Myrtle vs. Scottsdale Golf Trip: The Regular-Guy Verdict Nobody Else Will Give You

Every buddy trip planning session hits the same wall. Someone mentions Scottsdale. Someone else says Myrtle Beach. The guy who suggested Scottsdale just watched a Golf Channel feature on TPC Scottsdale and is absolutely not going to back down. The Myrtle Beach guy has been three times and swears it's the best value in golf. Nobody actually knows how to settle it, and the group ends up booking the same place they went two years ago.

Here's where I land after 25 years of weekend golf and more buddy golf trip planning arguments than I can count: both destinations are genuinely good, for genuinely different groups. But I'm going to tell you which one is right for most regular-guy foursomes — and it's not the answer the Golf Channel would give you.

The short version: Myrtle Beach wins for most buddy groups most of the time. It's cheaper, easier to plan, friendlier to mixed budgets, and delivers more rounds per dollar than anywhere in the country. Scottsdale wins if your group is going between November and March, everyone's on board for spending $300-plus per round, and you want the kind of trip you'll still be talking about in five years. Both require knowing what you're actually buying — and most online guides won't tell you that clearly.

Let's go through it properly.

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What Myrtle Beach Actually Is

Myrtle Beach gets undersold by golfers who haven't been, and oversold by the people who run package tours there. The real thing is somewhere in the middle — and it's genuinely impressive if you go in understanding what you're getting.

The Grand Strand, which stretches about 70 miles of South Carolina coastline, is home to over 80 championship golf courses. That concentration of public courses in a single driving radius is unlike anything else in the country. You could go to Myrtle Beach every year for a decade and never repeat a course. In practical terms for a four-day buddy trip where you're playing 18 holes a day, that selection depth means everyone in the group gets a vote on the lineup and someone can find courses they're excited about regardless of budget.

The pricing is the real story. Average green fees in Myrtle Beach run considerably lower than most major golf destinations — spring and fall peak pricing on solid courses still comes in meaningfully below the benchmark you'd pay in Scottsdale for an equivalent layout. And because there are so many courses competing for the same golfers, you get options at every price point. There are courses worth $70-80 at twilight that play better than courses in other markets charging double. Package deals that bundle tee times with accommodation are genuinely good value here in a way that isn't true everywhere.

Most Myrtle Beach buddy trips come in between $400 and $1,200 per person for three to five nights and three to four rounds, depending on when you go and how you book it. That range is wide because the options are wide. You can bring the group member who's on a tight budget and the one who wants to play the best courses on the same trip without it becoming awkward. If you're specifically working with a tight ceiling, the whole destination rewards budget golf trip planning better than almost anywhere in the country. That flexibility is worth something real.

The weather has a clear best window: spring (March through May) and fall (September through November). Those are the months with mid-70s temperatures, lower humidity, and course conditions at their best. Summer is playable but genuinely hot and wet, with regular afternoon thunderstorms in July and August. Winter is mild by northeastern standards — temperatures stay in the 50s and 60s during the day — and the courses are wide open, but some of the surrounding restaurants and attractions close down.

I'm not totally sure why, but the group dynamic on a Myrtle trip tends to settle quickly. The place is built for this. There are no logistics surprises because the whole destination has been handling buddy golf trips for decades. The courses are grouped close together, the hotels are used to foursomes, and the 19th hole infrastructure — I mean this as a genuine compliment — is excellent.

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What Scottsdale Actually Is

Scottsdale's golf reputation is not exaggerated — it's just often aimed at the wrong audience. The Phoenix metro area has more than 200 golf courses, including some of the most memorable public layouts in the country: TPC Scottsdale (home of the Waste Management Phoenix Open), Troon North, We-Ko-Pa, The Boulders. These are not just good courses. They are genuinely different courses — desert golf with saguaro cactus framing every shot, mountain backdrops, red rock formations. If your regular Saturday game is a tree-lined parkland course in the Midwest, playing Scottsdale feels like playing golf on another planet.

That experience costs more. Average green fees at mid-tier Scottsdale courses run around $200-plus per round at peak times, and the bucket-list courses — TPC Scottsdale, Troon North, Quintero — can run $300 to $500 or more. There are budget options under $100 if you know where to look (Papago Golf Course is the classic example), but those tend to be municipal or university courses that deliver good golf without the Scottsdale scenery. The mid-tier bracket that most groups aim for — Grayhawk, Talking Stick, We-Ko-Pa — sits firmly in the $150-200 range, sometimes more in peak months.

A three-day Scottsdale buddy trip done properly runs $1,100 to $1,500 per person. You can do it on less if you're strategic about it, but the number people quote after the trip tends to land in that range. That's not necessarily a dealbreaker — but it's a number everyone in the group needs to agree to before anyone books a flight, not after.

The weather is Scottsdale's clearest argument: October through April is genuinely close to perfect. Sunny, dry, mid-60s to mid-80s, zero humidity. If your group is planning a winter escape — Thanksgiving week, New Year's, January, February — Scottsdale is hard to argue against. The courses are uncrowded, prices dip from peak, and you're playing in conditions that make most northern golfers feel like the game makes sense again. From what I've noticed, this is the version of Scottsdale that people rave about the longest.

June through September, though, is a different conversation. Scottsdale in summer can hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Some people play early morning rounds and call it fine. Others find out the hard way that "it's a dry heat" doesn't mean much when it's 107 at 9am. It's not impossible to play, but it's not comfortable, and it shouldn't be the version of Scottsdale your group books on the basis of a Golf Channel segment.

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The Head-to-Head on What Actually Matters for a Regular-Guy Group

Here's the honest breakdown across the categories that genuinely move a buddy trip from concept to booking.

Budget: Myrtle Wins, It's Not Particularly Close

If cost-splitting ever comes up in your group planning — and it always does — Myrtle Beach makes that conversation easier. You can play four solid rounds with accommodation and get in under $700-800 per person if you're smart about timing and packages. Doing the same trip in Scottsdale, with equivalent course quality relative to what the market offers, runs meaningfully higher. That gap is real enough that it changes what the group can do together, and it matters more than it probably should.

The one caveat: if your group is specifically chasing October or November and shoulder-season Scottsdale pricing, the gap narrows. Early-November Scottsdale on good courses can be comparable to peak spring Myrtle if you're doing the math carefully. But peak Scottsdale pricing in March or April? Myrtle Beach isn't close to it.

For a group where one or two members are always watching their wallet — which is most groups — the affordability flexibility of Myrtle Beach keeps the trip from becoming an argument about money. That has real value. You're also much better positioned to find a golf trip on a budget that still delivers four strong rounds if you're working with Myrtle's pricing structure.

Course Quality: Scottsdale Has More Peak Moments, Myrtle Has a Stronger Floor

The best courses in Scottsdale are probably better golf experiences than the best courses in Myrtle Beach. TPC Scottsdale on a clear February morning, with saguaros on every hole, is something. Troon North is something. We-Ko-Pa is something. If your group is specifically trying to check bucket-list public courses off a list, Scottsdale has more of them.

But here's the thing: a four-day buddy trip isn't really about the two best rounds. It's about all four rounds. Myrtle Beach's depth of courses means you can string together four solid, enjoyable rounds across four different layouts without repeating yourself. You're not going to find the desert panoramas, but you're also not going to hit a dud. The consistency of experience on a Myrtle trip is genuinely underrated.

Weather Timing: This Is the Actual Deciding Variable

Your travel window should largely determine the answer here, and most online comparisons don't say this clearly enough. Spring break in March? Either destination works, but Myrtle's spring is excellent and avoids Scottsdale's peak pricing. Long weekend in October? Both are beautiful. January or February escape from cold weather? Scottsdale is probably the cleaner argument. June through August weekend trip? Myrtle Beach. Scottsdale in summer is manageable for some people and genuinely miserable for others — don't find out the hard way.

Getting There: Depends Entirely on Where You're Flying From

Myrtle Beach has a regional airport with limited direct flights from most cities — many groups end up routing through Charlotte or connecting. Scottsdale uses the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, which has significantly more direct flights from more cities. Depending on where your group is departing from, this can flip the cost math in ways that aren't immediately obvious when you're only comparing green fees. Worth checking actual flight options before settling this debate.

The Group Vibe: Both Are Strong, For Different Groups

Myrtle Beach is the classic guys' golf trip destination. It's been doing this for 50 years. The environment is relaxed, the courses expect groups like yours, and there's no pressure to be anything other than a bunch of friends playing golf and eating bad food afterward. Scottsdale has more of a premium feel — better restaurants, better nightlife in Scottsdale proper, a slightly more curated experience. Whether that's a draw or an annoyance depends on your group's DNA. Some foursomes want a polished experience. Others want a place that feels like it was built exactly for them. Both exist in each destination, but the defaults are different.

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Who Should Go to Myrtle Beach

Your group is the right fit for Myrtle Beach if any of these land:

The budget conversation has ever come up in trip planning. If you've ever heard "I can't spend more than X on this" from someone in the group, Myrtle Beach makes the math work without creating a two-tier experience where some guys are playing different courses.

You're going in spring or fall and want the safest weather bet. Myrtle's spring and fall windows are consistently good. There's no summer heat trap to accidentally book into.

You want to play more rounds across more different courses. The density and volume of golf in Myrtle means you can mix up the lineup every day. That variety is part of what makes trips there replayable — this is how groups end up going back every two or three years and never playing the same rotation twice.

This is a first-time buddy trip and you'd rather iron out the logistics on a more forgiving destination. Myrtle Beach is optimized for groups. It's not your only option, but it's the one where the trip itself is least likely to be derailed by planning failures. What to expect on your first golf trip with friends covers the specific surprises nobody warns you about — in Myrtle Beach, at least, the destination itself isn't one of them. If you're the one organizing it and you've never done this before, the ease of that infrastructure matters — the golf trip organizer's job is already complicated enough without adding destination complexity.

You want a trip that still feels like an annual tradition ten years from now. I improve my own experience by picking what actually works for my people, not what sounds best in the planning text thread. Myrtle Beach is the kind of place that becomes your group's place — you establish which courses you always play, where you eat after, which guy always books the worst hotel and why. The trip games you run across multiple days become part of the Myrtle mythology too. That's a trip tradition building in real time.

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Who Should Go to Scottsdale

Your group is the right fit for Scottsdale if these apply:

You're going between November and March and everyone is genuinely excited about desert golf. That weather window in Scottsdale is hard to beat. If the whole reason for the trip is to escape cold weather and play bucket-list courses in warm sunshine, Scottsdale delivers that version of the trip better than almost anywhere.

The budget conversation has not once come up. If your group is four people who can each absorb $1,500 without anyone doing visible math, Scottsdale gives you a premium experience that Myrtle Beach doesn't try to match. There's a version of a Scottsdale trip — TPC Scottsdale, Troon North, a nice rental house with a pool, dinner somewhere with actual menus — that earns its price. I earn the right to brag about a Scottsdale trip for a long time. But only if it was the trip your group was actually set up to afford.

Someone in the group has been talking about TPC Scottsdale specifically, and making it happen matters to them. Sometimes that's enough of a reason. Bucket-list golf is a real thing. If the group wants to walk the same course they watch on TV every February, and everyone is genuinely in, book it. Just go with eyes open on the rest of the cost picture.

You've already done Myrtle Beach two or three times and want something different. This is the right reason to try Scottsdale. You know what a buddy golf trip is, you've figured out what works logistically for your group, and now you want to see desert golf. You've probably already done the work of building traditions that made Myrtle stick, and now the group is ready for a new experience. That order of operations makes sense. Reverse it and you're learning the hard lessons on a more expensive trip.

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The One Thing That Tanks Either Trip

Neither destination will save a trip that collapses in the planning phase. And the planning phase is where most buddy trips fall apart — not on the course, but in the three months before anyone boards a flight.

The biggest killer is leaving cost conversations until after someone has looked up resorts. Have the number conversation first. What's everyone's actual ceiling per person, all-in? Once that's settled, the destination decision makes itself. Myrtle Beach fits a wider range of that number. Scottsdale requires the group to be on the same page about a higher one. Either way, knowing the number before anyone books anything means you don't get three people in and one person quietly miserable about what they agreed to.

The second killer is not nailing down dates before anything else. It doesn't matter which destination you choose if four different guys can each make three of the four days. Figure out the dates with a firm group commitment before you're researching courses. I've seen trips that took nine months to plan die on the runway because nobody put a stake in the ground on dates until too late. If you're the organizer, read what actually goes into splitting costs fairly before you have to do it live with a group that hasn't talked about money yet.

The third killer is the guy who says he's in and then backs out six weeks before — which is its own problem entirely, and one that applies in Myrtle Beach, Scottsdale, and every golf destination in between. Dealing with the friend who always bails is a skill worth developing before you've lost deposits. If your group has that guy, you already know who it is. Plan accordingly.

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The Verdict

Myrtle Beach for most groups, most of the time.

The value, the logistics, the flexibility for mixed budgets, the sheer volume of solid golf — Myrtle Beach wins on the variables that actually determine whether a buddy trip comes together or falls apart. The courses aren't TPC Scottsdale, and nobody is pretending they are. But four days of good golf with a group of friends who are all actually having a good time, at a price nobody felt bad about, is a better trip than two days at bucket-list courses followed by two days where someone quietly wishes they'd stayed home.

Scottsdale gets the nod if your group has the right weather window, everyone genuinely agrees on the spend, and you're ready for a notch up in experience. November through March in Scottsdale, with the right courses and a rental house with a pool, is genuinely one of the best golf trips you can take. Just earn that version of the trip by knowing what it actually costs before you book it.

Either way, you're always just one good planning conversation away from getting everyone on the same page and actually leaving. That's the part most guides skip. I'm not skipping it.

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The Courses That Keep Coming Up for Each Destination

I'm not going to hand you a ranked list — course conditions and pricing shift, and what's excellent in one season can be mediocre the next. But there are names worth knowing as starting points for your group's research.

Myrtle Beach names to look at: Caledonia Golf and Fish Club, True Blue Golf Club (same ownership, the two most talked-about courses on the Grand Strand), TPC Myrtle Beach, Pawleys Plantation, Arcadian Shores. For the budget end of the card, the Grand Strand has dozens of solid public courses that come in well under $100 even in peak season. A mixed-tier lineup — two mid-range rounds and two higher-end rounds — is exactly what most groups end up enjoying most.

Scottsdale names to look at: TPC Scottsdale (Stadium course — the one you've seen on TV), Troon North (Monument or Pinnacle), We-Ko-Pa (Saguaro or Cholla), Grayhawk. For the budget end of Scottsdale's options, Papago Golf Course is the local's favorite — a genuinely good round at a fraction of the premium-resort price. Building a card with one or two premium rounds and one or two budget rounds is how experienced Scottsdale groups keep the total number manageable.

You'll want to verify current tee time availability and pricing before committing to anything — both destinations use dynamic pricing, and what a round costs in late February can be meaningfully different from what it costs in mid-April. A golf trip package that bundles accommodation with tee times usually offers better value than booking separately, especially in Myrtle Beach where package deals are deeply embedded in how the market works.

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Key Takeaways: Myrtle vs. Scottsdale

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FAQ: Myrtle Beach vs. Scottsdale Golf Trip

Which is cheaper for a buddy golf trip — Myrtle Beach or Scottsdale?
Myrtle Beach is significantly more affordable in most scenarios. Average green fees in Myrtle are considerably lower than Scottsdale's mid-tier courses, and the volume of courses competing for the same golfers keeps pricing competitive. A solid Myrtle trip typically runs $400–$1,200 per person all-in. A comparable Scottsdale trip lands closer to $1,100–$1,500 per person at minimum. The gap is real enough to matter for groups with mixed budgets.

What time of year is best for a Scottsdale golf trip?
October through April is the clear window. Temperatures are comfortable, courses are in peak condition, and you avoid the summer heat that can reach 107–115 degrees Fahrenheit. If you're going any other time of year, seriously consider Myrtle Beach or another destination instead.

How many golf courses are there in Myrtle Beach?
The Grand Strand area has over 80 public and championship courses spread across roughly 70 miles of South Carolina coastline. That concentration of courses in a single driveable area is unmatched in the country. Most buddy groups never come close to repeating a course lineup across multiple trips.

Is Scottsdale worth the extra cost for a regular-guy buddy trip?
It depends entirely on whether the whole group is aligned on the spend. If everyone's genuinely excited about desert golf and the budget conversation isn't an issue, yes — the visual experience of playing Scottsdale courses is genuinely different from anything in the Southeast. If even one person in the group is watching the total, Myrtle Beach delivers more enjoyment per dollar and less post-trip resentment.

Can you fly directly into Myrtle Beach from most cities?
Myrtle Beach has a regional airport with limited direct routes — many groups end up connecting through Charlotte or Atlanta. Phoenix Sky Harbor, which serves Scottsdale, has significantly more direct flight options from more cities. Depending on where your group is flying from, this can narrow or widen the cost difference between the two destinations.

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More for the Trip That's Still in the Group Chat

• The Regular-Guy's Buddy Golf Trip Playbook — the full picture on planning a trip that actually happens
• Being the Golf Trip Organizer: Herding Cats — what the planning really looks like from the inside
• How to Split Golf Trip Costs Fairly — before the money conversation becomes the trip conversation
• Golf Trip on a Budget With Friends — how to get everyone there without anyone dreading the total
• Building Trip Traditions Your Group Will Never Skip — how one good trip becomes an annual thing

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What's the One Golf Question You Can't Shake?

I've played the same Saturday group for 25 years, and there's one argument that still comes up almost every single round: gimme distance. Some weeks it's a foot. Some weeks it's "anything inside the leash." Nobody's ever agreed, and nobody ever will.

Sound familiar?

Here's the thing nobody talks about: most golf advice is written for guys trying to shave strokes off their score. I'd rather write about what actually trips up golfers like us — the bet that turned into a real argument on 15, the etiquette question you're too embarrassed to ask your own group, or the thing you've been quietly Googling the night before your Saturday tee time.

So here's where you come in.

Tell me your #1 question — about the games, the group, the trips, the unwritten rules, whatever's actually bugging you — and I'll use it to shape what gets written next on this site. Takes about two minutes, and I read every single submission myself.

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