Golf
Myrtle Beach’s Most Challenging Golf Courses
With approximately 100 golf courses on the Grand Strand, there are many to choose from to find the right challenge for you regardless of your handicap. But for you scratch golfers and brave souls looking to take your best shot at the area’s best courses, here are five links that stand out as true tests of golf:
Barefoot Resort & Golf – Dye Course
As one of the top tournament courses in the region, pros and amateurs test their skills annually on this 7,343-yard layout, including the PGA Tour players and celebrities in the Hootie & The Blowfish Monday After the Masters event. Designed by Pete Dye, this North Myrtle Beach is a par 72 with a course rating is 75.3 and ia slope rating of 149. Bring your big-boy driver and your A-game around the greens.
Dunes Golf & Beach Club
As just the second golf course constructed on the Grand Strand in 1949, the Dunes Club continues to stand the test of time as a test of golf. Designed by Robert Trent Jones, it’s famed 13th hole, know as Waterloo, serves as one of the toughest holes on the East Coast. At 7,165 yards from tee to green, the oceanside layout has a course rating of 75.4 and ia slope rating of 141 on Bent grass.
Long Bay Club
Located near the Carolina state border in Longs, S.C., this Jack Nicklaus-designed layout is consistently ranked as one of the best and toughest courses on the Strand. The par 72 features deep-pot bunkers and vast waste areas, challenging players to go for the greens despite the difficult hazards that protect the holes. With a slope rating of 137, Long Bay uses contrasting elevations to put your game through the ringer.
TPC of Myrtle Beach
Opened in 1999 to become the new home of the Senior Tour Championship, this Murrells Inlet layout is for pros who can swing a big stick and putt wth finesse. Designed by Thomas Fazio, , the 6,950-yard layout is a par 72 with a course rating is 74.0 and a slope rating of 145. Tom Watson mastered the links in the 2000 Senior Tour Championship but few have done so ever since.
True Blue
Located in scenic lowcountry of Pawleys Island, this course was designed by Mike Strantz in 1999 with the natural setting in mind. The 7,060-yard layout is surrounded by salt marshes and maritime forests, challenging players with unique hazards and angles while carrying a stiff risk/reward ratio. This par 72 has course rating of 73.8 and a slope rating of 139 on Bermuda grass..
