Golfweek has unveiled its ranking of America’s premier resort courses, and the annual lists again highlight the depth and quality of Myrtle Beach’s abundant offerings.
Three Myrtle Beach golf courses were ranked among Golfweek’s Top 100 Resort Courses, led by a pair of top 50 entrants, and six more landed on the magazine’s Next 100 Resort Courses list.
“Golfweek’s rankings highlight what makes Myrtle Beach the game’s most popular destination,” said Bill Golden, president of Golf Tourism Solutions, the company responsible for marketing Myrtle Beach as a destination. “We have the greatest combination of quality and value in golf travel, and being home to nine of the top 200 resort courses in America is further validation of that fact.”
The Dunes Golf & Beach Club, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. classic, was ranked 34th, leading the cavalcade of Myrtle Beach courses, followed closely by Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (No. 43), and the Moorland Course at Legends Resort (No. 92).
King’s North at Myrtle Beach National (No. 147), the Dye (No. 156), Love (No. 170) and Fazio courses (No. 192) at Barefoot Resort, Grande Dunes Resort Course (No. 167) and Surf Club (No. 181) earned spots on Golfweek’s list of the Next 100 Resort Courses.
Tidewater Golf Club, with eight holes that play along either Cherry Grove Inlet or the Intracoastal Waterway, was ranked 141st among America’s best residential golf courses.
The Dunes Club was the first course to attract national attention to Myrtle Beach, hosting the U.S. Women’s Open, the finals of the PGA Tour’s Q-School, and six Senior PGA Tour Championships. The course has maintained its place at the top of the market and is a consensus top 100 layout.
Caledonia, Mike Strantz’s first solo design, plays amidst a stunning piece of Lowcountry land and is equal parts art and architecture. The layout is framed by soaring live oak trees draped in Spanish moss, and play concludes on the course’s iconic 18th hole with a green that resides in the shadow of an antebellum-style clubhouse.
Moorland is a P.B. Dye design renowned for the size of its fairways and large, undulating greens. It’s a course that rewards creativity and decision-making, particularly on the 16th, a 270-yard par 4 known as “Hell’s Half-Acre.”
King’s North at Myrtle Beach National remains one of Arnold Palmer’s most popular designs. Three of Barefoot’s 4 layouts made the list, burnishing its reputation as one of America’s premier multi-course properties.
Grande Dunes Resort Course plays along the Intracoastal Waterway, providing golfers with some of the most dramatic visuals along the Grand Strand. Surf Club, the area’s third-oldest course, continues to lure golfers with its “member for a day” experience.