South Carolina has long been a popular vacation and recreation destination, especially the Myrtle Beach area. Consequentially, the state is blessed with many beautiful public golf courses, including:

1. & 2. The Barefoot Resort and Golf at North Myrtle Beach is home to four different golf courses: the Norman Course, the Dye Course, the Love Course and the Fazio Course. The Love and Fazio courses have been rated as two of the best public golf courses in not only the state, but in the country over all, and, as their names imply, were respectively designed by Davis Love III (a Carolina native), and renown golf architect, Tom Fazio.

3. The Caledonia Golf and Fish Club at Pawleys Island is a beautiful course which has been very highly rated by Golf Digest, Golf Magazine and Golfweek. The course is established on what was once a Carolina rice plantation, and is also home to the Caledonia Grillroom, a popular and hospitable restaurant offering many excellent local and southern dishes.

4. The Dunes Golf and Beach Club at Myrtle Beach is home to one of Robert Trent Jones's finest designs. The course was first built in 1948, and then further improved by Robert Trent Jones himself in 1976-1977, and 1992. Since then, Robert Trent Jones' son, Rees Jones, has continued his father's work and further upgraded the course.

5. The Sea Pines Resort at Hilton Head on Hilton Head Island, is home to three golf courses: Harbour Town Golf Links, the Ocean Course and Sea Marsh. Harbour Town Golf Links has been very highly rated by all of Golf Digest, Golf Magazine and Golf Weekly. This course offers panoramic ocean views, as well as deep bunkers and lagoons.

6. The Heritage Club at Pawleys Island, is another highly rated and beautiful par 71 course. The clubhouse overlooks the Waccamaw River, and the course itself offers rolling fairways and undulating greens flanked by lsuh vegetation.

7. King's North at Myrtle Beach National at Myrtle Beach is an 18 hole course designed by Arnold Palmer and Frank Duane that first opened in 1973. The course has many unique and distinctive holes include the 3rd hole which has become a signature hole for the entire Myrtle Beach area, the 5th hole (nicknamed The Gamber) which offers a risky short-cut to green for a chance at an eagle, and the incredible 18th hole.

8. Kiawah Island Golf Resort is home to no less than five different courses: Turtle Point, Osprey Point, Oak Point, Cougar Point and The Ocean Course. The most highly regarded of these is the Ocean Course which was built in 1991 by Pete Dye. This course offers 10 ocean side holes, more than any other course in the Northern hemisphere, and is probably the course most affected by wind in the entire country, if not the entire world outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The most remarkable feature of the Ocean Course is that the play is completely different depending on the direction of the wind!

9. Tidewater Golf at North Myrtle Beach is a well regarded course that offers challenging but playable golf, suitable for both pros and lesser players.