KING’S NORTH Sitting in 2026, it is easy to think that all golf resorts resemble Bandon Dunes, such has been the impact of Mike Keiser’s Oregon behemoth. But not all golfers seek out what is on offer at Bandon, and an even larger proportion do not want their trip to cost in the region of US$1,000 a day, which could well be the case for a summer trip to Bandon. The Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina, often known as the Grand Strand, after the more than 60 miles of beach that the area boasts, was a golf destination long before Mr Keiser invested a dollar in golf. The first golf club in the area was Ocean Forest, now Pine Lakes, which was designed by Robert White, and which opened in 1927. Golf grew steadily in the region in the decades that followed until it exploded in the 1960s and 1970s, when Myrtle Beach became a major destination for travellers seeking golf and good weather; the region now has almost 100 courses. The comparison between Bandon and Myrtle Beach is actually a very silly one. Not only is one a single resort with one owner, while the other is a whole region, but also, as hinted at above, Bandon, though not obviously super-luxury, is very expensive, especially when travel to such a remote destination is factored in. Myrtle Beach, throughout its history, has been basically a mid-market offering; it remains particularly popular among spring breakers, and the golf courses reflect that. The area has a substantial number of courses with ‘celebrity’ or signature designers, and in that respect, the Myrtle Beach National (MBN) club, with three courses, all credited to Arnold Palmer, is typical. MBN’s South Creek course opened in 1975, while the club’s other two, King’s North and the West, both made their debut in 1973. The Palmer design company, in which Arnold was partnered with architect Ed Seay, was only created in 1972, and certainly King’s North predates that; the course was designed with Palmer’s original collaborator, Frank Duane. The course was extensively renovated by the late Palmer associate Vicki Martz in the late 1990s. And now it has been renovated again, by the former Palmer design architect Brandon Johnson. Johnson’s project, valued at $4.2 million, was Photo: Brandon Johnson Golf Course Design The renovated eighth green complex 61
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