Southern Strand courses offer feel of Old South

By Gord Montgomery (iG)

Murrells Inlet, SC - There may be no finer way to end a golf trip than by playing lots of golf, so it was decided to play 54 holes within 36 hours to wrap up a wonderful journey to a golfing Mecca in the U.S.

For the final two days in Myrtle Beach, it was all about Lowcountry golf, with rounds at Heritage Club and Pawley's Plantation in one day and then wrapping things up at the wonderful Caledonia Golf & Fish Club the next. What made this easily doable was the proximity of the first two courses and the third not much of a drive either.

The first taste of this style of golf, which has a different feel than that in the northern part of the Myrtle Beach area showed the area to look and feel, like you'd imagine Southern golf feels. The homes are magnificent and the oak trees even more so, with huge wing spans that drape over the fairways. Those limbs are draped heavily in Spanish moss adding to the look. On to of all that, the continual sightings of alligators on the shores and waters throughout the courses drove home the fact you were someplace special.

The Heritage Club, the first 18 we tested in the Southern Strand area, is a great all-round deal for golfers. For a single, reasonable price you get your round of golf on a good course and are also treated to a buffet breakfast, lunch and two beer or pop.

The Heritage Club offers wide fairways, but also some big old Oak trees which can prove hazardous to well-struck shots.

The golf here is great with scenic holes at every turn, where back in the days of slavery this was home to a huge rice plantation. In the recent past, the greens have been revamped and are now  seeded with Champions Bermuda, a blend where the ball rolls quick and true. The protection for the greens comes from deep bunkers, which are plentiful.

Playing to a lengthy 6,600 yards off the back tees, and that's a even bigger number when the sea breezes come to life, this popular playpen also has boxes measuring 6,300, 5,700 and 5,200 meaning anyone and everyone can enjoy this taste of Southern golf, not to mention the great all-around deal.

Next up on the day's list of jobs-to-do was to take on Pawley's Plantation Golf & Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus signature course which combines the feel of both parkland and links styles of golf. This is one of the bigger tracks in the area, topping out at over 7,100  yards but playing to more modest numbers like 6,500 and 6,100 from the blue and white tees. The front two boxes clock in at 5,500 and 4,900 yards.

As the name suggests, Pawley's Island offers lot of water to navigate.

Since this is a resort course, like Heritage, the fairways here are quite generous and the greens large. Again though, there is lots of sand on Pawley's and with plenty of water as well, it becomes a course that's as much about strategy and shot placement as it is about hitting it big. After all, three of the four par 5s on this track are under 500 yards, but that doesn't take anything away from their difficulty.

As for Pawley’s short holes, one of the most intimidating holes here is the shortest. The 13th test is nothing but Lowcountry marsh, reeds, water and finally, a green which sits above all of that. Lengthwise, the hole tops the scales at a meagre 150 yards, and plays as short as 40 yards from the front tee, but as the course attendant noted, "It's the shortest par 5 that Jack ever designed," referring of course to the initial tee shot of many that find marsh instead of the putting green meaning hitting three off the tee with your do-over.

A second tough par-3 comes to life on 17, and this could easily be another signature hole. It is a bit longer than its adjacent little sister but considering the tee shot again has to cover that marshy area, it's no guaranteed birdie chance. And yes, “5” is again a real possibility here.

The final stop on our Myrtle Beach swing was a beautiful setting, and the home to another former rice plantation, the renowned Caledonia Golf & Fish Club. The facility offers a great short game practice area to get you sharpened up for what awaits you on a loop that features tighter fairways than many of the courses here, and greens that are deceptively fast and tough to read.

The hazards are many on these South Strand area courses, but if you leave the beasts alone they'll leave you alone. At least, that's the theory around here.

Even though this track lost over 200 trees to the major storms in this area last fall, you  can't tell that as the fairways are heavily bordered by massive oak trees. Given its age, this is a course that isn't overly long, playing to 6,100 yards off the blue tees but, it's said, you can safely add 200 yards to that total in the manner it plays.

This is a course where it is important you play the right tees - after all, it is such a good test that playing from too far back can become frustrating given the length of the par 4 holes in particular. Only one of those holes is under 350 yards and the three par-5s here are all well over 500 yards off the blue tees on this par-70 track.

This is a beautiful course with its trees and flowers that are nicely cut into a piece of property that while once home to rice fields is now home to a great piece of golf real estate.

Now, going 36 holes in a day and 54 in 36 hours isn't an easy thing in what can be a humid and warm climate, but trust me, it's fun. And given the number of alligator sightings our group had on the final few days, it was a fun way to wrap up a memorable trip to the great courses in this part of South Carolina.

Tidewater a tricky treat; Lots of Love at Barefoot

By Gord Montgomery (iG)

North Myrtle Beach, SC - When you travel you want to play the best courses you can, As it turned out, the courses in this part of the Grand Strand area got the best of me.

The Tidewater Golf Club is one of those unimposing setups that can catch you by surprise, especially if you underestimate its tough greens. While the fairways here are wide the greens themselves make up for that by providing a number of false fronts and subtle breaks.

There are a number of memorable holes here, including a couple of the par-3s and a pair of interesting short par-4s.

The best of the short holes has to be the 12th, known as the Wishing Well, where, if you hit your tee shot like I did into the wind, and at sea level, you wished you had played one more club. Or even two more.

Yes, there really is a green back there, although this tee shot on No. 12 at the Tidewater Golf Club is an imposing one but when you make par, or even a bogey, you can walk away with your head held high.

That tee shot has to carry the lowland marsh area on this 152 yard test and with the ball going into a long, but narrow green well protected by a phalanx of bunkers, this is anything but an easy hole.

As for an interesting par 4 hole, the one called Tar Kiln proves you don't need to be stretched out to well over 400 yards to be tough. In fact, with this one coming in at an even 300 yards off the white tees, it looks like a birdie hole from the get-go. That is, of course, if you get your ball on the green in regulation and don't land it in one of the big bunkers that front the putting surface, or worse yet, tug the shot to the left side of the green. There, the bunker sits about 30 feet below the green which calls for a huge swing - and a lot of luck - to land anywhere near the green, let alone close to the hole.

This is a courses set in amongst a housing development but with a difference - you know the homes are there but they are set well enough back from the fairways to let you swing away without (too much) fear of smacking one. However, interestingly enough, the homeowners are nice enough to let you retrieve your ball from their premises, if you can reach it without setting foot on their property (I didn't get to try this out firsthand, so I just have to believe what the starter told me).

This hole on the back nine is a short par 4, but again, accuracy off the tee and with your approach shot are key to success as all sorts of trouble awaits a wayward volley.

From the tips this course measures out at just over 7,000 yards, but since it's at sea level, the whites which were used on this day, with the wind up, played to a fairly tough 6,300 yards.

The only downside to this course, which would be a great one to walk, is that that idea is spoiled  by the huge distances between greens and tees. In fact, some of those cart rides from Point A ti B seemed so long you wondered what the fare in a taxi would have been and if it would have equalled the green fee paid to play on this day. Well, probably not, but you get the idea.

That aside, this track has received great acclaim by notable publications, including being the only course ever to be honoured as the Best New Course by both Golf Digest and Golf Magazine.

So I guess their raters weren't bothered by those lengthy and possibly expensive cab fares.

Lots of Love for Davis

As one of four courses in the Barefoot Resort area, the Davis Love III course is seen by many as the top track among the layouts also designed by Pete Dye, Greg Norman and Tom Fazio. In fact, the foursome was so popular this fourplex was named as the 2017 North American Golf Resort Of The Year.

The Love Course at Barefoot Resort is said to be the most popular of the four-course layout, and from the first tee box, it's easy to see why.

The Love track is yet another one with large, generous landing areas but you often find your approach shots are into several false-fronted greens that are said to have much in common with those found at Pinehurst #2.

One of the interesting things about this course, and the other three, are the grasses used. There is a mixture of Tif-sport Bermuda for the approach areas; the greens are a newly acquired Champion Ultra Dwarf and the rough is seeded with 419 Bermuda. Not sure what all that means but it seems to work as the Love course on this day was in immaculate condtion.

The Love namesake is more of a links-style layout than its brothers, with a number of waste areas scattered. While there isn't a lot of water it is there so you can't just whale away without caution. The greens, while large, don't have a lot of undulation to them so if you can hit your putts straight, which I seem to have trouble doing, you can score well here.

The Love Course offers up a glimpse of the past, with a reconstructed ruins of a Plantation home from the Deep South.

One of the most interesting holes on this 7,000 yard layout from the tips, or just over 6,000 off the whites, is the short par-5 13th. At only 484 yards from the back, and 447 off the whites, it would seem like easy birdie pickings. That though is belayed by the fact the fairway is split down the middle by water with the longer route being down the left side. Then, to top things off, the  green is elevated making for a great risk-reward hole.

And if you're unsure whether this is enough of a course to test  your game, just remember it hosted Golf Channel's Big Break, so that in itself should be enough to ensure you a challenge on this Davis Love III grand design.

Southern golf swing a chance to end winter's fast

By Gord Montgomery (iG)

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - Even though it's had a facelift and a name change, Pine Lakes GC is still a looker.

Originally known as Ocean Forest Hotel & CC, the first golf course in this area where more than 100 tracks line the area, Pine Lakes went under the surgeon's knife in the early 2000s to become a fun course where you don't necessarily have to hit it long. From the back deck it measures out at just over 6,600 yards, however that is countered somewhat by the fact it's at sea level.

Well, OK, the elevation is about 30 feet but in this game, what's 10 yards here and there?

The thing is, Pine Lakes may not be long but be warned, you do have to hit it straight. While this was a Scottish replica back in the day before it's design mulligan, it still has some Old World charm to it. One of the club pros described it as "A Scottish style tee to green course," which is about as good a character reference as you're going to get. 

This track, that was in outstanding condition for early March, opens with a nice little par-4 that is followed by a pretty par-3, letting you get your feet on the ground quickly with those two tests, especially if you haven't played the game for a few months.

The third hole is a long, challenging 426 yards from the middle tees and with a green guarded by water, it's one of those holes where if you put a big crooked number on your card, you feel fully justified. Immediately after that hole things smooth out again with a short, manageable par-4 and a mid-length par-5.

From the front porch at this course, those that don't have a lot of "Oomph!" in their swing will find it an enjoyable play. The total distance for all 18 holes, from tee to green, is 4,758 yards with no forced carries, as their teeing ground is often well removed from the tees further back

The fairways here offer plenty of landing space and the greens are smooth and they do hold fairway shots well. They aren't overly large in size or in breaks but the slight inclines on them can be well disguised meaning the odd putt, if you tend to rush and not take your time looking things over,  can come up a little light ... or way, way heavy!
One thing that should be mentioned here, especially for us Western Canadians that aren't used to sea level golf is to not just think about using that one extra club but actually pulling it out of the bag and swinging it, especially if the wind gets up.

The landing areas for tee shots at Pine Lakes are huge, making your opening round of a new season a wee bit easier.

What's really nice about Pine Lakes is the time it takes to play - we went out at 9 a.m. on a day where the tee sheet was full, and were off the course four hours later, a testament to how this course is designed in order to let it's guests enjoy a day of fun golf without too many of those big, crooked numbers sprayed onto their scorecard.

Although some of the original design elements from 1927 still exist the changes here were well done so it's likely original course designer Robert White would still be proud of this playground.

Thistle Golf Club

"If you think the clubhouse is nice wait until you see the golf course ... and I don't even golf!"

Those words from the restaurant waitress at Thistle Golf Club echoed time and again through my head as we toured this outstanding property in Sunset Beach, North Carolina.

Simply put, this 27-hole facility, about a half hour from North Myrtle Beach, is stunning in its beauty and its challenges. As it turns out, these tracks are named in honour of one of the original Scottish courses that was founded in 1815. The present day club sits just over 100 miles away from Charleston, SC, which is the site of the first mention of golf in America.

From the get-go on the Cameron and Stewart nines (we didn't get to the MacKay nine) this was a  continual test of hitting your target. If you tend to stray too far left, or right, you're going to need lots of ammunition to make it around thee nines as there is, it seems, water everywhere. And if it's not the wet stuff making life difficult for you out here there is also a tremendous amount of sand, and in particular waste bunkers, scattered about the premises.

The Thistle Club is a beauty from the word "go," but it certainly doesn't offer a player many breaks if their tee or approach shots are off-line on this great course. That's reflected here on Hole No. 2.

In fact, on the Stewart's No. 7 hole, a 397 yard par-4, the waste bunker is massive - so massive in fact, that the cart path runs down its length, starting just after the teeing grounds and ending up guarding the right side of the green. Add to that the thick vegetation down the left side of the fairway and this is one hole where you definitely need to stripe it.

On this day it was decided the white tees at 2,949 yards on the Cameron nine and 2900 on the Stewart were enough of a challenge, and that was proven true quickly, as the opening tee shot on Cameron found a fairway bunker.

And remember, these courses  are at sea level, although for some reason the ball seemed to fly a bit farther here than at Pine Lakes, so distances can be deceiving. By the end of the day this was indeed a wise choice because it was more about hitting your shot where you were aiming, not about slaying the beast with big drives.

But, if you are mor adventurous off the tee, these particular two nines stretch out to an imposing 3,300 and 3,400 yards from the back deck.

A good thing here is the fact there are five tee boxes, with the front end being a total of 4,000 yards. Even at that short range these two tracks are still an enjoyable play and the natural way these courses flow is a real plus.

As for the most scenic hole on this camera-friendly day trip, the second on the Cameron had to win that award. A shortish par-4, it demanded accuracy from start to finish. From the tee, water runs all the way down the right side and then across the front of the green. On top of that, OB down the entire left side adds to the drama of that opening salvo. This was most definitely a fun hole that looks as nice from behind the green looking towards the tee as it does from tee to green.

The 7th on the Stewart Nine pays homage to its Scottish ancestry with a huge waste bunker that interestingly enough, doubles as a cart path.

As the day wrapped up, in just over three hours for our twosome for 18 holes, the words from the waitress came floating back into my memory, because indeed, this is a course is one you'll remember, not only because the clubhouse which is done in traditional Scottish styling with stucco over limestone from the early 1899son the right side; the centre portion is finished with quarried stone used mainly in the mid-1800s and the left side of the building is red brick, a commonly used material towards the end of that century.

As for the course, well, it's beauty is beyond words. It's something you have to see for yourself to truly appreciate.