Dunes Club, Thistle Jostle for Top Spot in Golf Insider Top 25 for October
As Thistle Golf Club (pictured) edged closer to supplanting Dunes Golf & Beach Club atop the monthly rankings, several courses made big gains in the Myrtle Beach Golf Insider Top 25 for October 2010, the Web site announced Tuesday.
Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and TPC of Myrtle Beach are now in a flat-footed tie for third, while the Heathland Course at Legends Golf & Resort cracked the top 5 for the first time since the Golf Insider Top 25 debuted in June 2010.
Legends-Heathland (+4) was among several courses making big gains from last month's rankings, including:
- The Parkland and Moorland course at Legends Golf & Resort, which surged seven spots each to No. 9 and No. 18, respectively;
- Willbrook Plantation, which jumped four more spots to No. 6 after cracking the top 10 for the first time last month;
- South Creek at Myrtle Beach National, which entered the top 10 for the first time after moving four spots from last month.
In addition, three courses - Glen Dornoch (No. 17), Crown Park (No. 19) and Long Bay Club (No. 25) - re-entered the rankings after brief absences, while two courses made their debut this month (Heritage Club at No. 21, and Sandpiper Bay at No. 24)
The rankings are determined by golfers who submit their post-play reviews for publication on the Golf Insider’s Web site, www.MBGolfInsider.com. They are based on the aggregate scores of each participating golfer’s review, where golfers rate on a 10-point scale their course experience in each of six categories: greens, fairways, tees, pro shop, grill and staff.
The complete Top 25 for this month was completed on October 19, with scoring ties separated by total number of reviews for each course (indicated in parentheses). The last figure in each listing indicates the change in ranking since last month:
1. Dunes Golf & Beach Club - 8.9 (66) -
2. Thistle Golf Club - 8.9 (51) +1
T3. Caledonia - 8.7 (142) +1
T3. TPC of Myrtle Beach - 8.7 (142) -1
5. Legends-Heathland - 8.6 (38) +4
6. Willbrook Plantation - 8.5 (269) +4
7. King's North at Myrtle Beach National - 8.5 (266) -
8. True Blue - 8.5 (91) -3
9. Legends-Parkland - 8.5 (30) +7
10. SouthCreek at Myrtle Beach National - 8.4 (108) +4
11. World Tour - 8.4 (67) -3
12. Tiger's Eye - 8.4 (39) -6
13. Barefoot-Love - 8.4 (33) +2
14. Barefoot-Fazio - 8.4 (25) -2
15. West Course at Myrtle Beach National - 8.3 (277) +2
16. Wild Wing - 8.3 (93) -5
17. Glen Dornoch - 8.3 (42) NEW since July 2010
18. Legends-Moorland - 8.3 (38) +7
19. Crown Park - 8.3 (19) NEW since August 2010
20. River Club - 8.2 (285) -1
21. Heritage Club - 8.2 (122) NEW
22. Man 'O War - 8.2 (78) -
23. Grande Dunes - 8.2 (73) -
24. Sandpiper Bay - 8.2 (43) NEW
25. Long Bay Club - 8.1 (205) NEW since June 2010
The Myrtle Beach Golf Insider Top 25 represents a broad consensus of opinion based on thousands of golfer reviews – more than 3,200 alone since January, according to Myrtle Beach Golf Insider Editor Jim Maggio.
Each course in this ranking is linked back to its own Golf Insider page, where readers can get much more detail on what fellow golfers are saying about that specific course. Links to all individual course pages can be found in the course listings located on the home page.
To sign up for free and leave your own course reviews, visit the site's home page.
Having played every course in Myrtle Beach except the private ones, I must admit I am surprised that Heritage is only #21. It is such a great blend of traditional design and natural beauty while being very challenging, it is seems that it should be rated much higher.
I also am surprised that anyone thinks TPC and Caledonia are at the same level. There is no more unique course that I have ever played that is as challenging and beautiful than Caledonia. TPC is nice, Caledonia is awesome just like The Dunes and Thistle.
I am also surprised that Tigers Eye is not rated higher. Since Mike Strantz passed away, Tim Cate is clearly the most imaginative designer in the region and Tigers Eye is a testimony to his skills.
The only other course I think is underrated on your list is Sandpiper Bay. I was staying at Bald Head Island and decided to try it. Shortly after I got there, a thunderstorm hit which drenched about 45 minutes of pouring rain. They gave us a free buffet while the storm lasted. When it ended, I asked them how long it would be before we could return to playing. They said “as soon as you want”. We returned to the course immediately and found that both the fairways and the greens were in great shape. No ponding! The course design (including drainage) is excellent, the conditions were outstanding, and the prices were nice too. That sounds to me like a course that ought to be in the top 10, at least.