Once I was lucky enough to find myself on a waterfront golf course, eyeing the distance to the pin and seeing, in the background, my ride swinging gently at anchor. It was in Nova Scotia, and the breathtaking moment made me wonder, Where else would this even be possible?
The answer, in many ways, is Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Nestled between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean, the city is a golfing mecca. More than 100 courses await, and a few are within easy distance, or even sight, of the marinas.
“The ninth hole at Grande Dunes, if you’re on that hole, you’re overlooking the marina and you could see your boat,” says Chris King of [Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday][].
The Marina at Grande Dunes has 126 slips and takes transients up to 150 feet. “We had a 115-footer here just a couple of weeks ago,” a marina staffer says. “We’d like to see bigger.”
Another good option for boaters with an itch to play a round is Barefoot Landing. The Barefoot Marina has 1,000 feet of face dock for transients with draft up to 6 feet and recently welcomed a 106-foot motoryacht.
“Barefoot has a shopping, dining and entertainment complex on one side of the Intracoastal, and Barefoot Resort is on the other side,” King says. “It has courses by Tom Fazio, Pete Dye, Davis Love and Greg Norman.”
Boaters who take impressive PGA ties less seriously than spectacular waterfront views may instead want to call for a slip at one of the three marinas on Little River and book a tee time at the Tidewater Golf Club.
“That’s arguably the prettiest golf course down here,” King says. “It’s got holes along the ICW and holes along the waterway called Cherry Grove, which is a tidal marsh. On the 13th green out there, you can see the open ocean, the crashing waves of the Atlantic meeting the marshes of Cherry Grove.”
Close enough to perfect for a boater like me.
