100 Years of Myrtle Beach: The Five Courses That Defined a Golf Destination

As Myrtle Beach celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2027, it’s worth remembering that the area’s rise to become America’s most popular golf destination wasn’t driven by volume alone. A handful of courses changed the trajectory of Myrtle Beach golf, attracting national attention, expanding the market, and helping shape the destination.

Here are five milestone layouts that had an outsized impact on that journey.

Pine Lakes Country Club (1927)
Everything has a birthplace, and for the Myrtle Beach golf community, it’s Pine Lakes. Originally named Ocean Forest Country Club, the Robert White-designed course opened just prior to the Great Depression, but it weathered the initial storm and it remains one of the area’s iconic layouts. (Top photo)

Dunes Golf & Beach Club (1949)
This Robert Trent Jones Sr. classic is the layout that attracted national attention to the area. Today, it’s most known as the host of the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic, but for 50 years the Dunes Club hosted an event that had a far greater impact on the area’s growth: the Golf Writers Association of America Tournament. Golf’s leading journalists came to the area to play in the event on their way to Augusta National, and they wrote about their experience, spreading the virtues of Myrtle Beach golf across the country.

Oyster Bay (1983)
This Dan Maples design, along with Marsh Harbor (RIP), brought the Myrtle Beach golf scene just across the state line to Brunswick County, N.C. Oyster Bay was named “Best New Course in America” by Golf Digest, and it led to explosive growth along the North Strand.

TPC Myrtle Beach (1999)
When this Tom Fazio-Lanny Wadkins design opened in 1999, it brought the Tour’s signature golf course brand to Myrtle Beach, further elevating the destination’s profile. When Tom Watson went on to win the Senior Tour Championship months after its opening, the momentum only grew. Today, TPC is one of the area’s best big event venues, annually hosting the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship, testing the game’s next generation of stars.

Grande Dunes (2001)
This Roger Rulewich design wasn’t just a layout that was ranked among “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses” by Golf Digest. It also served as the centerpiece of an upscale residential development that helped set the tone for how the area would evolve over the first quarter of the 21st century. With five holes that play along the Intracoastal Waterway, Grande Dunes remains more popular than ever.