Sunset Beach, NC
8840 Thistle Rd NW, Sunset Beach, NC 28468
About this course
Thistle Golf Club is a public facility in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, near the South Carolina border along the Grand Strand golf corridor. Its clubhouse is built in a Scottish style meant to evoke a club that grew gradually over more than a century, and the grounds include a nature preserve with wetlands and wildflower areas.
The club offers 27 holes across three nines, Cameron, MacKay, and Stewart, each designed by architect Tim Cate and rated separately at par 35 or 36. The combination allows golfers to mix and match nines for an 18-hole round with varied character across the property.
Thistle operates as a public course open to all players, with a pro shop, pub, and event spaces used for outings and gatherings. Tee times can be booked online, and hours shift seasonally between summer and winter schedules.
Type
Parkland
Region
Southeast
Holes
27
Par
72
Yardage
7,100
LooperScore
77.6
Your score
Pro
Pro scores every course against your own game and taste. See BogeyMap Pro
Design & architects
- Tim Cate, architect
Golfer reviews
No published golfer reviews yet. Nothing here is scraped or invented, reviews come from signed-in golfers and are screened before publication.
Golf trails
BogeyMap Pro keeps your want-to-play list and tracks what you've played.
Nearby courses
Courses within 150 miles of Thistle Golf Club, by true distance.
Sea Trail Golf Resort (Byrd Course)
Sunset Beach, NC · 0.8 mi away
The Byrd Course at Sea Trail Golf Resort in Sunset Beach was designed by Willard Byrd and opened in 1990. It now plays par 72 at 6,649 yards. The course closed in May 2024 for a five-month renovation led by Tim Cate, which brought new TifEagle greens, rebuilt Better Billy Bunkers, new waste bunkers, drainage work, tree clearing, new cart paths and replaced bridges. The layout mixes tree-lined holes with more open stretches beside small lakes, so accuracy off the tee matters on the wooded holes. It shares the Jones Byrd Clubhouse with the Jones Course and is open to the public and resort guests.
Last verified 2026-09-29
Sea Trail Golf Resort (Jones Course)
Sunset Beach, NC · 0.9 mi away
The Jones Course at Sea Trail Golf Resort in Sunset Beach is a Rees Jones design that opened in spring 1990. It plays par 72 at 6,717 yards from the back tees. The layout follows the typical Jones pattern of wide fairways framed by large mounds, with water in play on 11 holes and a mix of pot bunkers and big sand areas around the greens. It is one of three 18-hole courses at the resort, just over the state line from the Myrtle Beach area, and shares the Jones Byrd Clubhouse with the Byrd Course. Tee times are open to the public and to resort guests.
Last verified 2026-09-29
Oyster Bay Golf Links
Sunset Beach, NC · 0.9 mi away
Oyster Bay Golf Links is a public course in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, just across the state line from Myrtle Beach. It was the first course built in that part of Brunswick County and opened in 1983, designed by Dan Maples as his first course as lead architect. The layout stretches to 6,685 yards from the back tees and moves through a maritime forest and the marshes bordering the Calabash River, including two island-green par 3s on the 15th and 17th holes, with the 17th ringed by oyster shells. The course is open daily to public play and is commonly booked through Myrtle Beach area golf package operators.
If you liked Thistle Golf Club
Pro finds courses like this one and tells you why — same architect, same setting, same character. See BogeyMap Pro