In its first 100 years as a golf destination, Myrtle Beach has enjoyed a meteoric rise, and along the way there have been many milestones. The Grand Strand is the game’s most popular destination, and it has hosted the U.S. Women’s Open, the LPGA Tour and the PGA Tour, among other high-profile events.
Different events and courses have had varying degrees of impact on the area’s explosive growth, and we’re going to look at five holes that have helped make Myrtle Beach famous.
● When Robert White designed Pine Lakes‘ 14th hole in 1927, he couldn’t have imagined the hotel skyline that now frames one of the area’s most recognizable views. More importantly, the hole represents where Myrtle Beach golf began. Every great destination has an origin story, and this rolling par 4 at “The Granddaddy” is part of Myrtle Beach’s.
● Stories about the famed par-5 13th at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club spread long before drone footage, Instagram and YouTube made great golf holes instantly famous. The 90-degree dogleg right, known simply as “Waterloo,” plays around Lake Singleton, and every player, regardless of skill level, must decide how much of the water they’re willing to challenge on their second shot. This is the area’s most famed hole, one that helped define both Robert Trent Jones Sr’s architectural reputation and Myrtle Beach’s as a golf destination.
● Speaking of par 5s that changed the area’s fortunes, the sixth hole at Kings North at Myrtle Beach National, known near and far as “The Gambler,” (top photo) is on the very short list of the area’s most iconic challenges. Players face a choice off the tee: play safe to the main fairway, or challenge the alternate island fairway that sets up a shorter approach to a peninsula green and a real shot at eagle. That risk-reward decision is at the heart of the enduring popularity of this Arnold Palmer design.
● The late Mike Strantz is one of the game’s architectural legends, and the par 4 18th hole at Caledonia (pictured right) helped launch “The Maverick” to stardom. This dogleg right requires a carry to a green that sits in the shadow of Caledonia’s stately clubhouse. With players gathered on the clubhouse deck cheering or
bemoaning your approach, few finishing holes in all of golf are better.
● In the late 1990s, as the Myrtle Beach golf boom was nearing its peak, in came Jack Nicklaus, the game’s greatest champion, to design Pawleys Plantation. On a layout that features five back nine holes running along a saltwater marsh, the devilish par 3 13th, which plays to a peninsula green, is unforgettable. The 13th is as short as it is dangerous, and few holes have appeared in more Instagram posts or sparked more debates than this beauty.
Photos for this feature from MyrtleBeachGolfTrips Instagram Account
