Table of Contents
- The Podcast That Tells the Whole Story
- A Centennial That Belongs to Everyone
- Two Titles, One Coastline
- Where the Game Starts: Mini Golf
- Golf, Reinvented
- Championship Golf, Minutes From the Beach
- A Golf Capital Day for the Whole Family
- Where to Stay for a Centennial Golf Trip
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Celebrate the Centennial at Every Level of the Game
Drive Highway 17 through North Myrtle Beach on a warm evening and you will pass a volcano, a helicopter, a pirate ship and a steamship in the space of a few miles, all of them sitting in the middle of miniature golf courses. A few minutes inland, the floodlights of a driving range glow over the pines, and on a quiet morning the first foursomes are already out on fairways that have hosted Hall of Famers and weekend hackers alike. Golf here is not one thing. It is the whole landscape.
That idea sits at the heart of a new episode from Visit Myrtle Beach. Released October 6, 2026, the 30-minute episode of its Myrtle Moments: Faces & Places of The Beach podcast, titled Welcome to the Golf Capital of the World, sets out to explain how one town ended up holding two titles at once: Golf Capital of the World and Mini Golf Capital of the World.
With the Grand Strand’s golf centennial arriving in 2027, it is a good moment to look at the full spectrum, from the oldest championship course on the coast to the newest indoor simulators, and to plan a trip where everyone in the family, from the scratch golfer to the five-year-old with a pink putter, gets to play.
The Podcast That Tells the Whole Story
Hosted by Brent Lovell and produced by Brand Revolt for Visit Myrtle Beach, the episode visits five corners of the local golf world. According to the episode notes, listeners hear from Todd Kluttz of Mt. Atlanticus on how a former department store became a three-acre mini golf mountain, from Curtis of Pine Lakes Country Club on the oldest course in Myrtle Beach, from David Thurber of PinPoint Pickleball & Indoor Golf on turning a warehouse into simulators and courts, from Kyle Oland of Play Golf Myrtle Beach on what makes a destination the Golf Capital of the World, and from Chad Petrick of PopStroke on rebuilding mini golf from scratch.
The episode opens with a detail locals love: at Mt. Atlanticus there is a hole where a hole-in-one earns a lifetime pass, and the episode notes say that people have actually done it. The series is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and VisitMyrtleBeach.com, and it makes good listening on the drive down to the coast.
A Centennial That Belongs to Everyone
The most interesting thread in the episode comes from Pine Lakes. The course opened in 1927 and is the reason 2027 is being celebrated as the centennial year of golf in Myrtle Beach. Yet its representative makes the case that the centennial belongs to all of Myrtle Beach golf, not just to Pine Lakes. It is a generous way to frame a hundred years, and it fits the way golf actually works here, where a family might play a championship round in the morning, a pirate course after dinner and a simulator on a rainy afternoon.
We have already covered the history of that first course in our story on 100 years of Myrtle Beach golf and the Pine Lakes story, and the commemorative gear in our look at the Myrtle Beach Golf Centennial Collection. This guide picks up where those leave off, with the rest of the golf world the centennial is meant to include.
Two Titles, One Coastline
| Title | What backs it up |
|---|---|
| Golf Capital of the World | Visit Myrtle Beach says the nickname took hold in the late 1990s, when the Grand Strand had about 120 courses. Play Golf Myrtle Beach now cites more than 90 courses and more than 3 million rounds a year. |
| Mini Golf Capital of the World | Guinness World Records recognizes the Grand Strand for the highest concentration of miniature golf courses: 33 venues with at least 53 courses, measured in 2022. |
| Mini golf’s local roots | Visit Myrtle Beach traces the area’s first mini golf course to around 1930, near 9th Avenue North and Kings Highway. |
| Championship roots | Pine Lakes Country Club opened in 1927 as Ocean Forest Country Club. |
Course counts vary depending on how far up and down the coast you draw the line, so treat any single number as a snapshot rather than a final tally.
Where the Game Starts: Mini Golf
Ask the people in the podcast where most golfers first pick up a club and the answer is a mini golf course. On the Grand Strand, those courses are destinations in their own right, with rumbling volcanoes, waterfalls and props big enough to see from the highway.
Hawaiian Rumble, Home of the Masters of Mini Golf
Hawaiian Rumble, at 3210 Highway 17 South in North Myrtle Beach, has 36 holes and a volcano that erupts with flames about every 20 minutes. It is also home to the U.S. ProMiniGolf Association Masters, which began in 1997 with 17 players and drew a record 84 competitors from several countries in 2024, according to WMBF News. The 2026 edition was held October 6 through 10. Yes, the winner gets a green jacket.
More North Myrtle Beach Courses
Visit Myrtle Beach’s current list of North Myrtle Beach mini golf includes Molten Mountain at 1010 Vereen Road, with a 50-foot volcano and an indoor, air-conditioned course; Mayday Golf at 715 Highway 17 North, where a real Huey helicopter watches over 36 holes; Professor Hacker’s Dinosaur Adventure at 701 Highway 17 South and Professor Hacker’s Lost Treasure at 1705 Highway 17 South; Hawaiian Village at 4205 Highway 17 South; and the family-owned, pirate-themed Black Pearl Mini Golf at 614 Sea Mountain Highway in Cherry Grove. Families staying in Cherry Grove or Ocean Drive can reach several of them in a few minutes.
Mt. Atlanticus in Downtown Myrtle Beach
Mt. Atlanticus Minotaur Golf, at Eighth Avenue North and Kings Highway, opened in 1998 on the site of a former department store and climbs its way up a three-acre artificial mountain. It is the course behind the lifetime-pass hole the podcast mentions.
Golf, Reinvented
The newest chapter of the Golf Capital story is happening indoors and under lights, in venues that blend golf with food, music and friendly competition.
PopStroke at Broadway at the Beach
PopStroke opened its first South Carolina location at Broadway at the Beach in March 2024, with 36 holes of putting courses, and it counts Tiger Woods among its owners. In the podcast, Chad Petrick explains why the company rebuilt mini golf from scratch, including why you will not find any windmills.
Topgolf Myrtle Beach
Topgolf Myrtle Beach, at 2850 Robert Grissom Parkway, opened in 2019 with 72 hitting bays across three levels. It is a natural spot for mixed groups where some people want to hit balls and others mostly want to watch, eat and keep score. The venue lists daily hours starting at 10 a.m.
PinPoint Pickleball & Indoor Golf in Little River
The closest of the new venues to North Myrtle Beach is PinPoint Pickleball & Indoor Golf in Little River, which opened in early 2026 in a converted warehouse. Local golf coverage describes seven TrackMan simulator bays with access to more than 500 courses, nine indoor pickleball courts, a putting green, a full bar and a restaurant. It is a smart backup when rain rolls in, and the podcast tells the story of a twelve-year-old who showed up there every day.
Championship Golf, Minutes From the Beach
None of this replaces the championship game that made the area famous. From a North Myrtle Beach rental, you are a short drive from Barefoot Resort’s four signature courses, which we profiled in the story behind Barefoot Resort & Golf, and from dozens more covered in our guide to North Myrtle Beach golf courses. Pine Lakes itself, at 5603 Granddaddy Drive in Myrtle Beach, sells public tee times, so playing the course where it all began is very much possible during the centennial year.
Families with young golfers should look at the area’s Kids Play Free golf program and Family Golf Week, both of which make it easier to bring the whole crew onto a real course.
A Golf Capital Day for the Whole Family
One easy way to celebrate the centennial is to sample every level of the game in a single day. Tee off early on a championship course while the air is still cool. Spend the afternoon on the beach, then head out after dinner to a volcano course on Highway 17, where the kids can chase a hole-in-one while the adults pretend they are not just as competitive. If the weather turns, swap the beach for a simulator session at PinPoint or a few rounds at Topgolf.
The rhythm works especially well in spring and fall, when tee times are plentiful and evenings are comfortable for mini golf. For more ideas beyond the course, see our pillar guide to things to do in Myrtle Beach and our Myrtle Beach events calendar.
Where to Stay for a Centennial Golf Trip
North Myrtle Beach sits in the middle of the action. Windy Hill is close to Barefoot Resort and Hawaiian Rumble, Crescent Beach keeps the Highway 17 mini golf strip and the championship courses equally handy, Ocean Drive adds Main Street dining and music, and Cherry Grove puts you near Little River and PinPoint.
Golf groups and multigenerational families usually get the most from oceanfront homes, with room for clubs, a big kitchen and a deck for settling bets. Couples and smaller families may prefer oceanfront condos, which make it easy to head out early and come back to the beach in the afternoon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Celebrate the Centennial at Every Level of the Game
The best way to honor a hundred years of golf on the Grand Strand may be to play all of it: the historic fairway, the volcano course and the simulator bay. Make North Myrtle Beach your home base and let every golfer in the family find their own favorite.
When you are ready to plan a centennial-year golf trip, our North Myrtle Beach homes and condos keep every kind of course within easy reach. Browse beach homes and condos at www.northmyrtlebeachvacations.com or call our North Myrtle Beach team at (843) 273-3001, and we will help you find the right fit for your group.
Sources: Visit Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Moments: Faces & Places of The Beach, Welcome to the Golf Capital of the World (October 6, 2026), plus Visit Myrtle Beach articles on golf and mini golf history; Guinness World Records; WMBF News; Play Golf Myrtle Beach; Topgolf; Myrtle Beach Golf Trips; On The Green Magazine. Hours and details change, so confirm with each venue before you go.