Inspired by Great Courses – Shaftesbury Glen

Great golf courses stay with golfers forever. Pebble Beach, Augusta National, Pinehurst, Winged Foot, Pacific Dunes (just to name a few) are all examples of great golf courses designed by the golf worlds best architects. Perhaps it’s the design and layout of the course, bunkers or water hazards, the location, elevation of the greens, the greens itself, or whatever it may be, golfers know a great course when they see one, or play one, and those characteristics of the course will stay with golfers forever. Myrtle Beach has many great golf courses, but The Glens Golf Group’s Shaftesbury Glen Golf and Fish Club has a unique story to tell on how inspiration created its course.

Family ties to the land where Shaftesbury Glen sits today led to the name Shaftesbury. The Johnson family who owned the land originally migrated from Shaftesbury England and the track of land where Shaftesbury Glen golf course is runs along side the Waccamaw River, which is known for fishing and Glen, because the golf course is part of the Glens Golf Group, so Shaftesbury Glen Golf and Fish Club evolved.

The inspiration for Shaftesbury Glen Golf and Fish Club came from luck and perseverance. Paul and Jack Himmelsbach, owners of Shaftesbury Glen, along with golf course architect Clyde Johnston decided to create a golf course inspired by a U.S. Open style course with huge bunkering surrounding elevated greens, courses like Winged Foot Golf Club, Augusta National and Bethpage. Next, they knew they wanted Bent grass greens, the same as Augusta National, which was made possible by the outstanding water supply from the Waccamaw River and elevating the greens for air circulation. After reviewing the architectural designs for Augusta National by Allister MacKenzie and the designs from Winged Foot by A.W. Tillinghast, Himmelsbach and Johnston produced holes of large, old-style rectangular tee boxes, wildly enjoyable wide open fairways along with elevated, super-sized, immaculate Bent grass greens. The end result was a design offering an ideal balance of risk and reward, a course that is challenging yet accommodating for all level of players inspired as they did at Winged Foot and Augusta National.

The English manor styled clubhouse was built and along with fantastic course conditions, Shaftesbury Glen opened to rave reviews and was named Myrtle Beach’s Golf Course Of The Year in 2009. Soon after, Himmelsbach built the Shaftesbury Suites, five unique apartments over the Shaftesbury Glen Clubhouse for visiting golfers, and again in 2009 Golf World Magazine ranked Shaftesbury Glen among the top 50 Golf Resorts in the U.S., along with Pinehurst and Kiawah Island.

To read more about the history of Shaftesbury Glen Golf and Fish Club, visit Paul Himmelsbach’s blog: Paul’s Slice of Life.

To visit or play Shaftesbury Glen or stay at the Shaftesbury Suites please call 888-999-9520.