Thistle Golf Club

Thistle is a 27-hole Tim Cate design in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, with three Scottish-inflected nines that combine in any order for genuine replay variety. The complex sits about 40 minutes north of central Myrtle Beach, just over the state line, and Cate built it in 1999 with open sightlines, light tree coverage, and pot bunkers that look more like the British Isles than the Grand Strand mainstream.

The three nines are named Cameron, MacKay, and Stewart. You can pair any two for an 18-hole round, which gives you six possible routings across a return visit and meaningful difficulty differences between combinations. Cameron-Stewart is the most challenging pairing. MacKay-Stewart is the most forgiving.

From the back, the course stretches to 7,000 yards, but you'll have a better afternoon from the middle tees at roughly 6,400. Slope ratings vary from 127 to 137 depending on the combination, which is unusual honesty about how different the three nines actually play.

Cameron is generally considered the strongest of the three, with par fours that demand precise tee shots into fairways shaped by waste bunkers and native grass. MacKay carries the most dramatic water hazards, including a peninsula green on the seventh that creates a real risk-reward decision. Stewart shifts between open and wooded holes from one to the next.

Cate's pot bunkers are smaller and deeper than the broad, shallow bunkering typical of Southeastern resort golf. They punish specific miss positions and demand a recovery technique that many American golfers only encounter at courses like this one. Conditioning is consistent with the price point: greens roll well, fairways are full, and the waste areas stay rough enough to feel like hazards without becoming unkempt.