The Love Course (53) leads me to think that Davis The Third could have quite a career as an architect. Although known as a long hitter, his course is not about bombing it. True, there’s a lot of room—this is one big ballpark with wide fairways—but take too much advantage of the openness and you’ll face long shots in to elevated, sloping greens. The green complexes were fashioned after those at Pinehurst, which are crowned, tough to hold, and surrounded by tricky collection areas. Among the many memorable holes are the 4th and 6th, short par-fours that incorporate the faux brick remains of an old plantation building that once inhabited this site. Davis is a designer to watch.

Do not leave Myrtle Beach without playing The Dunes Club (28), the original, and still among the best, of the area’s playgrounds. The former host to a Senior Tour event, The Dunes is a Robert Trent Jones design circa 1948 that he tinkered with over the years. It retains its classic feel, playing over rolling landscape through big trees, then toward the ocean. On many holes, the sea breeze is a factor, particularly on the fine par-threes. The hole most remembered is “Waterloo,” the long par-five 13th that

goads even timid golfers into attempting to bite of a piece of Lake Singleton. It is an unforgettable hole, but so are the other 17. Make that 18: In 2001, Jones added an “alternate” hole, a long downhill par-three that sits between holes 13 and 14 and is only played when another hole on the course is being worked on. Even if it’s not in use when you’re there, step onto the back tee and take in the classic Jones design—length, water, sand, and wind. After your round, walk through The Dunes clubhouse, which is a treasure trove of local golf history.

Across the Intracoastal in an area called Carolina Forest is another Palmer product, King’s North (76), one of three courses at Myrtle Beach National. Not a bad layout when it first opened in the early ‘70s, it benefited greatly from a Palmer renovation in 1996 that involved moving tons of dirt, planting more than 7,000 azaleas and 600 hardwoods, and enlarging the lakes, bunkers, and greens. But the fairways are wide and the trouble in view, as are beautiful plantings and tall trees (it was a forest, after all), and lots of wildlife: Check out the snapping turtles in the pond by the 10th tee; they’re particularly partial to peanut butter-cheese crackers. Also notable is the par-five 5th hole,

“The Gambler” (complete with a dedication to Kenny Rogers, lyrics and all), which has an island fairway. It’s not the only way to play the hole—hitting right, to the land-locked fairway, actually leaves a better shot into the green — but the crowds didn’t come out to see you play it safe.