Founders Club at Pawleys Island — Local services in South Carolina

The Founders Club at Pawleys Island, about 20 minutes south of Myrtle Beach on Highway 17, opened for play in 2008 and attracts golfers because of its unique appeal: sand instead of long, unforgiving rough. The course was designed by Thomas Walker, former lead designer for Gary Player Design, on what used to be the Sea Gull Golf Club, a Gene Hamm design that dates back to 1966. Like much of the surrounding area, the original course was relatively flat. Walker changed the look and feel of the course by moving around over a quarter million cubic yards of dirt. The $7 million renovation project included a new Lowcountry-style clubhouse, overlooking the 18th green.

Since Walker’s redo in 2008, Founders Club has received numerous accolades including one of the 30 Best Courses You Can Play in South Carolina by the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel in 2009 and again in 2011. Founders Club was also named Myrtle Beach Golf Course of the Year by the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association in 2011.

As a result of all the renovation work, Founders Club features sloping fairways, bunkers, elevation changes, and mounding, lots of mounding. Overgrown rough has been replaced with waste areas filled with native beach sand, pine straw and grasses. Also sprinkled throughout the course are Lowcountry wetlands, towering live oak and pine trees and azaleas which, when in bloom, add to the beauty of the layout. You won’t find many traditional cart paths out here, instead what you have are waste areas that are in play. Another feature that sets Founders Club apart from other courses in the area are the Emerald Bermuda greens. This unique strain of grass withstands the summer heat and requires less water than other grasses; it also has less grain.

With such a premium on land in the area, there is no formal driving range. Instead there is a hitting net which can accommodate 6 players at a time and a practice putting green where you can also hit some chip shots.

Memorable Holes

Number 2: Par 4, 390 yards (White Tees). Standing on the tee, this long par 4 looks intimidating, with water all down the right side and trees and a waste bunker down the left. The landing area is generous, so take advantage of it. Favoring the left side of the fairway will take the water out of play and give the best angle for approach into a large green with a long, narrow bunker on the right and a small deep bunker about half way back on the left. Keep it on play to the green and you could end up with a low score.

Number 12: Par 5, 491 yards (White Tees). Number 12 looks like a hole straight out of the yardage book of a Scottish golf course with a row of pot bunkers down the middle of the fairway. Most of the time, you want to hit the ball off the tee as far as you can down the middle of the fairway; on this hole it’s not advised! Most players will come up short of the bunkers and have to deal with them on their layup shot. Unless you’re a long ball hitter, you’ll want to hit your layup shot short of the pond and then play your approach shot about 120 yards to a large, receptive green with a deep bunker front left. The fairway is framed on either side by a waste bunker. A challenging but doable hole.

Founders Club is a difficult but fair golf course. The waste bunkers and pine straw that have replaced the rough are a welcomed change; it’s easier to find your ball and hit out of a waste bunker than some gnarly rough. In fact, every hole has a sand challenge of some sort. There are only a couple of holes that require a forced carry, even for the ladies.

Founders Club appeals to just about any type of golfer, whether you like to grip-it-and-rip-it or play it conservatively. Hit the ball as far as you can every time or layup and lay back and play it more strategically. You can play it differently each time.

Whether you’re coming down in the spring as part of a larger group or renting a home in the area during the summer months and just want to get away for a few hours, Founders Club welcomes...

Course is fun and fair - fairways and majority of the greens are in excellent shape.

Docked it 2 stars because they do not have a driving range, and the "hitting net" was closed. We do an annual golf trip to the MB area, this was our first course of the year - normally we like to get their an hour early for warm ups, etc so not having a driving range (which we weren't aware of) was a big miss.

After playing around on the short game area killing time, we asked if the was any availability to go out early or squeeze into a gap - was told no, because they do double starts (groups on #1, #10) Went back to the chipping area near the first hole, nobody was on the first hole for 30 mins - drove over to the bag drop guys (because there was no starter anywhere) to ask if we could go off 1 because we hadn't seen anyone for 30 mins - again was flatly told no, no one checked the gap though, they just didn't care. So we waited until our tee time - then later found out they were starting us on #10 after talking with another group who also had our time slot.. the icing on the experience was that we were sent off 30 minutes late! When we finally tee'd off there were 4 groups stacked behind us (making their turn) and 2 groups still on 10.

Ultimately the folks there were kind, just indifferent and inattentive which dampened the experience of a pretty solid course, with so many options in MB and paying $120+, we would hope for a better experience.

Ultimately, this is still a solid and fun course, just seems like a more local/members course, don't get there early...

One of the best courses I've played in Pawley's Island. These greens were similar to upscale courses in speed and difficulty up north! The tee shots are not overly difficult but challenging. Fairways and rough are good. If you can putt well here you can putt well anywhere. I like everything about this club. Especially the view throughout the 18 holes. On another note. I used my golf buddy GPS and clipped it to the plastic frame on the upper portion of the cart. In New York I've left this GPS on the cart twice in the last two months. And both times the staff returned it to the Pro desk. I called and they said, we have it " come and get it" However, I left it again ( shame on me, i probably deserve to lose it ) on the cart at Founders. This time I wasn't so lucky. I called to see about it only one hour after play. Gone for good. I expected it in NY, but not south in Pawley's Island. The good news. I downloaded the Swing by Swing golf app. I no longer need an expensive GPS gadget. Try the course. You'll like it. Don't...