The Dunes Golf and Beach Club: Venue for 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic Explored

The 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic is the third of the five additional events on the PGA Tour this season. This marks the first time the circuit will be hosting a professional tournament in the ‘golf capital of the world’. With prize money of $4 million and an additional 300 FedEx Cup points, the event is scheduled from May 9 to May 12 at Dunes Golf and Beach Club. It became the first resort destination ever put on the map and is one of the most famous courses on South Carolina’s Grand Strand. Here is everything you need to know about the venue.

The magic of Robert Trent Jones Sr.

The Dunes Club stretches to 7,450 yards and features a slope rating of 76.1. The course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. was first opened in 1949. This GC became the first nationally acclaimed solo design that Jones Sr. made. The course is well-bunkered with a hint of elevated greens, which requires an aerial approach that hits carefully controlled distances.

This course established Jones’s reputation for designing aerial power golf courses. Prominent events like the 1962 U.S. Women’s Open, the PGA Tour Champions Tour Championship, the PGA Tour Q-School, and the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball have been held here. Ben Hogan, who shot the final round of 67 here at the US Open and won, said, “I’m glad I brought this course, this monster, to its knees.” 

Although the land only has an elevation of 26 feet overall, the course still looks great from each tee because of its exceptional routing and the use of original contours. The putting greens are divided into sections, which makes it important for the players to land their shots close to the hole; otherwise, they get stuck with a long putt that has to go over multiple ledges.

Rees Jones, the younger son of the Jones family, expanded the size of the green to 6,000 square feet, which is large enough to roll out a ball easily! He said, “I tried to build it for today’s play while preserving Dad’s design character.” His attempt was successful, and the course became a good ground for modern-day golf!

What is the main attraction of the 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic venue?

The Dune Club garnered a lot of attention from the golf world because of the par-5-13th hole. It is curved around Lake Singleton and is known for its heroic design. It was such an exceptional hole that magazines and books started listing it as one of the best holes. It has a sharp 90-degree turn to the right, which is why it is very unusual and a hole a golfer tends to remember once he has played on it.

The fairways only get narrower as you move farther from the tee. It pinched down to about 18 yards across at 330 yards from the tee. The particular course needs to be strategized properly. Golfers with enough control to place their tee shot 280 yards off the tee and just to the right of oak trees will have a shorter shot across the water to reach the green in two shots than a player who hits a longer drive to the left side of the fairway.

Will you be attending the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic in South Carolina? Share who you think will be the championship winner with us in the comments section below!