Golf Addicts Blessed by the Golf gods

[ClubFoot]

Golf Addicts Blessed by the Golf gods


After going the through the cold of a Canadian February I am ready for sun and warmth and golf. Get together 4 people that get along, plan down to the basic details and book tee times in November for March. This a Canadian tradition for some of the golf addicts who would rather golf than lay on a beach down south or bask in a cold Canadian winter. We had decided to book the Legends package (5 rounds), the Masters Collection (5 rounds), topped up with some replays and add 2 rounds for a warmup with a target of 16 rounds in 8 days.

We rented a brand new premium Buick for our annual sojourn to the golf Mecca along the eastern seaboard, Myrtle Beach. We left Ottawa at 4:00 am on Thursday March 8 in –25 degree weather - destination Fayetteville, NC. Given our timing and after calculating both mileage and time to travel, we decided to go though the Capital beltway – 495 rather than around through Fredericksburg. This saved us about 35 miles and about 30 minutes since we beat the rush hour passing through the beltway around 3:00 pm.

As many of you know, part of the excitement of a March golf trip from Canada is watching the snow disappear and the green grass appear the further south you go. Not only are you excited by the fact you will be playing golf in warm weather, but to see green golf courses and not snow provides a rush to us golf addicts.

We had planned an overnight stop in Fayetteville, NC to play a 36 warm-up the next day before heading to Myrtle Beach in the evening where we planned to play 36 each day over the course of the next 7 days. We made it to Fayetteville, NC at 7:00 pm., checked into our hotel, had dinner and a few beers.

Friday – Cypress Lakes (am and pm)

Friday morning, we teed-off at 9:00 am at Cypress Lakes http://www.cypresslakesnc.com located just a few miles away from we stayed on Thursday night. Cypress Lakes is a hidden gem both in terms of quality of fairways and greens and price. Cypress Lakes prides itself for its fast, championship style greens reflecting the Penncross A-4 bent grass greens that play like a very smooth carpet. After all we played indoor golf in Ottawa during the winter but wanted to be challenged by fast but fair, real greens. And we were not disappointed in the course. And the topping on the cake was the first 18 cost $28 including cart with GPS while the second 18 cost $12. This is an outstanding course in terms of quality and price. We wished we could play it a month later when the rough was not dormant. We had mapped out a short cut to North Myrtle from Fayettevile rather than take 501. It took us about an hour and half which saved us about 45 minutes.

We checked into our condo, headed out for dinner, bought beer, coffee, etc and were in bed by 11:00 PM. Our routine for the next 7 days was to be out the door by 6:00 am, have breakfast along the way, and be at our schedule course about 45 minutes before tee-off. This gives time to check in, warm up with a bucket of balls and then spend some time on the putting greens to get a feel for the flat stick.

Saturday – The Heritage at Pawleys Island (am and pm)
Golf Digest (GD) ranks Heritage number 7 in the top 50 MB courses and ranked it among the "50 Best Public Courses in America"

This is one of the earliest of the “plantation style” golf courses in Myrtle. It was built on the site of the pre-Civil War True Blue and Midway rice plantations. The course was very challenging and visually pleasing. It featured wide, rolling fairways and large, undulating greens. The fast greens at Cypress Lakes prepared us for The Heritage but you had to choose your spot to land on the green for an uphill putt since a down hill putt seemed to provide you with the opportunity for a three or four putt as you would watch your ball roll and roll and roll past the hole. We enjoyed the course and were not disappointed as we played in 70 degrees weather. The gators came out to enjoy the sun as well. In fact the golf gods smile on the golf addicts as we enjoyed a week of wonderful golf weather averaging out at 75 degrees with blue skies and lots of sun. We played 36 at Heritage.

Sunday – Oyster Bay (am and pm)

GD rank 17 out of the top 50 MB courses. This is a beautiful course with cavernous bunkers, wickedly undulating greens and some long par 4's. In some areas of the golf course, you can see 4 to 5 feet of oyster shells beneath the ground surface. Some of the bunkers are so deep that you cannot see the person in the bunkers when stand 20 feet away. We all smiled as we played through our first 18. I can’t think of a local regional course that has similar characteristics to Oyster Bay. So for us it was a real pleasure and a real treat to play this course. Again we took out the replay…something about golf addicts not getting enough punishment or enjoyment. This was the first day of day light savings so we finished with sunny skies around 6:00 pm. We had dinner at a Chinese buffet, back to the condo for beers and the sports channel and to bed at 11:00.

We couldn’t pick up hockey down there at that time since basketball was in full swing leading to March madness. Made going to bed easy.


Monday – The Legends Heathland (am) and The Legends Moorland (pm)

Heathland - GD rank 21 of the top 50 MB courses. This is a links style course and very pleasing to the eye. In fact it was gorgeous. With the breeze coming off the ocean you either had to play a low punch shot or you had to make the calculation to include the wind factor into you decision making process or else you would get spanked by the course. The strategically placed bunkers and deep rough didn’t help matters either.

Moorland
GD rank 27 of the top 50 MB, GD rank 37 of the 50 toughest courses in North America.
This course is considered to be one of the strongest challenges on the East Coast. There are lots of waste areas and lots of extraordinary undulations both on the fairways and greens. This is definitely a "target golf” course. There are deep bunkers and lots of hidden challenges that you don’t see till you walk up to your ball. The course challenges your skills but it sure helps if you are lucky. For me this was the most enjoyable course since the WOW factor was right up there. And we manage to stay away from Hell’s Half acre on the 16^th. This course wins the prize for the most railroad ties on the course.

Went to a seafood spot for dinner and beer and after we went to Martins to buy golf stuff. Reached the condo at 10.

Tuesday – TPC – The only 5 star rated course in MB (am and pm)

This course is owned by the PGA but managed by the Legends group. This was the most challenging and difficult course we encountered this year. Water comes into play on 11 holes. The wetlands created formidable carries on several holes, although there are alternate routes to the greens for risk adverse players. There are more than 70 bunkers, most of them around the medium to large, undulating greens. Putting was a journey at the TPC and I must say a long journey.

But this is a course that hosted several senior PGA events and it was great to play a course where the pros had played. The clubhouse walls were lined with events winners including Tom Watson. And yes we did play 36 there even though some of us got spanked by the course. It was a memorable and very enjoyable day.

It was my turn to choose the dinner spot as we rotate amongst the 4 of us to choose. Crabby Mikes is one of my favorites in Myrtle and as always we were not disappointed.

Wednesday – River Club (am) rank 34 and Litchfield (pm) rank 48


At the River Club water is present on almost every hole and there are over 100 bunkers awaiting stray shots making it visually pleasing for players who enjoy the look of a course but it is stroke punishing for bangers who stray. Their signature hole is the par 5 18th, which is guarded by water and several strategically placed bunkers. Like most of the southern MB plantation courses it is steeped in history. I am always touched to read the memorial plaques demarcating the slave cemeteries located on the golf courses.

Litchfield is another of the plantation course located in that area. It is characterized by lots of Oak trees along the fairways and lots of water. We enjoyed playing both the River Club and Litchfield. We had played both of these courses the year before.

Thursday – MB National Kings North (am) rank 20 and West Course (pm) unranked

King’s North, a Palmer redesigned course, as always proves to be challenging, interesting and enjoyable to play. It features some dramatic and unique holes. Four of the 18 holes have been listed in the 100 greatest holes along the grand strand. The par-5, 6th hole, “The Gambler" which features an island fairway is one of our favorites. This year most of us made it to the green in 3 either by taking the island route (the gamble) or by going around. As always we found Kings North a real pleasure to play. Greens and fairways were in outstanding condition.

The West Course - last year, our 4^th talked us out of playing this course. This year we decided to go for it and we were not disappointed. Described as a classic Arnold Palmer design it seemed to be a natural extension of the Kings North. We loved it. With temperatures in the high 70’s and plenty of sun this was a perfect golf day some golf addicts from Ottawa.

After our golf, we took advantage of an invitation to a reception at the Murray Brothers Caddy Shack. Caddie Shack is one of our all time favorite golf comedy movies. The reception, dinner and the movie memorabilia was very enjoyable. We were back to the condo by 10 after another day of golf in paradise.

Friday – Willbrook Plantation (am and pm) rank 35


I am always awe struck to play Willbrook. To me its a near-perfect blend of difficulty, scenery, playability and southern history. Surrounded by oaks there is plenty of hanging moss that reminds me of the southern plantations of old. The course preserves the plantation history with areas marked off commemorating the difficult slave period of an earlier time. This course was also home to an earlier archeological dig.

Our day started with intermittent rain and a few holes with constant rain. The four of us knew to remain positive and simply play through the rain. We can control our swings and our attitudes but we can’t control the weather. By the 5 hole, the rain had stopped and it became warm. The greens were slower than we were used to but in excellent condition. I can’t remember the hole but I cleared a marshy area off of the tee only to land what appeared to be 10 feet from the water. As I approached where I thought my ball to be we spotted two gators in that exact area. That was enough for me to declare lost ball and drop in a reasonable place – far enough away from those gators.

Two of us did take replay while the other two decided to have lunch and a beer in the clubhouse. So we ended up with 15 or 16 rounds of golf in 8 days. And I admit, to me it seem like 8 glorious days of golf in the warmth of sun.

Memorable moments


Bill – holed sand shot from 25 feet out.
Mike – about a 360 yard drive since the ball hit a cart path giving a perfect bounce and 100 yards more. Also purchasing a Mizuno driving iron that gives him 200 plus from the fairway.
Andy – eagle. Andy, a couple of years ago, had a hole in one while in Myrtle.
Myself – birdie on a 200 yard par 3 using driver and putter


Play Again?

I would have no hesitation to play these courses again. However, given the variety of courses located in and around the golf Mecca , we want to play our way through the top 50 list. We are already talking about the Barefoot courses, Caledonia, Tidewater and True Blue for next year. But the golf season is just around the corner in Ottawa if we could only get rid of this snow.


Drive Home

We managed to miss the snowstorm that hit Pennsylvania and southern New York Stake on Friday evening. Our Saturday drive started at 4:00 am from Myrtle. We did see about a half a dozen cars on the side of the road that appeared to end up there due to the storm. We made it back in 16 and a half hours from door to door – Myrtle Beach to Ottawa. Did I mention that we returned to snow.

Recap

Perfect mid 70 degree sunny weather, great challenging golf courses, a great foursome that got along very well, good food and beer and great golf memories. The golf gods did smile on some golf addicts trying to escape from the Canadian winter.

[Colby]

Wow great courses, although I'm surprised you threw in Oyster Bay the second day when most of your other courses are in the south. It would have made a good exit day course, which I have done. The only courses I haven't played in your list is Cyprus Lakes and Heathland. I especially liked Heritage and Willbrook when I played them. Sounds like you had a great time.