Vegan702
New member
I just got back from 10 days in the Myrtle Beach area golfing. We played 13 rounds over 8 days throughout Myrtle and across the stateline in NC. We stayed the first 2 days in N Myrtle until the rest of the group joined us for the last 8 days at Brunswick Plantation in Calabash, NC. http://www.brunswickplantation.com/
I won't go into too much detail about each course and will post a link if you want further information. I went with a group of 19 guys who do this golf vacation every year for the last 15-20 years. Due to the age of the group most of the original golfers are no longer part of it, so they are bringing in new guys to keep it going. I think this year, half of us were new guys.
3 of us went 2 days early and played 2 rounds
1st round was at Man-O-War http://www.manowarmyrtlebeach.com/
Course was in great condition, greens ran relatively fast, pace of play was a little slow. Nice layout with a couple island greens, lots of water on the course.
2nd round was at The Witch http://www.thewitchmyrtlebeach.com/
I actually don't remember much about this course. I think the greens were slow, but no other issues with the course. There was a hole where there was a gator that was probably 10ft long minimum sitting across the bank and you can tell that was his pond. We lasered him at 77yds and he still looked huge and could see that was his normal spot on the bank as it was littered with golf balls with people trying to hit him. There were probably over 100 small gators along the banks that couldn't be very old as they were at most 2ft long.
First official round of the group
3rd round was Rivers Edge http://www.riversedgemyrtlebeach.com/
This course has a great layout, unfortunately it is not in very good condition when compared to the other courses I played while there. Greens were sketchy, sand fleas wouldn't stop biting you, fairways were ok. Some of the holes were really nice, #9, #17 and #18 are some great holes.
Our 4,5,6 and 7th rounds were at the Big Cats Golf Courses, http://www.bigcatsgolf.com/
All 4 courses have good layouts, there is a 5th course that is undergoing renovation, Jaguars Lair we didn't play. Greens were good and quick on 3 of the courses, I believe Panthers Run was the course with the slow greens. Overall though I would play all 4 courses again, and I believe the slow greens on the one course was weather/maintenance related or something, as the other 3 were fantastic. The group has played these courses for the last couple years and can't ever remember there being issues with the greens, so I assume it was an isolated incident this year.
8th round was Heather Glen http://www.glensgolfgroup.com/myrtle-beach-golf-courses/heather-glen/
This course was in nice shape, greens rolled good. We played this course fairly quick as it was our 2nd round of the day and rain was coming. I think we went through as 3 some lead group in under 3 hours. Course was a little soft as it had rained overnight quite a bit. Good layout though.
9th round was Glen Dornoch http://www.glensgolfgroup.com/myrtle-beach-golf-courses/glen-dornoch/
This was my favorite course of the 13 we played. The layout is fantastic! The last 3 holes are some of the best finishing holes I have ever played, 16 is a par 4 hitting downhill towards the bay that you have to layup on, leaving about 180-200yds into a crosswind that day that was right to left to a smallish green. 17 is a par 3 that was playing 165ish into the wind to a green that is cut into a small cliff. Very tough par hole. 18 is a par 4 that plays to a split fairway, go left to go for it at about 210-220 carry over the marsh into the wind to the fairway, go right to layup and have 200+ into the wind to the green. I look forward to playing this course again under better conditions, we reached the last 3 holes when the wind was blowing 20mph+ and made it very tough.
10th and 11th round was Sandpiper Golf Club http://www.sandpiperbaygolf.com/
We played 36 here that day, its 27 holes, so we played one of the nines twice. This was also a nice course, with new greens in the last 2 years. They rolled great, just a tad on the slow side, but they had rain the night before, so that was probably why. Some good holes that you can go for a par 5 in 2 if you can carry it over trees, if you miss, you are in the middle of the trees. 17th hole is a risk/reward par 4 depending on how much of the marsh you want to bite off, go safe and have 170+ to the green, go big and have 100 or less. I went big and had exactly a 100, but missed my 15ft birdie putt stopping short of the hole by an inch. Tough 18th green if you don't put it on the right level, middle of the green left it slopes away and you are chipping back up if you don't get your putt to the hole if it is located over there.
12th round was Crow Creek Golf Club http://www.crowcreekmyrtlebeach.com/
This was officially the last round of group. This course is fairly wide open with some water in play, greens rolled great and a good pace. It was a great course to end the trip on as it wasn't overly difficult, not much water, trees, etc in play.
After the last round at Crow Creek a few of us played the course were we were staying, Brunswick http://www.brunswickplantation.com/
It is pretty much a cow pasture compared to the other courses. Not much to say lol, horrible greens. there is a short par 4 on the Magnolia course though that is interesting. It is around 290 to the green if you cut the corner over some trees and a house that is currently being built next to the green. I hit my in play tee shot into the fairway and the teed up another ball to see if I could get there. Wind was left to right, hole is dog leg right, I carried it over the trees and it would have rolled up to around the green, but the black fabric fencing they are using for the construction stopped it short. Once the house is finished, I woudn't be able to do it, and I feel sorry for the home owners as that will be a popular shot people will take to mess around, so I see many balls in their backyard or stuck into the side of the house.
Overall I had a fantastic time and look forward to next years trip if I go. Next time I am going to try and play a couple top tier courses. We were going to ditch one round and drive to Pinehurst #2, but with severe weather forecasted for the day we were going to go, we decided not to, in addition to the $430 green fee. It would have been nice to play #2 two months before the US Open though, which was the only reason we thought about it.
edit- forgot to add in original post. Every course you had to pay for range balls. Not sure if this is a east coast thing, as there have been very few courses I've played that you had to pay for range balls if you were paying a greens fee. I find it to be cheap on their end, just add a couple bucks to the green fees and include a bag and charge for an extra bag or something. Not sure if it's just a local area thing, but only course I can think of locally in Vegas that I've played that charges for range balls is the muni course.
I won't go into too much detail about each course and will post a link if you want further information. I went with a group of 19 guys who do this golf vacation every year for the last 15-20 years. Due to the age of the group most of the original golfers are no longer part of it, so they are bringing in new guys to keep it going. I think this year, half of us were new guys.
3 of us went 2 days early and played 2 rounds
1st round was at Man-O-War http://www.manowarmyrtlebeach.com/
Course was in great condition, greens ran relatively fast, pace of play was a little slow. Nice layout with a couple island greens, lots of water on the course.
2nd round was at The Witch http://www.thewitchmyrtlebeach.com/
I actually don't remember much about this course. I think the greens were slow, but no other issues with the course. There was a hole where there was a gator that was probably 10ft long minimum sitting across the bank and you can tell that was his pond. We lasered him at 77yds and he still looked huge and could see that was his normal spot on the bank as it was littered with golf balls with people trying to hit him. There were probably over 100 small gators along the banks that couldn't be very old as they were at most 2ft long.
First official round of the group
3rd round was Rivers Edge http://www.riversedgemyrtlebeach.com/
This course has a great layout, unfortunately it is not in very good condition when compared to the other courses I played while there. Greens were sketchy, sand fleas wouldn't stop biting you, fairways were ok. Some of the holes were really nice, #9, #17 and #18 are some great holes.
Our 4,5,6 and 7th rounds were at the Big Cats Golf Courses, http://www.bigcatsgolf.com/
All 4 courses have good layouts, there is a 5th course that is undergoing renovation, Jaguars Lair we didn't play. Greens were good and quick on 3 of the courses, I believe Panthers Run was the course with the slow greens. Overall though I would play all 4 courses again, and I believe the slow greens on the one course was weather/maintenance related or something, as the other 3 were fantastic. The group has played these courses for the last couple years and can't ever remember there being issues with the greens, so I assume it was an isolated incident this year.
8th round was Heather Glen http://www.glensgolfgroup.com/myrtle-beach-golf-courses/heather-glen/
This course was in nice shape, greens rolled good. We played this course fairly quick as it was our 2nd round of the day and rain was coming. I think we went through as 3 some lead group in under 3 hours. Course was a little soft as it had rained overnight quite a bit. Good layout though.
9th round was Glen Dornoch http://www.glensgolfgroup.com/myrtle-beach-golf-courses/glen-dornoch/
This was my favorite course of the 13 we played. The layout is fantastic! The last 3 holes are some of the best finishing holes I have ever played, 16 is a par 4 hitting downhill towards the bay that you have to layup on, leaving about 180-200yds into a crosswind that day that was right to left to a smallish green. 17 is a par 3 that was playing 165ish into the wind to a green that is cut into a small cliff. Very tough par hole. 18 is a par 4 that plays to a split fairway, go left to go for it at about 210-220 carry over the marsh into the wind to the fairway, go right to layup and have 200+ into the wind to the green. I look forward to playing this course again under better conditions, we reached the last 3 holes when the wind was blowing 20mph+ and made it very tough.
10th and 11th round was Sandpiper Golf Club http://www.sandpiperbaygolf.com/
We played 36 here that day, its 27 holes, so we played one of the nines twice. This was also a nice course, with new greens in the last 2 years. They rolled great, just a tad on the slow side, but they had rain the night before, so that was probably why. Some good holes that you can go for a par 5 in 2 if you can carry it over trees, if you miss, you are in the middle of the trees. 17th hole is a risk/reward par 4 depending on how much of the marsh you want to bite off, go safe and have 170+ to the green, go big and have 100 or less. I went big and had exactly a 100, but missed my 15ft birdie putt stopping short of the hole by an inch. Tough 18th green if you don't put it on the right level, middle of the green left it slopes away and you are chipping back up if you don't get your putt to the hole if it is located over there.
12th round was Crow Creek Golf Club http://www.crowcreekmyrtlebeach.com/
This was officially the last round of group. This course is fairly wide open with some water in play, greens rolled great and a good pace. It was a great course to end the trip on as it wasn't overly difficult, not much water, trees, etc in play.
After the last round at Crow Creek a few of us played the course were we were staying, Brunswick http://www.brunswickplantation.com/
It is pretty much a cow pasture compared to the other courses. Not much to say lol, horrible greens. there is a short par 4 on the Magnolia course though that is interesting. It is around 290 to the green if you cut the corner over some trees and a house that is currently being built next to the green. I hit my in play tee shot into the fairway and the teed up another ball to see if I could get there. Wind was left to right, hole is dog leg right, I carried it over the trees and it would have rolled up to around the green, but the black fabric fencing they are using for the construction stopped it short. Once the house is finished, I woudn't be able to do it, and I feel sorry for the home owners as that will be a popular shot people will take to mess around, so I see many balls in their backyard or stuck into the side of the house.
Overall I had a fantastic time and look forward to next years trip if I go. Next time I am going to try and play a couple top tier courses. We were going to ditch one round and drive to Pinehurst #2, but with severe weather forecasted for the day we were going to go, we decided not to, in addition to the $430 green fee. It would have been nice to play #2 two months before the US Open though, which was the only reason we thought about it.
edit- forgot to add in original post. Every course you had to pay for range balls. Not sure if this is a east coast thing, as there have been very few courses I've played that you had to pay for range balls if you were paying a greens fee. I find it to be cheap on their end, just add a couple bucks to the green fees and include a bag and charge for an extra bag or something. Not sure if it's just a local area thing, but only course I can think of locally in Vegas that I've played that charges for range balls is the muni course.
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