Brunswick Isles Golf Trail

Imagine a golf trail that stretches out along the coast of the Carolinas, offering some of the South’s most award-winning golf courses.

You’ve discovered the Brunswick Isles Golf Trail.

The Carolinas’ newest golf trail straddles the border of North and South Carolina with 396 holes of pure fun. If you’re looking to be challenged by the best, this is where you’ll find them. (Accommodations & Golf Packages info)

Over the years, award after award has been heaped upon the Trail’s courses, from “Best New Course in America” to four-star ratings in “Places To Play.” Three of Golf Magazine’s  “Top 20 Courses In South Carolina” are part of the new Trail, as are five of Golf Magazine’s “Top 20 Courses In North Carolina.” And, Golf Digest’s list of “America’s Top 100 Greatest Public Courses” includes three of the Trail’s courses.

Organized in summer 2008, the Brunswick Isles Golf Trail combines great golf courses with nearby accommodations to create a golf experience unlike any other on the East Coast. The Trail stretches 60 miles from Southport, N.C. to North Myrtle Beach, S.C., winding through the unspoiled coastal area known as the Brunswick Islands. Along the Trail, the courses are in such close proximity that golfers can easily play two or more different courses within a day. In fact, you can travel the Trail from end to end in just a little over an hour.

The northernmost course on the Trail is The Bald Head Island Club, a layout that Golf Digest calls “one of the Top 50 Courses In Myrtle Beach.” This 18-hole beauty was designed by architect George Cobb who created The Par 3 Course at Augusta National and was charged with tweaking Augusta’s championship course for more than 20 years. A 20-minute ferry ride transports golfers from Southport, N. C. across the Cape Fear River to the island where you’ll be treated to a picturesque layout that roams over dunes and along the oceanfront.

Lockwood Folly Country Club is the next stop on the Trail. This course near Holden Beach was designed by Willard Byrd and offers Tifdwarf Bermuda greens. Set on a former seaside hunting preserve, this visually grand layout with salt marsh and freshwater hazards offers an exciting day of golf in a beautiful setting.

Rivers Edge in Shallotte, N.C. is the next stop on the Trail, and one you won’t want to miss. An Arnold Palmer Signature design, this visually stunning course has 7 holes that play along the Shallotte River and the surrounding marsh. With generous landing areas and large greens, it delivers a tough but fair challenge. After you tee it up at Rivers Edge, you’ll understand why Golf Digest calls it one of  “America’s Top 100 Greatest Public Courses.”

Seven miles south of Rivers Edge in Sunset Beach, N.C. is Ocean Ridge Plantation, home of the 4 “Big Cat” courses: Lion’s Paw, Panther’s Run, Tiger’s Eye and Leopard’s Chase.

Taming the cats begins with Lion’s Paw, one of  Golf Digest’s “ Top 50 Courses In Myrtle Beach.” A Willard Byrd design, it features boldly-contoured bent-grass greens and mounds of sugar-white sand marking deep bunkers and high embankments.

Different challenges are served up by the other three cats, all designed by architect Tim Cate. Panther’s Run, ranked by Links Magazine as one the “Top 30 Courses in Myrtle Beach,” offers wide, open fairways with little mounding. Tiger’s Eye — one of “America’s Top 100 Greatest Public Courses” (Golf Digest) — challenges golfers with abundant natural waste areas, dazzling scenery and elevation changes reminiscent of the North Carolina sand hills. Leopard’s Chase, which debuted as one of Golf Digest’s “Best New Public Golf Courses $75 and Over” for 2007, and Golf Magazine’s “10 Best New Public Golf Courses in the United States,” features undulating greens, varied terrain and striking natural vistas.

Ride the Trail another six miles and you can enjoy three distinctive and classic courses at Sea Trail Golf Resort. Sea Trail’s three courses have been praised as “America’s Best Residential Courses of Distinction” by Golfweek; ranked among the “Top 50 Courses In Myrtle Beach” by Golf Digest; and rated among North Carolina’s Top 20 courses by Golf Magazine.

Sea Trail’s Maples Course is named for its architect, Dan Maples. It features subtle bent grass greens, water on ten holes and massive waste bunkers; five holes lead along the scenic Calabash Creek, home to nesting ospreys and other native wildlife. The Jones Course, designed by “The Open Doctor” himself, Rees Jones, is an exciting layout with elevated bent grass greens, generous fairways, dramatic mounds and water on eleven holes. The (Willard) Byrd Course is built around several man-made lakes that come into play on 13 holes. It also offers bent grass greens, plus a scenic 18th hole that snakes between two beautiful ponds to a picturesque finish at the Jones/Byrd Clubhouse.

Nestled along the marsh next to the Lake Shore entrance to Sea Trail is Oyster Bay, another Dan Maples gem. Named “Best New Resort Course” when it opened 20 years ago, this innovative course serves up wickedly undulating greens and cavernous bunkers along with spectacular water views. The layout is a par 70 that will test your mettle.

Sandpiper Bay is a 27-hole course located in Sunset Beach. With its rolling contoured fairways and naturally sculptured bunkers, Sandpiper has become known as one of the best groomed courses in the area. The newly renovated clubhouse, including Piper’s Restaurant and Lounge, offers a beautiful panoramic view of the surrounding pines and lakes. Sandpiper Bay is rated 4 Stars by Golf Digest  “Places to Play” based on course condition, pace of play, and overall experience.

Just north of the state line near the village of Calabash, the Thistle Golf Club offers one of the most beautiful and challenging 27-hole layouts on the Grand Strand. Thistle takes its name from an ancient Scottish golf society dating back to the early 1800’s, and the course layout posses a distinct Scottish links feel, with wind-swept fairways, large bentgrass greens and surrounding hillsides covered in heather and wild flowers. Designer Time Cate’s skillful blending of natural elevation changes and wetlands with carefully carved bunkers and large green complexes is visually stunning. For 2008 – 2009, Golf Digest awarded The Thistle 4 ½ Stars.

Next up, take a short seven-mile drive to Brunswick Plantation where you’ll find 27 holes that meander through tall Carolina pines and around expansive lakes. Architects Willard Byrd and Clyde Johnston collaborated on these golf courses which are best known for their quick, smooth and challenging Champion bermuda greens. An official Trail accommodation, Brunswick Plantation is listed among both the “Top 50 Golf Resort Communities in the U.S.”  and “America’s Best Master Planned Golf Communities” by Where To Retire. It offers spacious greenside villas on a compact and convenient campus. There are indoor and outdoor swimming pools, as well as the driving range, practice green and a pro shop housed in an ante-bellum clubhouse that is the very definition of Southern charm.

Just three miles west of Brunswick Plantation, the Trail leads to Meadowlands Golf Club, a classic Willard Byrd layout that twists through groves of large native hardwood trees, over meadows, and along natural wetlands. North Carolina Magazine called this course one of the “Top Ten Best New Courses” when it opened.  It rapidly became a favorite with women golfers, capturing a spot on Golf for Women’s prestigious list of “Top 100 Women Friendly Courses.”

Right next door to Meadowlands is its sister course, Farmstead Golf Links. A Willard Byrd design, Farmstead literally straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina border and features the only par 6 on the entire Grand Strand. The mammoth 767-yard, 18th hole begins with a drive to a wide sweeping fairway in South Carolina and concludes on a large undulating green in North Carolina. It’s no wonder that North Carolina Magazine put Farmstead on its “Mighty 90” list.

A mere 4 miles south, Trail travelers will be transported to a place that evokes the best of Scottish-style golf. Heather Glen Golf Links and an official Trail accommodations choice, The Village At The Glens, are just outside the scenic town of Little River, S.C. From the unique British design of the Heather Glen Clubhouse to the Scottish-themed Pub with its spectacular views of Heather Glen’s finishing holes, the environment is tailor-made for a special and memorable golf vacation. Stay here and you’ll enjoy on-site amenities like a heated outdoor pool; a putting green right outside your villa; and a practice facility complete with driving range and a chipping/bunker area.

The three nines that make up Heather Glen Golf Links are the icing on the cake. Crowned “America’s #1 Public Golf Course” by Golf Digest when its first 18 opened, Heather Glen is known for its pristine conditioning. Designed by Willard Byrd and Clyde Johnston as a homage to traditional Scottish golf, Heather Glen has all the right Old World touches from stacked sod pot bunkers to ornamental plants like Scotch Broom. Each of the three nines is unique with ever-changing elevations, heather-laced dunes and winding streams that combine to create a golf experience that will stick in your memory for years.

Right across the street from Heather Glen is Glen Dornoch Waterway Golf Links. This course is architect Clyde Johnston’s tribute to legendary architect Donald Ross, who was born in the north Scottish coastal town of Dornoch.

Glen Dornoch’s honors are many. It’s on Golf Digest’s list of the Top 10 Courses in Myrtle Beach and Top 25 Courses in South Carolina, as well as Golf Magazine’s Top 20 courses in South Carolina. Step up to the first tee and you’ll soon find out why. Glen Dornoch is a real heart-stopper that has panoramic views of the Intracoastal Waterway, wide fairways that roll naturally over the sandy terrain, centuries-old live oaks, massive magnolias, and 35-foot elevation changes. Its final three holes are among the most unforgettable and exciting closing holes on the East Coast.

The setting at Glen Dornoch is so pristine and beautiful that you’ll want to pause for a post-round drink on the back porch of the clubhouse. Watching players finish on the course’s unique double green that serves both 9 and 18 is the perfect way to end a day of golf.

Just south of Glen Dornoch, the Trail leads to River Hills Golf & Country Club, also in Little River. A blend of old and new design ideas, this scenic course by architect Tom Jackson takes players through heavily wooded, rolling terrain with frequent 40-foot elevation changes. Golfweek named River Hills to its list of the “Top 50 Courses in the Southeast.”

The Trail ends six miles south of River Hills at the spectacular Tidewater Golf Club in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Known as “the Pebble Beach of the East,” this superb test of golf sits high on the bluff of a magnificent seaside peninsula. It stretches out alongside the Intracoastal Waterway and saltwater marshes of Cherry Grove Beach Inlet, offering views of the Atlantic Ocean beyond.

As the most decorated course along the Grand Strand, Tidewater’s rankings are almost too numerous to recount and include Best New Public Course In America and America’s Top 75 Golf Resorts (Golf Digest); Top Ten Public Courses in America, Top 100 Public Places You Can Play and Top 20 Courses In South Carolina (Golf Magazine); and Top 100 Residential Golf Courses (Golfweek). You won’t want to miss this classic design modeled after storied courses such as Merion and Pine Valley. It delivers an exciting conclusion to the Trail.

Easy To Reach, Easy To Travel

Reaching the Brunswick Isles Golf Trail is easy. It’s within a day’s drive of most major East Coast and Midwestern cities, and a quick trip down Route 40 from North Carolina cities like Raleigh. Convenient air service is available via Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) located in downtown Myrtle Beach, or Wilmington International Airport (ILM). Located just minutes from the first stop on the Trail, the Wilmington, N. C. airport is one of the most dynamic, hospitable, and progressive airports in the Carolinas. The Wilmington Airport offers nonstop service to a variety of cities.

Golf Packages

Accommodations and golf can easily be arranged by one of the Trail’s exclusive golf packagers.
Brunswick Plantation • 800-332-8576
Coastal Golfaway • 866-781-7252
Village at the Glens • 866-259-0558