While the Myrtle Beach area made its reputation on the golf courses that welcome players yearly, the number of courses used to be higher.
With nearly 80 golf courses in the Myrtle Beach and southern North Carolina area, there used to be more courses where golfers could spend a day struggling to save their par or keep their ball out of a water hazard. Many locations have closed in the last decade, with more golf courses planned to be replaced and converted into residential and commercial development.
Parker Smith, president of the golf vacation and packaging firm Golf Trek, estimated in a July 2024 interview that between 15-20 courses closed starting around 2004. Here is a list of some courses that closed in the Myrtle Beach area in recent years:
- Deer Track Golf Resort in Myrtle Beach, S.C., closed in 2006 after its first of two courses opened in 1974, according to ForeTee.
- Heron Point Golf Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C., closed in 2014 after opening in 1988.
- Wicked Stick Golf Links in Surfside Beach, S.C., closed in 2015 after opening in 1995.
- Waterway Hills Golf Club near Restaurant Row in Myrtle Beach, S.C., closed in 2015 after opening in 1975.
- Black Bear Golf Club in Longs, S.C., closed in 2016 after opening in 1989.
- Heather Glen Golf Links in Little River, S.C., closed in 2017 after opening in 1987.
- Conway Golf Club in Conway, S.C., closed in 2018 after opening in 1952, according to Golf Pass.
- River Oaks Golf Plantation shuttered its nine-hole Bear Course in 2018, while the rest of the complex remained open. The Sun News also reported in February 2024 that developers bought the rest of the course to re-develop it for residential purposes, but it will stay open for now. The complex opened in 1987.
- Indian Wells Golf Club in Garden City, S.C., closed in 2019 after opening in 1984.
- Possum Trot in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., closed in 2019 after opening in 1968.
- The Witch Golf Links in Conway, S.C., closed in 2021 after opening in 1989.