Do you have memories of these five golf courses in Myrtle Beach, SC? They are the oldest
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As golf has evolved recently, golf courses have tried to keep pace.
Players at all levels are hitting the golf ball farther than they ever have before, which has caused some concern and led some courses to increase their yardage.
“You think (of) the modern era we went through in the early 2000s, and everything was being Tiger (Woods) proofed,” Pine Lakes Country Club General Manager Jimmy Biggs said. “Everything was about padding distance. Making courses longer and longer.”
Older courses present players with different challenges that requiring a different skill set. Shot placement and shot selection are critical for older courses, and Myrtle Beach has several historic clubs that embody this ethos.
These are Myrtle Beach’s five oldest golf courses, according to Myrtle Beach Golf Trips:
Pine Lakes Country Club was founded in 1927 at 5603 Granddaddy Drive in Myrtle Beach.
Dunes Golf and Beach Club was founded in 1948 at 9000 North Ocean Blvd. in Myrtle Beach.
Surf Golf & Beach Club was founded in 1960 at 1701 Springland Lane in North Myrtle Beach.
Whispering Pines was founded in 1962 at 900 Harrelson Blvd. in Myrtle Beach.
Myrtlewood’s PineHills Course was founded in 1966 at 1500 48th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach.
For those looking to play one of these historic links, here’s how to ensure you play your best.
An almost 100-year-old Great Gatsby-esque golf course emphasizes approach shots
Since 1927, Pine Lakes has retained its “Great Gatsby-esque” ballrooms, Biggs said.
Owned by Founders Group International, tackling Pine Lakes golf course presents a unique challenge for players. The almost century-old course designed by the first PGA President Robert White is relatively ‘anxiety-free’ off the tee and short compared to modern courses, Biggs said, with fairways that are easy to hit.
Players like this, but it’s not their driver that generates added strokes at Pine Lakes.
“(Pine Lakes) is 100 percent a second shot, approach shot golf course. Depending on where the (green) pin locations are ... that can change your club by four or five clubs,” he added. “You have wind because we’re so close to the surf here. That brings a whole new dynamic to the golf course.”
These approach shots can give golfers fits if they try and be aggressive; as Biggs said, Pine Lakes doesn’t give players many opportunities to come out on top adopting this strategy. Ball placement is essential at Pine Lakes.
There are only 24 bunkers on the property designed to gobble up errant shots or attempts to get on the green, he added.
“There’s not a lot of flat lies at Pine Lakes that’s kind of strange for a beach golf course ... you’ve kind of got to take what the course gives you, and for some people, that’s difficult,” Biggs said. “Some people don’t know how to hit a draw. Nine out of 10 golfers can’t hit it right to left. But some shots out here require you to do that if you’re going to have success.”
Pine Lakes’ signature hole is 14, he added. A 438-yard par four water intersects the fairway, and a steep approach protects the green, the beach sitting behind it.
“It’s right in the middle of the city, right on the ocean. It looks like it’s been here for 100 years,” Biggs said.
The Dunes Club is celebrating an anniversary and preparing for a PGA tournament
Seventy-five years old this year, the Dunes Club made history in 2023, too. The club will host Myrtle Beach’s first PGA Tournament in 2024 and recently underwent about $500,000 in renovations and course changes.
The championship tee boxes were re-sodded and a second chipping green built. The 8th hole became a par four, and ponds on holes one, 10 and 18 were updated.
Head Golf Professional Dennis Nicholl said in September that the course’s signature holes were 11, 12 and 13.
“Has a lot of character to it,” he said then.
Collins Wakefield is the club president and joined as a member in 1999.
“It’s just a golf course that is challenging; it’s fair; you can play it day in and day out,” Wakefield added.
As for the upcoming PGA Myrtle Beach Classic, the Dunes Club is ready, Head Golf Professional Holden Patterson said.
“(The PGA) said the course’s ready to rock and roll,” he added.
The Surf Club’s greens are the course’s defense
Near the mostly developed Tilghman area of North Myrtle Beach and close to the beach, staying true to their roots is important for the Surf Club, PGA Head Golf Professional Dan Cordaro said.
“I think that’s a little bit of traditionalist or purist in the golf game where your hands have to save you not just how far you can hit the ball,” he said.
Designed by the prolific architect George Cobb, the creator of Augusta National’s par three course, the Surf Club has changed in recent years, Cordaro added.
The course had many more trees before around 500 were knocked down during a recent hurricane that made the fairways more forgiving, Cordaro said, although he did not specify which hurricane caused the damage.
Despite this, the course retains much of Cobb’s original design, particularly regarding the greens.
“That’s the defense of the course ... once you get above the hole on the green, you’re lucky to three putt,” Cordaro said.
Another feature of Cobb’s courses is his bunker placement, specifically no fairway bunkers.
“(Cobb) lines the greens with bunkers very well. And I wouldn’t say they’re pot bunkers, but they’re fairly deep bunkers,” Cordaro said. “So that kind of makes the defense of his golf courses. It’s really 100 yards in where the golf course shows its teeth.”
For him, the Surf Club’s signature holes are six and 18, both par threes.
Both protected by water, each emphasizes ball placement on the green, as their greens are sloped back to front. Hole 18 also plays into the wind with a water hazard in front of the green.
Whispering Pines was founded by the military
Myrtle Beach’s fourth oldest golf course shares an origin story unlike any of its fellow courses on the list.
Chip Smith operates the course, as well as the former owner of TPC Myrtle Beach, Brunswick Plantation & Golf Resort in Calabash, NC and other courses, who was unavailable for comment. Smith’s company, Atlantic Golf Management, also operates the Aero Club Short Course.
Whispering Pines is owned by the City of Myrtle Beach but was initially built by the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, which closed in 1993.
In 1962, new base commander Brigadier General Gil Meyers discovered old plans for a base golf course, according to The Historical Marker Database.
Despite having $23,000 to build the course, the base personnel made Whispering Pines, with General Meyers personally cutting down trees to complete the nine-hole project in July of that year.
Whispering Pines was turned into an 18-hole course in 1987, according to The Historical Marker Database.
Myrtlewood’s PineHills Course is all about fun
One of the challenges that present itself at Myrtle Beach’s fifth oldest golf course is the hole layouts.
Many holes are in the shape of a “dog leg” golf terminology for holes that bend or are crooked like a canine’s extremities.
Myrtlewood, also owned by Founder Group International, has restored PineHills earlier aesthetic by bringing back a more natural grass layout along the course, Head Golf Professional/General Manager Dustin Powers said, a trend other Grand Strand courses are also adopting.
But the course provides fun for players above all, Powers added.
“Because you get to do a lot of different things instead of let me tee up my driver and rip it,” Powers said. “You can think your way around, and there’s a bunch of different ways to attack it. I think it’s just a fun golf course to play.”
He added that PineHills’ three signature holes are hole 10, a par four; hole three, a par five and hole 17, a par three.
Ten offers players a sloped green, while a bunker sits in the fairway right in the landing area. Meanwhile, water and trees line three, which calls for an accurate drive before a leftward dogleg.
For Powers, 17’s tee box elevated above the green provides players with a high-risk, high-reward opportunity.
“You feel like you can attack it, but it’s also dangerous at the same time,” he added.
