Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday's eight ways to save on a Grand Strand golf vacation

The name of the game for 2009 travel is making your money stretch. I think we’re all trying to find creative ways to save a little cash so long as we all think our jobs are next on the chopping block.

Then again, I don’t plan on cutting my vacation days down any this year just because banks around the world thought it’d be a good idea to issue million dollar loans to farm animals.

Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, the giant golf course packaging co-op of every worthy play on the Grand Strand recently released their eight tips for saving money on your golf trip this season. Click here for the complete list.

Some of the tips will really work, like buying groceries for breakfast or other meals if it’s not included in your golf package. A hot breakfast is going to run you about $15 each morning, but practically every hotel room in Myrtle Beach these days is a condo-style unit with at least a half-kitchen, so you may as well make the most of it and start flipping those eggs yourself. You could even make a side bet on the golf course: losers wake up and cook breakfast the next morning for the group.

Another one of their tips is booking courses near your hotel. If you want to stick to the fabulous lowcountry courses in Pawleys Island, stay nearby at Litchfield Golf and Beach Resort, don’t book something in Brunswick County!

However, gas prices in South Carolina are cheaper than just about anywhere in America, so expect under $2 gas around Myrtle Beach - at least pre-Memorial Day.

Aside from Golf Holiday’s tips, perhaps my biggest tip on saving money in Myrtle Beach is what time of year you go. In April, courses charge their premium because they are in perfect shape, the Azaleas are out and the New Yorkers and Canadians are flocking in droves for the sunshine. But if you hold out until late May or go right now (or even better yet, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s), you can save a lot of cash. In the summertime, courses are dirt cheap but the hotels (especially beachfront) go up.

Another money-saver, and I understand this is blasphemous to many, is to pass up on the booze during your round of golf. Personally, I like to save the 12 oz. curls until the 19th hole. If you’re drinking a beer per three holes at $3 a beer, that’s about $20 each day during your round just on alcohol - though I understand it’s a sheer necessity for many golf vacationers. I’ve been paired up with my share of folks in Myrtle who were cracking beers open on the first tee at their 8 a.m. tee time.

Also, here are a few courses that I think are a little underpriced for what they offer: Willbrook Plantation, River Club, Prestwick, River Hills, Possum Trot.

I’m headed to Myrtle Beach myself in a couple weeks and hope to bring you more money-saving tips along with new course reviews, features and galleries. Click here for WorldGolf.com’s thorough Myrtle Beach Destination Guide.

River Club offers exceptional value among the Myrtle Beach courses.