Legends Golf Resort opened its fourth course on Friday, October 2, 2026, and it is nothing like the other three. The Piper is a nine hole par 3 course laid out over 12 acres behind the clubhouse, with holes that run from 54 to 120 yards, light poles on every hole and a full loop that takes about an hour. It is the only course at Legends built for the evening rather than the morning.

We pulled together everything the resort, the designer and the local press have said about it since the project was announced in June, plus what the people who have already walked it are saying. Here is what you need to know before you add it to a Legends golf trip.

What The Piper Actually Is The Basics

Legends has been a three course resort since the early 1990s: Heathland, Moorland and Parkland, with 54 championship holes and a 30 acre practice facility that already had a lighted grass range and a 50,000 square foot putting green. The Piper was built inside that practice ground, on the land behind and to the side of the clubhouse.

The name comes from the wandering pipers of Scottish folklore, musicians whose tunes were said to guide travelers, summon spirits or lead people astray. The bagpipe logo is on the flags, the tee markers, the range balls and the scorecard, and the resort has given every hole a name that reads like a line of a song. More on that below.

The Nine Holes, and Why Each One Has a Name The Course

Ken Baker built The Piper as a ground game course. Green entries are open, the surrounds are mounded and tightly mown, and the drama is meant to happen on the turf rather than in the air. There are bunkers cut into the mounding and plenty of places where a running shot or a putt from off the green is the smart play.

The course runs in three loops of three holes, each returning near the clubhouse and the food and drink stops, so a group can play three holes between dinner and drinks or all nine in an hour. Legends calls the hole names "The Piper's Verse," and each one is a line of a traditional Scottish verse:

The Red Phone Booth and Opening Week September 29 to October 2

The first thing you see on the first tee is a bright red British telephone box with THE PIPER lettered across the top. It has been on the Legends property since the 1990s, back when it was a working phone, and the resort pulled it out and repainted it as the starter's marker for the new course.

On Tuesday, September 29, Legends invited the Myrtle Beach golf community to a morning preview. A bagpiper in traditional Scottish dress played at the unveiling, and guests hit shots on the finished holes while the resort's team and the designer walked the grounds. The Myrtle Beach Sun News, WPDE and Play Golf Myrtle Beach all covered it, and the photographs in this post were taken that morning by Play Golf Myrtle Beach's David Williams.

Public play began on Friday, October 2. The resort has said that from opening day through the end of 2026 the course will host limited play for resort guests and the public, with the full set of amenities and evening programming rolling out ahead of the 2027 season. Rates and hours had not been published when this post went up, so check with your Golfmaster when you book.

Lights, Music, Food and the Back Patio After Dark

This is where The Piper separates itself from every other course on the Grand Strand. There are 23 light poles across the 12 acres, which means the course stays open after sunset, and each pole carries a speaker for music across the whole property. The plan includes a stage and function area for live bands, a patio bar and grill, Adirondack seating around the greens and a cigar bar, with multiple food and drink stops along the loops.

Two honest notes. First, the lights were in and working for opening, but the resort told local press in early September that speaker installation and the permanent food and drink outlets were still being finished, with the outlets expected by spring 2027. Second, the clubhouse already has Highlander's Double Eagle Tavern and the Ailsa Pub, a Golf Digest Top 50 19th hole, so drinks and food are not far away in the meantime. The elevated back patio of the clubhouse looks straight out over the course.

What Ken Baker Was Trying to Build The Designer

Ken Baker of Baker Golf Design has said the course was six years in the making. At the June announcement he described the idea behind it:

"With The Piper, we set out to create holes that are visually engaging and memorable, but also fit with the landscape and atmosphere that we're looking to highlight at the resort. That inspiration comes to life through the routing of the course, with a links feel and drama happening on the ground rather than in the air. Entries into the greens are open to encourage creativity and shotmaking."

At the September 29 preview he told the Sun News that the goal was to let people experience golf without the time commitment: "There's an opportunity to really engage people in a different way that's not regulation golf. I think there's a way for us to allow people to experience the game, and it doesn't take four or five hours to do that."

Larry Woodberry, director of operations at Legends, framed it as the resort's answer to what today's guests ask for: "The Piper reflects what our guests and today's golfers want, a social, playable golf experience where groups come together for friendly competition, music, food, drinks and a relaxed atmosphere." When the opening date was announced during World Amateur week in September, he added that the course "is exactly the experience that we set out to create for our guests and for the local community."

What the Golf Community Is Saying Reactions

The announcement in June was picked up by Golfweek, Golf Course Architecture and every local news station, and the opening drew another round of coverage from the Sun News and WPDE. The consistent thread in all of it is that Myrtle Beach, with more than 80 courses, had very little short course golf, and none of it attached to a resort of this size. Legends is calling The Piper the first standalone golf and entertainment amenity of its kind in the region, and the first step in a multi phase plan to expand the resort.

Golfers interviewed by the local stations were mostly talking about time and family:

• Michael Strganac, a Myrtle Beach resident, to WBTW: "For a lot of people, it's tough to get five hours to come out and play, so just come out and play for an hour or so. And I think my kids would enjoy playing a little less intense than a round of golf."
• Merle Hambleton, a local golfer, to WMBF: "I'm talking to all the locals here; everyone is pretty excited. They are going to have lights on them, music, and everything." She added that her granddaughter was excited too, because it gives her a way into the game.
• Joe Murphy, a Legends member, to WMBF: "Well, that's awesome. I've been to a couple of their evening events here; I didn't realize they would be having live music."

Our own take, having watched short courses open at destination resorts around the country: the ones that work are the ones you can see from the bar. The Piper is right behind the clubhouse patio, which is exactly where you want it.

How The Piper Fits a Legends Golf Trip Planning

Most of our groups play Legends as a stay and play: three nights in the villas, rounds at Heathland, Moorland and Parkland, with Oyster Bay and Heritage available in the same package, plus breakfast, lunch and two drinks per round and free range balls for resort guests. The Piper slots into that trip in a way nothing else at Legends does.

Photographs by David Williams for Play Golf Myrtle Beach, taken at The Piper preview on September 29, 2026, and published with the article "The Piper, Legends' New Par-3 Course, Now Open for Play" on October 2, 2026. Course facts come from Legends Golf Resort's announcements of June 9 and September 3, 2026, the resort's website, and reporting by the Myrtle Beach Sun News, WPDE, WBTW, WMBF, Golfweek, On The Green Magazine and Golf Course Architecture. The resort's June announcement listed the longest hole at 122 yards and its September and October materials at 120. We have used the later figure. Amenities, hours and rates are set by Legends Golf Resort and are confirmed in writing with your quote.