by Matthew Adams

Created on: August 10, 2008

Myrtle Beach, in South Carolina, is home to a number of exciting golf courses. Designed by some famous golfers, and top course designers, the courses offer some serious golf. In many respects, it makes for a good golf vacation destination.

To begin with, there is the West Course. Designed by Arnold Palmer, this is one of the most challenging in the Myrtle Beach area. The course is carved through majestic Carolina pine forests, and has numerous natural hazards in addition to fairway bunkers.

Alternatively, you could try the Nicklaus layout at Long Bay Club. This course has some excellent holes, with holes 7,10,13 and 18 featured in the book The 100 Greatest holes along the Grand Strand.' It has formidable features, including a 137-slope rating and countless man-made mounds. The course also has bottomless bunkers scattered about, and some tricky par 3 holes. While the par 3 holes can be pretty they can also be very hard, like the 13th which has a green surrounded by water!

There are two Robert Trent Jones courses in the region. Waterway Hills Golf Club is one, featuring the Oak, Ravine and Lake Courses. These are classic Jones courses, featuring strategic landing areas, great bunkers and crowned greens. They are all 9-hole courses, set amid woodlands and lakes.

If looking for a more Scottish golf course, then you could try the Aberdeen Golf Club. This is one of the newest clubs in Myrtle Beach area. As the name suggests, the club has courses with a more Scottish feel. The nine-hole courses of the Meadows, Highlands and Woodlands keep to Scottish tradition and feature mounding, wide land areas and bent grass.

The North Course at the Myrtle Beach National is one of the most exciting in Myrtle Beach. Arnold Palmer and his design group have transformed the North Course into one of the best in America. Golf Digest ranked it in America's top 10 new upscale courses, and it has been named South Carolina's course of the year.

What makes it so special? It has some dramatic holes, like the 6th hole, which has an island fairway. The 12th hole has an island green, while hole 18 has over 40 sand traps guarding both sides of the fairway and a lake stretching out from it. Such holes make it perhaps the best course on the Grand Strand.

Of course, these are just a select handful of some of the more notable golf courses in the Myrtle Beach area. Overall, there are approximately 130 golf courses in the region for golfers to try their hand at. Myrtle Beach has golf courses featuring excellent design creativity and scenary, with water hazards featuring prominantly. Certainly there is no lack of choice, and golfers of all levels should find something to cater for them in Myrtle Beach.

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