Despite a deep recession in the golf industry that has seen many courses close, Myrtle Beach still offers golfing gourmands all they can handle.  If you are that kind of golfer and own a second home in Horry, Brunswick or Georgetown Counties, then your ticket to the golf smorgasbord is the Myrtle Beach Passport.

        For just a $39 annual fee, the Passport provides discounts of as

The ticket to the golf smorgasbord is the Myrtle Beach Golf Passport.

much as 60% of the rack rates at 80 of the area’s best courses, including such tracks as the highly rated Caledonia, the four Barefoot Resort Courses (including the quasi-private Pete Dye course), Grande Dunes' Resort Course, King’s North, Pawleys Plantation, Tidewater, True Blue and the quirky but strangely alluring World Tour Golf Links, with holes that mimic a few from Augusta National and other world famous layouts.

        Second-home owners in the surrounding counties need only present a tax receipt, rental income statement, or utility bill to prove residence.  (If Myrtle Beach is your primary residence, then a driver’s license will suffice.)  Prices can run as low as $32 in the off-season (January, when some days are in the 60s, and July and August when it is likely to reach well into the 90s).  Passport holders also receive discounts at the Golf Dimensions stores and at some of the better restaurants in the area (e.g. 25% off at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Divine Fish House and Collector’s Café).

         The best feature of the Passport, besides the discounts, is that you can bring up to three guests at your rate.  And there is no limit to how many times you can play a particular course.  For a list of golf courses in the Myrtle Beach Passport program, see MyrtleBeachGolfPassport.com.

Thistle3Westgreen

The "rack rate" at Sunset Beach, NC's Thistle Golf Club can reach $120 in peak season.  Myrtle Beach Passport members pay just $60 from January to December.

        I learned today that, as a member of the South Carolina Golf Rating Panel, I now have the privilege of casting votes for nominees to the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame.  Members of the Carolinas Golf Reporters Association have traditionally held that privilege but they have extended it to ratings panel members as well.

        This year’s nominees are an impressive group, but it took me about 10 seconds to cast my (maximum) two votes from among Charles Fraser, Scott Hoch, Paul Simson, Mike Strantz, Leonard Thompson and Howard Ward.  I picked Fraser and Strantz, although the others are all certainly worthy of the honor.

        If anyone can claim to have “invented” the golf community, Charles Fraser is the man.  He founded the Sea Pines Plantation community on Hilton Head and built the famed Harbour Town Links.  In so doing, he established the formula for the modern, high-quality golf community.

        The late Mike Strantz is a figure of some controversy among those who love to debate the fine points of golf architecture.  Depending on what side of the debate you find yourself, Strantz, who died of cancer at the age of 50 in 2005, was either a whack job designer who created golf layouts on steroids, or he was a genius who saw way beyond the more traditional designers to create courses that are both challenging and unforgettable experiences.  Ask anyone who has played Tobacco Road in the sandhills of North Carolina and they will recount a few distinct memories of their round.  Look no further than public golf course rankings and you will find that Strantz’ Caledonia Golf & Fish Club south of Myrtle Beach is considered among the finest modern “classic” layouts.

         Fraser and Strantz are my choices for the two among the half dozen nominees who put their unforgettable stamp on the game of golf in the Carolinas.  The results of the voting are expected to be announced sometime in June.