Pinehurst, N.C., Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Hilton Head, S.C. form a triumvirate of world class travel destinations that command the attention of any discriminating traveler. Each is known for its distinctive atmosphere and style, but there is one thing that they all have in common: world class golf, dining to match, and a host of other amenities and attractions to suit the taste of every vacationing visitor.
The patriarch of this distinguished group is Pinehurst, famously known as the Home of American Golf. Pinehurst is the name of both the quaint New England style village and the adjacent resort, which encompasses eight magnificent golf courses, including Pinehurst #2, host of the 1999 and 2005 US Open. There has been much growth in golf and development over the years in Pinehurst, but the greater Pinehurst area that includes the villages of Southern Pines and Aberdeen has lost little of its rustic charm and leisured pace. The atmosphere is informally elegant and the traditional dress is white cotton flannel on the tennis courts and bowling lawns. Beside golf, the area is a well known equestrian and pottery center. This little piece of heaven in the Sandhills of the Tarheel State remains steadfast in its adherence to wise, environmentally sensitive growth.
Myrtle Beach, at the northernmost end of the South Carolina coast, lies at the heart of The Grand Strand, which stretches some 60 miles from Sunset Beach, N.C. south to Georgetown. Myrtle Beach was a quiet, remote village throughout most of the 1900’s and it didn’t have its first golf course until 1927, when The Granddaddy, a superb traditional layout and the feature amenity of the Old Forest Hotel, opened. Several other courses including The Dunes Club followed, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s when the golf boom on The Strand took off, thanks to collective marketing of Myrtle Beach as a golf destination.
Today, Myrtle Beach boasts some 110 public courses to fit every skill level and budget, and while golf has become virtually synonymous with Myrtle Beach, that’s not all it offers. This family style, neon-lighted, shirt-sleeved destination with its many wood floor pubs and taverns also has world class live theater and other entertainment, thousands of restaurants for all palettes and enough amusements to satisfy the most finicky youngster. Oh, and every spring some 300,000 Harley riders descend on the Strand to celebrate Harley Week.
Located at the southernmost end of South Carolina some 40 miles from Savannah, Ga., Hilton Head Island is a largely high-end residential/resort destination that boasts some 30 terrific golf courses, led by Harbour Town, the world class masterpiece of the Pete Dye/Jack Nicklaus duo that hosts the annual MCI Heritage Classic.
Only 12 miles long and five miles wide, Hilton Head, like all popular destinations, has been built out so that Greater Hilton Head now encompasses the town of Bluffton and other points west, just off the island on the mainland. Here, like at Pinehurst, environmental preservation goes hand in hand with smart development, thanks to Charles Fraser, son of a timber baron. Because of its limited space and preservation ethic, Hilton Head is devoid of large neon signed malls. Instead pines and moss-draped oaks grace this small piece of golf heaven where elegant homes, golf resorts and nature coexist in harmony.

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