Myrtle Beach Dominates Golfweek’s Ranking of South Carolina’s Best Public Courses

Kings North Gambler

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) — Golfweek has unveiled its list of the “Best Courses You Can Play 2023: State-by-state rankings for public-access layouts,” and Myrtle Beach again dominated the list of South Carolina’s best public designs. 

After the scores were tabulated, Golfweek’s nationwide panel of experts ranked 12 Myrtle Beach golf courses among the Palmetto State’s top 20 public layouts, highlighting the depth and quality of the area’s offerings. 

Dunes Golf & Beach Club, which has been tapped to host Myrtle Beach’s first PGA Tour event in 2024, was the Grand Strand’s highest ranked course at No. 3. The Robert Trent Jones Sr. classic was closely followed by No. 4 Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, No. 5 True Blue Golf Club, No. 7 Tidewater Golf Club, No. 9 Moorland Course at Legends Resort, No. 10 TPC Myrtle Beach, No. 11 King’s North at Myrtle Beach National, No. 13 Heritage Club, No. 14 Dye Course at Barefoot Resort, No. 15 Grande Dunes Resort Course, No. 16 Heathland Course at Legends Resort, and No. 18 Fazio Course at Barefoot Resort.

The Golfweek list is a snapshot of what makes Myrtle Beach the game’s most popular travel destination. Grand Strand courses designed by Mike Strantz, Tom Fazio, Arnold Palmer and Tom Doak, among others, appear on the list, a testament to the area’s unmatched variety.

The Strantz courses - Caledonia and True Blue - have long been among the area’s most coveted tee times. Caledonia, a consensus top 100 public course, showcases the area’s Lowcountry beauty while True Blue delivers a muscular challenge, featuring wide fairways, expansive waste bunkers, and large, undulating greens. 

Home to nine holes that play along either Cherry Grove Inlet or the Intracoastal Waterway, Tidewater is among the prettiest courses in the state. The Moorland Course presents one of the area’s most daunting tests, highlighted by the short, par-4 16th hole, known as “Hell’s Half-Acre,” where everything from eagle to double bogey are realistic possibilities. 

TPC Myrtle Beach is one of the Grand Strand’s premier big event venues and an unforgettable layout. The Tom Fazio-Lanny Wadkins design has hosted a Senior PGA Tour Championship and it’s the home of the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship. King’s North, a Palmer design, is one of the Grand Strand’s signature courses, highlighted by the par-5 sixth hole, otherwise known as “The Gambler,” a moniker it earned due to the presence of an alternate island fairway. 

Heritage Club is one of Dan Maples finest courses, playing through a stunning piece of Lowcountry property while challenging players with greens complexes that are endlessly creative. Barefoot’s Pete Dye Course is the longtime host of the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am. 

Long regarded as one of the state’s best, Grande Dunes Resort Course is better than ever following a comprehensive greens, bunkers and clubhouse renovation project in the summer of 2022. Heathland was one of Doak’s first layout’s and the now legendary architect left little doubt that he was a star on the rise with his work in Myrtle Beach. 

Barefoot’s Fazio Course presents a challenge that is demanding yet imminently fair and players relish the opportunity. 

On the Tar Heel side of the state line, Thistle Golf Club, a 27-hole Tim Cate design, was ranked as North Carolina’s 10th best public course, further highlighting the abundance of options the Grand Strand has to offer. 

The birthplace of the stay-and-play golf package, Myrtle Beach delivers a combination of quality and value no other destination can match. For the latest news, golf package offers and more, visit PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com.