Best Myrtle Beach Golf Courses: Every Grand Strand Course Ranked

Myrtle Beach earned its reputation as the Golf Capital of the World for good reason. The Grand Strand stretches from Pawleys Island in South Carolina to Brunswick County in North Carolina, giving golfers access to dozens of outstanding layouts designed by some of the biggest names in golf architecture. The challenge comes from choosing where to play first.

The best Myrtle Beach golf courses start with The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, which leads the current verified golfer-review data. Thistle Golf Club ranks close behind, while TPC Myrtle Beach and Caledonia Golf & Fish Club stand out as the highest-rated conventional public-access courses in South Carolina. The right choice for your golf trip still depends on what matters most for you. Some golfers chase championship-caliber architecture. Others want the best public golf course in Myrtle Beach, a forgiving layout for newer players, or the strongest value for the money.

This guide includes an overall ranking of Myrtle Beach golf courses, along with specialized recommendations for public courses, North Myrtle Beach, golf resorts, value-conscious trips, beginners, difficult layouts, and famous holes.

The Top 10 Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach

The following rankings use verified post-round golfer ratings rather than editorial opinion. To qualify for the featured top 10, a course needed at least 150 verified reviews. Courses rank first by average rating. Ties are broken by total review volume, giving additional weight to larger sample sizes. The data below reflects a July 2026 snapshot of 37,066 verified golfer reviews.

Key Takeaways

The Dunes Golf and Beach Club holds the highest overall rating, though its private status limits everyday visitor access.

TPC Myrtle Beach and Caledonia Golf & Fish Club lead the list for golfers looking for outstanding public-access golf in South Carolina.

Thistle Golf Club and Rivers Edge Golf Club rank among the destination's very best courses despite sitting across the state line in North Carolina. Their presence highlights why golfers often view the Grand Strand as one destination rather than focusing only on Myrtle Beach.

Complete Myrtle Beach Golf Course Ranking

The complete ranking expands beyond the top 10 and includes every course with comparable verified-review data. Courses with published ratings appear first and rank by average golfer rating. Review volume breaks ties when ratings match. Courses listed as NR simply do not display comparable verified-review data. NR means not ranked, not poorly ranked.

A few courses deserve a closer look because they consistently appear near the top of golfer wish lists.

The Dunes Golf and Beach Club

A Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed course known for its oceanfront holes and challenging water features. One of the toughest courses in the area, with water hazards, elevated greens, and ocean breezes adding to the challenge.

Difficulty: 5/5

TPC Myrtle Beach

As a premier Tournament Players Club course, TPC Myrtle Beach offers a challenging championship layout designed by Tom Fazio. TPC features tight fairways, deep bunkers, and water hazards, providing a PGA Tour-quality experience that tests even the most skilled golfers.

Difficulty: 5/5

Caledonia Golf & Fish Club

A Mike Strantz masterpiece set on a former rice plantation, offering beauty and challenge in equal measure. With tight fairways, strategic bunkers, and a challenging but beautiful layout, it provides a good test for skilled golfers.

Difficulty: 4/5

Barefoot Resort & Golf

Four distinct courses designed by Greg Norman, Davis Love III, Tom Fazio, and Pete Dye, offering a variety of golfing experiences. Difficulty varies. Pete Dye’s course is particularly tough, featuring narrow fairways and rugged terrain.

Difficulty: 4/5

Grande Dunes Resort Club

Set along the Intracoastal Waterway, Grande Dunes offers breathtaking views and one of the most luxurious golf experiences in the area. Stunning views along the Intracoastal Waterway, but the course demands precision and strategy due to water hazards and bunkers.

Difficulty: 4/5

True Blue Golf Club

A bold and dramatic Mike Strantz design, True Blue is known for its wide fairways, massive greens, and visually stunning layout. Its creative layout offers plenty of difficulty for even experienced golfers.

Difficulty: 4/5

Tidewater Golf Club

Offering stunning coastal views, Tidewater is often referred to as the "Pebble Beach of the East." Beyond the beautiful scenery, the course also offers a very challenging layout with numerous water hazards, elevated greens, and tight fairways.

Difficulty: 5/5

King's North at Myrtle Beach National

A signature Arnold Palmer course, famous for its risk-reward layout and iconic island green. Famous for its risk-reward design, especially “The Gambler” hole, King’s North provides a significant challenge to shot-makers.

Difficulty: 4/5

Pine Lakes Country Club

The "Granddaddy" of Myrtle Beach golf, Pine Lakes is known for its historic charm and Southern hospitality. This course is charming but manageable, offering a relaxed pace of play with subtle challenges.

Difficulty: 3/5

How We Ranked the Best Myrtle Beach Golf Courses

Our Ranking Methodology

Our ranking process starts with verified post-round ratings from golfers who booked through MyrtleBeachGolf.com. The July 2026 dataset covered 37,066 reviews across participating Grand Strand courses. These ratings reflect the full round, including design, conditions, service, pace, scenery, amenities, and value. They do not represent a pure architecture ranking.

A course needs at least 150 reviews to qualify for the top 10. Average rating determined the order, and review volume broke any ties. The complete ranking also includes courses with smaller samples. “NR” means the course lacked comparable displayed data, not that golfers rated it poorly. 

How Independent Golf Rankings Are Used

Recognition from publications such as Golf Digest and Golfweek adds useful context. Those lists can highlight architectural quality and national reputation, but they follow their own criteria and judging systems. For that reason, publication awards support the verified-golfer rankings without changing the order. Any accolade should identify the publication, list, year, and exact position.

How We Evaluate Value

The lowest green fee does not always deliver the best value. A strong value course provides a satisfying round for a reasonable total price.

A fair comparison requires rates from similar dates and tee-time windows, with carts, taxes, booking fees, and required charges handled consistently. The final analysis should use median sampled rates rather than one promotional price.

Until that rate audit is complete, this guide identifies strong value candidates rather than publishing a numbered value ranking.

How We Evaluate Difficulty

Difficulty depends on more than yardage. Course rating, slope rating, par, and current scorecard yardage provide the starting point. Forced carries, water, wind, narrow landing areas, bunkers, and demanding greens also shape the challenge. Any final difficulty ranking compares current scorecards from the same tee category.

How We Evaluate Beginner-Friendly Courses

Beginner-friendly courses should offer manageable carries, welcoming tee options, wider landing areas, and fewer punishing hazards. The best choice for a newer golfer may not have the shortest back tees. A longer course can still feel approachable when the forward tees create sensible angles and distances.

Ranking Limitations

These rankings offer a current snapshot rather than a permanent verdict. Golf conditions, rates, and access can change throughout the year. Aeration, storms, turf transitions, renovations, and seasonal demand can quickly affect the experience. Readers should check maintenance schedules, tee-time access, and current rates before booking.

Best Public Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach

Not every great golf course welcomes daily-fee players. Private clubs and member-focused facilities limit access, so golfers planning a vacation often care more about which courses they can actually book.

Public golf courses allow visiting golfers to reserve a tee time through a public booking platform, golf package, or resort partner. Some private clubs occasionally offer limited visitor access through participating packages, though they should not be considered traditional daily-fee courses.

Best Golf Courses in North Myrtle Beach and the North Strand

South and North Myrtle Beach make great choices for golf vacations, but each offers its own benefits. The northern end of the Grand Strand gives golfers plenty of variety without requiring a trip to the South Strand. The northern golf market includes North Myrtle Beach, nearby communities such as Little River, Longs, and Loris, and several highly regarded courses just across the South Carolina border in Brunswick County, North Carolina. Many golfers cross the state line without hesitation because the quality stays high throughout the region.

Groups can build an entire itinerary around North Myrtle Beach, Little River, and nearby Brunswick County while still choosing from scenic coastal layouts, demanding championship courses, and more forgiving options.

Best-Value & Budget Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach

The best golf courses in Myrtle Beach for the money often focus on the lowest green fee, but price tells only part of the story. Value courses deliver a stronger overall experience for the price, even if they cost a little more. Better conditioning, thoughtful layouts, faster greens, friendlier service, or stronger amenities can easily justify a higher rate. 

So whether you’re planning a golf-focused trip or hitting the links as part of a large outing like a bachelor party, the courses below deliver on golfer satisfaction and reputation. A finalized value ranking will require consistent live-rate sampling across comparable booking windows.

Planning a budget-friendly Myrtle Beach vacation is easy, whether it’s for golf or just spending some time on the shore.

Best Myrtle Beach Golf Resorts

The right golf resort depends on your needs, but some are go-tos. 

Barefoot Resort is the best all-around Myrtle Beach golf resort for groups seeking variety, convenience, and the four signature courses by Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, Davis Love III, and Greg Norman in one development. Legends Golf Resort offers the strongest value-oriented alternative with three distinct courses, while Myrtle Beach National and Myrtlewood suit groups that want multiple rounds with simpler logistics. Grande Dunes stands apart as a premium single-course resort experience, making it a better fit for golfers planning one standout round rather than a full multi-course stay.

Which Is the Best Legends Golf Course?

No single Legends course is the right choice for every golfer. The best Legends course depends on the type of round you're looking for, not on one universal ranking. Here’s a closer look:

Heathland appeals to players who enjoy strategic, links-inspired golf and Tom Doak's design philosophy. Moorland offers the toughest test of the three, highlighted by the famous "Hell's Half Acre" bunker on the par-4 16th hole and a course guide listing a 73.6 course rating with a 143 slope. Parkland provides the most traditional experience with tree-lined fairways and a layout that rewards consistency over creativity.

Hardest Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach

The hardest golf course in Myrtle Beach depends on more than reputation. Course rating, slope rating, yardage, forced carries, water hazards, bunkering, green complexes, and wind all shape how a course plays. Current course-guide data identifies several strong candidates, including The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, Grande Dunes Resort Club, Glen Dornoch Waterway Golf Links, and Diamondback Golf Club. Here are some top picks:

Easiest & Most Beginner-Friendly Golf Courses

A beginner-friendly course should build confidence, not punish every mistake. Wide landing areas, multiple tee options, manageable carries, and forgiving layouts matter far more than total yardage. Tee selection also plays a major role, so a course that challenges low-handicap players from the back tees can still provide an enjoyable round from the forward or middle tees. Grande Dunes, for example, deserves consideration because its generous fairways and multiple playing options create a welcoming experience from the appropriate tees, even though the championship setup stretches well beyond what most beginners should attempt.

Best Courses by Golfer & Trip Type

The best golf course depends on what kind of trip you're planning. A bucket-list round calls for a different course than an arrival-day tee time, a mixed-handicap group outing, or a budget-friendly second round. Matching the course to your goals helps create a better experience than chasing the highest-ranked layout every time.

Myrtle Beach Golf Courses With Famous Holes

Some holes become destinations in their own right. They challenge golfers to make difficult decisions, showcase memorable design, or earn nicknames that players remember long after the round ends. The Dunes Golf and Beach Club's par-5 13th, known as "Waterloo," ranks among the Grand Strand's most iconic holes, while Legends Moorland's par-4 16th features the intimidating "Hell's Half Acre" bunker. Several other courses also feature signature holes that deserve a spot on every golfer's bucket list.

Oldest & Most Historically Important Myrtle Beach Golf Courses

Pine Lakes Country Club is the oldest golf course in Myrtle Beach. Robert White designed the course, and it opened in 1927, laying the foundation for what would become the Golf Capital of the World. The area's golf reputation continued to grow with the opening of The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in 1948. Robert Trent Jones Sr.'s design introduced a championship-caliber layout that still ranks among the Grand Strand's most respected courses.

Myrtle Beach experienced another major expansion from the late 1980s through the early 2000s as nationally recognized architects transformed the region into one of America's premier golf destinations. Designers such as Mike Strantz, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, Tom Doak, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Davis Love III, Greg Norman, and Robert Trent Jones Sr. each left a lasting mark, giving golfers an unmatched variety of architectural styles within a single destination.

The Architects Who Shaped Myrtle Beach Golf

One of the biggest reasons Myrtle Beach attracts golfers year after year is the variety of course architecture. Every designer approaches the game differently. Golfers can play several rounds during one trip without feeling like they're tackling the same course twice.

How To Choose the Right Myrtle Beach Golf Course

1. Match the Course to Your Group’s Handicap Range

Groups with a wide range of skill levels should look for courses with multiple tee options, generous landing areas, and manageable carries. Everyone enjoys the round more when the layout fits the group.

2. Choose a Geographic Area

The Grand Strand stretches from Pawleys Island into Brunswick County, North Carolina. Staying within one part of the market reduces driving and leaves more time for golf.

3. Compare the Total Price

Look beyond the advertised green fee. Cart fees, taxes, booking fees, rentals, and replay rates can make a meaningful difference in the final cost.

4. Check Maintenance Schedules

Aeration, overseeding, and seasonal turf transitions can affect playing conditions. Checking the course schedule before booking helps avoid surprises.

5. Match the Course to the Purpose of the Round

Choose a bucket-list course for a special trip, a forgiving layout for mixed-skill groups, or an affordable option for a second round. The best course depends on the experience you're hoping to have.

Where To Stay for a Myrtle Beach Golf Trip

Sea Crest Oceanfront Resort offers a convenient home base for golfers exploring the Grand Strand. Its central Myrtle Beach location provides easy access to courses along the North Strand and South Strand, making it simple to build a multi-day itinerary without spending unnecessary time on the road. Spacious room options work well for golf groups, while on-site parking, easy breakfast options, and comfortable accommodations help early tee times run smoothly. Travelers bringing family members who aren't golfing will also appreciate the oceanfront pools, direct beach access, and resort amenities. Explore available accommodations and start planning your Myrtle Beach golf getaway at Sea Crest Oceanfront Resort.