<img decoding="async" alt="Tidewater Golf Club" src="/media/images/One_and_Done_600x300.png" style="width: 600px;height: 300px" />
Story by Ian Guerin
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. | Maples and Hamm. Byrd and Jackson. Nicklaus and Fazio. Many of the some of the biggest and most wide-spread names in golf course design have taken their crack at penetrating the Myrtle Beach market over and again. But a small number of architects have made their entrance into South Carolina’s Grand Strand golfing mecca a one-time affair. And with one effort, each of them made an impact. From a first-time designer to a couple of major names in the industry to even a group that helped launch the largest golf trail in Alabama, there are designers who were either unknown or simply unused here. Yet, here they are, holding their own in a place with a higher concentration of courses than any other area this size in the world.
KEN TOMLINSON, TIDEWATER
What better place to start than with a joint laid out by one of golf’s most influential unknowns. Ken Tomlinson was an attorney in the state capital of Columbia, S.C., when he designed <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/tidewater-golf-club-plantation">Tidewater Golf Club</a>. It was frequently cited as his first layout. Technically, it wasn’t, as he took over much of the final stages of another course in the Upstate (although he is hardly mentioned on that course’s web site). Still, what he did at Tidewater was absolutely brilliant. Tomlinson took a piece of land nestled on one side by the Cherry Grove Inlet and another by the Intracoastal Waterway and crafted a course that has since 1990 been known as the Pebble Beach of the East.
 
RON GARL, TRADITION<img decoding="async" alt="Tradition Golf Club" src="/media/images/TRCL3.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 150px;float: right" />
Ask a regular Floridian golfer about Ron Garl and he or she can probably rattle off a few of his courses in the Sunshine State. Up in South Carolina, he’s only got four full 18-hole courses, and just one in the Myrtle Beach area. <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/tradition-golf-club">Tradition Golf Club</a> has cut its teeth, in part, by including a massive teaching facility and driving range that has Pawleys Island locals visiting the club regularly without a tee time. But it ultimately stands out because of its strong conditions and a player-friendly M.O. that counter-balanced some of the other that opened around the 1996 debut at Tradition. 
 
 
GARY PLAYER, BLACKMOOR<img decoding="async" alt="Blackmoor Golf Club" src="/media/images/BLAC1.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 150px;float: right" />
When <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/blackmoor-golf-club">Blackmoor Golf Club</a> General Manager Bob Zuercher refers to his course’s designer as one of the icons of golf, he’s not saying anything we don’t already know. Gary Player morphed from his dynamic playing career into one that focused on architecture. He’s got more than 300 layouts on five different continents. In his sole local track, <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/blackmoor-golf-club">Blackmoor</a> put together a course in his image. Translation: Players here better be prepared to use a variety of clubs from the tee box to the fairway to the approach zones. What works on your home site may not be enough to navigate this diverse course. 
 
 
THOMAS WALKER, FOUNDERS CLUB<img decoding="async" alt="Founders Club at Pawleys Island" src="/media/images/FCPI3.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 150px;float: right" />
<a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/founders-club">Founders Club </a>originally opened in 1966 as the Sea Gull Golf Club. The Gene Hamm course did well for some time. However, in the early 2000s, discussions started to take place about how to bring the course into the next generation. It was time to go big or go home, and <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/founders-club">Founders</a> went big. The course closed for approximately two years so that Thomas Walker could do his thing. What was revealed upon its reopening in 2008 was a newly routed course (set atop the original but flipped) with more sand than anyone had seen on a course in this area before or since.
 
 
 
DAVIS LOVE III, BAREFOOT LOVE<img decoding="async" alt="Barefoot Love Course" src="/media/images/BFLO1.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 150px;float: right" />
With his next closest design more than 2 hours to the west in Columbia, Davis Love III was a natural selection for one of Barefoot’s four courses. The layouts named after <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/dye-at-barefoot-resort">Dye</a>, <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/norman-at-barefoot-resort">Norman</a>, <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/fazio-at-barefoot-resort">Fazio </a>and <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/love-at-barefoot-resort">Love</a> opened simultaneously on April 13, 2000, and together, they formed nothing short of a monster property for visitors and locals alike. On Love’s 18 holes, he found some individuality with spectacular views from the tee boxes, wide fairways and the perfect amount of undulation on the greens. What’s more, the fictional “ruins” included on five front-nine holes give it an old-time and photographic feel.
 
 
 
ROGER RULEWICH GROUP, GRANDE DUNES RESORT CLUB<img decoding="async" alt="Grande Dunes Resort Club" src="/media/images/GRDU4.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 150px;float: right" />
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail has pushed Alabama closer to the top of the rankings when it comes to which states are great for week-long treks. And it was Roger Rulewich who helped craft much of that 11-course offering. In and around Myrtle Beach, Rulewich has just one track, and his name is rightfully plastered all over its design. The <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/grande-dunes">Grande Dunes Resort Course </a>is a links-based design amid a wide-open terrain. That means wide landing zones, terrain changes and plenty of wind. It also includes several holes overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway and its risen bluffs. Don’t take that last part for granted.
 
 
 
MEL GRAHAM, WORLD TOUR<img decoding="async" alt="World Tour Golf Links" src="/media/images/WOTO3.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 150px;float: right" />
At one point in time, to play the original 27 holes replicated at <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/world-tour-golf-links">World Tour Golf Links</a>, a person would have had to travel more than 20,000 miles across six countries. That was scaled back some when one of the nines was disbanded for future housing. Still, much of what Mel Graham created with his design here remains to inspire awe and memories of some fantastic scenes in golf history. Opened in 1999, World Tour was one of the three primary courses Graham was responsible for creating. He took a decade to visit the most iconic courses around the globe and pattern his holes here after those. 
 
 
 
LARRY NELSON, WILD WING<img decoding="async" alt="Wild Wing Avocet " src="/media/images/WWAV4.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 150px;float: right" />
Larry Nelson was known more for his playing career than his design path, having won 41 professional events, including 10 on the PGA Tour &#8211; most notably the 1981 and 1987 PGA Championships and the 1983 U.S. Open. A decade after that U.S. Open win, Nelson’s <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/wild-wing-plantation-avocet">Avocet design at Wild Wing</a> joined the three others. Twenty-five-plus years later, his is the lone 18 that remains along with the nine-hole Hummingbird Course. <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/wild-wing-plantation-avocet">Avocet</a> has remained a popular flagship option thanks to six tee options, a fast-paced, straight-line 18-hole design, its wildlife-friendly natural surroundings and an oversized and inviting clubhouse.
 
Ian Guerin is a DJ and freelance writer based in Myrtle Beach. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/iguerin?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@iguerin</a> and Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/IanGuerinWriter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facebook.com/IanGuerinWriter/</a>

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One and Done: Designers With A Single Myrtle Beach-Area Course

Courses in this Article

Tidewater Golf Club

Tradition Golf Club

Blackmoor Golf Club

Founders Club

Barefoot Resort - Love Course

Grande Dunes - Resort Golf Club

World Tour Golf Links

Wild Wing Golf Club

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