As to be expected, the justifiably lauded Caledonia Golf and Fish Club in Pawleys Island, SC, makes the Myrtle Beach Golf Vacation guide list of recommended places to play.
Chances are good that at some point in your golfing life, Myrtle Beach, SC, has been on your itinerary. The combination of reasonably priced accommodations and dozens of fine golf courses packed into about a 100-mile stretch attracts hundreds of thousands of golfers every year.
But for those who have never been to the Grand Strand, or have but let someone else make the arrangements, traps await (in more ways than one). Of the 100+ golf courses 50 miles on either side of
It is hard to put a price on a memorable golf vacation, but how does $19.97 sound?
Myrtle Beach, a few are clunkers, and one or two of those in your rotation could cast a pall over an otherwise enjoyable week. Accommodations can run the gamut from comfortable to tawdry, despite the fancy brochures and on-line come-ons. And although I would never define any of the area's restaurants as gourmet, a few are excellent, but many others are overpriced and overrated. Figuring out which are which is not a job for a neophyte golf vacation planner.
It is hard to put a price on a memorable golf vacation, but I will -- $19.97 -- the price of a comprehensive guide,
Planning the Ultimate Myrtle Beach Golf Vacation by David Baum and the editors of the only unbiased golf travel newsletter on the market,
Golf Odyssey.
Nice work, taken seriously
The newly published guide breaks down the Grand Strand into north, central and south sections. Each section includes reviews of the best golf courses, lodging accomodations and restaurants in the eyes of the editors. They have played all the courses they recommend, eaten in all the restaurants and visited all the lodging options. It is nice work if you can get it, but they take their work very seriously, and each of their recommendations is well argued.
I consider myself well acquainted with Myrtle Beach, having made dozens of trips there since my first visit in 1968, when a room at the oceanfront Sea Mist Travelodge, 36 holes of daily golf (with cart), breakfast and a late afternoon oyster roast set me back a total $99. I own a home at the south end of the Grand Strand, at Pawleys Plantation, and I agree with the editors' assessment of the golf course there (although in the time since their visit a year ago, conditions have improved). The editors highlight most of the courses I would put on my own "best of" list, and they do a convincing job of explaining their choices. More importantly, they provide tips about how to access a few courses, like the famed Dunes Club, that make non-member tee times difficult to attain. And if you have ever been victimized by -- surprise -- aerated greens, the Myrtle Beach Golf Vacation guide provides a handy list of dates each course plans to punch holes in their sod. That alone is worth the modest cover price of $19.97, but the guide provides many more money-saving and, potentially, vacation-saving tips.
Too good to be true? Not
A few slight missteps take nothing away from the value of the guide. For example, in a review of the outstanding Resort Course at Grande Dunes, the editors ignore the signature 14th hole, a long and beautiful par 3 that plays alongside the Intra-coastal Waterway and over water to a large sloping green protected by a yawning bunker. They tout two other nice one shotters in lieu of the 14th. Okay, that's a subjective call, but not so their description of the daunting 16th at Pawleys Plantation, a long par 4. I've played it dozens of times, and I can testify it moves hard left, not a "dogleg right" as the editors indicate. And although some of their golf reviews carry a "born-on date," I wish they all did. Conditions on Myrtle Beach's courses are a function of season (winter and summer tend to be the iffiest), and it would be especially helpful in planning a trip to know the months the insiders played each course.
Those few niggles aside, at $19.97 the Myrtle Beach Golf Vacation guide is that rare animal that seems too good to be true but isn't. It will pay for itself the first time you use it.
To order your downloaded digital copy of the Myrtle Beach Golf Vacation guide, go to www.golfodyssey.com/myrtle_beach.
The Myrtle Beach Golf Vacation guide explains how you can play the private Nick Price designed Members Club at Grande Dunes, where a caddie or forecaddie is mandatory.
