Best Of Myrtle Beach Golf - Fat Guy's Guide to Golf, Beer, Wings, and Life

Best Of Myrtle Beach Golf

Golf Digest, 2/09

Myrtle From Stem To Stern
A north-to-south swing through golf's Grand Strand
By Matt Ginella
February 2009

As the economy tried to work its way through a bad case of the shanks, I went on a trip to the hub of value golf. I ordered a sampler platter of some of the best Myrtle Beach has to offer the unpretentious, bottom-line-conscious golfer.

I played six courses in three days, and after the final round, as I drove off the property of the Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, down the long tunnel of oaks (a first cousin of Magnolia Lane, the tree-lined driveway of Augusta National), I couldn't help but think that I had saved the best for last.

Caledonia is located at the bottom, geographically, of a 60-mile Grand Strand of 100 public-golf options, but it should be at the top of your list of courses to play the next time you take a trip to Myrtle Beach.

Caledonia, a Mike Strantz design that opened in 1994, has a quaint and charming clubhouse with a classic Southern porch overlooking the 18th green. This public course has the polish of a private club, starting with the efficient service at its busy bag-drop area. There's no range, but I like the duck-decoy tee markers, complimentary fish soup as you make your way to the first tee and the fantastic set of finishing holes. Even if you're not playing from the back (that would be the pintail tees), be sure to walk across the wood footbridge and appreciate the entire view of the 415-yard 14th hole.

After all, looking at things from multiple perspectives is the way Caledonia was designed. Strantz, who died of cancer in 2005 at the age of 50, drew each hole by hand from many angles.

I played the mallard tees, which might seem short at 6,121 yards, but trust me when I say you should try breaking par from the mallards before you waddle back to the pintails.

My Myrtle trip began at Thistle Golf Club, 50 miles north of Caledonia. It is so far north it's actually in North Carolina. A castle-like clubhouse, designed to replicate a Scottish club of the 19th century, has replaced the temporary trailer that served as the golf shop. The new clubhouse is filled with memorabilia from the original, Scotland-based Thistle Golf Club (which dates to 1815), including a bar top from Scotland that was built in 1875. The American version of Thistle has 27 rolling, open, well-manicured holes designed by local architect Tim Cate.

Tidewater Golf Club & Plantation, also in the northern part of Myrtle, is removing 70 trees to open up some greens to more sunlight. The knock on Tidewater is that there isn't much to it, other than four memorable holes along the water (3, 4, 12 and 13). I liked Tidewater and thought, 'Isn't that what critics say about Pebble Beach?'

Throughout my trip, the service was pretty good. The only time I felt a little like the Invisible Man was at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club, a semiprivate course designed by Robert Trent Jones. Built in 1948, it's the second-oldest club in Myrtle Beach and is widely considered one of the area's best. I loved the course, but I could sense the staff had a much stronger connection with the club's members than with the public. On the famous 545-yard 13th hole, Waterloo, I skipped a couple of shots into the pond and finished with an 8. I renamed the hole Waterglue.

The TPC of Myrtle Beach is a stark contrast to the Dunes Club in terms of service but equal in golf quality. Designed by Tom Fazio, it's a former site of the Senior Tour Championship and the area's only course to earn the maximum five stars, according to Golf Digest's Best Places to Play reader ratings. It's also home to the ridiculously long, young tour professional Dustin Johnson, who finished fourth in driving distance in 2008 with an average of 309.7 yards. Locals say he reaches the 538-yard 18th hole with driver, 8-iron. That's almost four 8-irons for me.

By trip's end, I had played four courses on Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest Public Courses. All six were 4½ stars or more. The cost? Myrtle Beach Golf Desk (www.golfdesk.com) quoted me a price for the same six courses in peak season (April) plus four nights in a two-bedroom condo at the Barefoot Resort Golf Villas for $1,099 per person. Warren Buffett once said, "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get." Buffett, who is a golfer, would love Myrtle Beach.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
A STEAK FROM A SHARK
In the middle of Myrtle, go to Greg Norman's steakhouse for the dark wood, high ceilings, open kitchen, big plates, fine wines and a tender slab of beef.

TIPS FROM A BLOWFISH
Singer Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish, a South Carolina native, is a huge Myrtle Beach fan. His favorite courses: Caledonia, John Daly's Wicked Stick and Barefoot Resort's Dye course, where he has an annual pro-am to raise money for junior golfers.

A COURSE BY A KING
King's North at Myrtle Beach National is an Arnold Palmer design with some good holes but some quirky details: greenside bunkers on the 12th hole shaped like an S and a C for South Carolina and 42 bunkers from tee to green on the 395-yard finishing hole.