A couple weeks ago, my friend and I traveled up the coast to play the newly renovated Bald Head Island Club. From Myrtle Beach this is an all day trip, but it is absolutely worth it. We made it from Myrtle Beach in an hour and 15 minutes to Deep Point Marina where the ferry departs to take you on a 25 minute ride to the island. The day we played there was also an Art Festival taking place near the Bald Head Island Lighthouse which loaded the ferry, but with the observation deck there was plenty of room to get around and see the views on the water.

Once on the island you are shuttled about 5 minutes away to the club house. We checked in and decided to practice a bit before our round started. The practice facility was superb. The chipping green, practice green, bunker areas, and the driving range where manicured to perfection. The Club Professional, Justin VanHeukelom, was giving a lesson to one of his members at the time we were on the driving range.

At the first tee we decided to play the course from the Blue tees (the deepest tees), which played about 6800 yards. The first tee was a reasonable par 4 with water down the left side of the fairway. Two good pars from me and my buddy seemed to get us out of the gate well. Each hole had its own unique signature with panoramic ocean views, from the elevated tee boxes on the par three holes #8 and #16 to the fairway view looking back at the lighthouse on the par 5 #7 hole. Picturesque views and wildlife were abundant on this island paradise and I see why their members love spending their summers there. I was very impressed by the three finishing holes on each side.

After a 10:12AM tee time and quick sandwich at the turn we were finished in enough time to catch the 2:30PM ferry back to the mainland. This was truly a well deserved day off. George Cobb’s layout with the recent renovations made by Time Cape put this in my top 3 courses ever played. I want to thank Justin and his staff for allowing me to play and for putting an excellent product out there for myself and my clients to enjoy. You’ve made it one of my favorite places to golf, hands down.

I took some photos while I was there, you can check them out on the Bald Head Island Course Page.

Check out the video on the Bald Head Island renovations last year:

I got a chance to slide down to the south end of the Grand Strand and play the Jack Nicklaus designed Pawley’s Plantation on Saturday July 28th. This was the first time playing this course for me in over 15 years and never again will I wait that long to play that beautiful layout again.

Two friends accompanied me for our 12:28 tee time, and from the time we got there we all were impressed — from the staff, to the conditions, even down to the chili dog we got at the snack bar.

We met Laura in the proshop, who was very nice and accommodating. She got us settled in right away. After a quick hot dog for lunch we met up with a starter named Anthony who was very personable with a great attitude and even let me borrow his yardage book for the round. Anthony paired us up with one of their young members Mr. Tim Gavrich who was a collegiate golfer at Washington and Lee in Lexington Virginia. Tim not only was an excellent player but was able to give some local course knowledge and some helpful hints for getting around the tough Pawley’s Plantation layout. The course from tee to green was in excellent shape and well manicured even in remote areas that most golf balls should never see.

Holes 12,13,and 14 had to be probably my favorite 3 hole stretch on the course. Hole #12 is a picturesque par four with marsh views and coastal winds behind the green that can make your approach shot difficult. If you make it through this hole with par you then quickly have to turn your attention to as short par 3 measuring 145 yards that requires you to hit a pure golf shot or you will be having to use the drop area green side (which looked like it had been used quite a bit ). The par 5 15th hole was absolutely stunning and want another chance at it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I was unable to play the holes following 14 due to a lightening and rainstorm that lasted the next 3 hours, a pretty rare display of the weather conditions in Myrtle Beach. Overall I put his course in my Top 10 places to play along the Grand Strand. I want to thank everyone at Pawleys Plantation for everything they did. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and hope to be back soon to tackle all 18 holes.

You can play Pawleys Plantation as part of the new National Golf Package this fall for a nice rate. This course is actually in our top 10 golf courses as well for July!  And of course, you can check out the photos I took in our photo gallery on the Pawley’s Platation golf course page.

The only 5-Star golf course in Myrtle Beach is offering savings up to $30 off per golfer for the Fall 2012 Myrtle Beach golf season. The TPC of Myrtle Beach, voted by Golf Digest as the only 5-star golf course along the Grand Strand, is now allowing golfer and early booking incentive. The special will run for tee times booked before September 15th.

This means the earlier you book, the more you save. After September 15, this course is going to be back at normal rate prices, so time is of the essence!  This course was designed by Tom Fazio and Lanny Watkins,  and, at one time, hosted the Senior PGA Tour Championship. It’s also the home facility of current PGA professional Dustin Johnson.

Want to book?  Give us a call 800-624-6418 or shoot us an email! Simple as that.

TPC (Tournament Players Club) of Myrtle Beach is located in Murrells Inlet, which makes it home to quite a bit of wildlife along your 7000 yard, 18-hole journey as well. We’re talking about wild turkey, deer, and even gators.

Arrowhead Country Club located in Myrtle Beach offers great value and challenges all levels of golfers. The Ray Floyd signature golf course boost 27-holes with each nine having its own unique feel.  In 2009, the Cypress, Lakes and Waterway nines converted to Mini Verde Ultra Dwarf Bermuda grass greens. An exceptionally good grass for the Myrtle Beach area providing consistent putting surfaces. Mini Verde Bermuda is rated as one of the Top Grass Putting surfaces by the National Turf-grass Evaluation Program.  Arrowhead Country Club offers four sets of tees, wide undulating fairways, strategically placed waste bunkers, large greens and as mentioned before, great putting surfaces.

Arrowhead is not only fun to play, it also is very scenic with IntraCoastal Waterway views and has water on 24 of the 27 holes.  I highly recommend this course, as it is also known for its great condition. With the 27-holes, Arrowhead will always have 18-holes open to allow golfers the best playing conditions. Make sure to add Arrowhead C.C. to your golf package. Its @MBGolfPro approved!!!!!

As always, Fairways & Greens

@MBGolfPro

As the Spring 2012 golf season winds down across the grand strand, eight Myrtle Beach golf courses will be getting new greens this summer. The courses will be installing different new hybrids of Bermuda Ultra-Dwarf grass, including Champion Bermuda, Mini-Verde Bermuda, Tif-Eagle Bermuda.

These grasses excel in the Southeast, and have increased in popularity over the last couple years for several reasons:

• Bent grass is more susceptible to disease in the hot summer months compared to Ultra-Dwarf grass
• Ultra Dwarf grasses can still maintain speeds of 9-12 on a Stimpmeter just like bent grass
• Smooth consistent putting surfaces.
• Requires less maintenance (less chemicals, watering, and aerating)
• Keeps great color retention in cool seasons

Barefoot Dye Club – The course will be closed May 21 and reopen July 16. The course is changing from Bent grass to Champion Ultra Dwarf.

Barefoot Love – The course will be closed July 9 and reopen on September 10. The Love course at Barefoot is also changing from Bent grass to Champion Ultra Dwarf.

Grande Dunes Resort Course – The Resort Course at Grande Dunes is closing on June 26 to August 21. The courses is changing from Bent Grass to Champion Ultra Dwarf Bermuda Grass.

International World Tour Golf Links – The Open Course – The course will be closed beginning May 15 and will rebuild green complexes and change the putting surface grass from L93 bentgrass to Mini-Verde ultradwarf Bermuda grass.

International World Tour Golf Links – The Championship Course – The course will close after the Open Course renovations are complete. The Championship course will also have the green complexes rebuilt and switch from L93 bentgrass to Mini-Verde ultradwarf Bermuda grass.

Myrtle Beach National – Kings North – Arnold Palmer`s Kings North is changing putting surfaces from Bent grass to Champions Ultra Dwarf. The course will be closing June 25 and reopening on August 21.

Prestwick Country Club – the course will be closing on June 18 and be closed until September 15  for renovations of greens. They will be putting in Tif-Eagle Bermuda to enhance the putting surface as well as doing other projects around the course.

With the 2012 Myrtle Beach golf season rapidly approaching (approximately February 15th), it’s time to start thinking about your “Must Play” courses list.

The Myrtle Beach National West course deserves a nice little spot on every golfers list this season. Why, you ask? Let me begin my recommendation by dropping some knowledge on you about the ‘ol MBN West course.

Designed by the one and only Mr. Arnold Palmer himself, the first round commenced in 1974 when the golf course first opened its doors to the public. The MBN West course has a slope of 126 and a rating of 72.6. Boasting 18 pine-covered holes that prove to be challenging, yet enjoyable for golfers of any skill level. Also, this Myrtle Beach golf course transitioned from bent grass greens to mini verde greens in July of 2011.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about the main detail that really matters: Price. The specials and discounts that the Myrtle Beach National West course have provided us with for the 2012 golf season is borderline ridiculous.

Here’s the mouth-watering line-up:

3.) You can receive

20% off of the regular rate for morning and afternoon tee-times.

If you’re only looking to play one or two rounds of golf during your trip to Myrtle Beach, adding MBN West to your agenda would be a smart move.

As of writing this article, AM tee-times are still available, but are filling up quickly. Feel free to call in and speak to one of our golf directors, and we’ll get you setup.

**Keep in mind that the MBN West course does indeed double tee. Please read more about double teeing and what it means for you.

We’ve just been passed a new discount for the TPC of Myrtle Beach golf course and I want to pass it along to my golfers out there! It’s actually a pretty sweet golf deal for Spring 2012 golf rounds and applies to golf in PEAK seasons. The discounted Myrtle Beach golf only tee times on the rate table to the right are per golfer and includes carts, taxes and fees. (The price you see on there is the price you pay per golfer, we don’t tack on any hidden fees.)

The special has two rate periods. The first saves golfers up $17 per golfer on AM rounds from 3/8/12 to 3/21/12 and the second saves golfers up to $30 per golfer on AM rounds from 3/22/2012 to 5/20/2012.

For more information and pictures of the TPC of Myrtle Beach, visit our TPC of Myrtle Beach Page.

Want to book?  Give us a call 800-624-6418 or shoot us an email! Simple as that.

 About TPC of Myrtle Beach Golf Course

Nestled in a beautiful setting near the small community of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, the 18-hole course is the only Grand Strand golf course to be rated as a 5-star course by Golf Digest.

With a unique design planned and executed by the well-known Thomas Fazio intended to convey the feeling of playing on a tour-caliber golf course, TPC is almost 7,000 yards long with a par of 72. Featuring a slope rating of 145, and an overall rating of 74, the sumptuous course opened to golfers in 1999.

Stylistically, the design incorporates typical Southern environmental features like wetland areas and flora such as cat-tail and huge pine trees. Any golfer will enjoy the experience of the TPC of Myrtle Beach course with its exceptionally gorgeous and groomed fairways and greens, all set in the warmly hospitable Southern surroundings that only the Carolinas can offer.

Open fairways and Dye's famous pot-bunkers characterize this course.

We always do our best to respond to inquiries about golf course conditions from either myself or from the golf pro themselves. There was a comment left by a blogger on our Dye Club Golf page. That comment was responded to by the Dye Club Head Golf Professional.  So, I personally wanted to check out the course and see the condition of the greens for myself!

With that said, I got a chance to play with our assistant golf director in our normal, “‘Teacher vs Student” match on the front 9-nine holes of the Pete Dye Club at Barefoot.

This course is one of the hardest courses on the Grand Strand. With GPS on the carts, you must pay attention to the layout of the course. Over one of the famous Pete Dye Hills could be one of the famous Pete Dye pot bunkers.  The course has open fairways, but that is to notice from the tee box. The course also has a mixture of green sizes from the #1 handicap hole Par 4, 7th hole that is 49-yards long from front to back or like the Par 3, 15th hole that is 35-yards wide.

Tees, fairways and bunkers were great. Greens were spotty, but rolled great! With our cooler weather coming, the Dye Club will be in Prime Condition for the Spring 2012 golf season with Bent grass greens.

As for the Teacher vs the Student match? The Teacher closed out the Student 2-1.

Currently the Dye Club is ranked #3 on our Top 10 Myrtle Beach Golf Courses and Our Featured Golf Course of the week.

“As always, Fairways and Greens…” – @mbgolfpro

GOLF ACCOMMODATIONS NEAR TIDEWATER GOLF COURSE:

• Prince Resort
• Ocean Bay Club
• Atlantic Breeze
• Laguna Keyes
• Cherry Grove Villas
• Key West Beach House

I had the opportunity to play the Legends Parkland golf course on July 13th, 2011 with the Grand Strand Golf Directors.  The Legends Parkland course is one of three golf courses at The Legends Golf Resort, located on Highway 501, west of Myrtle Beach. This Tom Doak design was the third course at the resort opened in 1992, the second ever design for Doak, and his only design in Myrtle Beach, SC.

The clubhouse is located approximately two miles back from the main entrance to the course. You might start to wonder when you will arrive at its doorstep, but as soon as you turn the corner a couple miles in, you get the chill of this Scottish castle-themed 42,000 sq. ft  clubhouse inviting you and your group to start your journey. It features a pro shop, full service restaurant and snack bar, an impressive 36-acre practice facility and a 1-acre lighted putting green. The Legends Golf Resort also features the Alisa Pub, which has been named by Golf Digest “Top 50 19th Holes“.

The Legends Parkland golf course is no “walk in the park” by any means; being the longest of the three courses. To make things even more interesting, the day we played was the hottest day of the year. Not even a heat index of 117 couldn’t stop us from playing though. However, it did make the course feel like it had another 1,000 yards to the track.

The Legends Parkland course features big rolling fairways and huge (and fast) Tif Eagle Bermuda greens, both of which were extremely well-guarded with bunkers.  We also noticed there was a nice natural feel to the course, with wetlands and water dotting the holes (17 of the holes actually).

The hole that stuck out the most for us was #11.   Not only because I remembered this was the hole that Kevin Costner (Roy “TinCup” McAvoy) was ORIGINALLY supposed to use during this pivotal scene in the movie Tin Cup,  but the hole itself had a nice overall feel. The tee shot over the marsh must be made precisely in order to avoid the bunkers and hit the fairway. From there, you can either try and GO FOR IT to the green or lay up before the water. I went for it. I might not have made the green, I did make it over the water. With a poor chip and a two-putt, I ending up making the par 5.

Over all, this golf director would recommend Parkland and would welcome the invitation to play again. The course was in excellent condition from tee to green, the staff was as friendly as the next guys’, and the clubhouse was nothing short of jaw-dropping.  I left there  a happy (and dehydrated) golfer with my par on #11 that beat “Tin Cup’s” 12.

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You can play the Legends Parkland course as part of our Legends Golf package, which includes breakfast, lunch and two free drinks at the clubhouse. Feel free to hit me up on twitter at @mbgolfpro.