I got a chance to play Pine Lakes for the second time with the Christal House Golf Tournament. Only three short months after was invited to play thanks to Burrows and Chapin Golf Management and the staff of Pine Lakes. The golf course, which reopened with seashore paspalum grasses, has grew in nicely. From tee to green, the golf course was in excellent shape. A great fact about the newly renovated facility is that Pines Lakes Country Club in Myrtle Beach is the most eco-friendly golf course on the Grand Strand!

The golf course is has very little water that comes into play, however when it does rain, the drains feed all of the water to the ponds to reuse the same rain water to water the golf course as it did when it rained, causing its own recycling system. The sand used for the bunkers is the same sand that was used during construction of the waste bunker on hole # 3.

Pine Lakes is very diffcult Par 70 that reminds you of a Pinehurst Resort Course. Not to mention that Pine Lakes Country Club is not only the Home of the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame, it is also to Home of Sports Illustrated.

To learn more about Myrtle Beach golf, including golf course architects in Myrtle Beach, make sure you check out www.northmyrtlebeachgolf.com

You always see ratings for the top golf courses in the Myrtle Beach area, however, you never tend to see the worst courses for Myrtle Beach Golf. How would you vote a bad course in Myrtle Beach? Well when rating a golf course, I look for course condition, layout and views. Here is your list of the Top 5 Worst Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach:

1) Palmetto Greens Country Club- Recently renovated along with a new name change from Colonial Charters to Palmetto Greens, this Rick Robbins design is one he never should have put his name on! The two man made waterfalls cannot make up for the horrible conditions, incorrect yardages and golf course that looks like a bomb was dropped on the entire property.

2) Carolina Shores – This course in known for its 96 bunkers throughout the township of Carolina Shores. This Tom Jackson design is also known as one of the worst conditioned courses year after year in Myrtle Beach.

3) Cypress Bay- A very short golf course that has one of the most notable Par 3`s in Myrtle Beach, located along Hwy 17 in Little River. Cypress Bay was the first course in Myrtle Beach to have runway to land planes. Unfortunately for Cypress Bay, The City of Myrtle Beach built an International Airport.

4) Whispering Pines - All though the course boast ample amounts of tree, and no real estate on the entire property, the convenience and solitude is by no means worth the price. With its fairways blending in with the rough, and bunkers that double as putting greens, with the course being owned by the city of Myrtle Beach the future just like the conditions of the course very from day to day.

5) Brick Landing – Some of the best views for a Myrtle Beach golf course. The Brick is located directly on the Intracoastal Waterway. Never in good condition, recently purchased by course designer Dan Maples. The future of the course is uncertain, last word was going to be a real estate project with Marina.

However, there are plenty of other Myrtle Beach golf courses to choose from! And not enough vacation time to play them all.

In the list of great Myrtle Beach golf courses, there is one that always comes up. It is the Grande Dunes Resort Course. The Grande Dunes is a golf facility located between U.S. 17 and the Carolina Bays Parkway. While only seven years old, it has already left its mark as one of the best places to stay in the Mecca of Golf; Myrtle Beach.

This course comes highly regarded. It was named to the top 100 courses in America by Golf Digest in 2003 and was also named as one of the top 50 private courses to play in the country. Several PGA and LPGA pros have also found this to be an excellent course to play, including John Daly, winner of the 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 U.S. Open Championship.

Stretching for an astonishing 7,618 yards, it is the longest golf course on the Grand Strand. It is also one of those rare courses where every hole is an experience, with its 14th hole being the best. Not a simple par 3, the 14th hole runs 244 yards from the back tee and 158 from the white tee. Its tee box overlooks the water and only best golfers are able to beat the ravine and land on the two-tiered green without hitting the bunker.

Green fees for the course range between $95 and $170 depending on when you play.

The course was recently threatened by wildfire in May of 2009. Thankfully, golf course employees were able to respond quickly and minimal damage was experienced on the course.

If you visit the Grand Strand, this is the Myrtle Beach golf course to try.

Every month the Grand Strand Golf Directors Association is invited to an area Myrtle Beach Golf Course. Yesterday we were invited to Ocean Ridge Plantation, Home to The Big Cats: Lions Paw, Panthers Run, Tigers Eye and the new Leopards Chase Golf Club. We got a chance to play the Biggest, Meanest Big Cat at Ocean Ridge Plantation, Leopards Chase Golf Club.  Since opening in 2007, this par 72 championship layout was designed by golf course architect and land planner Tim Cate. Leopard’s Chase features 5 sets of tees to offer a challenge to all levels of golfers with the championship tees stretching to a formidable 7155 yards with a slope of 140 and a course rating of 74.3.

From tee to green the golf course was in excellent shape with very fast L-93 bent grass greens. Fairways are Tif Sport Bermuda grass that are lined with waste bunkers, mounds, scenic landscapes, with native grasses and preserved wetlands. The front nine holes feature the par 4 fifth hole, with its “island” green and large waste bunker that stretches 90 yards into the fairway making the front nine holes one of only three golf courses in Myrtle Beach that feature three Par 3`s on the same nine. The other two are Barefoot Resort Fazio Course and The Thistle Golf Club, another Tim Cate design.

The back nine holes makes Leopards Chase Golf Club the only golf course in Myrtle Beach area that has three Par 5`s on the same nine. The par four 18th hole which moves slightly leftward to an elevated green guarded by a man-made waterfall. Sixteen hundred gallons of water per minute cascade down a wall of coquina boulders. Yesterday this beast was DEAD INTO THE WIND!

Overall Leopards Chase is one of the Top 10 Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach. Why is it Top 10? I like to rate courses on condition, layout and views. This Big Cat course has all three. I repeat the GOLF COURSE WAS IN EXCELLENT SHAPE, so a standing ovation goes to Golf Course Superintendent Brian Hicks. The layout was similar to other Tim Cate designs; Long, Up hill and into the wind was the theme for every shot. The views and elevation changes throughout the 220 acres of  Leopards Chase Golf Club are great. This golf course will challenge the best golfers and the longest hitters, I GUARANTEE IT!

You can book Leopards Chase with your Myrtle Beach golf package.

The Barefoot Resort -Love Course in North Myrtle Beach reopens today after the April Wildfires that destroyed over 70 homes, with damage to trees, plants and access bridges. The Davis Love III design which opened in 2000, was voted #1 in its “Top 50 Courses in Myrtle Beach”. Measuring 7047 yards and a Par 72 from the Championship tees, the Barefoot Resort – Love Course is similar to the Donald Ross famed Pinehurst #2 with forgiving fairways, large crowned greens set through a classic, low country setting make the course one of the best Myrtle Beach Golf Courses you can play.
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