Fly Direct Toronto To Myrtle Beach
Porter Airlines began seasonal, direct-flight service from Toronto to Myrtle Beach, S.C. on February 17. Porter provides four weekly round trips through May 23 with flights scheduled on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. The first week of service features flights on Monday and Thursday. This is the second year Porter Airlines has offered seasonal service from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to Myrtle Beach International Airport. The four weekly flights double the amount offered last year.
Canadian golfers can look to Porter Airlines to provide affordable, direct access to Myrtle Beach (approx. 45 minutes from The Winds).
Connecting flights are available in Toronto for Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax. Reservations can be made immediately at FlyPorter.com or through travel agents, with one-way fares from Toronto starting at $179, plus fees and taxes.
Porter AirlinesPorter Airlines is Canada’s third-largest scheduled carrier, based at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. Porter is an Official 4 Star Airline® in the World Airline Star Rating® by Skytrax, committed to offering speed, convenience and service as part of a premium travel experience. A refined journey begins on the ground with comfortable airport lounges and service-oriented team members. The experience continues seamlessly in the air with spacious interiors and well-appointed crew.
Passengers enjoy complimentary services, including free in-flight wine, beer and premium snacks, all aboard modern aircraft.??The airline currently serves Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Moncton, Halifax, St. John’s, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, New York (Newark), Chicago (Midway), Boston (Logan), and has seasonal flights to Mt. Tremblant, Que. and Myrtle Beach, SC.
Join VIPorter frequent flyer program to earn a free flight after as few as five one-way trips. Visit www.flyporter.com or call (888) 619-8622 for more information.
The Winds Resort Golf Packages
Promote Your Page Too
Spirit To Launch Non-Stop Service
Non-Stop Service From 5 New Markets, Including Washington, DC
It just got a lot easier for residents of Washingon, DC, Pittsburgh, Charleston, WV, Montreal, Buffalo, Toronto and Niagara Falls to take a Coastal Carolina golf trip!
Spirit Airlines introduced the next phase of the ultra low cost carrier’s Grand Strand expansion as it announced non-stop service to five new cities from Myrtle Beach. Effective May 5, 2011, Spirit will begin seasonal service to the following new markets:
• Washington, DC Reagan National Airport – daily non-stop service to our Capital’s close-in airport.
• Plattsburgh, NY – four times per week.
Located in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York on the shores of Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh is centrally positioned near Albany, New York; Burlington, Vermont; and Montreal, Canada.
• Niagara Falls, NY (near Buffalo, New York and Toronto, Canada) – three times per week.
In addition to Niagara Falls being a tourist destination in itself, the Niagara Falls International Airport is also conveniently located near Buffalo, New York, and just across the border from Toronto, Canada.
• Latrobe, PA – four times per week.
Located in southwestern Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh.
• Charleston, WV – three times per week.
State Capital serving all of West Virginia.
To celebrate, Spirit is offering $9 introductory fares* (each way based on round trip purchase) available today and tomorrow only at www.spiritair.com.
Schedule for Spirit’s Myrtle Beach (MYR) – Washington, DC (DCA) seasonal service effective May 5, 2011:
Depart Arrive Flight # Stops Frequency
From Myrtle Beach to Washington, DC: 10:05 pm 11:30 pm 548 0 Daily
From Washington, DC to Myrtle Beach: 6:00 am 7:25 am 547 0 Daily
Schedule for Spirit’s Myrtle Beach (MYR) – Charleston, WV (CRW) seasonal service effective May 5, 2011:
Depart Arrive Flight # Stops Frequency
From Myrtle Beach to Charleston, WV: 6:15 pm 7:30 pm 278 0 Tue, Thur, Sun
From Charleston, WV to Myrtle Beach: 4:10 pm 5:25 pm 279 0 Tue, Thur, Sun
Schedule for Spirit’s Myrtle Beach (MYR) – Latrobe, PA (LBE) seasonal service effective May 5, 2011:
Depart Arrive Flight # Stops Frequency
From Myrtle Beach to Latrobe: 6:10 pm 7:30 pm 412 0 Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat
From Latrobe to Myrtle Beach: 4:20 pm 5:35 pm 415 0 Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat
Schedule for Spirit’s Myrtle Beach (MYR) – Plattsburgh, NY (PBG) seasonal service effective May 5, 2011:
Depart Arrive Flight # Stops Frequency
From Myrtle Beach to Plattsburgh: 3:50 pm 5:55 pm 820 0 Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat
From Plattsburgh to Myrtle Beach: 1:15 pm 3:20 pm 819 0 Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat
Schedule for Spirit’s Myrtle Beach (MYR) – Niagara Falls, NY (IAG) seasonal service effective May 5, 2011:
Depart Arrive Flight # Stops Frequency
From Myrtle Beach to Niagara Falls: 3:20 pm 5:05 pm 226 0 Tue, Thur, Sun
From Niagara Falls to Myrtle Beach: 1:00 pm 2:45 pm 289 0 Tue, Thur, Sun
$9 Introductory Fares* (each way based on round trip purchase):
One-Way Applicable date
Myrtle Beach – Washington, DC $9 5/10/11, 5/13/11, 5/17/11, 5/20/11, 6/8/11, 6/10/11, 6/15/11, 8/5/11, 8/9/11, 8/19/11
Washington, DC – Myrtle Beach $9 5/7/11, 5/9/11, 5/10/11, 5/18/11, 6/1/11, 6/7/11, 6/11/11, 8/2/11, 8/13/11, 8/16/11
Myrtle Beach – Charleston, WV $9 5/10/11, 5/12/11, 5/17/11, 5/19/11, 5/24/11, 6/7/11, 6/9/11, 8/9/11, 8/11/11, 8/16/11
Charleston, WV – Myrtle Beach $9 5/8/11, 5/10/11, 5/15/11, 5/17/11, 5/22/11, 5/24/11, 6/5/11, 6/7/11, 8/2/11, 8/7/11
Myrtle Beach – Latrobe $9 5/11/11, 5/13/11, 5/18/11, 5/20/11, 5/25/11, 5/27/11, 6/8/11, 6/10/11, 6/15/11, 6/17/11
Latrobe – Myrtle Beach $9 5/9/11, 5/11/11, 5/16/11, 5/18/11, 5/21/11, 6/6/11, 6/8/11, 6/11/11, 6/13/11, 6/15/11
Myrtle Beach – Plattsburgh $9 5/11/11, 5/13/11, 5/18/11, 5/27/11, 6/1/11, 6/3/11, 6/8/11, 6/10/11, 6/15/11, 6/17/11
Plattsburgh – Myrtle Beach $9 5/9/11, 5/10/11, 5/11/11, 5/17/11, 5/18/11, 5/21/11, 6/7/11, 6/8/11, 6/14/11, 6/15/11
Myrtle Beach – Niagara Falls $9 5/10/11, 5/12/11, 5/17/11, 5/19/11, 5/24/11, 5/26/11, 6/7/11, 6/9/11, 6/14/11, 6/16/11
Niagara Falls – Myrtle Beach $9 5/5/11, 5/10/11, 5/12/11, 5/17/10, 5/19/10, 5/22/11, 5/24/11, 6/7/10, 6/9/11, 6/5/11
About Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines (www.spiritair.com) is the largest Ultra Low Cost Carrier (ULCC) in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. As the unbundling leader in the industry, Spirit allows consumers the option of paying only for the features they value without subsidizing the choices of others. Its all-Airbus fleet flies more than 150 daily flights to 40 destinations. The company is based in South Florida.
The Winds Resort Golf Packages
Promote Your Page Too
Willard Byrd Course at Sea Trail
Sea Trail Golf Resort is home to layouts designed by the Open Doctor, Rees Jones, Dan Maples, who has designed more Myrtle Beach golf courses than any other architect, and Willard Byrd, who completed the trio with the opening of his course in 1990.
On the name recognition index, Byrd doesn’t enjoy the cache of his Sea Trail compatriots, but his work at the Sunset Beach, N.C., facility might be the best of the bunch. The Willard Byrd Course at Sea Trail has an ideal combination of playability, challenge and value that appeals golfers.
The Byrd course isn’t particularly long, playing 6,750 yards from the blue tees and 6,251 yards from the white tees (where most of us play), so long, forced carries and the need for a space-age driver are minimized.
Byrd created a layout that allows golfers ample opportunity to hit the driver, but doesn’t make length a prerequisite for success. The course, which has seven doglegs of varying severity, rewards shot-making and creativity, challenging players to hit a variety of shots.
Those challenges are what make the course appealing to low-handicappers despite the relative lack of length.
“Byrd is more demanding on the good golfer,” head pro Eddie Pratt said. “That’s why they like to play it.”
Mid to high handicappers are fond of Byrd because it isn’t overly penal from the white tees. Regardless of your handicap, Byrd rewards players that pay attention to where they are hitting the ball. Playing to the proper side of the dogleg and awareness of hazards are vital success.
“It’s more of a shot-makers course,” Pratt said. “It’s not a course where you hit it, find it and hit again.”
The Byrd Course is home to several large man-made lakes – the biggest is 20 acres – but the water isn’t an overbearing threat. The course’s fairways are plenty wide, giving players ample room to find the short grass.
The key to success lies in a player’s ability to execute with short irons. There aren’t many long approaches, but the greens are well guarded, most of them surrounded by sand. If you miss a green, you will likely be chipping out of or over a bunker.
If the threat of missing the green weren’t enough, hitting it hardly ensures success. The Byrd Course’s greens are often large and multi-tiered, so hitting the right part of the green is vital to scoring well.
One thing players don’t have to worry about is the condition of the greens. Sea Trail installed new Champions Bermuda on the greens as part of a two-year project, and the results have been well received.
The par 3, seventh hole on the Byrd Course is head pro Eddie Pratt’s favorite hole.
Par 3s
The par 3s are Byrd’s strongest collection of holes. The seventh, a 190-yarder, is Pratt’s favorite hole on the course and the 186-yard 12th isn’t far behind. Both holes require relatively long tee shots over sand and require a sturdy commitment to your club selection. They encapsulate what’s so enjoyable about the Byrd Course – a good score is very much within reach but It must be earned.
The 174-yard second hole requires a carry across one of the (alligator filled) man-made lakes to another three-tiered green. The 16th is the longest par 3 from the blue tees, playing 202 yards, but the shortest from the white tees (155 yards). With no water and healthy size green, it’s the easiest hole on the back nine, according to the scorecard.
Par 4s
Byrd’s par 4s speak to its reputation as a player friendly course. While the par 4s feature several doglegs, not one of them plays longer than the 392-yard fifth hole from the white tees. Setting the fifth hole aside, there isn’t another par 4 that stretches to 380 yards from the white tees. With even minimal distance off tee, players will have manageable approaches.
A prime example is the fourth hole (407 blue/378 white), which features an almost 90-degree dogleg left. A 225-yard drive from the white tees will leave players well positioned, but a waste bunker runs along the left side and mounds on the right complicate any mistake in that direction.
The aforementioned fifth hole is the course’s hardest. In addition to being long and straight, the hole has subtle elevation change.
“On the tee box it looks flat but there is a steady incline,” says Pratt. “You are always hitting one or two more clubs than you expected on your second shot.
The most difficult hole on the back nine, according to the scorecard, is the 400-yard, 10th hole, a dogleg right with sand on both sides of the fairway, and a relatively small green.
The final two-shotter is the 382-yard 17th hole. Long hitters can bomb away but a lake runs up the entire left side of the fairway and mounding on the right can punish a slice. The 17th green is classic Byrd; it’s large – 39 yards deep – but surrounded by four bunkers.
The third hole is a 525-yard par 5.
Par 5s
The par 5s on the Byrd Course offer players a couple chances to pick up strokes.
The third hole (535 blue/468 white) is relatively short but it has a severe dogleg right. A large waste bunker and a tree on the right side make cutting the corner difficult. Play this one by the book and be content to reach the green in regulation. The ninth hole isn’t complicated. It’s long and straight. If you can get home it two from the 542 yards on the blue tees (or 517 from the whites) more power to you. Most of us can’t.
Opportunity potentially beckons on the 13th hole (528 blue/493 white), but there is a significant risk-reward component. The hole is straight but each side of the fairway sports a large bunker and one of the course’s lakes runs in front of the green. Long hitters can go for the green in two, but you better be certain you can get there. Any ball that is short will be wet.
The 18th is regarded by many as Byrd’s easiest hole. It’s short (468 blue/442 white) and not overly tight, giving many players the opportunity to go for the green in two, assuming your drive is in the fairway.
The Verdict: The Byrd Course at Sea Trail doesn’t receive the accolades of its Grand Strand brethren (including the on-site Jones Course), but it’s a good layout with good conditions. There isn’t much housing, and players have the opportunity to score if they play well. If you are a low handicapper, play from the blue tees and enjoy the challenge.
In short, if the Byrd Course offers value and challenge, a combination everyone seeks on a Myrtle Beach golf trip.
The Winds Resort Golf Packages
Promote Your Page Too
Course Review: Meadowlands
Course Review: A Quality Round Awaits at Meadowlands Golf Club
Meadowlands offers people great conditions, value, customer service and consistency of experience, all qualities that people seek in a course.
The parkland layout places an emphasis on playability. There are no blind shots from the middle of the fairway, no elephants buried under the greens, or long forced carries. Meadowlands isn’t a pushover, but it rewards good shots and doesn’t unnecessarily penalize mid to high-handicappers.
A prime example, several years Meadowlands removed 11 bunkers. The bunkers never came into play for low handicap players, but were positioned to gobble up balls hit by golfers who need the most help. The idea wasn’t to ease the challenge but to make sure high handicappers didn’t consistently have to face an additional set of hazards.
“We try to work on making the course as playable as possible,” head pro Mac Hood said. “It’s our job to make the game fun.”
Meadowlands succeeds in making the game enjoyable. The course measures just over 7,000 yards from the tips, but it has four set of tees between 5,041 and 6,591 yards, giving men and women an opportunity to score.
Most men play the heron (6,591 yards) or egret (6,080 yards) tees, and Meadowlands has generous landing areas and large greens. Players don’t have to split the middle of the fairway to have a reasonable approach, but don’t swing wildly as water is in view on 17 of 18 holes.
Meadowlands also has a pair of women’s tees (cardinal – 5,041 yards and hummingbird – 5,512 yards) and has been ranked among the Top 100 Women-Friendly Courses in America. Throw in a newly added set of “family” tees that are typically about 200 yards from the hole, and the course offers a good time for everyone.
While many layouts allow players to ease into the round, architect Willard Byrd challenges players from the opening tee. The first three holes at Meadowlands are demanding par 4s, capped by No. 3, a 480-yard whopper that requires a pair of carries over water.
Even from the heron (455 yards) and egret (408 yards) tees it’s a long hole and the approach over water is a demanding one, though Byrd left bailout room. It’s unquestionably the toughest hole on the course.
Meadowlands relents after the opening holes. The fifth is a short par 5 (484 yards from the tips), and the remaining par 4s offer birdie chances, particularly the seventh and 17th holes, both relatively short.
If you need to pick up a stroke down the stretch, the par 3, 15th hole is the place. The hole is 160 yards from the tips and the green is large and relatively flat. Take dead aim off the tee and on the green.
After your round, Meadowlands features a clubhouse that pays homage to the area’s historic roots in the farming industry. A rough, wood exterior welcomes players into a clubhouse that features a homey feel and it has an expansive back porch overlooking the course and water. It’s a great way to cap a round.
The Verdict: If Meadowlands is on your itinerary, it’s typically an indicator your group leader has done a good job. Players will find a good course, conditions, customer service and value. It’s a recipe for happy golfers and Meadowlands has been serving it for 13 years, much to the delight of players that do their homework.
The Winds Resort Golf Packages
Promote Your Page Too
Sea Trail Golf School
The Sea Trail Golf School has been running golf improvement programs at Sea Trail for over 10 years. Their stay, play and improve packages include accommodations, lunch each day, golf on our 3 courses, and daily instruction including 9 hole playing lessons with your instructor.
They offer 2-Day, 3-Day, and 5-Day Full Packages as well as commuter packages year round. Their classes are small, they only offer 1-to-1 or 2-to-1 teacher/student ratio programs. This individual attention guarantees you the most improvement while you are here. Their instructors are with you on the range each morning and help you take it to the course with our afternoon playing lessons.
Golf School Packages
Their full time teaching staff keeps it simple, they work with what you have (no major swing surgery), just basic fundamentals that improve ball flight and overall consistency.
They cover all aspects of the game and welcome all levels of golfers. They also can customize our classes to work on those specific areas that you’re having trouble with.
The pricing schedule of their programs is based on season, as the accommodation and golf round rates change.
Click here to email The Sea Trail Golf School or call:888-321-9048 ext: 1367
The Winds Resort Golf Packages
Promote Your Page Too
The Big Putt – Practice Tool
The Big Putt is 35% larger than a regulation golf ball, but has precisely the same feel as a tournament quality ball. Read more
