Direct Air is now offering 50% off flights to Myrtle Beach. Direct Air of Myrtle Beach offers non stop flights from Niagara Falls, New York City (Newark), Pittsburgh, Montreal (Plattsburgh), Allentown, Columbus, Kalamazoo, Worcester , Springfield/Central IL, Chicago/ Rockford, and Ft. Myers/Punta Gorda! Fly direct to Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers from Worcester, Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, Columbus, Toledo, Plattsburgh, Myrtle Beach, Springfield/Central IL, Rockford and Niagara Falls, or to Orlando/Sanford from Kalamazoo and Worcester, Mass.

Spend less time in the car and more time playing one of our Myrtle Beach Golf Packages . Visit the Direct Air Website for info.

Shaftsbury Glen Golf Club wins 2009 Myrtle Beach Golf Course Of The Year. The award is givin by the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association. Designed by Clyde Johnston and opened in 2001,  Shaftbury Glen offers wide-flowing fairways and PERFECT elevated A1-Bent grass greens. Shaftsbury Glen can be played with the Supreme or the Glens Group Golf package. Currently the Glens Group golf package is offering FREE same day replays when booking three or more Glens Courses which also includes Glen Dornoch, Heather Glen, and Possum Trot.

For the best Myrtle Beach golf packages visit our website www.northmyrtlebeachgolf.com

North Myrtle Beach Golf.com wants to congratulate Hugh Royer of the Champions Golf Academy and the Low Country Prep School for creating a full-time high school golf program in Myrtle Beach to prepare junior golfers for college admission and scholarship opportunities. The first class of Hugh Royer Champions Golf Academy (HRCGA) students will arrive for enrollment at Lowcountry Prep School on August 17, 2009. Not only does this allow students to learn from one of the best golf instructor’s in the world but also allow students to better their golf game while continuing thier education. Low Country Prep students excel in and out of the class room and this program will allow students to continue success after high school and after college. Over the past decade, 100% of Lowcountry graduates attended college and the SAT scores of Lowcountry Prep students are the highest in Georgetown and Horry Counties.

About Lowcountry Prep School
Founded in 1995, Lowcountry Prep enrolls 200 students in K3-12. An average class size of 13 students, coupled with an upper school faculty with over 40% having a doctoral degree, creates an ideal learning environment. Students complete five high school courses in science and math, as well as four courses in English, History/Government, and Foreign Language, and required classes in music and art.

As one of two schools in South Carolina endorsed by Project Learning Tree and the 2009 grand prize winner in the state-wide public and private school Champions of the Environment contest, Lowcountry Prep capitalizes on its natural resources to provide exemplary education in environmental science. The Lowcountry Prep Leadership Institute develops leadership skills for all students. The school’s commitment to academic excellence is complemented by instilling an ethic of service and moral development that equips graduates for success in college and for a life of meaning and purpose.

About The Hugh Royer Champions Golf Academy
Led by former PGA TOUR player Hugh Royer, III, the Hugh Royer Champions Golf Academy is one of the most distinctive golf learning centers in the country as it features comprehensive training programs for players of all ages and skill levels. Located at the Long Bay Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., the Hugh Royer CGA opened in March 2007, and debuted its new Long Bay learning center on April 21, 2008. The learning center features an 8,000 square-foot short game area with chipping, putting and bunker practice sites, a 3,500 square-foot building for the offices and golf-specific fitness room, three private teaching bays, state-of the-art video equipment, extensive club fitting technology and a student lounge. Sports psychologist Stephen A. Russo, Ph.D. assists players in handling the mental pressures of the game, and accommodations are included with many of the programs.

Royer turned professional in 1988, and played three years on the PGA Tour, captured four wins on the Nationwide Tour and one victory on the South African Tour. After his retirement in 2000, Royer opened the Columbus Golf Academy in Columbus, Ga., where he served as the Director of Instruction. Royer taught more than three years at the International Junior Golf Academy on Hilton Head Island, S.C. and has worked with PGA, LPGA, Nationwide, and Hooters Tour players, in addition to teaching junior, collegiate and amateur players.

Read more news about Myrtle Beach golf on our website.

Coming to the Grand Strand this summer with the family? Then take the kids to play golf for free! “Kids Play Free” programs are promoted for the Summer in Myrtle Beach. Juniors under the age of 16 are free per paying adult. Not all golf courses participate in the “Kids Play Free” program, here is a list of those Myrtle Beach Golf Courses that allow “Kids Play Free” at the time of the blog post. Double check with the courses though before making any final plans.

Golf Courses Included:

Aberdeen
Blackmoor
Black Bear
Burning Ridge
Farmstead
Founders Club @ Pawleys Island
Grande Dunes – Resort Course
Indian Wells
Litchfield
Long Bay
Meadowlands
Myrtlewood -Palmetto
Myrtlewood – Pine Hills
Myrtle Beach National – Kings North
Myrtle Beach National – South Creek
Myrtle Beach National – West
River Club
River Hills
Tidewater
Pine Lakes
Waterway Hills
Willbrook Plantation
Pearl – East
Pearl – West

We got a chance to get over to The Dunes Golf and Beach Club on Wednesday afternoon to play the back nine holes. I reassured myself that the Dunes Club is the #1 golf course in Myrtle Beach. From the clubhouse views of the ocean to the perfect year round TOUR like conditions, the Dunes Golf and Beach  Club is the most exclusive private club in the Myrtle Beach area. The Dunes has held many championships in the past including a 1962 Woman’s US Open Championship won by Murle Lindstrom and the Senior Tour Championship from 1994-1999. Sports Illustrated which also began in Myrtle Beach at Pine Lakes Country Club named the 13th hole aka Waterloo as one of the best par 5`s in the world. Play the Dunes and you are not only playing Myrtle Beach history but Myrtle Beach Golf History.

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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