East at The Pearl Golf Links

The Pearl Golf Links East Course, designed by Dan Maples and opened in the mid-1990s, occupies a distinctive coastal setting in Calabash, North Carolina, part of the Grand Strand golf corridor that extends from Myrtle Beach into Brunswick County. Maples routed the course through natural wetlands and tidal marshes characteristic of the Carolina Lowcountry, incorporating oyster shell waste mounds—remnants of the site's history as an oyster processing area—into the landscape architecture. These elevated shell deposits create unusual topographical features for a coastal Carolina layout, providing both strategic interest and visual contrast against the surrounding marshland.

The routing takes advantage of the property's water features, with several holes playing along or across tidal creeks and marsh edges. Maples designed the course to emphasize strategic positioning over length, with generous landing areas balanced by approach shots that demand accuracy to greens protected by water, waste areas, and the property's natural elevation changes. The par threes make particular use of the marsh settings, requiring carries over wetlands to island or peninsula greens.

The Pearl complex, which includes the companion West Course also designed by Maples, operates as a public facility serving the Calabash area's substantial golf tourism market. The East Course has maintained a reputation as the more challenging of the two layouts, with its tighter corridors and more pronounced water hazards. The courses share practice facilities and a clubhouse that reflects the casual, accessible character typical of the region's daily-fee operations.