Myrtle Beach Golf

Fall is Best Time For Myrtle Beach Golf

Three Distinctive Destinations Highlight this South Carolina Hot Spot

By Brian Weis

As the summer beach season winds down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the fall golf season is just cranking up. Savvy golf insiders agree, autumn is one of the best times of the year to enjoy great deals on some of the top-ranked courses in America. Included among them are designs by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Larry Nelson, Robert Trent Jones, and others. The Prime Times Signature collection of courses, managed by National Golf Management Company, offers the most extensive selection of courses, at some of the best rates. Their commitment to providing the very best in course design, condition and service assures you a memorable golf experience.

The Myrtle Beach Grand Strand extends along 60 miles of beautiful Carolina Coastline, and the Prime Times Signature courses are situated from one end to the other. To make planning your visit a bit easier, the courses are grouped regionally, ranging from the Gateway Collection of courses in the northern Strand, to the Southern Beach Collection along the historic southern shores of Litchfield Beach and Pawleys Island.

NORTH MYRTLE'S GATEWAY COLLECTION

While more and more Myrtle Beach golfers arrive in Myrtle Beach by air, most still travel by auto and arrive via the northern arteries along Highways 9 and 17 - the gateway, if you will. The Prime Times Gateway Collection includes some of the region's premier courses located between North Myrtle Beach and Brunswick County, NC. One of their courses, Farmstead Golf Links, actually straddles the NC-SC state line, with its par-6, 18th hole. All are within close proximity to the resort hotels and cottages of North Myrtle Beach, Holden Beach and Ocean Isle. Other Gateway courses include Meadowlands, Aberdeen, Long Bay Club and River Hills. All are very player-friendly and affordably priced for fall golfers. In fact, play any four of these courses this fall, and get a 5th round at the highly acclaimed Long Bay Club, a Nicklaus signature design, for only $25 in conjunction with the celebration of Long Bay's 25th Anniversary.

Some of the more popular restaurants among golfers camped out along the northern Strand include Parson's Table, Overtime Sports Bar, 21 Main at North Beach, Greg Norman's Australian Grille, Flying Fish, House of Blues, Rockefellers Raw Bar, and Benny Rappa's Trattoria.

CENTRAL MYRTLE BEACH's GRANDE COLLECTION

The highest concentration of hotels, restaurants, and golf courses is in the central Myrtle Beach area. The selection of courses ranges from the oldest to the newest and a lot of great courses in between. Pine Lakes Country Club, nicknamed "The Granddaddy" is the area's oldest course, with the original design dating back to the mid-1920's. Designed by a Scotsman by the name of Robert White, who was to become the first president of the PGA of America, Pine Lakes is where Sports Illustrated was conceived during a golf junket of Time Inc. executives back in the late 1950s. Other Prime Times courses in the central Myrtle Beach area include Myrtlewood's PineHills and Palmetto courses; King's North, SouthCreek and the West Course at Myrtle Beach National - all three the work of golf legend Arnold Palmer; Arcadian Shores, Rees Jones' first signature design; Waterway Hills, a 27-hole Robert Trent Jones layout that you access by boarding a gondola across the Waterway; Wild Wing Plantation a 27-hole gem; and Grande Dunes Resort Club, two among the Strand's most recent additions and co-host of the 2014 PGA National Championship.

In addition to the great golf available in this region, there is an abundance of off-course activities to be enjoyed, including the shopping, dining and entertainment at Barefoot Landing and Broadway at the Beach. Golfers enjoy full access to some of the largest golf retail stores in America, among them Golf Dimensions, PGA TOUR Superstores and a new Golfsmith. And if you're in to other outdoor sports, BASS Outdoor World is a place you'll want to check out.

Popular local restaurants and watering holes for visiting golfers staying in the central district include New York Prime, Angelo's Italian Steakhouse, Sea Captain's House, and the new Sam Snead's Oak Grill & Tavern.

THE SOUTHERN BEACH COLLECTION

If you enjoy a slightly slower pace, you might want to head to the Grand Strand's southern shores, nicknamed the "Hammock Coast". For over two centuries, vacationers have gathered along the Grand Strand's southern shores of Litchfield Beach and Pawleys Island, renowned for the unspoiled beauty, rich American heritage, and world-class golf. Places where Southern plantations once stood along the banks of tidal rivers, today are home to some of America's premier resorts and golf courses. Prime Times' Southern Beach Collection is comprised of several highly acclaimed courses. Willbrook Plantation is built upon the site of two Carolina rice plantations and is a course that noted designer Dan Maples has frequently referred to as "On of my best." It has been ranked among the "Top 50 In America for Women Golfers." Pawleys Plantation, a testy Jack Nicklaus design, has remained ranked among the Top 20 Courses in the golf-rich of South Carolina. Blackmoor is a Gary Player signature design, built upon the historic Longwood Plantation. One of the most well-traveled golfers of all time, Gary took his experience to create a "fun and fair" layout that brings golfers back year-after-year. Litchfield Country Club, River Club, Tradition Club and Wachesaw Plantation East, former host of several LPGA TOUR events, round out the Southern Beach Collection. All are recipients of 4 or more stars in the Golf Digest Guide to "Best Places To Play in America" which translates to "must play on your next visit".

The South Strand also offers a wealth of unique shops and great restaurants, including highly noted establishments in Murrells Inlet. Many of them are on the waterfront along the popular Marshwalk, with names like Drunken Jack's, Wicked Tuna, Dave's Dockside, Dead Dog Saloon, Wahoo's, and Hot Fish Club. A little further south, Pawleys Island and Georgetown offer some truly great dining options, among them Frank's and Frank's Outback, Pastaria 811, Bistro 217, Nosh, River Room and The Rice Paddy.

GETTING TO MYRTLE BEACH

From the Midwest, getting to Myrtle Beach is easier and more affordable than you might have thought. Nonstop flights on Spirit Airlines originate out of Chicago and Detroit, and most major airlines, including US Airways and Delta have connecting flights from most major cities. Two other options worth checking out are flights into nearby Charleston, SC if you are staying on the South Strand, and Wilmington, NC if you've opted for the North Strand. Both airports are less than 1.5 hours away from America's favorite golf vacation destination.
Start planning your Myrtle Beach golf getaway online at www.golfmybeach.com where you'll find some incredible specials, online tee times, information about the $100 Prime Times Rewards Card, and recent reviews of all Myrtle Beach area courses posted by golfers just like you!

Revised: 10/04/2013 - Article Viewed 29,440 Times

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.