Myrtle From Stem To Stern

By Matt Ginella
Photos by J.D. Cuban February 2009

As the economy tried to work its way through a bad case of the shanks, I went on a trip to the hub of value golf. I ordered a sampler platter of some of the best Myrtle Beach has to offer the unpretentious, bottom-line-conscious golfer.

I played six courses in three days, and after the final round, as I drove off the property of the Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, down the long tunnel of oaks (a first cousin of Magnolia Lane, the tree-lined driveway of Augusta National), I couldn't help but think that I had saved the best for last.

Map: John Burgoyne
* Star listings from 1 to 5 are derived from readers' Best Places To Play ratings.

Caledonia is located at the bottom, geographically, of a 60-mile Grand Strand of 100 public-golf options, but it should be at the top of your list of courses to play the next time you take a trip to Myrtle Beach.

Caledonia, a Mike Strantz design that opened in 1994, has a quaint and charming clubhouse with a classic Southern porch overlooking the 18th green. This public course has the polish of a private club, starting with the efficient service at its busy bag-drop area. There's no range, but I like the duck-decoy tee markers, complimentary fish soup as you make your way to the first tee and the fantastic set of finishing holes. Even if you're not playing from the back (that would be the pintail tees), be sure to walk across the wood footbridge and appreciate the entire view of the 415-yard 14th hole.

After all, looking at things from multiple perspectives is the way Caledonia was designed. Strantz, who died of cancer in 2005 at the age of 50, drew each hole by hand from many angles.

I played the mallard tees, which might seem short at 6,121 yards, but trust me when I say you should try breaking par from the mallards before you waddle back to the pintails.

My Myrtle trip began at Thistle Golf Club, 50 miles north of Caledonia. It is so far north it's actually in North Carolina. A castle-like clubhouse, designed to replicate a Scottish club of the 19th century, has replaced the temporary trailer that served as the golf shop. The new clubhouse is filled with memorabilia from the original, Scotland-based Thistle Golf Club (which dates to 1815), including a bar top from Scotland that was built in 1875. The American version of Thistle has 27 rolling, open, well-manicured holes designed by local architect Tim Cate.

Tidewater Golf Club & Plantation, also in the northern part of Myrtle, is removing 70 trees to open up some greens to more sunlight. The knock on Tidewater is that there isn't much to it, other than four memorable holes along the water (3, 4, 12 and 13). I liked Tidewater and thought, Isn't that what critics say about Pebble Beach?