From: mftjs@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (T. Jerry Scott)
Subject: Re: Looking for Myrtle Beach package deals
Organization: Educational Computing Network
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 12:03:57 GMT

Date:   December 15, 1992

Memo from:      Thomas J (Dr. J) Scott  mftjs@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu
Memo to:        Internet rec.sports.golf group
Subject:        Thanksgiving '92 and Winter '92 Myrtle Beach Golf Report

We are back from our Myrtle Beach '92 trip.  We played golf on
eight consecutive days, Nov 21 to Nov 28.  This note describes
our recent experiences in four ways: Weather, the Cast of
Characters in our group, the Courses we Played, and the Costs.
This note is intended for others who are contemplating a golf
vacation.

I.      Myrtle Beach Weather During the Winter Breaks

During our '92 visit, the temps were mostly in the 60's and 70's,
with one day having temps in the 50's.  Even though the rest of
the country had miserable weather this Thanksgiving, ours was
good, except for the rain.  It rained some most days, and we got
rained out for only one scheduled nine of golf.  During the other
7 days of golfing, we only played in about 15 minutes of rain.
The courses were wet from the rain, and all required "carts only"
and "cart driving only on the cart paths" play.  The day we only
got to play nine was also the day the temps were in the 50's, so
the rain made us cold and we quit after nine, even though the
course was still open for play and others were brave enough to
keep playing.

We have been to Myrtle four times before in the Winter.  We have
gone three times during Thanksgiving break and once from Dec 14
to Dec 20.  During the Thanksgiving times, we have been able to
play golf 3 out of 4 days (1980), 7 out of 7 days (1991), and 7.5
days out of 8 days (this year).  In 1991, we had two 8 AM tee
times, and the temps were about 42 when we teed up, and rose to
the 50's by noon.  In our 1990 December trip, we played 5 our of
the six days in 60-80 degree temps, and got rained out the last
day.

When you cannot play because of rain or cold, they either refund
your money or give you a rain check.  If your tee time gets
passed over because of the weather problems, you can usually hang
around to play later, but if the times are all stacked up later, you
basically lose your time and they refund your money.  The guys in
the pro shops will usually call other courses to try to  get you
on somewhere in that case.  All in all, they are quite good
at handling this type of problem.

We have learned several valuable lessons about when to play.
Most of the courses start golfers on both nines, with the
beginning time about 7:30 AM and the last time is about 9:30.
Then they play afternoon rounds.  Playing at Myrtle takes 4-5.5
hours per round, so during the winter it is hard to play 36
holes.  But 27 holes are  easily doable.  Thus, we try to get a
tee time as close to 9:30 as possible.  This time normally avoids
morning fog and other problems and also normally means the day is
warmer and the course more playable.  Starting at 9-9:30 AM also
still allows us to play 27 holes, which is the near maximum for
the shortened sun times of Thanksgiving and January.

II.      The Cast of Characters and Normal Golf Comments

You need at least a foursome; for if you have only a twosome,
they will build a foursome for you at various courses.  This is
normally no problem, but you might have to play with people you
don't enjoy playing with.  We have also decided that foursomes
are fine but things sometimes things get testy in a foursome
after more than a few days of continuous golfing with the same
foursome.

Our cast of characters this year included an eightsome. This
allowed for two foursomes and lots of different people and small
wager combinations.  This year, we all played with each other
player 3 times.  Our eightsome included included two who had low
(3 and 5) handicaps, three in the 10-14 handicap range, and three
in the 16-18 range.  The worst scores each day were typically
about 95, and the best scores were a 73 and a 74.  Each of the
16-18 handicappers had a good nine ranging from 40-42, and each
had a good score in the 85-88 range.  Thus, we had a nicely mixed
group of golfer capabilities and our courses were chosen to show
the firsttimers some of the better Myrtle courses, play easier
courses in the first few days, and provide a great mixture of
different types of golf courses.

Most of us play regularly in Illinois, and we play bent grass
greens exclusively.  Most of the Myrtle courses have Bermuda
greens in the summer and Rye in the fall.  Most of these greens
are much, much slower than we are used to.  The normal feeling
was that we needed sledgehammers to get 50 foot putts to the
hole.  The greens at most MB courses are huge, which means that
you have lots of putts in the 40-80 foot range.  On slow greens,
we all tended to either leave putts 7-14 feet short or hammer
them way past the cup.  Because each course has different speeds,
most of us did not ever feel comfortable with these longish
putts.

III.  Courses We Played This Year

This year, we played in order:  Myrtle Beach National West, The
Legends Heathland, Buck Creek, Jack Nick's Long Bay, Brick Landing,
The Legends Parkland, The Legends MoorLand, and finally, Heather Glen.
All of these courses require players to use carts.  Since golf is the
business, they make the extra money on the carts.  Cart fees at this
time of year are normally in the $13-$15 range.  The nice thing
this year was that carts really speeded up play and allowed us to
remain much less wet, especially in our shoes.

Notes on these eight courses:

1.      MB National West Course

We played here on a rainout ticket from 1990.  We would not play
there again, as this course is the worst of the three National
courses, and just was not in the shape we wanted.  We only had a
3-some that day, and they added a fourth to our game.  The course
had some good holes, but in general, was very routine and
un-inspiring to play.  Besides, the setup that day was rather
weird, with #18 being a par 3 that required a 190 yard carry over
water from the white tee.

2.      The Legends Heathland.

This is the easiest of the Legends courses, being a scottish open
course.  The day we played, the wind blew, and we got a
little rain on the 16th hole.  The greens were in the
transition from Bermuda to Rye and had some bare spots.
The course has some great holes on it and was in the top
10 new courses in the Nation in 90 when it opened.  We
will not play there again.  Legends courses do not offer
a replay at reduced rate.  Thus, to play nine more holes,
you spend an additional $25 dollars.

3.      Buck Creek.

This is a 27 hole layout, which was built in 90, and was
nominated for Best New Public Course in 90, but did not get the
honor.  Buck Creek has three nines, and the best two nines are
the Cypress and the Tupelo.  The third nine, the Meadow course,
is much easier, and not as pretty as the other two.

The Tupelo nine has 3 really pretty and challenging holes: the
5th, the 6h, and the 9th.  The 5th is a Z type par five with
water in several places and thick woods on both sides of the
fairway.  The 6th requires two carries over water, the first
being 210 and the second at the green.  The 9h requires two
carries over gorse, the drive going about 170 and the second
going about 150.   We all felt that the Tupelo nine was the best
nine at Buck Creek.

The Cyprus begins with four tough and scenic holes, each having
lots of water to deal with, but the next four holes are rather
bland.  The ninth is an excellent par five, with water all over.
Cyprus is an excellent and pretty nine holes; if the greens were
bent, this would be a world class nine.

The Meadows course only has three good holes.  It is
much more open than the other two, and has some poor holes,
especially #3 and 4.  It finishes with three difficult holes, the
long par five 7th, a great 175 yard par three eight (front tee),
and finally, a challenging #9, which requires a correctly placed
drive and then the second over really close water.

All in all, we enjoyed Buck Creek.  The condition from tee to
green was quite good, but the greens were even slower than
average.  Buck Creek allows a replay on the other nine for only
$8, which is a bargain.  All in all, we will go back to Buck
Creek again, as the people are nice there, and it is a good
starter course for a group who has not played much recently.
Also, getting to play 27 holes is nice for the early part of a
golf vacation.

4.      Long Bay - Jack Nicholas Course

This is a world class course with water, big waste bunkers, small
greens, and quite interesting and challenging to play.  Our best
round, the 73 was shot there. There are no easy holes on this
course.  The pictures all show the 10th hole, which is a marvel
of a small hole.  My favorites were the 2nd, 4th, 10th, 13th,
16th, and 18th.  The 13th is a really pretty 150 yard par 3 to an
island green that is built up about 5 feet.  Curiously, this hole
challenges everyone and three of my foursome hit it in the water
over the green.  Yet, this hole is the 18th handicap hole on the
course.  For many courses, this would be the signature hole.

The problem with Long Bay is the small, severely bunkered
greens.  Shots slightly off the mark often get more severely
penalized than poorly hit shots.  The bunkers are also so deep
that typically, when you are in a bunker, your head is below the
green. The waste bunkers are interesting and traverse several
holes. The local rule at Long Bay allows you to drive your golf
carts in the waste bunkers.

The signature hole at Long Bay, and the one shown in most Long
Bay posters, is #10, a 327 yard par 4 with a huge waste bunker
that makes an island out of the fairway.  With a 200 yard shot
perfectly placed in the middle of the narrow fairway, you have a
125 yard uphill second shot to a small, hugely mounded green that
is guarded on the front by a cavernous trap and the back by a
number of deep grass bunkers and the waste bunker.  Those going
over this green and into the waste bunker will be about 15 feet
below the green.

We really enjoyed this course and will play again next visit.  It
is a real pleasure to play a course where every hole is well
thought out and fun to play.  Each Long Bay hole offers a
different sort of challenge, and one could play Long Bay often
without tiring of its challenges. They allow a replay, for a $15
dollar fee. This course was in good shape, even despite the  wet
grounds.

5.      Brick Landing.

"The Brick" is a real target course with integral water on 17 of
the holes.  It is shorter than the other courses we played, but
has more hazards, especially for short drivers, but the back tee
course has a slope of 134 (we played the white tees).   "The
Brick" has lots of really interesting and challenging holes for
the average player, but only a few that challenge the low
handicapper.  The good holes are numbers 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11,
16, and 18.  The Brick is marred by two 90 yard, rather useless
par threes, although we only had 3 pars out of 8 players on #17.

My favorite hole was the 11th, which required a 170 yard carry
over the Marsh to get to the fairway, and then another 100-160
yard carry over water to get to the small green.  The Brick is
definitely a target course, so that those who can hit it 200
yards in the middle of the fairway do well and those who spray
the ball all over don't.  They allow a replay for $13.  In our
eightsome, 4 decided that they did not want to go back to the
Brick, but 2 really liked, it and 2 were non-commital.

6.      The Legends Parkland.

This course just opened in Oct 92, and it will be in the top 10
new public courses for 92, maybe even #1.  I have personally
played nearly 400 different golf courses, and this one is
absolutely the prettiest course I have ever seen.  It is an old
fashioned course, with tree lined fairways, deep Augusta National
like fairway and greenside bunkers, lots and lots of gorse, and
big, hugely undulating greens.   The architect, Tom Doak, tried
to replicate the features of the famous Pine Valley course in New
Jersey.

Parkland is a players course, with every hole looking like an oil
painting.  It has all the right challenges, par threes over
water, short par fours to severely trapped and undulating greens,
and par fives that might be reached by the big hitters.  But the
gorse is the thing at Parkland.  The gorse is so integrally woven
into the architecture that it makes its own challenges.  

For good players, the hazards are more illusion than fact, as
most of the bunkers were simply not in play.  The only strange
thing about Parkland is that the 18th hole is the #1 handicap
hole, and we all wondered why.  It was long at 460 yards, but the
hazards were just not as severe as several other holes.

I just cannot imagine a real golfer disliking this course; if a
golfer's spouse just went along for ride, they would also marvel
at the simply beautiful scenary.   From the tee, each hole looks
like an oil painting.  The hazards are beautifully framed, and as
soon as you play #2, you know that the course has lots in store
for you.  Also, there is a really nice sense of isolation on this
course, as you normally only see one hole.  This course was in
the best shape of all the courses we played, and it had only been
open for 6 weeks when we played it.  Everyone who played Parkland
thought it was a definite keeper course.

7.      The Legends Moorland.

This is a Pete Dye course, that the Legends owner told Pete to
"make as hard as the land will allow."  Pete salivates at such a
request, and certainly did not disappoint.  Moorland opened in
1991, and was rated the #3 new course in '91.

Moorland challenges you on every shot, with lots of railroad
ties, deep, deep bunkers, mounded greens with smallish landing
areas, slopes that go the wrong way, water just where you don't
want it to be, etc.  All the things Pete Dye is famous for are
included in Moorland.  For good players, Moorland is a must play,
and for those who watch golf on TV and see the pros get messed up
on the Pete Dye courses, such as Crooked Stick, the Ocean course,
various TPC courses, etc., you need to try this one.

My advice is to  play Moorland to avoid catastrophies.
Especially, avoid the bunkers on 11 and 18.  They are both
more than 15 feet below the green.  On 18, one of our players
made an 8 after hitting a good second shot into the bunker, and
would up shooting an 81 for the day.  That bunker ruined his
round.   Moorland is the kind of course where a missed shot can
result in a triple bogey or worse, but if you play for bogey,
things get easier.

We will play Moorland again, for the challenge.  It is rare to
play a course where every shot on every hole is a challenge; that
is definitely the case at Moorland.  If you normally shoot 85, a
95 might be good at Moorland.  For good players, breaking 80 is a
goal, and anything under 75 is something to write home about.

8.      Heather Glen

Finally, there is Heather Glen.  This is a 27 hole Scottish
course that was #1 new public course in 87.  It is a wonderful
course to play, with lots of beautiful holes, deep pot
bunkers, well sculpted mounds, water in the right places.  Even
for MB, this is a memorable course, as it is well sculpted, has
huge and unforgiving bunkers, as well as small pot bunkers that
you might have to play backwards to get out of.

Heather Glen has a bunch of memorable holes, but the scorecard is
a golfer's delight, written in a Scottish type brogue.  It
mentions things like the Spectacle, Clyde's Folly, sleepers, the
Wee Burn, etc.  The scorecard is so distinctive that we wrote our
"Heather Glen" type card for our home course after we got back.

Heather Glen was in good shape but the greens were the slowest of
all we played.  The greens has plenty of grass too. They held
well, etc.  It turned out that 4 of our 8 said that Heather Glen
was their favorite course.  We will play it again next year.

IV.    The Costs of our Trip

The main reason for going to Myrtle Beach is that us professors
don't have lots of cash to blow on our golf.  Our university has
a week off at Thanksgiving, so we have the great opportunity to
play golf when home is usually snowy and cold.  MB is a golfer's
delight in two ways: 1) there are now 91 courses there with 3
more coming in 93, and 100 expected by 95, and 2) the price is
unbelievable.

This year, we stayed at the Caribbean right on the water, and our
bill for the 7 days of golf, including greens fees, top course
surcharges, the best breakfast you could ever eat, cart fees, and
motel fees was $372.  This same package between Dec 1 and Jan 15
would cost about $260.

From Jan 3 to Jan 15, 1993, the fee for playing the best courses
at the Beach is $48 per day, including all we mentioned above.
This $48  fee is at the Breakers, also right on the Beach.  If
you only want to play the "average" courses at MB, the Breakers
fee is $135 for 5 days, again quite reasonable.  In fact, when
you consider all that you are getting, the $48 fee is a real
steal, as all the courses one would play on this special are
normally at least $50 for cart and green fee alone.  Tidewater is
normally in the $70-$100 range all by itself, and is included in
the Breakers package.

Conclusions

I hope you enjoy reading my long note about Myrtle Beach.  I
really enjoy the vacations there and have been there four times,
and plan a yearly sojourn there.  The courses get better and
better, and much more plentiful.

Having the "problem" of choosing which 3 to 7 courses you will
play out of the 90+ available can be a real challenge and really
fun for all golfers. As you might expect, plenty of commercial
information is available, and free for the asking.  Also, the
large hotels/motels have 800 number  reservation service and are
willing to work with a group to help them get what they want.

Of course, the hotels have pools, heated Jacuzi's etc.  For those
so inclined, there are also lots of bars, girly places, etc., as
would be expected from a town that until recently had had a
military base.  If you have not tried Myrtle, try it.

If you are a real golfer who longs to make that five footer, or
hit that 7 iron over water to a pretty green, you will really
enjoy Myrtle. We all did, and are all already planning for next
year's trip and which courses we will play.
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