Sometimes the intrinsic value of a golf course is about more than strategic refinement and philosophical representations of playability and shot values. In other words, dare we say it, a golf course embodies more than just a test of golf.

In some instances, a course appeases reticent instinctual requirements. It appeals to the senses, to our mandatory bonds with nature.

So it is at the Tournament Players Club of Myrtle Beach, which weaves a marvelous challenge through a visually pleasing labyrinth of natural wonder.

A craftsman with a penchant for building gorgeous golf holes, Tom Fazio predictably fashioned a national wetlands conservation area in the inland town of Murrells Inlet, SC, into a golf course that caresses our visceral pangs. But the TPC of Myrtle Beach is as challenging and strategically sound as any golf course you come across, thanks to the additional input from design associate Lanny Wadkins.

Tom Watson verified that in winning the 2000 Ingersoll-Rand Senior Tour Championship.

This TPC course, which opened in 1999 as the 100th golf course in the Myrtle Beach area, also was the site of the final round of the 1999 DuPont World Amateur Championship and was selected for the finals of the Toyota National Golf Skills Challenge. Golf Digest voted it among the Top 10 Best New Upscale Courses in America.

Yardage: 6950
Course Rating: 74.0
Slope: 145