Vintage Style: Ocean Forest Country Club in Myrtle Beach

Would it surprise you to learn that Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was once home to one of the grandest old style resort hotels on the United State’s East Coast?

The grand opening of the Ocean  Forest Hotel, located at 5900 Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,  was on February 21, 1930. Together with the Ocean Forest Country Club, the hotel was intended to serve as a playground for the East Coast elite that traveled frequently between New York and Miami.

The neo-Georgian structure was built 29 feet above sea level on a vast swath of undeveloped property. Some say the imposing ten story hotel, built on a high dune with its two five story wings resembled an elaborate wedding cake. Chandeliers of Czechoslovakian crystal, resplendent marble stairways and columns, and sprawling oriental rugs graced the interior.

The hotel always struggled financially, in a large part due to being built in the immediate years prior the stock market crash and the Great Depression. In what is still remembered as a sad day by Myrtle Beach long timers, the hotel closed in 1973 and was destroyed.

The fine colonial revival building rendered in the above 1940s postcard was originally the Ocean Forest Club House which would later become known as Pine Lakes Country Club.  The golf course, known as “The Granddaddy,”  was designed by Scotland native Robert White and is recognized as the oldest course in Myrtle Beach. In 1996 the clubhouse was named to The National Register of Historic Places.

In an interesting piece of trivia, Pine Lakes is also known as the birthplace of Sports Illustrated magazine. A large group executives from Time-Life, Inc. travelled to Myrtle Beach by train in 1954 to play Pine Lakes and to plan a weekly sports publication. A few weeks after the meeting the first Sports Illustrated appeared on newsstands.

Photo courtesy of Carmen Ash Photography

This structure has a happy ending compared to the Ocean Forest  Hotel: The course and clubhouse have recently been renovated to their original 1920s splendor. These days various memberships, as well as individual rounds of golf, are available to visitors to Myrtle Beach as part of a larger golfing package, through Myrtlewood Golf Club.

*Editor’s note: The postcards are from my personal collection. Yeah, I’m baring my soul here as a big nerd. They’re cheaper than emeralds. Photo courtesy of Carmen Ash Photography

Sources: Postcard History Series: Myrtle Beach and Conway in Vintage Postcards, Susan Hoffer McMillan, 2001, and scencyclopedia.org