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Things aren’t always the way they seem. Remember M. Night Shyamalan’s movie, The Sixth Sense, with its edge-of-your-seat surprise ending? (If you haven’t seen it, Bruce Willis reveals in the last minute that he wears a toupee.) Just kidding.
Of course, great movies aren’t the only things that utilize the old bait and switch. Consider Myrtle Beach, golf’s East Coast Mecca. For one thing, the one hundred-plus courses that you always hear about aren’t piled on top of each other; they stretch out over a 60-mile “Grand Strand,” making Myrtle a tale of two cities: the North and South. Then there’s the courses themselves. Some on the northern end, such as Lion’s Paw, sound ferocious, when in reality, they’re about as terrifying as a greeting-card kitten. An hour south, in Georgetown County (at the southern tip of the Strand), courses like Heritage and Tradition—two standouts on the Waccamaw Golf Trail—may sound gentlemanly enough, but let your guard down for a second, and you could get a serious whoopin’.
Southern Charm
Six standouts on the Waccamaw Golf Trail | | Heritage Club
(800) 882-5121
www.legendsgolf.com
Designer: Larry Young
Built over 600 acres on two former South Carolina plantations along the
Waccamaw River, the Heritage Club has long been a favorite of Grand
Strand golfers. | Litchfield Country Club
(800) 882-3198
www.mbngolf.com
Designer: Willard Byrd
Built in the early 1960s by Willard Byrd, this traditionally styled
layout is the flagship of Georgetown County’s great plantation courses.
The mature tree-lined fairways wind their way past giant oaks and
shimmering lakes of a former Carolina rice plantation, creating an
extraordinarily challenging “country club” experience.
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| River Club
(800) 882-3198
www.mbngolf.com
Designer: Tom Jackson
The semi-private River Club at Litchfield is one of the highest-rated
courses on the Grand Strand and features the only bent-grass greens in
the Pawleys Island area. Despite having generous landing areas, this
course is a stern test with water coming into play on almost every
hole, along with more than 100 bunkers awaiting the stray shot. | Tradition Club
(877) 599-0888
www.traditiongolfclub.com
Designer: Ron Garl
Located adjacent to the
Willbrook community in
Litchfield Beach, Tradition Golf Club is a championship course that
boasts the proud traditions of other great layouts that have stood the
test of time. |
| True Blue
(888) 483-6801
www.truebluegolf.com
Designer: Mike Strantz
Ranked among the top public courses in America, True Blue provides one
of the most visually dramatic layouts you’ll ever encounter, with vast
fairways, large, undulating greens and some surprising elevation
changes. The rolling terrain and native vegetation of this once
thriving indigo and rice plantation makes for one of the most
spectacular settings in golf. | Founders Club at Pawleys Island
(800) 833-6337
www.classicgolfgroup.com
Designer: Gene Hamm
The golf course formerly known as Sea Gull Golf Club is undergoing a $7
million makeover (not to mention a name change). Thomas Walker, former
lead designer for Gary Player Design, heads the design of the new
“Founders Club,” scheduled to open in September 2007. |
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