National Ranking Based on Golf and Non-Golf Criteria Such as Highly-Ranked Courses, Off-Course Diversions, Cost of Living and More
May 18, 2006, Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Golf Digest announced its ranking of "America’s Greatest Golf-Home Towns" and Myrtle Beach was selected as America’s No. 1 golf-home community.
The Golf Digest article is featured in the June issue and stated that "the Grand Strand is literally jammed with great courses. Seven made Golf Digest’s Best in State ranking and an incredible 28 carry player ratings of 4 ½ stars or more in the 2006 Best Places to Play guide. This, plus the area’s reasonable cost of living and its many playable days, gave Myrtle Beach the highest point total of all the communities we rated nationwide."
Golf Digest used data from the Longitudes Research Group to identify the leading cities to buy golf-course property in the United States. The ranking was based on golf and nongolf criteria such as the number and quality of courses, golfable days per year, course congestion, crime rates, airport access, cost of living, off-course diversions, home prices, taxes and other variables. After dividing the United States into eight regions, Golf Digest ranked the top 10 in each region and selected Myrtle Beach as America’s best golf-home community. The top cities in each region include: Scottsdale, Ariz., West Region; Austin, Tex., Southwest Region; Denver, Colo., Mountain West Region; Sheboygan, Wisc, Midwest Region; Myrtle Beach, S.C, Southeast Region; Eastern Long Island, N.Y., Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Region; South, North of Tampa, Florida Region.
Myrtle Beach earned the list’s highest Golf Score ranking, which calculated the number and quality of courses, golf days per year and course congestion, with 47.1 points out of a total of 50, with Pinehurst, North Carolina, second at 38.3. In the May 2005 issue of Golf Digest, nine Grand Strand courses were named to the 2005 – 2006 "America’s Top 100 Greatest Public Courses" list, more than any other golf destination in the United States.
"The quantity and quality of golf along the Grand Strand is unsurpassed by any other destination in the United States," said Bill Golden, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday’s vice president and director of marketing. "People come to Myrtle Beach to play golf and like it so much that they decide to purchase a vacation home or relocate here. The entire Grand Strand area is enjoying an unprecedented period of real estate growth and when more golfers read Golf Digest’s pronouncement that Myrtle Beach is the best place to buy a golf course home, I expect that the growth will continue."
About Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday
Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday is a non-profit trade association of 60 accommodations and 90 championship golf courses in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area. Founded in 1967, the organization has been and continues to be the driving force behind the growth of the Myrtle Beach area golf market. In addition to hosting the Hootie and the Blowfish Monday After The Masters Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament and Golfapalooza each spring, Golf Holiday also manages the PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship – the world’s largest on-site golf tournament, the Summer Family Golf Tournaments, the Spring and Fall Palmetto High School Golf Championships, the Veterans Golf Classic and the FDNY 9-11 Memorial Golf Outing. For more information, call 1-800-833-8798 or visit www.golfholiday.com.
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