The Top-10 Best Public Courses in Myrtle Beach

In the United States, there isn’t a more golf-centric destination than Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand. The 60-mile stretch from Pawleys Island, S.C., to Sunset Beach, N.C., on the Atlantic Coast boasts more than 80 golf courses and countless resorts and hotels, many right on the beach. And for the most part, it’s a pretty affordable destination, including a wide variety of restaurants and nightlife.

For the last 40 years, the area also has been home to the Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship, the largest golf tournament on the planet, a four-round event with more than 3,000 golfers contested on over 50 courses. This past year, I played in the World Am, which marked at least the 10th time I’ve been fortunate enough to play golf in Myrtle Beach.

Many of the courses we played in the World Am are included in our list of the top 10 you can play in the Myrtle Beach area. Here’s our ranking of the 10 best public golf courses in Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area:

1. Dunes Golf & Beach Club
2. Caledonia Golf & Fish Club
3. True Blue Golf Club
4. Tidewater
5. TPC Myrtle Beach
6. Pawleys Plantation 
7. Barefoot Dye Course
8. Grande Dunes
9. Heritage Club
10. Myrtle Beach National: King’s North

The Dunes Club has a great tournament history. For several years, it was the host course of the Senior Tour Championship (now PGA Tour Champions), and it staged the 1962 U.S. Women’s Open. 

The Dunes Club was also the site of the final round of the Golf Writers of America annual national championship from 1954-2005. Playing host to the golf writers all those years helped get the word out about not only the Dunes Club but also Myrtle Beach golf, which at its peak in the late 1990s, had more than 100 courses. 

More recently, this classic Robert Trent Jones Sr. routing landed the Myrtle Beach Classic on the PGA Tour, which debuts in 2024. It’ll be fun to see what the best players in the world can do to this course compared to the golf writers, right?

As the name implies, the course is laid out over sand dunes right next to the Atlantic Ocean, although there really aren’t ocean views from the course. No matter. The holes are masterfully designed around lakes and ponds, and wind is usually a factor. 

There are many great holes, but none more famous than the 13th, dubbed Waterloo. It’s a left-to-right 590-yard par-5 that wraps around the lake. Pretty much impossible to get there in two no matter how far you hit it, it’s all about hugging that lake shoreline to set up the shortest possible third shot approach to that green, a play that comes with as much risk as you’re willing to take on. Afterall, that’s what RTJ was known for.

A plaque on the hole, by the way, commemorates the highest score without putting the ball in the water by a player in the GWAA tournament. That honor belongs to Charles Bartlett, a writer for the Chicago Tribune. He somehow made a 22 on the hole. (Another golf writer — whom we will keep anonymous — actually made a 3 on the hole in 2000.) The 13th ends a tough three-hole stretch known as “Alligator Alley.” The 18th is a former par-5 turned par-4 with a long approach and carry over water to the green.

If you’re a fan of the late Mike Strantz, you know what we’re talking about here. And if you’ve never played a Mike Strantz course, this top 100 course (no. 85 on Golf Digest’s list of best public courses) would be a great introduction into the cult. (My favorite Strantz creation is actually Tobacco Road, but Caledonia, his first solo design, is my second choice of his portfolio.)  

It seems like every nook and cranny of his courses has a purpose, and if you can figure out the puzzle – which is right in front of you even though there may be a blind shot or two – you’re not only going to have a lot of success, but a lot of fun as well.

Par-70 Caledonia isn’t particularly long – under 6,600 yards from the tips – but it can be demanding. You’ll want to find the best angles into the greens and pin positions, so it’s more than just putting it in the fairways. Most of all, this course with its twists and turns through the Spanish Moss-covered oaks, streams and ponds, has 18 unique and memorable holes. Nothing about this place is boring, and it’s always in great shape. A must-play for anyone visiting the Grand Strand.

A few years after he did Caledonia, Strantz created a much different and larger course in True Blue Golf Club. It’s actually right across the street from Caledonia. In fact, Caledonia golfers often use the range at True Blue because there isn’t room for one at Caledonia.

The course has a bit of a Pine Valley feel to it with the greens rising out of the sand dunes and huge bunkers and waste areas bordering the turf. Fairways at True Blue are much wider than they are across the street. A few lakes and streams come into play as well. 

From start to finish, every hole on this golf course is memorable. Each of the greens complexes offer unique character and shape.

Certainly among the most beautiful courses on the Grand Strand, Tidewater, as the name implies, has nine holes that play right along the water, and there is a view of the Atlantic Ocean off the green of the par-5 13th, aptly named “Ocean Isle.” Architect Ken Tomlinson blended this course perfectly with the natural environment of saltwater marshes, the Intercoastal Waterway, Cherry Grove, and forest of Carolina Pines.

Tidewater is also a pretty tough course. While the fairways aren’t overly tight, you can’t spray the ball at Tidewater or you’ll not only lose golf balls, but lots of strokes.

The par-3s are particularly stunning. The 12th, for example, plays over water and marshes to a green that’s well-protected by bright white bunkers. The finishing stretch is also impressive, including the long par-4 18th, which has water trouble all down the left side.

Just a year after it opened in 1999, the TPC Myrtle Beach played host to the Senior PGA Championship. Tom Watson won that event, and the course has since been the site of several events, including NCAA tournaments and the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship. It’s also Johnson’s home course, and he has a namesake golf school there as well.

As for the course, it’s a super solid Tom Fazio design with lots of intriguing holes, especially the par-3s. Meanwhile, the risk-reward par-5 18th is one of the best finishing holes in the Myrtle Beach area. There’s a creek down the right side of the fairway and a lake that creeps in toward the green on the left. So going for it in two requires both length and precision.

A spectacular Jack Nicklaus design, Pawleys Plantation features plenty of holes along the marshes, large bunkers and greens, and a nice variety of holes cut through the Carolina Pines. While the course can be difficult, there are six sets of tees ranging from just over 4,000 yards to a little more than 7,000 yards, so all levels of players can really enjoy this spectacular layout.

The signature hole might be the shortest holes on the course, the 149-yard par-3 13th. Laid out among the marsh, the hole actually has a double green (12,800 square feet) that it shares with the 16th. Ironically, the 13th is rated as the easiest hole on the course, while the 440-yard par-4 16th ranks as the second-most difficult hole.

There are four wonderful golf courses at Barefoot Resort, and you could make a case for each of them to be included in our top 10 list. But the Dye Course is the highest rated and probably has the most character as Pete Dye-designed courses tend to have. The course has a lot of waste bunkers, Dye’s classic railroad ties, and the visual intimidation Dye is known for, yet it’s actually quite playable and enjoyable.

The Dye Club has also been the host course of Darrius Rucker’s Hootie and the Blowfish Monday After The Masters charity event for the past couple decades. Highlights of the course include long par-4 ninth and 18th holes, both of which border a lake with the club’s magnificent clubhouse in the background. The practice facilities at Barefoot Resort are also among the best on the Grand Strand.

With several holes that border the Intercoastal Waterway, including the ninth, 10th and the 18th, the Grand Dunes Resort Course is another example of a scenic and strategic test of the golf on the Grand Strand. Designed by Roger Rulewich, who worked with Robert Trent Jones Sr., for a couple of decades, the course features generous fairways and large greens routed around lakes, streams and through pine forests.

Many of the holes sit atop bluffs, which affords great views. From the back tees, Grande Dunes Resort Course stretches more than 7,600 yards, but fortunately there are five sets of tees, starting at just over 5,300 yards.

Built on what was once a couple of plantations, and next to old cemeteries, Heritage Club is not only a fun golf course, but has some historical perspective as well. 

In fact, the family that owned the original plantation is buried just off the fourth hole, and near the eighth hole is another cemetery of slaves.

Built over 600 acres, the par 71 layout designed by Dan Maples and Larry Young works its way through century-old oaks, magnolia trees, crepe myrtles, and azaleas. The course has lots of terrific holes, but the par-3 14th certainly stands out. It plays from an elevated tee as long as 220 yards to a large semi-island green.

Created by Arnold Palmer Design, the King’s North Course at Myrtle Beach National is a longtime favorite on the Strand. It’s a fun course with lots of memorable holes, including a drivable par-4, and the par-5 sixth, known as “The Gambler,” a great risk-reward hole that features an island fairway to provide a shortcut to the green.

There’s also the recently renovated island green par-3 third hole that has bunkers shaped for the initials of South Carolina. The 18th ranks among the area’s best finishing holes with 40 bunkers guarding both sides of the fairway and a green that jets out into a lake.