Legends Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach

The Legends Golf courses in Myrtle Beach located along the Grand Strand of South Carolina offer some of the most highly sought after golf courses in Myrtle Beach and the surrounding areas. With a total of six award winning courses, Legends provides extreme variety and versatility for the avid golfer. Legends Golf Resorts is a great place to begin the discovery of these courses with its luxurious lodging accommodations and amenities. This resort that is one of the top golfing facilities in all of the Grand Strand is home to three of the Legends courses; Heathland, Moorland and Parkland. Each one of these courses are distinguished by a unique and challenging golf excursion. They make excellent choices for those visitors to Myrtle Beach that enjoy the convenience of three high-quality golfing options in close proximity of their lodging location without the hassle of additional travel. The other courses offered by Legends do require some travel, but can be booked from the resort. They include Oyster Bay, Heritage Club and TPC. Each of the six Legends Golf Courses in Myrtle Beach is highly rated with its own set of appealing features.

Legends Golf Resort provides excellent golf instruction along with nice putting greens. Their well reputed 30 acre lighted practice facility is greatly appreciated for getting in some practice before hitting the course. All courses are extremely well maintained with superior service to their guests. Breakfast buffet and lunch are available at the Clubhouse to allow golfers an all-inclusive stay. Prices tend to fall into the moderate category and junior rates are $40.

Heathland

Heathland, an early design by Tom Doak, opened in 1990. It was immediately revered by Golf Magazine with the great honor of being named as one of the “Top 10 New Resort Courses in the World.” In 2008, it was also ranked as #12 in the “South Carolina Best Courses Near You.” Golf Digest gave it an impressive 4.5 Stars in 2007 and 2008. This course is loved for its old country traditional feel beginning with its Scottish castle style clubhouse. Heathland shows an appreciation of artistic beauty in the natural flow of the course. Golfers enjoy the deep bunkers and hills that offer challenge to their game. Without an over abundance of trees, the difficulty level is often determined by the intensity of the wind coming off the ocean. Generous fairways, deep bunkers, pampas grass and accumulated rough vegetation right off the fairways are prominent throughout the course.

Heathland has 6,785 yards with a par of 71 and was designed to reflect courses of the British Isles. It has a rating of 72.3 and slope of 127. A battle with natural elements reigns here. Exact shooting is a definite plus, but even then, the rolling hills and consistently unpredictable winds make this a true challenge between man and nature.

Parkland

Parkland, also designed by Tom Doak, is one of those great courses that provides a totally new challenge with each hole as it requires the player to rethink their strategy upon each approach. The drama increases as golfers progress. A creative play with nature is evident as the course blends in with the natural beauty of the landscape. The naturally configured fairways are lined with trees, the greens are sizable with varied degrees of height and the deep faced bunkers provide traditional obstacles. The course plays long and the greens are fairly difficult.

1992 slated the opening for this 7,170 yard course with a rating of 74.3, slope of 131 and par of 72. Parkland takes a great deal of player strategy from beginning to end. Golf Digest gave it a 4.5 Star rating in 2009, while the Zagat Survey placed it in “America’s Top Golf Courses in 2003 and 2009.

Moorland

When designing the Moorland course that opened in 1990, P. B. Dye utilized the many elements of nature such as sand, water, waste areas and rough vegetation to create one of the best of the Legends courses. These features, combined with considerable undulation and deep bunkers, demand that golfers use all their tricks and take advantage of all the lucky shots they can manage. The 16th hole of this links course is noted for a large bunker named “Hells Half Acre” that deftly defends the green.

In 2007, the 72-par Moorland course received the #37 spot in the “Top 50 Toughest Courses in America” from Golf Digest who also gave them 4.5 stars in 2007 and 2009. With 6,799 yards, Moorland has a rating of 73.1 and slope of 128. Dye really showed off his most favored golfing features when he designed Moorland. Golfers will continuously find multi-leveled greens and fairways, along with some fabulously deep bunkers and bulkheads. These are the sort of attributes that give Moorland such a great reputation. This course that is said to be one of the most challenging on the East Coast, requires significant strategies from golfers, and in return provides a superb golf experience.

Heritage Club

Heritage Club Golf Course is located in Pawley’s Island, a worthwhile drive southwest of Myrtle Beach along the Grand Strand. As the centerpiece of the Heritage Plantation, it was created on historic land that was once home to two rice plantations along the Waccamaw River. The welcoming tree-lined drive up to the gorgeous 12,000 square foot Southern Colonial clubhouse overlooking the Waccamaw River prepares guests for a true southern experience. Heritage Club claims a beautiful setting with more than 600 acres of land that is abundant in marshes, lakes and gorgeous giant magnolias and ancient oak trees. As the Heritage course neighbors the well-known Caledonia Golf Course, enthusiastic golfers may want to tackle them both in one day.

Heritage Club has received numerous awards by Golf Digest including 4.5 Stars in 2007 and 2009, “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses” in 2005 (#78), 2007 (#46) and 2009 (#33), “Best In State” for 2005 (#23), 2007 (#17) and 2009 (#13), “Best Public Courses In South Carolina” in 2008 (#14) and “Top 50 Courses in Myrtle Beach” in 2007 (#7). These prestigious awards alone showcase Heritage as one of the best.

Designed by Larry Young and Mike Strantz, it opened in 1986 with a par of 71, rating of 74.1, slope of 142 and 7,040 yards. The landscape of the course is fantastic with an abundance of wildflowers, rolling fairways, undulating greens, and lush flowering flora such as azaleas, crepe myrtle and camellias. Many visitors feel themselves slipping back in history as they enjoy the serenity of the course while enjoying a splendid round of golf. Southern hospitality and charm add to the overall experience. As an interesting note, there are two graveyards that grace the landscape of Heritage Club. The first was the resting place of the plantation slaves found along side hole #8 and the land owners graveyard is off the tee of hole #4.

Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay is positioned on the northeastern edge of the Grand Strand in Sunset Beach, North Carolina. It has remained a significant course since its opening in 1983. Designers for Oyster Bay were architect Dan Maples and developer Larry Young whose motivation for the course was to provide innovation and variety. This 6,685 yard course has a par of 70, rating of 74.1 and slope of 125. Filled with deep bunkers and undulating greens, the course also boasts lakes, marsh ridden holes and even two island greens. Top strategies are in order to play Oyster Bay with its intended requirements of a variety of long and short shots.

Oyster has received numerous awards such as “Places To Play” and 4.5 Stars by Golf Digest. In 2008, Golf Magazine ranked them #11 among the “Best Public Golf Courses in North Carolina.” Zagat Survey showed them as one of “America’s Top Golf Courses” for 2009.

Beauty, diversification and incomparable exhilaration are among the most noted descriptions for the Oyster Bay links course. The lakes and marshes come into play in fifteen holes. Extensive rolling hills provide great landscape, but also make golf carts a necessity for playing this one. The 17th hole is admired for its shot from an oyster shell tee to an island green structured on a mountain of shells. The 13th hole is also well known due to the fairway with a lake on its entire right side. The undulating green is backed by an oyster shell wall coming up from the lake. These holes make evident the reason for the naming of this course that is abundant in oyster shells. Oyster Bay excites and challenges the senses with its innovative and varied holes, and then calms with the serenity of its undemanding and soothing allure.

TPC – Tournament Player’s Club in Myrtle Beach

The sixth and final Legends Course is the Fazio designed TPC that is the only Golf Digest 5 Star Rated Course in the area. Tournament Player’s Club of Myrtle Beach is considered to be among the top courses in the country. Found in the southern portion of the Grand Strand in Murrells Inlet, this terrific golfing location was once host to the Senior Tour Championship. Many golfers enjoy frequenting this course for a taste of a course played by many of golf’s greats such as Ray Floyd, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Lanny Wadkins and Gary Player. New greens were installed in 2007 for this tour-ready course that is flawlessly groomed.

TPC has received numerous awards that include “America’s Top 10 New Upscale Public Courses” in 1999 by Golf Digest. Golf Magazine named it as one of the “Top Courses You Can Play” in 2000, while GolfWeek in 2002 placed TPC in its “Top 10 Courses in Carolina.” GolfWorld Business in 2001 and 2002 placed the Pro Shop in their “Top 100 Golf Shops in America.” In 2008, Golf Magazine ranked them as #11 in “South Carolina’s Best Courses Near You.”

TPC has abundant wetlands and large pine trees with numerous species of native birds. The golfer is superbly challenged with many fairway bunker shots and eleven holes with wetlands. TPC is an ideal course to enjoy a spectacular walk through nature while taking on a demanding golf experience. Though the course is not extremely long with 6,950 yards, it offers ominous confrontations. With a par of 72, course rating of 74 and slope of 145, the greens are huge, undulating, scattered with bunkers and quite often tease players with unexpected subtle slopes.

The par-3, 17th hole features a bold peninsula green with water on three sides and one of the more than seventy bunkers on the fourth. The 472 yard hole #9 is considered the most difficult with its landing area narrowed by water and pine trees. TPC is situated in a National Wetlands Conservation Area with a classification as a “Stage1” partner of the Audubon Society. Wildlife that may be observed along the course include deer, heron, turkey and even the rare alligator.

Summary
As you can see, each of the Legends Courses offers its own set of thrills with significant beauty. For the best value, look for golf packages that offer a combination of these courses. They are all well kept and provide excellent service. The locations are convenient and the clubhouses and pro shops are definitely nice perks.

If you’re looking for more Myrtle Beach golf courses, be sure to visit our list of the best Myrtle Beach golf courses. To see some great places to eat, visit our list of the best restaurants in Myrtle Beach, SC. Also, be sure to check out our list of the best hotels in Myrtle Beach, SC as well as our list of the best Myrtle Beach restaurant coupons and discounts.