From Tee-to-Green, The Dunes Earns High Marks in Myrtle Beach Debut

The inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic is in the books and Chris Gotterup has cashed the $720,000 winner’s check, which means we can assess how The Dunes Golf & Beach Club held up in the face of PGA Tour firepower.

For starters, Tour pros sang the praises of the classic Robert Trent Sr. design throughout the week, Gotterup

“I absolutely love this golf course,” Erik Van Rooyen said.

“It’s unbelievable,” European Ryder Cupper Robert MacIntyre said. “It’s a great track. I didn’t know what to expect coming here … This is top drawer. I think it’s a great golf course. It really — I enjoy it visually. To my eye, it looks good. The greens are absolutely perfect.”

We could go, but you get the point.

The Dunes Club played as a par 71 and the average score was 69.85, 1.15 strokes under par, which put it in the middle of the pack for score relative to par among the 22 layouts that have hosted Tour events so far this year. Not unexpectedly, PGA Tour players dominated the course’s three par 5s – holes 4, 13 and 15 – playing them 1.43 strokes under par, but the course’s par 3s and 4s were played at just over par for the week.

For some context, Augusta National played 1.19 strokes over par, making it the hardest track the Tour has visited to date (yes, I know The Masters isn’t run by the PGA Tour but for our purposes, we are counting it). The easiest layout, by a considerable margin, was Kapalua’s Plantation Course, which played -4.635 strokes under per day.

Thorbjorn Olesen went out early in the fourth round and on a perfect day for scoring shot a blistering 61, draining an astonishing 181 feet of putts in the process, but it’s fair to say the Dunes Club earned the praise of PGA Tour players by providing a fair but firm challenge.

Here is a look at how each hole performed throughout the week: Dunes Club

No. 1: 425 yards, par 4, average score: 3.861. Rank: 14
No. 2: 485 yards, par 4, average score: 4.032. Rank: 7
No. 3: 454 yards, par 4, average score: 4.032. Rank: 7
No. 4: 532 yards, par 5, average score: 4.554. Rank: 17
No. 5: 216 yards, par 3, average score: 3.062. Rank: 6
No. 6: 450 yards, par 4, average score: 3.931. Rank: 12
No. 7: 426 yards, par 4, average score: 4.092. Rank: 4
No. 8: 475 yards, par 4, average score: 4.163. Rank: 2
No. 9: 219 yards, par 3, average score: 3.129. Rank: 3
No. 10: 375 yards, par 4, average score: 3.871. Rank: 13
No. 11: 450 yards, par 4, average score: 3.958. Rank: 11
No. 12: 195 yards, par 3, average score: 3.010. Rank: 10
No. 13: 625 yards, par 5, average score: 4.658. Rank: 16
No. 14: 500 yards, par 4, average score: 4.193. Rank: 1
No. 15: 539 yards, par 5, average score: 4.354. Rank: 18
No. 16: 370 yards, par 4, average score: 3.847. Rank: 15
No. 17: 170 yards, par 3, average score: 3.012. Rank: 9
No. 18: 441 yards, par 4, average score: 4.089. Rank: 5

Most birdies: 232, No. 15
Most eagles: 20, No. 15
Most bogeys: 99, No. 14
Most scores of double bogey or worse: 9, No. 8

Total birdies: 1,495
Total bogeys: 971
Total double bogeys or worse: 72

The Myrtle Beach Classic, which attracted more than 41,000 people, exceeded expectations for fans and players, and The Dunes Golf & Beach Club was a primary reason why.

(Aerial photo right captured by Golf Tourism Solutions)