Home to some of the best links in the Carolinas, the lower part of the Grand Strand recently organized its courses under the umbrella moniker Waccamaw Golf Trail (www.waccamawgolftrail.com), chiefly for marketing purposes. No matter, the courses are still as superb as ever, if generally pricer than their colleagues up the coast.

The best course, hands-down, in the Pawleys Island area—and one of the best in the country—is the Caledonia Golf and Fish Club (369 Caledonia Dr., 843/237-3675, www.fishclub.com, $195). While the course itself is almost ridiculously young—it opened in 1995—this masterpiece is built, as so many area courses are, on the grounds of a former rice plantation. The clubhouse, in fact, dates from before the Civil War. Besides its signature 18th hole, other hallmarks of Caledonia are its copious amount of very old live oaks and its refusal to allow homes or condos to be built on the grounds. Packages are available at www.myrtlebeachcondorentals.com or 800/449-4005.

Affiliated with Caledonia is the fine True Blue Golf Club (900 Blue Stem Dr., 843/235-0900, www.fishclub.com, $100), considered perhaps the most challenging single course on the Strand.

Another excellent Pawleys course, and one with a significantly longer pedigree, is the Litchfield Country Club (U.S. 17 and Magnolia Dr., 843/237-3411, www.litchcc.com, $60), one of the Grand Strand’s oldest links and the first in Pawleys Island. The facilities are self-consciously dated—this is a country club, after all—setting it apart from the flashier, newer links sprouting like mushrooms further up the Strand. It’s a deceptive course that’s short on yards but heavy on doglegs.

The Jack Nicklaus-designed Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club (70 Tanglewood Dr., 843/237-6100, www.pawleysplantation.com, $150) has set a tough example for the last 20 years. Beautiful but challenging, it has a Jekyll/Hyde nature. The front nine is a traditional layout, while the back nine melts into the marsh.