Destination: Myrtle Beach

By Steve Turcotte, Inside Golf Editor

Myrtle Beach is an area that is golf, golf and more golf. And for good reason. There are courses up and down for miles in the area they call the Grand Strand. This is golf at its best.

And there is one company that knows exactly what golfers want when they head to South Carolina for a golf trip. The Founders Group features a collection of 21 courses in and around Myrtle Beach and offers some terrific variety with no two courses alike.

There its plenty of history in the area with Pine Lakes, the Granddaddy of all the courses in the area serving up plenty of history and is just one of the collection of the Founder Group. The one thing about several of the courses in Myrtle Beach is some fall under one umbrella. The Founders Group is just one of those umbrellas.

One of the most interesting courses under the Founders Club umbrella is the World Tour Golf Links. This is a course with 18 holes modeled after some of the most famous holes in golf. Augusta National’s Amen Corner? Check. St. Andrews Old Course’s first and 18th holes? You got it. And the 18th hole come complete with the Swilcan Bridge and the Valley of Sin in front of the green.

Another interesting tidbit about a Founder’s Club course is Myrtle Beach National’s King Course, designed by Arnold Palmer himself. There is a par-5 called the gambler with an island fairway that shortens the hole if you hit it. One this day, three of us splashed our tee shots. Gamblers we were. Winners we were not. King’s North is just one of three courses at Myrtle Beach National. This is a place where you can spend a couple of days seeing plenty of golf.

Jack Nicklaus designed a course called Pawley’s Plantation, which sits south of Myrtle Beach. The course was terrific when it opened but it 2018 Nicklaus visited the course for its 30th anniversary and made some changes with expanded greens, new turf, bunkers changes and more. It has made Pawley’s Plantation even that much more enjoyable. Most memorable about Pawley’s Plantation are the two par-3 holes with tee boxes on a dike running across the water.

Grande Dunes is another course that is memorable, running along the Intercoastal with some dramatic holes. And the TPC Myrtle Beach is a former home to the PGA Tour Champions.

Founders Group has always done terrific work when it comes to maintaining and improving its golf courses. Just take a look at what Founders Group is doing with its King’s North course, one of the three courses at Myrtle Beach National. The course is in the midst of a two-year renovation project to make the award-winning course, designed by Arnold Palmer, that much better. Among the improvements are the greens will be renovated and restored to their original size. Every bunker on the course is being renovated and premium sand is being installed in every bunker. The second stage of the project will begin in the summer of 2025 and will include an overhaul of the back nine.

And for those who are looking at making a Myrtle Beach trip for some golf – Founders Group has a way of setting you up with the lodging and golf with its Myrtle Beach Golf Trips. There is no shortage of courses to play in the Founder’s Group and the accommodations are first rate. For more on taking a trip to Myrtle Beach and where to stay and play – see the web site www.myrtlebeachgolftrips.com.