History & character
Myrtle Beach has called itself the Golf Capital of the World for half a century, and the math backs it up — more than 80 public courses crowd the 60-mile Grand Strand stretching from Pawleys Island in the south through Myrtle Beach proper to North Myrtle and the Calabash line. The town invented the modern buddies-trip stay-and-play model in the 1970s: stack four golfers in an oceanfront condo, package three or four rounds at sister courses, throw in cart and a sleeve of balls. The Dunes Club opened on the Atlantic in 1948 and was for two generations the only championship course in town; Mike Strantz's Caledonia and True Blue down in Pawleys raised the bar in the 1990s. It is not bucket-list prestige golf — it is high-volume, well-priced, casual coastal golf where the goal is play four different courses in four days and eat seafood between rounds.
When to go
Spring (March through May) is peak — pristine conditions, warm but not yet humid, and packed tee sheets. Fall (September through November) is the value sweet spot: same shoulder weather, lighter crowds, lower rates. Summer is hot and humid with afternoon thunderstorms and a beach-family crush. Winter (December through February) brings the cheapest rounds of the year but cooler temperatures in the 50s-60s and the chance of dormant or overseeded greens at some courses — call ahead. The Strand plays year-round, but a January round is a different product than a May round.
Cost & who it's for
Myrtle Beach is built for the value-minded group. Premium peak-season rounds at Caledonia or The Dunes Club run roughly $200-250; the broader bench of strong daily-fee courses (True Blue, Tidewater, TPC Myrtle Beach, King's North) sits in the $130-200 band; and off-season rates can drop below $100 at meaningful courses. Stay-and-play packages typically beat the math of booking rounds + lodging separately — the package operators get group rates the public can't access directly. It suits the foursome that wants high-volume golf without remortgaging the house, and works equally well for father-son trips and bachelor parties as for retired-couple golf weeks. Less bucket-list prestige than Pebble or Pinehurst, more rounds-per-dollar than any destination in the country.
What to pair it with
Myrtle Beach is the Strand and not much else — most groups treat it as a self-contained 3-5 day swing. Charleston sits 90 minutes south for a non-golf overnight if the trip is longer. Wilmington, NC is 75 minutes north. The Grand Strand itself is the destination: 60 miles of beach, hundreds of restaurants from buffet seafood houses to refined Lowcountry tasting menus, and the night-life concentrated in Myrtle Beach proper. The Pawleys Island south end is quieter and golf-focused; North Myrtle and the Barefoot Resort complex are the lively, group-friendly base. Most groups pick one end of the Strand and play 25-30 minutes radius from there.