What if you could go to Myrtle Beach, play a cadre of new, outstanding golf courses and a sampling of others that underwent full-scale remodeling projects, all without losing your shirt or succumbing to a five-hour round? As a resident Carolinian, it is your golf God-given right to do just that. Fortunately for inhabitants of the Old North State, the Grand Strand clears out faster than a gallery in pursuit of Tiger Woods in the winter months. If you don’t mind breaking out a golf sweater and making the four-hour drive, you should find some empty fairways and greens. Here is a rundown of new and improved golf courses that can be yours at around half the price it would cost to play them during the peak seasons.

If Myrtle Beach is approaching its carrying capacity for high-end daily fee golf, someone forgot to tell Grand Strand area developers over the past year. The majority of new-course construction between late 1999 and the summer of 2000 took place in the "North" Strand, while the Barefoot Resort and the International Club opened in North Myrtle Beach and Murrells Inlet, respectively.

In Brunswick County, N.C., two critically acclaimed new courses are setting the standard for high-end daily fee golf, and both are more than worthy of a visit to this northern edge of the Grand Strand. The Arnold Palmer-designed Rivers Edge Golf Course in Shallotte is one of the most scenic and memorable golf courses to open in Myrtle Beach since the Caledonia Golf and Fish Club. The course is perched on the rolling banks of the Shallotte River, providing a setting that is reminiscent of Tidewater Golf Club. Seven of the course’s holes actually play along the river, while the other 11 play to the interior of the property.

"This course is a far cry from most of the courses down in Myrtle Beach," says Rivers Edge head professional Bruce Harper. "It is totally natural in its design. There are no enormous green complexes or sophisticated earth moving."

Just down the road at Ocean Ridge Plantation is the new Tim Cate-designed Tiger’s Eye course, which opened in April. Tiger’s Eye is one of a triumvirate of courses at Ocean Ridge, but is easily the crown jewel of the property. As with the Thistle, Cate has used his endless (and sometimes priceless) imagination to put together a layout that is quickly becoming one of the most sought after rounds in the North Strand.

"Tiger’s Eye is a traditional style course with a contemporary flair to it," says Cate, who studied course design under Willard Byrd. "There are large grassy bunker areas next to the greens. Mounding was not needed on the course, as we used grassy bunkers and nice sized greens instead."

As upscale facilities, both Rivers Edge and Tiger’s Eye demand top dollar during both the peak season and off peak seasons. During the months of December and January, a round of golf at Rivers Edge will run $74 with a cart, and Tiger’s Eye $65–about half the regular price. For the financially conscious who would still like to play a new North Strand golf course, the new Rick Robbins-designed Crow Creek, in the fishing town of Calabash, is worth checking out. The operative word when talking about Crow Creek is "potential." The Golden Bear’s former design associate has produced a course that has the potential to be a "must play" in Brunswick County once the course matures.

From the "Still Going Strong" department: the redoubtable Russell Breeden put his irrepressible signature on both the North and South Strand over the past year with the opening of the Diamond Back Golf Club in Loris. Diamond Back is a solid, affordably-priced layout routed through a piece of property that was once farmland, and before that, an Indian hunting ground. The front nine curves around a nature preserve and has water and wetlands in play on eight of the nine holes. The back nine features less water in play, but features a number of creeks that bisect fairways. Because of its location off Highway 9, Diamond Back’s strategy—and it seems to be working quite well—is to catch golfers on the way in and out of the beach.

Though it stumbled out of the gates, the International Club is now hitting on all cylinders and is providing the South Strand with yet another high-end daily-fee golfing venue. Now that the course’s conditioning is coming around, the Willard Byrd layout—just down the road from the TPC of Myrtle Beach—will likely become a hit with visitors.

"This is more of an older style golf course, even though it is brand new," says head pro Rick Taylor. "You don’t have to carve it into this fairway or cut it into another. The fairways are friendly and we get a lot of compliments on the layout."

Because Breeden and Byrd are typically asked to operate within a limited budget, the savings can be passed on to players. Don’t expect to pay more than $50 at both Diamond Back and the International Club for a round of golf in the months of December and January.

Any run down of new golf courses at the beach would be remiss in not touting the four new golf courses at the Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach. If there was any doubt that the Grand Strand is not attracting the world’s best course designers, the names Dye, Fazio, Love, and Norman ought to but such speculation to rest. Only the Dye course is classified as "semi-private," but it will remain open to the public for at least the next couple of years. The other three gems are open and ready for play this winter, and the most challenging feat at Barefoot may be deciding which tract you like best.

"When we first opened the resort, all the talk was about the Fazio course," says a Barefoot Resort sales associate, Mike Ross. "But now it seems that everyone is talking about the Love course. The Norman course was closed for a while in the summer, and it is just now starting to come into its own."

Golfers can get on the four Barefoot courses for a reduced rate in the winter months. But like Tiger’s Eye and Rivers Edge, great golf in the Strand never comes cheap. The Fazio, Love and Norman courses are available for play at $75 each, while the Dye course weighs in at $87.

It was only a question of time, but the Grand Strand finally received its first "replica" facility last year in the form of the International World Tour Golf Links. World Tour opened in October of 1999, and features 27 holes "inspired" by some of the greatest holes in the world. The three nines are organized into the "Championship Nine," highlighted by the inclusion of Augusta National’s Amen Corner, the "Open Nine," which consists of holes from courses that have hosted either the U.S. or British Open, and the "International Nine," which includes a number of holes inspired by exclusive, private courses throughout the world.

"We have had quite a few people who have played these courses and say that, yes, the spirit of the hole is there," says head professional J.P. Waldron. "Several people have played Doral and said they felt like they were down in Miami. Another fellow had played Valderrama and said except for the trees along the right side of the fairway, it’s looked the same."

At $160 for 18 holes of golf, World Tour is one of the pricier plays in Myrtle Beach during the peak seasons. In December and January, players can get around the course for $105.

With competition for the golfing dollar what it is at the beach, no course can afford to rest on its reputation. The list of revamped and remodeled golf courses from the past year includes some of the Grand Strand’s most formidable layouts.

Tidewater Golf Club, one of Myrtle Beach’s most decorated golf courses, underwent a series of major renovations, including the redesign of bunkers and re-sanding with crystal white feldspar, rebuilding of greens with A-1 bentgrass, and a new irrigation system to keep the course looking green and healthy. When the course reopened in January of 2000, jaws were dropping from Holden Beach to Georgetown.

"What an imagination [designer Ken] Tomlinson has," says Tidewater superintendent Bob Grounke. "I have built 11 golf courses in my career and Tidewater has to be in the top five, and number one in the southeast."

Two of the South Strand’s premier courses also received Y2K facelifts. The popular, yet controversial, Mike Strantz-designed True Blue underwent some modifications to make the course more player friendly. The course’s G-2 bentgrass was replaced with the more maintainable Tift Eagle bermudagrass, a number of bunkers were removed, and five holes were treated to new tee boxes and larger greens.

Across the road at the River Club, the greens were also redone, but this time the old bermudagrass was replaced with A-1 bentgrass—the same shipment of grass that is being used to remodel the greens at Augusta National, according to head professional Nate DeWitt. Also, the bunkers were outfitted with new sand and drainage systems to give the entire course a new feel.

The Rees Jones course at Sea Trail has long been considered the championship caliber layout at this popular Brunswick County golf facility. The Jones course closed from August 1999 to April 2000, and during that eight-month period, the greens were replanted with L93 bentgrass and were enlarged to their original size. Some greens were actually recontoured, and a number of bunkers were remodeled.