast. Good lay-out I would rate it in the very good not great area. Would certainly play again.

Grande Dunes resort – very impressed, course condition outstanding, staff outstanding, greens were very good and little quicker…great course top 10 on the strand? Most likely.

Grand dunes members – See notes above but I actually liked the course itself less than the resort course. Staff was great.

Caledonia – what else needs to be said. We played it twice and had lunch in between (shrimp po-boy is not to be missed) sets the standard year after year. This course was in outstanding shape, the only knock I can think of is the bunkers needed to be raked better (this a problem at all course and at public golf courses in general)… the greens were awesome. Firmly planted as #1 in my book

Tidewater – good course, solid holes, good condition, greens were little brown but rolled true, staff was nice. The inter-coastal holes are gorgeous.

Oyster Bay – Don’t waste your time, staff was nice and friendly…that is about it. Oh, they also had the biggest gator on #14 I have ever seen. It was HUGE, the starter told us it attacked a golf cart recently that got to close! Had to be 12’ or more, while sleeping it was a good 20” or so tall…ridiculous but onto the course. The rough was poor too bad, huge bald spots, the fair ways were spotty, the greens were ok and rolled fine but SLOW…all in all it was somewhere between your local muni and a dog track…off the list for sure and wouldn’t recommend playing it ever again. Even if you want a cheaper course there are many better.

[sabram]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Golfer

Oyster Bay – The rough was poor too bad, huge bald spots, the fair ways were spotty, the greens were ok and rolled fine but SLOW…all in all it was somewhere between your local muni and a dog track…off the list for sure and wouldn’t recommend playing it ever again. Even if you want a cheaper course there are many better.

I've played Oyster Bay several times and never experienced poor conditions. It is one of the top layouts in the northern strand and was the most popular course in Brunswick Countyin a recent MBGT poll. You can find reviews and inquire about MB course conditions at http://www.myrtlebeachgolftalk.com/tabid/111/aff/3/Default.aspx I wouldn't hesitate to play Oyser Bay again when conditions return to normal there.

[Lefty-Golfer]

i didn't have a problem with the lay-out, i wish it had better conditions...when were these pics taken?

Originally Posted by sabram

I've played Oyster Bay several times and never experienced poor conditions. It is one of the top layouts in the northern strand and was the most popular course in Brunswick Countyin a recent MBGT poll. You can find reviews and inquire about MB course conditions at http://www.myrtlebeachgolftalk.com/tabid/111/aff/3/Default.aspx I wouldn't hesitate to play Oyser Bay again when conditions return to normal there.

[Golfingdad]

Is the gator in his picture the same one you saw I wonder?

[sabram]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Golfer

i didn't have a problem with the lay-out...when were these pics taken?

I guess I misunderstood when you said "it was somewhere between your local muni and a dog track…off the list for sure and wouldn’t recommend playing it ever again ." That sounded different to me than "it vwas a good layout but not in good condition."

The photos are form March 2009

[Lefty-Golfer]

Originally Posted by sabram

I guess I misunderstood when you said  "it was somewhere between your local muni and a dog track…off the list for sure and wouldn’t recommend playing it ever again." That sounded different to me than "it vwas a good layout but not in good condition."

The photos are form March 2009

that is fair...maybe a better way would have been to say that i won't play it again until reports are overwelmingly in support of it being in top notch condition. from the people i have talked to and what i saw most of the courses have had better then normal conditions this year. That does nothing to make me think OB is going to rebound anytime soon.

[Lefty-Golfer]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Is the gator in his picture the same one you saw I wonder?

i just looked at the pic on my phone, i don't think so but it was a different angle...the one this year seems thicker.