Tidewater 3/27/23

It's still early for the greens to be really good, but I have been playing
TW in early May and Oct and while OK I agree that they are often not
up to the level of the rate, scenery and design.     
 
Thanks for reporting.      

I agree. TW is a solid track, but I've always felt is was somewhat overpriced. But now with dynamic pricing, who's to say what "overpriced" really is.

Tidewater can be hit or miss , but when in perfect shape and perfect weather  it is worth paying the big bucks.

Early October is usually a great time to play

No need to feel you will make anyone upset with an honest opinion of the conditions you found the day you played.  Tidewater over the years has been decent in winter months to terrible, this year with the weather we have had in MB I would have felt the conditions would have been better with a price tag of $165.00.  Thanks for your report though.

Agree Lefty.

We want honest reports here.

Nice job Brattenj

I've said before that I didn't understand all the love for Tidewater.  It is a nice course but not one I would rate in the Top 10 of MB.  Thanks for an honest report.

I think PineHills is an underrated course (and better than Palmetto, even though they charge less for it), but I also think Tidewater is easily one of the best courses at the Grand Strand.

I don't think it's as good as Caledonia, but I do think Tidewater is a step above TPC or King's North as a golf course.

Of course price makes a difference in these discussions, but if price and conditions were the same, Caledonia is probably the only non-private course I'd choose to play over Tidewater in the whole area.

Among privates I'd play the Reserve, the Dunes, and Wachesaw over Tidewater, and maybe the Surf but it's been a long time since I've been there. I prefer Tidewater over the Grande Dunes Members Club, though.

All that said -- Tidewater has had issues with conditions off and on through the years. It's ranged from pretty good to truly excellent the past few years, but there was a stretch before that where the conditions just weren't good enough for the price.

Honest feedback is always welcome.  I wouldn't pay $165 to play Tidewater.  I would have a hard time convincing myself to shell out $165 to play anywhere.  From my personal "if money is not really an issue, and of the courses I've played in the area" view, Tidewater ranks high.  It's in my Top 3, sometimes it's #1.  Conditions the last few times I've played there have been good to very good.  The very first time I played it (back in the late 90s), and after a Tropical Storm, the greens were immaculate...like putting on a tabletop.  I've never played it after that day when the greens were as good.  

I would also rank Pine Hills above Palmetto.  I think the design is more interesting.  Palmetto has the best hole in #18 of any at Myrtlewood, but Pine Hills gets a slight nod in overall design.

@polekat914 I was thinking the same -- there are places I would pay $165 to play golf, but I'm not sure there are any in Myrtle Beach outside of a few privates (counting the Dunes as a private here). I might be willing to pay that to play Caledonia if I knew the conditions were great.

I guess it's a reality now, though. I'm lucky enough to have a Passport so I never have to pay those prices anywhere in the area, but I've noticed the rack rates for a lot of courses are exceptionally high. Barefoot is often charging $175+ to play; I think TPC is over $200 at times. The conditions should be consistently excellent at those prices and it feels like they generally aren't -- I enjoy the Barefoot courses, but the last few times I've played there the conditions have ranged from okay to good but not what I would expect if I was paying $175. Sometimes I wonder how they get away with it when you compare it to other places relatively close by like Pinehurst or Reynolds Plantation, which charge similarly high prices (or even higher at some courses) but are almost always in better shape than most MB courses.

Golf popularity and dynamic pricing has increased popular MB course 
rates up 50-75% in the last couple years.   Group leaders used to blend 
in some lower cost courses to stay within a group budget, thanks to
low cost lodging.  Now lodging is also up and also with dynamic rates. 
Book well in advance if you can, but be aware, that if you later book
new dates or new courses, you will pay the rate in effect at rebooking. 
 
While rounds continue to increase, I have to think that MB rounds are 
increasing more with local play than with package groups.             

I think Palmetto gets a boost in ranking from the 17 + 18th holes.    
Pine Hills front 9 isn't anything special, but the back 9 is interesting,
so starting on #1 there will help you like it better.      
  
MB courses tend to get too much play to be pristine and justify 
package rates.  Some other destinations don't have the volume of 
local play.   The discount card rates are below market value, but
they create high volume.      
   
I think golfers pay the package rates because it's a golf vacation and 
they don't want to miss the trip.   Time will tell if younger generations 
will become 20-30 year MB groups or not.     

I don't know if that's true for Pinehurst -- those courses are packed all the time, especially the Mid Pines/Pine Needles/Southern Pines trio, which often don't have a single tee time available for the entire day weeks in advance.

Reynolds is probably different in that you have to either be a member or staying there to play, so I imagine they get less play. That's true for the courses at the actual Pinehurst Resort now too.

Either way, yeah, I do wonder if the price increases in MB are going to start causing a problem, at least for the higher end courses. While I like Barefoot, Tidewater, TPC, etc. -- they're just not as good as the top courses in Pinehurst, as well as places like Bandon and Streamsong. If it's going to cost nearly as much to go to MB as some of the higher end resorts with top of the line courses, MB may lose some business. There are still reasons for some groups to prefer Myrtle Beach over other destinations, but for people where the golf itself is the top priority it could start to be a harder sell if the prices keep going up.

On the other hand, that may not matter. The population is growing rapidly; there will probably be enough locals wanting to play to keep most of the courses busy even if the package business slows down.

@uncgolf 

One (of many) reasons why I moved to Myrtle Beach 8 years ago was the availability of quality golf courses at a reasonable price.  With the Passport, I get that.  Assuming economic conditions, etc., stay relatively stable, with the amount of people moving to the area, I think golf and golf courses will do relatively well for the next several years.  I would not expect it to really ever reach the level of Bandon or Streamsong (or arguably Pinehurst).  I'm OK with that.  As long as I can play for what I consider a reasonable price, and have 40 or so courses to choose from within a 30 minute driving distance (or more if you extend it to 45 minutes), I'll take it.  

So as a golfer and his golfing wife that comes to MB twice a year for a week each, what other options do I have? I’m not a resident so I can’t do passport. Is there a discount card for non residents that is worth a dang?

@brattenj 

The Myrtle Beach Golf Passport is available for Snowbirds from Nov. 1 until March 31st, you have a 54 hours booking window now.  Also I believe Brian has 48 hour  rates, give him a call to confirm and I am sure he can hook you up somewhere for a better price.