Since its 1988 opening, Willbrook Plantation has achieved a reputation as a premier golf course for women and is now widely recognized as a must-play for every golfer on the 11-course Waccamaw Golf Trail.

One of three courses—along with Litchfield Country Club and Pawleys Plantation—that comprise Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort, the Dan Maples design has been named one of Golf for Women Magazine’s Top 25 places to play in the country and is one of 22 courses featured in the Grand Strand’s award-winning Prime Times Signature Courses.

Golf Digest bestowed a 4½-star rating on the 6,722-yard (from the back tees) course, which prides itself on its playability—enhanced by five tees—and beautiful scenery.

Meandering through bucolic Lowcountry marshland on the site of two former rice plantations, Willbrook offers challenging golf along with memorable wildlife and wetlands. The distinctive flavor of the semi-private course is immediately apparent, as the first tee is next to a dike that once controlled the water levels of the rice plantations.

The 147-yard, par-3 sixth is a signature hole, bordered by water and capped by a pretty island green.

The 15th hole, a formidable 572-yard par-5, features a large oak protecting the left side of the fairway, potentially treacherous wetlands and sand traps fronting an elevated green. Water is visible for most of the round, but reviewers find it more of an aesthetic feature than a shot affecter, especially on the front nine. 

The course closes with the 535-yard, par-5 18th, surrounded by the live oaks that make as much of an impression on visitors as the golf.

Maples, whose has designed more than 30 courses in the U.S., Europe and Asia, has called Willbrook “one of my best.”

National television viewers have gotten the chance to judge for themselves, as the course has been featured on “Nature Scene” and the Golf Channel show “Road Trip Myrtle Beach.”