SC Golf Course Ratings Panel Ranks Top 10 Myrtle Beach Layouts

The South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel has unveiled its list of the state’s best courses and a ranking of the top 10 layouts along Myrtle Beach’s Grand Strand.

A couple familiar names led Myrtle Beach’s honorees. In a ranking of the Palmetto State’s top 50 courses, public and private, the famed Dunes Golf & Beach Club was ranked ninth, and Caledonia Golf & Fish Club was No. 12, heading a group of 11 area courses that made the list.

When private courses are factored out of the rankings, the quality of the area’s offerings become even more obvious as four of the state’s top nine public layouts are located along the Myrtle Beach golf scene.

According to the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel, here are the Grand Strand’s best courses, along with their ranking in the top 50 list in parenthesis:

1. The Dunes Golf & Beach Club (9)
2. Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (12)
3. Tidewater Golf Club (27)
4. Wachesaw Plantation – PR (28)
5. Debordieu Club – PR (30)
6. The Reserve Club – PR (37)
7. Surf Golf & Beach Club – PR (39)
8. True Blue Golf Club (40)
9. Grande Dunes Resort Course (44)
10. Dye Course at Barefoot Resort (46)
11. TPC Myrtle Beach (47)

The Dunes Club, a consensus top 100 public course, is the area’s most revered design, having hosted the U.S. Women’s Open and Senior PGA Tour Championship, among other prominent events.

Caledonia, also voted Myrtle Beach’s most fun place to play, combines the architectural genius of Mike Strantz with a stunning piece of lowcountry land, and the result is a design Golf Digest, Golf Magazine and Golf Channel’s Matt Ginella rank among America’s top 100 public courses.

Tidewater, home to the area’s most stunning views, features eight holes that play along either Cherry Grove or the Intracoastal Waterway. Wachesaw, Debordieu, The Reserve Club and Surf Club are all private, highlighting an underrated component of the area’s offerings.

True Blue, Caledonia’s sister course, provides a contrasting but no less memorable challenge, using waste bunkers to frame a layout where everything is big – the fairways, greens and most of all the fun.

With multiple holes that play along the Intracoastal Waterway, highlighted by the breathtaking par 3 14th, Grande Dunes has long been a favorite of traveling golfers.

The Dye Course, the long-time host of the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am, is one of four layouts at Barefoot Resort that could’ve made the list.

TPC Myrtle Beach, host of the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship and previously a Senior PGA Tour event, is one of the TPC network’s best designs.

The ratings panel is comprised of 125 members from throughout the state and represents a diverse range of occupations, handicaps and backgrounds. The organization’s objective is to promote excellence in the state’s golf course design and operations through the competitive rankings, education and public advocacy.

Judging criteria include routing, variety, strategy, equity, memorability, aesthetics and experience.

For more information on everything a Grand Strand golf trip has to offer, visit www.PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com.