There are times, when reflecting on a round, you will think to yourself, “Wow, that was a wild hole.”
Some golfers love those types of challenges, others not so much, but everyone remembers them.
As a destination with 90 courses, Myrtle Beach has its share of hold-on-to-the-seat-of-your-pants type challenges and here are five you won’t forget. These aren’t necessarily Myrtle Beach’s best holes, but they are certainly among the most memorable.
— The list starts with the 767-yard, par 6 18th hole at Farmstead (pictured above). There are only a handful of par 6s in America and this one actually spans two states. Golfers tee off in South Carolina before crossing the state line to putt out in North Carolina. This is a hole you will tell people you played.
— On the opposite end of the spectrum is the par 3 13th hole at Pawleys Plantation(pictured below). The scorecard says its 149 yards, but the overwhelming majority of golfers play it 
from inside 100 yards. There isn’t a harder green in the Myrtle Beach area to hit. The iconic challenge plays along a stunning tidal marsh to a peninsula green that is surrounded on three sides by water and the wind off the nearby Atlantic Ocean. The putting surface is 16 yards at its widest point. The shot is all about touch (and nerves).
— The eighth hole at Blackmoor can be played as a conventional dogleg right, but the chute Gary Player cut through the trees makes it an almost irresistible 270-yard par 4. The challenge? That chute is approximately 30 yards wide, so you better hit the ball straight. Wayward shots will find the trees, turning your dreams of eagle into prayers for a bogey.
— No list of Myrtle Beach’s wildest holes is complete without “The Gambler,” the par 5 sixth hole at King’s North. As the name suggests, there is a risk-reward component to the challenge and it comes in the form of an alternate, island fairway. Golfers accurate enough to hit the 42-yard island will have the opportunity to go for the green in two (the dream of an eagle is hard to pass up!). This is on the short list of the Myrtle Beach area’s most famed holes.
— An island green is a fairly common feature, but an island hole? That’s a different story. The ninth hole at Man O’War – a 433-yard, par 4 (pictured right) – features a fairway and green completely surrounded by water. Yes, it’s intimidating. You have nearly 90 yards of room in the primary landing area off the tee, but it’s a daunting shot on a hole everyone in your group will discuss after the round.
Honorable mention: Rivers Edge No. 9, Glen Dornoch No. 18, Moorland No. 16.
