The Myrtle Beach area has long been called the “seaside golf capital of the world.” Now the area has a new moniker, thanks to Sports Illustrated magazine and the National Recreation and Park Association: Sportstown USA. While golf is the Grand Strand’s No. 1 sport, the area also boasts professional baseball, auto racing, high school and youth activities (including the annual Beach Ball Classic national basketball tournament), tennis, water sports, recreational fishing and much more.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans
(877) 918-TIXX
MyrtleBeachPelicans.com

The Pelicans, an Atlanta Braves Carolina League Class-A affiliate, have sent numerous players on to the “big leagues” in Atlanta. The team’s season begins in April and wraps up in September. Along with exciting sports action, fans are treated to between-inning entertainment that’s fun for the whole family. (In 2005, 1,827 Pelicans fans donned Groucho Marx glasses, breaking the previous record recorded with the Guinness Book of World Records!) Coastal Federal Field (21st Ave. N., Myrtle Beach) is the team’s home field.

Myrtle Beach Speedway
(843) 236-0500
MyrtleBeachSpeedway.com

Enjoy professional and amateur racing on a half-mile, tri-oval asphalt track sanctioned by NASCAR. Races are scheduled every Saturday, April through September, with special events adding to the fun.

The Ripken Experience - Myrtle Beach
(843) 918-7815
TheRipkenExperience.com

The Ripken Experience opened in June 2006 as one of the nation’s top youth sports facilities with six youth and three regulation size baseball fields, each modeled after one of the game’s historic parks, including the Polo Grounds, Comiskey Park and Forbes Field. The Ripken Experience brings tournament play and baseball camps to the Myrtle Beach Area. Each of the fields at The Ripken Experience are made from FieldTurf®, the game’s most advanced artificial surface.

More than 100 championship golf courses:

The Grand Strand offers an unlimited choice of golf courses. Local tournaments and events include:

The Palmetto High School Golf Championship (March)

Myrtle Beach Junior Golf Shoot-Out (March)

Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Pro-Am (April)

Golfapalooza Golf Festival (April)

Mutual of Omaha Drive, Chip & Putt Junior Challenge presented by the Golf Channel (April)

FDNY 9-11 Memorial Golf Outing (May)

Veterans Golf Classic (May)

National Father & Son Team Classic (July)

PGA Tour Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship (August)

Harley Rider's Greater Golf Classic for MDA (September)

Summer Family Golf Tournaments (June-August)

Gateway Tour Beach Series (June-September)

Fishing along the Grand Strand can be enjoyed from one of eight fishing piers, along the beach, as well as in backwater creeks between Georgetown and Little River (where the crabbing is great, too). More serious anglers can board a head boat for bottom fishing, or charter a boat and venture all the way to the Gulf Stream, just 60 miles offshore, for true deep-sea sports fishing.

Sailboat, Jet Ski (personal watercraft), canoe and kayak rentals are offered up and down the Grand Strand. If exploring a historical shipwreck resting on the ocean floor sounds exciting, go scuba diving. Other options for a sporting good time include parasailing, surfing, boogie-boarding and windsurfing.

The Myrtle Beach area boasts more than 200 tennis courts with a variety of surfaces, including several stadium courts.