Two Grand Strand golf courses named top-100 public courses by Golf Digest

A pair of Grand Strand golf courses have again made Golf Digest’s biennial list of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, which is appearing in the magazine’s June issue.

The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that opened in 1948, is No. 54 while Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawleys Island, the first solo design of the late Mike Strantz is No. 86.

The Dunes Club has been in the Golf Digest ranking since 2003 and has been as high as No. 15 in 2003-04, and Caledonia was ranked between 2003-10 and again since 2013, and has been as high as No. 66 in 2009-10.

Golf Digest’s team of raters evaluate courses based on seven categories: shot values, resistance to scoring, design variety, memorability, aesthetics, conditioning and ambiance.

Caledonia and sister course True Blue Golf Club, which has also made national rankings including being No. 63 on Golfweek Magazine’s current list of America’s Top 100 Resort Courses, have joined an exclusive group that should add to their prestige and exposure.

They are founding partners of The Architect’s Nine, a membership program providing golfers access to a collection of some of the nation’s best layouts.

The courses joining the two Mike Strantz designs in Pawleys Island are Tobacco Road and Southern Pines Golf Club in North Carolina, Sweetens Cove in Tennessee, Wine Valley Golf Club in Washington, Wild Horse Golf Club in Nebraska, Rustic Canyon Golf Club in California, and Rackham Golf Course in Michigan.

Six of the nine courses have earned national top 100 honors and there are three Strantz designs, two Donald Ross layouts and a Gil Hanse/Geoff Shackelford course participating in the program.

At a rate of $210 per month, paid annually, membership at The Architect’s Nine includes green fees, a welcome package with tee gifts, 20 percent discount off rack rate green fees for guests of members, a nationwide members forum, optional participation in an annual nationwide season-long competition, and access to members-only merchandise.

More information can be found at www.TheArchitectsNine.com.

This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Two Grand Strand golf courses named top-100 public courses by Golf Digest."