Pine Lakes Country Club

Pine Lakes Country Club is the oldest golf course on the Grand Strand, opened in 1927 and known locally as The Granddaddy. Robert White, the first president of the PGA of America, designed the original layout in an era when Myrtle Beach was a small coastal town rather than America's most concentrated golf destination. Every course that followed on this stretch of Carolina coast owes something to Pine Lakes for establishing that golf could work here.

The design reflects its era. At par 70 and 6,675 yards from the back tees, Pine Lakes does not attempt to challenge modern distance. It asks instead for accuracy and touch, the qualities White's generation of designers valued above power. Fairways route through mature pines and hardwoods on terrain that is flatter than ideal for dramatic golf but suited to the strategic, ground-oriented game that early American course design favoured.

Green complexes are modestly sized with the gentle contours typical of 1920s design. They do not present the dramatic undulation of modern greens, but they reward precise iron play and punish careless approaches through subtle breaks that reveal themselves on the putting surface. Bunkers are traditional in shape and placement.

The clubhouse contributes meaningfully to the experience. The plantation-style building dates to the course's origins, and clam chowder served at the turn became a Pine Lakes tradition decades ago and persists today. It is a small detail that signals the club's commitment to its own history rather than to modern golf-resort conventions.

The Granddaddy of the Grand Strand, with clam chowder at the turn and a plantation-style clubhouse that still feels like 1927. Choose it for the history and the unhurried pace, not the challenge.