Best Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach: The Definitive Guide to America's Golf Capital

Myrtle Beach calls itself the “Golf Capital of the World.” With 80+ courses crammed into a 60-mile stretch of South Carolina coastline, it’s hard to argue — this place has more golf per square mile than anywhere on Earth.

But here’s the thing nobody tells you: a lot of those 80+ courses are mediocre. They’re over-conditioned resort tracks with cookie-cutter layouts, slow play, and green fees that don’t match the experience. The Grand Strand is littered with courses that coast on the Myrtle Beach brand rather than earning your money.

The good news? The best courses here are genuinely excellent — and often cheaper than comparable tracks in Scottsdale or Pinehurst. You just have to know where to go.

The Must-Play Tier

Caledonia Golf & Fish Club — 10/10

This is the best golf course in Myrtle Beach and it’s not close. Mike Strantz designed Caledonia as his masterpiece, and it holds up as one of the finest courses in the American South.

The entrance alone sets the tone — a quarter-mile drive through a live oak alley draped in Spanish moss that makes you feel like you’re approaching a Southern plantation, not a golf course. The clubhouse is an actual antebellum-style building with a porch, rocking chairs, and sweet tea.

But it’s the course that earns the perfect score. Every hole is distinct. The par-3 13th over water with a tabby shell bunker backdrop might be the most photogenic hole on the East Coast. The finishing stretch along the marsh — 16, 17, 18 — is as good as any closer in golf.

Condition is immaculate. Overseeded Bermuda fairways, bentgrass greens that roll true at 11+, and the kind of course maintenance that makes you wonder why more places can’t do this.

Green fees: $180-220 (peak season)
When to play: Morning. The light on the marsh is unreal.
Pace: Enforced strictly. 4:15 or less.
Book early. This course fills up weeks in advance.

True Blue Golf Club — 9.5/10

True Blue is Caledonia’s neighbor and sibling — same Mike Strantz genius, completely different personality. If Caledonia is elegant Southern charm, True Blue is raw, dramatic, and slightly unhinged.

The waste bunkers are enormous. The green complexes are wild. Several holes force you to make decisions off the tee that feel genuinely consequential. The par-5 8th features a split fairway with a massive waste area down the middle that dares you to cut the corner.

True Blue rewards creativity and punishes autopilot. You can’t just aim at the middle of every fairway and expect to score — you need a plan, and you need to manage the course like it’s a puzzle.

Green fees: $130-170
Tip: Play Caledonia in the morning, True Blue in the afternoon. Same ownership, combo packages available.
Walking: Caddies available and recommended.

Tidewater Golf Club — 9.3/10

Tidewater’s back nine along the Intracoastal Waterway and Cherry Grove Inlet is the most scenic stretch of golf in Myrtle Beach. Holes 12-14 sit on a bluff overlooking the water with views that’ll make you forget you just triple-bogeyed 11.

The course plays through marshland, along bluffs, and through maritime forest. It feels like a coastal Carolina course should feel — not a manufactured resort track dropped into a housing development.

The greens are some of the most challenging in the area. Lots of subtle movement, lots of false fronts, lots of “I read that perfectly and it still broke 4 feet” moments. Bring your lag putting game.

Green fees: $100-150
Best hole: 12th — short par 4 on the bluff. Drive it close if you dare.

The Dunes Golf & Beach Club — 9.0/10

The Dunes is the OG Myrtle Beach course. Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed it in 1948, and it hosted the PGA Tour for 30 years. This is where the Golf Capital reputation started.

The signature hole is “Waterloo” — the par-5 13th that wraps around a lake. It’s risk/reward perfection. The course has been renovated multiple times but still feels like a classic — wide fairways, strategic bunkering, and greens that reward precision over power.

Warning: The Dunes is a private club. You’ll need to be a guest of a member or book through select resort packages to play. Worth the effort.

Green fees: Resort package only ($200-300+)
Vibe: Old-school Southern country club. Dress accordingly.

The Excellent Value Tier

Thistle Golf Club — 8.8/10

Three nine-hole courses in Sunset Beach (technically just over the NC border, but everyone considers it Myrtle Beach). The Stewart Course is the standout — dramatic elevation changes you don’t expect this close to sea level, plus a waterfall behind the 9th green.

At under $80 in shoulder season, Thistle is absurd value. The conditioning rivals courses charging twice as much.

Green fees: $70-110
Play: The Stewart + Cameron nines for the best 18-hole combination.

Pawleys Plantation — 8.5/10

Jack Nicklaus design on a former rice plantation. The front nine plays through the marsh, the back nine through the trees. The par-3 13th over a tidal creek is the signature, and it’s a legitimate knee-knocker when the wind kicks up.

Nicklaus courses sometimes get criticized for being formulaic. Pawleys is the exception — the natural terrain is so good that even a cookie-cutter designer (sorry, Jack) couldn’t mess it up.

Green fees: $90-140
After your round: Pawleys Island is the best beach on the Grand Strand. Zero high-rises, zero chain restaurants.

Barefoot Resort (Love Course) — 8.5/10

Barefoot has four courses by four different designers (Love III, Fazio, Dye, Norman). The Love Course is the best of the bunch — tree-lined fairways, well-bunkered greens, and a layout that rewards smart play over pure distance.

The Norman Course gets more hype because of the name. It’s fine. Play the Love Course instead.

Green fees: $80-130 (resort guests get the best rates)
Skip: The Dye Course. Pete Dye’s target golf design is frustrating without being fun.

Heritage Club — 8.3/10

A Dan Maples design on a former indigo plantation. Beautiful old oaks, great conditioning, and greens that are pure. It’s a gentle, enjoyable golf course that doesn’t try to beat you up — which is exactly what you want on day 3 of a Myrtle Beach trip when your body is falling apart.

Green fees: $60-90
Perfect for: The buddy who shoots 100 and needs a confidence boost.

The Overrated List (Skip These)

TPC Myrtle Beach — $200+ for a course that plays like a $100 track. You’re paying for the TPC brand, not the experience. The conditioning doesn’t match the price, and it’s a haul from most Myrtle Beach hotels.

Myrtle Beach National (King’s North) — Was great in the 1990s. Still charges like it’s 1999. The gimmick holes (The Gambler, island green on 12) are fun once, but the rest of the course is forgettable. Better options at this price point.

Grande Dunes Resort Course — Nice facilities, mediocre course. The marina views are solid, but the layout is uninspired and the pace of play is brutal. You’ll spend 5 hours watching the group ahead search for balls.

The 3-Day Myrtle Beach Golf Trip

Day 1: The Championship Day

Morning: Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (7:30 AM tee time)
Afternoon: True Blue Golf Club (1:00 PM — combo package)
Dinner: The Parson’s Table in Little River (reservations required, BYOB)
Total golf spend: ~$300-350

Day 2: Value + Scenery

Morning: Tidewater Golf Club (8:00 AM)
Afternoon: Thistle Golf Club (1:30 PM)
Dinner: Dead Dog Saloon on the MarshWalk (cheap beer, great shrimp)
Total golf spend: ~$200-250

Day 3: The Easy Close

Morning: Pawleys Plantation or Heritage Club (pick your energy level)
Afternoon: Beach / recovery / early airport run
Total golf spend: ~$90-140

Total 3-day trip golf cost: $590-740 — genuinely competitive with Scottsdale and way cheaper than Bandon Dunes.

When to Go

Peak season (March-May): Best weather, highest prices, busiest courses. Book 4-6 weeks ahead.
Shoulder season (Oct-Nov): Nearly as good weather, 30-40% cheaper, less crowded. This is the sweet spot.
Summer (June-Aug): Brutally hot and humid. Courses are cheap but you’ll hate yourself by hole 12.
Winter (Dec-Feb): Playable most days (it’s South Carolina, not Minnesota) but overseed transitions make some courses patchy. Best deals of the year.

Trip Tips

Fly into MYR (Myrtle Beach International). Direct flights from most East Coast cities. Don’t fly into Charleston — it’s 2+ hours away.

Stay in Pawleys Island or Murrells Inlet — not North Myrtle Beach. You’re closer to the best courses (Caledonia, True Blue, Heritage) and the restaurant scene is way better. The North Myrtle tourist strip is… fine if you like putt-putt and buffets.

Book packages through the courses directly or through Myrtle Beach Golf Authority. The markup through resort concierges is absurd.

Bring your short game. Bermuda rough around Myrtle Beach greens is thick and grabby. If you can’t chip, you’re going to struggle. These courses reward precision around the greens.

Play the tips if you’re a single-digit handicapper. Most Myrtle Beach courses are set up for resort golfers — the forward and middle tees can play short. The back tees at Caledonia and True Blue are a legitimate test.

The Bottom Line

Myrtle Beach gets dismissed as a “golf factory” by golf snobs, and honestly, they’re not entirely wrong — there are a lot of forgettable courses here pumping through 300 rounds a day.

But the top tier — Caledonia, True Blue, Tidewater — is as good as anything outside the top-25 public courses in America. The value tier gives you excellent golf at prices that make Pinehurst look like highway robbery.

Go for the golf. Stay for the shrimp and grits. Skip TPC. Play Caledonia twice if you can. Your buddies will thank you.