FEATURE STORY

Winter Specials Warm Up Grand Strand's Off-Season

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (October 18, 2002) - It is a trade off, and one that can you have golfing all the way to the bank in Myrtle Beach. If you are willing to trade in balmy, 80-degree days in golf shorts for 60-degrees, a pair of chinos and a pull over, winter golf in the Grand Strand may just be your bag.

Incidentally, you will also be trading five-hour rounds for four-hour rounds, long lines at restaurants for no lines at restaurants, and $100 greens fees for $50 greens fees. That's right - following the October golf season, the Grand Strand undergoes a metamorphosis that makes it one of, if not the most affordable golf destinations in the U.S.

Shoulder Season Conditions

November is actually one of the best times to golf in Myrtle Beach, at least during the first two weeks of the month. Daytime temperatures hover in the high 60's and low 70's and nighttime temperatures drop into the 50's. The average daily temperature is 69 degrees - not too shabby. November is also a dry month in the Grand Strand, with only 2.45 inches of rain falling on local courses. Even the water temperature in the Atlantic is tolerable, at 65 degrees. Plan on long pants and a golf sweater or pullover for a morning tee time and long pants and shirtsleeves for an afternoon round.

Golfers will also find that courses are in tip-top shape. Rye grass from the fall overseed will have completely taken hold, and Bermuda greens overseeded with "Poa Triv" will be striped-up and rolling true. With the exception of dormant rough, the inland courses will look like they do in October since the majority of trees on the west side of Highway 17 are evergreen pines. Along the coast, courses will look a bit bleak as the live oaks and other deciduous trees turn brown and lose their leaves.

Greens fees at the majority of the Strand's 120-plus courses will drop slightly in early November and then plummet like a tech stock in December. A course like Glen Dornoch Waterway Golf Links that charges $110 during October might drop to $90 in November and $80 in December and January. High-end courses like Tidewater, Rivers Edge, the Tournament Players Club of Myrtle Beach, typically have more dramatic price reductions. For instance, the off-the-street rate at Rivers Edge in Shallotte, N.C. is $165 in the peak fall and spring seasons. That rate drops all the way to $65 during the winter.

As far as dining goes, it's a buyer-beware situation from Georgetown, S.C., to Caswell Beach, N.C. Most restaurants remain open through November but a number of them hang out the "be back in two months" sign in December. The best, and most logical, thing to do is call ahead. Some areas of the Strand cater to locals more than others and the eateries in these sections stay open year-round. One popular seafood mecca where you can expect a high number of winter closures is Murrells Inlet in the South Strand.

Getting There

• Reader Forums • Myrtle Beach Course Guide • Myrtle Beach Dining Directory • Myrtle Beach Travel Guide

Chip Shots

Golf Instruction is alive and well in the Grand Strand. The Nike Golf Learning Center at River Oaks had its Grand opening last month, and golf instruction packages are available for $179. The opening went over as planned, despite American Golf's financial woes and subsequent takeover by Goldman Sachs. All Nike Golf Learning Centers are located at American Golf operated facilities and River Oaks is the only American Golf course on the Strand … If the DuPont CoolMax World Amateur Handicap Championship is any indication, golfers - as a collective bunch - are finding it less enticing to cheat. Officials only needed to DQ seven participants for lying about their handicaps this year. Over the past two years, 40 or more duffers had been handed their pink slips for "cap-shaving."