Not since the pre-development boom days of the 1980s have Snowbirds seen the kind of prices currently being offered here -- and not just at the lower-end courses.
Stay-and-play packages for some of the best Myrtle has to offer can be had for less than $100 day. And when we're talking best, we're talking about quality tracts than can compete with some of the top courses in the world.
Myrtle boasts the highest concentration of championship courses on the globe, with four of them along the 100-km stretch of the Grand Strand making it to Golf magazine's prestigious Top-100 list.
Whereas in the past Myrtle could have been justifiably criticized for having only a few superior courses sprinkled among the more than 125 it had at the time, Golf Digest's highly respected "Place to Play" Guide ranks 47 of the current lot four-star or better.
Pete Dye, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Willard Byrd, and Mike Strantz are just some of the top designers who have plied their trade here, while golf greats Davis Love III, Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are among those who put their stamp on courses.
"Now is the time with the exchange rate, and the courses offering great specials," says Heath Carter, director of new market development with Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday. "Especially the timing, that early March, February is a great time to come, the rates are fantastic."
From a marketing stand point, Myrtle Beach was revolutionary in its bid to attract tourists. Competing golf courses saw early on the advantage of working together to make the city a destination point, following a mantra that what's good for one could be good for all.
It was with that mindset Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday has been able to run as a non-profit trade association, representing 76 of the courses, 107 package providers and five golf schools. In a nutshell, it's one-stop shopping at its best.
"All these package providers find out exactly what you are looking for, and book rates and hotel accommodation for the group," Carter says.
"If you've been to Myrtle Beach 100 times, or this is your first time, you can go to our website (golfholiday.com) and get all kinds of information.
"One of the new things we've got is called a quick-quote system. A person can go there, put in a little information of what they are looking for. Put in the date your coming, the number of golfers and you will get a quote from five vacation suppliers."
Golfers have the choice of staying and playing at one resort, such as Barefoot Landing, which is home to four courses (Norman, Fazio, Love, Dye), or treating the Grand Strand like a buffet.
"You can be centrally located. It's easy to travel from one end to the other," Carter says. "Within 30 minutes you can be playing north end courses or south end courses."
And while driving to Myrtle Beach has been a Canadian right of passage for years, getting there has never been easier for golfers in Quebec and Ontario. DirectAir flys out of Niagara Falls, N.Y. , and Plattsburgh, N.Y., while Porter Air provides flights out of the Toronto Island Airport.
"In under two hours you can be in Myrtle Beach and teeing it up," Carter says. "We want to get as many Canadians as we can to Myrtle Beach to play golf."
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IF YOU GO ...
- There are 103 golf courses along the Grand Strand, 425 hotels, and 89,000 rooms.
- There are more than 1,700 full-service restaurants. Among the highly recommended are Sea Captain's House, Greg Norman's Australian Grille, and Frank's Outback.
- Direct Air and Porter Air both offer direct flights to Myrtle Beach International Airport.
- The average winter temperature is 13 C-15 C while spring is 20 C-28 C.
- For more information or booking contact golfholiday.com.
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