Four of Myrtle Beach Golf’s Wish List Toppers

Asking folks which Myrtle Beach golf course is their favorite is akin to asking about your favorite ice cream. We all have different preferences, and the margins are thin.

There are courses that are at or near the top of many lists, most especially Grande Dunes Resort Course, Tidewater Golf Club, Thistle Golf Club and TPC Myrtle Beach.

Following a 2022 renovation project, Grande Dunes, long regarded as among the area’s premier layouts, has been in superior condition. At the heart of the renovation was the restoration of the course’s greens to their original size and specifications, the overhaul of every bunker on the course, and a complete clubhouse makeover.

The work at Grande Dunes was greeted by rave reviews and in combination with five holes that play along the Intracoastal Waterway, have made the Roger Rulewich design a bucket list golf course.

Speaking of the waterway, Tidewater is arguably the area’s prettiest course, featuring nine holes that play along the Intracoastal or Cherry Grove Inlet. Any of the quartet of holes that reside along Cherry Grove – 3, 4, 12, 13 – have a credible argument for being the area’s most stunning.

Tidewater was the first layout ever named best new public course by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine, and it doesn’t take golfers long to realize why.

Thistle Golf Club, which was recently voted one of the “Top 50 U.S. Public Courses” by readers of GolfPass, Golf Channel’s travel portal, has long been one of the area’s most underrated tracks. A 27-hole Tim Cate design, Thistle offers a Scottish-inspired layout, complete with stacked sod and pot bunkers.

Complementing a memorable design at Thistle is a stunning clubhouse that features Scottish memorabilia that dates to the 1800s.

TPC Myrtle Beach, long one of the area’s most popular big event venues, delivers on the TOUR quality experience associated with the TPC brand. The Tom Fazio-Lanny Wadkins design, which has hosted a Senior PGA Tour Championship and the NCAA Division I Myrtle Beach Regional, offers a stern yet fair test that golfers flock to.

Highlighting the quality of all four layouts, Tidewater, Grande Dunes and TPC were ranked among the area’s top 6 courses in a survey of Grand Strand PGA professionals, and Thistle was No. 15.