BAREFOOT. Featuring four outstanding courses, the Barefoot Resort is truly a destination unto itself, especially for golfers. The Norman Course features striking holes along the Intracoastal Waterway and takes full advantage of the natural landscape. The course designed by Davis Love III is a traditional Lowcountry plantation course featuring wide fairways and ample landing areas. The third trek, by Tom Fazio, also features a classic Lowcountry design and is flanked by water and dense tree cover. The picturesque (and semi-private) Dye Course, meanwhile, is set against the Carolina Bays and features many of its designer's signature pitfalls, requiring that golfers avoid being distracted by the scenery.

OCEAN ISLE BEACH. Ocean Ridge Plantation offers golf so good that it makes the 30-minute drive up Highway 17 seem well worth the effort. Designed by Willard Byrd, Lion's Paw appeals to all skill levels with its forgiving fairways and contoured greens. One of two courses here designed by Tom Cate, Panther's Run poses a different set of challenges than those offered by the former ­ en lieu of long shots, this course requires accuracy and, perhaps, a little daring. Pinehurst inspired Cate's Tiger's Eye, whose traditional design was cut out of Sunset Isle's pine and hardwood forests.

PAWLEYS ISLAND. Once a rice plantation, beautiful Caledonia is as prestigious a public course as you'll find in Myrtle Beach, and it continues to receive award after award each year. Centered on a lovely antebellum-styled clubhouse, the rolling course is flanked by pines and hardwoods and challenges even the most accurate hitters with its many sand bunkers and water hazards.

MYRTLE BEACH. A Robert Trent Jones signature course (he oversaw its renovation in the 70s and early 90s), The Dunes was completed in 1948 and stands today as one of the Strand's most respected ­ even revered ­ golf clubs. One of the course's most endearing qualities is that each hole has been individually named to give golfers a better idea of the challenges awaiting them. The signature hole is the par-5 #13, famously known as "Waterloo" thanks to the sharp dogleg it takes around crystalline Lake Singleton.

MYRTLE BEACH. Laid out along the Intracoastal Waterway, the attractive Resort Course appeals to golfers of all skill levels. Designed by Roger Rulewich, the course measures 7618 from the back-tees, and the back nine includes a consecutive run of four of the course's toughest holes, only to "reward" players with the par-5 #17. The private Members Course is a tough, classic par-71 set against a backdrop of scenic woodlands and wetlands.