King's North at Myrtle Beach National, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - a Myrtle Beach Top-Shelf Tradition, Now Redesigned by Arnold Palmer in 1996

Since first opening in 1973, the North Course at Myrtle Beach National was one of the most requested and recognized golf courses in Myrtle Beach for nearly 25 years. Then, in 1996, Arnold Palmer and his Palmer Design Group were asked to return and transform the North Course into something brand new.

The redesign started as something "quick and dirty,'' but turned into a major renovation that involved $4 million in improvements. While the routing of the course remained the same, the renovations included tearing up the fairways and greens, installing a myriad of new bunkers, and increasing the course length to more than 7,000 yards from the tips. A total of 400,000 cubic yards of dirt was moved, thousands of azaleas were added, along with hundreds of hardwood trees, and lakes, bunkers and greens were all enlarged.

The end product transformed the "beaten and battered'' traditional style of the former North Course into a semi-modern course laden with bunkers and a mixture of holes, from links-style to contemporary. The front and back nines were also reversed, changing the numbers and order in which the course is played.

According to the head golf professional, no two holes on the revamped course are the same, but the layout now calls for a good deal of course management. Proper placement and position in the fairways is essential, or one could end up in a waste bunker, and there are a lot of undulations in the new greens. There are also still a good many dogleg par-4s throughout, which adds to the challenge and shot selection.

If played from the forward men's tees, the course is very short at only 5,702 yards. From the middle tees, the course plays to 6,431 yards, which means players who can keep their ball in the fairway and putt with some authority on the slow-rolling Bentgrass greens can score well.

The course features a number of noteworthy holes. Hole No. 6, nicknamed "The Gambler,'' features an island fairway, which affords golfers the ultimate risk/reward shortcut to the green, or a disastrous adventure should they fail on either of two precise shots that are required.

The signature par-3 No. 12 hole (formerly No. 3), still sports an island green and sand traps shaped like South Carolina. During the renovations, the green was enlarged and given a wooden bulkhead for added definition.

Hole No. 18, nicknamed "The Bull's-Eye'' by GOLF Magazine, now boasts 42 sand bunkers after its redesign. While the traps may not come into play, golfers have described it as intimidating, playing through a "sea of sand'' in this fairway, followed by an approach to a green that reaches out into a lake.

Since re-opening in 1996, King's North has received even more acclaim. Golf Digest ranked it among America's Top 10 New Upscale Courses, the National Golf Course Owners Association named it South Carolina's Course of the Year in 1997, and hole Nos. 6, 14, 16 and 18 are all featured in the book The 100 Greatest Holes Along the Grand Strand.