Thistle, Tiger's Eye, Crow Creek, Rivers Edge and a rental home in Ocean Isle Beach are the plan. A 12.75% lodging tax, golf bag fees, a car for the hour-long drive from Wilmington's airport and spring rates well above fall are what push the total up.
Plan my golf trip for me: budget, dates and courses →Starts with a sample trip. Change any number to match yours. Set up your travel profile to fill these in for you.
Compare hotels near the Big Cats, Thistle and Crow Creek →Pick each course you'll play (one round per golfer) and we'll price it for your group. Prices are per golfer for 18 holes, with the season and time of day you choose. Your picks set “Green fees per golfer (whole trip)” in your budget.
420 courses around Wilmington & Brunswick Islands that take public tee times, by city, with peak green fees. Private member clubs are left out.
Twenty-seven links-style holes among marsh and native grasses, with a grand clubhouse full of memorabilia from the original Thistle club in Scotland.
golfpass.com ncgolfpanel.comA Dan Maples classic by the Intracoastal Waterway with two island-green par 3s and plenty of marsh and alligators.
golfdigest.com myrtlebeachgolftrail.comThe strongest of Sea Trail's three resort courses, with Rees Jones mounding and bunkering a short drive from Sunset Beach.
myrtlebeachgolf.com myrtlebeachgolftrips.comA traditional, playable resort course with tree-lined fairways and water, good for mixed groups.
myrtlebeachgolftrips.com cdn-golflink.comA forgiving 27-hole Dan Maples course, a good easy first round on the day you arrive.
assets.simpleviewinc.com myrtlebeachgolftrips.comA ferry-only island course with palms, lagoons and big waste bunkers; you need a temporary club membership, which many island rental homes include.
ncbrunswick.com playgolfmyrtlebeach.comThe best known of Ocean Ridge's Big Cats, winding through pine forest with real elevation change, coquina boulders and water.
ncgolfpanel.com playgolfmyrtlebeach.comThe newest Big Cat, with wide fairways, dramatic bunkering and a waterfall and coquina boulders framing the 18th green.
ncgolfpanel.com ncbrunswick.comThe original Big Cat at Ocean Ridge, a friendlier Willard Byrd layout with lots of water and wide landing areas.
golfdigest.com myrtlebeachgolftrips.comA Tim Cate Big Cat with water and waste areas that usually costs less than Tiger's Eye and Leopard's Chase.
golfdigest.com myrtlebeachgolftrips.comA local favorite with bentgrass greens, rare on this coast, and a 574-yard par-5 7th with water down both sides.
ncgolfpanel.com myrtlebeachgolftrips.comThree Dan Maples nines with six holes along the Calabash River and marsh views; greens were redone in MiniVerde Bermuda.
thegolfwire.com golfdigest.comA solid, good-value Willard Byrd course near Calabash that has improved since its sister course Farmstead closed.
myrtlebeachgolftrips.com golfdigest.comAn Arnold Palmer design along the Shallotte River with marsh carries and big views; it is one of the toughest tests on the coast.
ncgolfpanel.com golfpass.comTwenty-seven Fred Couples holes (Heron, Ibis and Egret) along the marshes of the Lockwood Folly River, about 20 minutes from Leland.
golfdigest.com myrtlebeachgolftrips.comA 1926 Donald Ross muni with restored greens and false fronts a few miles from the ocean, and the best value in the area.
wilmingtonnc.gov golf.comA George Cobb seaside course on Oak Island where the ocean breeze is a constant factor.
ncgolfpanel.com assets.simpleviewinc.comA P.B. Dye design at St. James Plantation near Southport that takes outside tee times.
1golf.eu greenfeetracker.comTwenty-seven holes ten minutes from downtown Wilmington, the handiest quality course for a Leland base.
greenfeetracker.com assets.simpleviewinc.comA links-style course with open, windswept holes about 25 minutes north of Wilmington.
greenfeetracker.comThe sample is 4 travelers for 4 nights. Your plan ($7,512) covers the main costs most people budget for, the ones you enter on the left. Costs people forget ($2,824, about 38% more for this trip) are the fees, taxes, tips and extras listed in the calculator. Prices were last checked on October 17, 2026.
Share of the $10,336 real cost. Nights and travelers multiply most of these costs, so changing either one moves the total the most.
11 of this trip's numbers link to a published price or rate. The rest are our estimates, and each one says what it is based on. You can also read how we calculate every trip.
| Cost | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Green fees per golfer (whole trip) | $515 per traveler | Four peak-spring morning rounds with cart: Thistle $150, Tiger's Eye $135, Crow Creek $115 and Rivers Edge $115 = $515. No course publishes a spring rate card; each is set about 15-20% above live early-November rates (Thistle $122 morning, Tiger's Eye $109, Crow Creek $102 on Myrtle Beach Golf Trips, Nov 7, 2026). Judgment call. Source |
| Rental home per night (whole group) | $525 a night | Ocean Isle Beach 4-bedroom short-term rentals average $546 a night (AirROI, Nov 2025-Oct 2026); March-April run below the yearly average and May above it ($566, $592, $664 across all sizes against $626 overall). $525 for a spring stay. Judgment call. Source |
| Airfare per person | $498 per traveler | US DOT (BTS) average domestic itinerary fare for Wilmington (ILM), Q2 2026: $497.83 (Q1 2026 was $485.31). Source |
| Food per person, per day | $68 per traveler, per day | GSA FY2027: Brunswick County is not a named per diem area, so it takes the standard meals and incidentals rate of $68 a day (https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/per-diem-rates-to-rise-slightly-for-fiscal-2027/). Wilmington (New Hanover County) is $74. Source |
| Cost | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Checked bag fees | $90 per traveler | Major US airlines charge about $35 to $50 for a first checked bag each way, so about $90 round trip. Source |
| Golf bag fees | $110 per traveler | American, Delta, United and Southwest treat a golf bag as a standard checked bag; a second bag is $55 each way. Source |
| Shipping your clubs Off by default | $108 per traveler | Ground shipping for a golf bag starts around $54 each way. Source |
| Lodging taxes | 12.75% of the rental home (whole group) | NC Restaurant & Lodging Association occupancy tax list (July 2026): Brunswick County 1% (https://brunswickcountync.gov/382) plus Ocean Isle Beach 5% and Sunset Beach 5%; sales tax 6.75% (4.75% state + 2% Brunswick County; https://www.avalara.com/us/en/taxrates/state-rates/north-carolina/cities/ocean-isle-beach.html). 6.75% + 1% + 5% = 12.75%. Leland and Shallotte levy 3% (10.75% total); Wilmington is 3% plus 7% sales tax. Source |
| Rental car | $85 a day | KAYAK at ILM (Nov 2026): SUVs average about $82 a day; vans show an unusually high $146 average but $73 in April, their cheapest month. $85 a day for a minivan or large SUV in spring. Judgment call. Source |
| Drinks on the course | $80 per traveler | Our estimate of about $20 a round for beverage-cart drinks and snacks. Judgment call. Our estimate |
| Golf balls | $55 per traveler | A dozen Titleist Pro V1 balls lists at $55. Source |
| Tips for bag drop and cart staff | $20 per traveler | A few dollars at bag drop and the turn; we use $5 a round. Judgment call. Source |
| Side bets and prizes | $50 per traveler | Our estimate for skins, team bets and a small trophy. Our estimate |
| Lessons and extras you picked Off by default | $0 for the trip | Set by the extras you pick in the tee-time planner. Our estimate |
| Travel insurance | 6% of your plan | Squaremouth says a comprehensive plan averages about 6% of the trip cost, usually 4% to 10%. Source |
| Pre-trip shopping | $60 for the trip | Our estimate for travel-size toiletries, sunscreen and small things bought before a trip. Our estimate |
| Pet boarding or sitter | $50 a day, if you check Pets | Dogster puts regular kennel boarding at about $35 to $85 a night. Overnight sitters at home cost more. Source |
For 4 golfers spending 4 nights in peak spring season, with four rounds each, a rental home, flights and food, plan on about $7,510. Once you add golf bag fees, lodging taxes, rental car, drinks on the course, balls, tips and side bets, it's closer to $10,340, or about $2,580 each. Use the tee-time planner above to price the courses you want.
Winter, from December to February, has the lowest rates, and every course stays open all year, though Bermuda fairways go brown and dormant. Late fall is good value too: in early November Tiger's Eye had online deals from about $63. Spring, from March to May, costs the most. Source
Only with a temporary club membership, which many Bald Head Island rental homes include, or as a member's guest. The island is reached by ferry from Southport, so plan it as a separate stay rather than a day trip. Source
Wilmington (ILM) is about an hour from Ocean Isle Beach and 20 minutes from Leland and Magnolia Greens. Myrtle Beach (MYR) is closer to Sunset Beach and Calabash, at about 40 minutes, and often has more flights. Either way you need a car.
Yes, at most courses: a collared shirt and no denim. Crow Creek asks for collared shirts and Bermuda-length shorts, and Carolina National says no denim. Walking is not allowed at Carolina National or Magnolia Greens, so a cart is part of the round. Source