We are starting to receive Myrtle Beach golf package rates and pricing for Spring 2012 from the area golf companies and we want it available to you! We currently have single round course rates posted under The Supreme Golf Package. The Supreme is a “Build Your Own” featuring over 90 courses on the Grand Strand. Plus, we recently updated four of our golf packages with 2012 Myrtle Beach golf rates as well.

Along with The Supreme Package, The Legends Package has quickly become one our of most popular golf packages. All Single Round, Three Round and the Four + 1 FREE Round includes Breakfast, Lunch and 2-draft beers for each golfer. That pays for itself!

The Big Cats Golf Courses have changed their package from Three + 1 to a deep discounted Four Round Rate for 2012. To receive the discounted rates though, you now have to play Tigers Eye or Leopards Chase in the afternoon.

Glens Group will continue their Ultimate Glens Package offering three rounds with a Possum Trot for free  AND Free Pre-Booked Replays after 1:30pm.

Also for the Spring 2012 golf season we have brought back our Super Savers Golf Package, which is our low cost budget golf package.

Let’s not forget about the Barefoot golf course 2012 rates we just published as well, featuring courses from the top dogs like Fazio, Norman, Love, and Dye. And finally, the Grand Slam golf package, the one that combines a couple Barefoot courses with Caledonia or True Blue,  a package for the serious golfers only!

———-

NorthMyrtleBeachGolf.com, your #1 source for the best in Myrtle Beach golf.

Bald Head Island in North Carolina is one of the top 10 golf courses this month.

Since I started publishing a monthly article of  the “Top 10 Myrtle Beach Golf Courses” five months ago, it has quickly become one of our most read blog topics! My June article had the most visits and the most votes for the courses. The feedback that I get from and our Facebook Page NorthMyrtleBeachGolf has been great.

I have also been asked to write a monthly article and rank every golf course on the Grand Strand. While that is something that will be done down the line, the Top 10 is great, because these are very close to my own personal rankings.

The following is the Top 10 Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach for the Month of July 2011.

These rankings are compiled from visitors voting on the northmyrtlebeachgolf.com website.

Barefoot Fazio was knocked out this month but I do expect them back after the new green switch from Bent Grass to Mini Verde. Tidewater Golf Plantation is also welcomed back in the Top 10.

1. Barefoot Dye – #1 for two consecutive months after knocking off the World Famous Dunes Club.

2. Caledonia – #2 for two consecutive months.

3. Bald Head Island – #3 for two consecutive months.

4. Dunes Club – Up one spot from June.

5. Pawleys Plantation – Down one spot from #4.

6. TPC of Myrtle Beach – Up one spot from #7.

7. Tidewater – Back in the Top 10.

8. Willbrook – Up one spot from #9 after making its debut last month.

9. Thistle – Dropped three spots from #6 after its debut in the Top 10 last month.

10. Pearl East – Down two spots from #8.

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.

————————

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.

Long Bay’s Signature 10th Hole

A few Myrtle Beach area golf directors and area club professionals were invited to play The Long Bay Club (one of Myrtle Beach National’s gems) on July 7th and I must say, I was very impressed.  After a short drive to the Northern End of the Grand Strand, I found myself being welcomed by a Rocky Balboa styled statue of Long Bay Club course architect Jack Nicklaus at the entrance of the clubhouse. (Quick hint, as you travel through the Long Bay community to the clubhouse,  pay close attention on your left where you can sneak a peek at the pin placement of one of Myrtle Beach’s most visually challenging par 3’s, hole number #13, which exhibits an island green.)

Powering down a quick lunch at the full-service restaurant we headed over to the practice facility.  Hands-down, it is one of the nicest and well-groomed practice facilities in the area. (This explains why many LPGA, Nationwide, and Hooters tour players practice here.)  It also sports a target-laced driving range, and a chipping and practice green with Champion Ultra-Dwarf Bermuda grass. From the practice green to the 18th hole, the greens were in tip-top shape, even considering the lack of rainfall the Myrtle Beach area has had this summer.

We immediately noticed (like all Nicklaus designs) the course was open off-the-tee, but still had a barrage of bunkers and well-bunkered greens.  If you want to challenge yourself you can always play this course from the Champion Black Tees at a shade over 7000 yards, or choose from one of the other 4 sets, including the Forward Tees, at just under 5000 yards.  After making your way through some risk reward holes on the front side, do not lose focus, because you face a beautiful but tough hole to start the back nine.  Long Bay Club’s signature hole #10, a short par, can easily get you in trouble if you are too close to the green. It’s best to play defensively and hit your ball just before the end of the fairway to leave you 100 or less yards into the green.  (You will find this is true for other holes as well, like #3, #6, and #14. )   Also, an investment in a yardage book will quickly play for itself if you are a 1st timer on at this course, not to mention you will have the upper hand to win a skin off your buddies.

The Long Bay Club, located in Longs, South Carolina, is one of Myrtle Beach’s nicest, and if you don’t take my word for it; try it yourself this fall for as low as $32 per golf if you are an early bird.

Myrtle Beach is possibly the best place to golf in all of North America. At this one location, there are dozens of great golf courses to play, many of which have been designed by legends of the game. To play in Myrtle Beach is to play in the mecca of golf. It is a pilgrimage every golf lover should make at some point in their lives. To play a game of golf at some courses in Myrtle Beach is to play in golf heaven.

It was not always this way for Myrtle Beach. In fact, it wasn’t until 1927 when the first golf course in Myrtle Beach opened that the entire region took a different turn and became the one-stop shop for the golf enthusiast. Myrtle Beach has grown from that first golf course and become the golf capital of the world. In all, there are 120 golf courses, where 4.2 million rounds of golf were played last year, an increase of 500,000 over 2007 alone!

What was the golf course that started it all? It was the Pine Lakes Country Club, the oldest course in Myrtle Beach. In the 1920s, several businessmen got together to begin building an upscale beach tourist destination called Arcady. This would eventually become known as the Pine Lakes Country Club and Ocean Forest Hotel when it opened in 1927. This golf course has seen many great players, including the legendary Sam Snead, regarded as possibly the greatest golfer who has ever lived. Even the high profile families of the Vanderbilts and Rockerfellers have played there, as has Gene Sarazen, who has a plaque dedicated to him on the 10th hole.

The club has a strong Scottish tradition, and you can even get a lesson in the history of the club from a starter in a kilt, who will tell you everything you want to know before you tee off. For its history and its legend, this course has become a favorite of golfers in Myrtle Beach, even 81 years after it opened.

Built upon natural dunes, and using freshwater lakes and rolling fairways, legendary architect Robert White, who also was the first president of the PGA, created a course that has been played by generations of golfers, all of whom were left in awe of this course.

While it has gone through many renovations, the Granddaddy of Myrtle Beach golf continues to be the golf course every golfer must play at least once in their lives.