No . 12 at Man O ’ War .
BACK IN FEBRUARY 2019 , as TopGolf was set to open its 53rd location , industry types along South Carolina ’ s Grand Strand beamed at having yet another selling point for their stay-and-play packages .
They were doing well , and telling a bunch of golfers that they can play even more — even if you don ’ t consider TopGolf a true bastion of the game — was a good thing . It spoke volumes for an economy that for years had known more loss than gain in terms of new golf properties . No purely original Myrtle Beach-area courses had opened in more than a decade while a handful had closed for good .
So , when the pandemic hurt a tourist destination built on hotels and restaurants , many expected a similarly declining impact on the golf scene . It made sense , after all .
Instead , the time between TopGolf ’ s opening and now has included a continued commitment to improving the on-course experience for players . Club owners big and small powered through the days of lighter tee sheets , executing renovation projects on some of your favorites .
Six courses in particular stand out because they presented changes that even casual out-of-town golfers would notice and appreciate if they hadn ’ t been for a couple years . Although all six are extremely affordable rounds , chewing through all six in one trek is a big ask . So , we ’ ve come up with separate three-day getaways to South Carolina ’ s northern coastline .
These properties bet on themselves . We believe you can bet on them , too .
vsga . org M AY / J UNE 2021 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 31