Myrtle Beach Golf Trip

[MaxEntropy]

Excuse the very long post. I thought about breaking all this up and putting the info in different threads, but doing it this way made more sense to me. I hope you agree.

 

Last week a friend and I made a trip to Myrtle Beach and played 108 holes in 4 days. Neither of us had ever made a trip like this so narrowing our choices down to 4 courses was a bit of a task. We settled on Grande Dunes, Wild Wing - Avocet, TPC Myrtle Beach, and Myrtle Beach National - King's North. Other than a trip to the range, neither of us had hit a golf ball since late last fall, so our expectations were pretty low and we played pretty “fast and loose” with the rules focusing more on having a great trip (we each played a mulligan per 9 and occasionally hit an additional ball as practice to try to figure out what went wrong with the first). Below are my thoughts on each course and a few general comments on the trip. For reference, we are both mid-teen handicaps.

 

Grande Dunes – We both liked the layout, fairways were pretty generous. Except for random really bad swings, keeping the ball in play wasn't terribly difficult. The course wasn't in the greatest condition (rough was dormant, fairways a bit sparse and patchy), and we were tempted to blame it on the time of year or perhaps a rough winter, until we saw the condition of the other courses. We played 36 here the first day. The first round was overcast with a few sprinkles. Rain rolled through while we were eating lunch and had stopped by the time we got back out. The second round was very damp, cold, and windy. We still had fun, but we stopped keeping score after around hole 5 to work on our games more. In general, the greens seemed to roll pretty true and were fairly quick given the damp/wet conditions. When we return, this course will likely not be in the rotation. It was nice, but there are a lot of other courses we want to check out. Due to the weather, we pretty much had the course to ourselves all day, which was very nice, since we were able to play as fast or as slow as we wanted.

 

Wild Wing - Avocet – We both really enjoyed this course and played 36 on the second day. We both played pretty well which likely added to our enjoyment. The layout was very enjoyable and I felt like I had to "think" my way around more than the first day, especially during the second round when the wind kicked up. Keeping the ball in play was, again, not too much trouble as long as we put a decent swing on the ball. The rough was dormant, but the fairways were in great shape. The greens were in pretty good shape, although there were a few bare patches which weren't terribly problematic. One thing that struck me, related to the course architecture thread, was it seemed pretty clear that a lot of earth was moved to create some of the green/bunker complexes, with some of them being almost unfair. Pace of play was very good in the morning, only OK in the afternoon. The starter saw we were a two-some and put us out first in front of three foursomes, which was greatly appreciated. The course wasn't very busy in the afternoon, but we ended up behind a fairly slow foursome that the ranger really should have pushed, but we were never really close enough to try to play through, so they didn't really slow us down that much. Highlight of the round for me was driving the green on a reachable par 4 (playing around 250 from our tee) and then promptly 3-putted for par. I also had a string of four straight pars and parred 8 of 9 in the middle of the second round. Unfortunately, the other 9 holes were ugly…very ugly. I would rate the likelihood of playing here again on the next trip pretty high, like 70-80%

 

TPC Myrtle Beach – I loved this course. My friend really enjoyed it, too, but I think he liked Wild Wing just a little better (I think some of it was because he played pretty poorly, which may have affected his perception). The course was in the best condition of any of the four we played. We were told a junior tournament was played there recently, so the course had been overseeded in preparation, resulting in rough that was lush and green, too. The greens were in great shape and were pretty quick (and difficult to read). There was more of a premium on accuracy off the tee here and I got pretty proficient at playing off the pine straw under and around trees. I would say this course is on the “definite” list for the next trip.

 

Myrtle Beach National – King's North – Another very nice course, in our minds. I didn't play that well, but it was still a beautiful course and quite a challenge. From the tees we played, this course seemed to take driver out of our hands a little more often that the other courses. My normal miss off the tee is to the right, occasionally missing slightly to the right of WAY right, but for some reason, I was also pulling/hooking a few balls off the tee. It was hard for me to hedge my bets on a miss when I had no clue where it was going or why. By the time I finally figured it out, we were nearly done. It made for a pretty long day for me. The rough was still dormant, but the fairways were in great shape. I loved the greens, but they were very difficult (to me) to read. The pace of play was really good considering how busy they were that day (it was the best weather day of our time there). This course may not be on the “definite” list for the next trip, but it is damn close and I would highly recommend it for anyone who has never played there.

 

Comments on Balls - I had bought a bunch of "near mint" NXT Tour S's off eBay back in February, planning that I would lose a lot of balls. Surprisingly, I didn't lose nearly as many as I anticipated. I really liked the balls. I was able to get a decent amount of spin (for me) on solid iron shots and even backed up a PW about 15 feet, with a little assistance from the slope of the green. I also gained a lot of confidence on hitting pretty firm chips, knowing the ball would have some bite. Distance off the tee was pretty good, although I was not able to make much direct comparison with another ball. According to GPS, my longest drive of the week was around 270. Average was in the 240-250 range, if I were to guess. As of right now, I would say they will stay in my bag as my normal gamer, pending the results of the Snell testing. I found a TP5 and played it for a few holes before I unceremoniously launched it into a lake. I was pretty impressed with it, but can't see myself laying out that kind of cash. If I ever get a more consistent swing, they might be of assistance to me, but until then, I will likely stick with mid-grade, medium cost balls.

 

General Comments – Here are some fairly random, disjointed thoughts. I hope they make sense.

 

I learned a lot about my game last week, particularly how to grind through swing issues. Knowing we had committed to playing a lot of golf, I had to work through the issues pretty quickly or drive myself insane. I'm pretty sure I learned more about my swing and what it feels like on bad and good swings then I have been able to recognize in the past.

 

I also learned that I need to be better about “taking my medicine” when I am in trouble. All too frequently, I tried to play the spectacular shot rather than the safe shot when I was in trouble. Occasionally it worked out, but more often than not, it caused me more pain.  I carded a whole lot more big numbers then my friend because he played smarter in those situations to minimize the carnage.

 

My short game was worse than normal on this trip. I think much of it had to do with the conditions of the rough – the lies were either very tight, bordering on sitting on dirt, or very fluffy on top of the dormant rough. I chipped pretty well at TPC, which had more normal rough conditions. I know very little about the effect of the bounce on my wedges, but I have a suspicion it may have been wrong for 3 of the 4 courses. I almost felt like I needed that stupid wedge that is on every other ad on the Golf Channel.

 

Our intention on the trip was to play 36 each day. After 2 days of it, it was pretty clear we were fried and keeping up that pace was not a good idea for a couple 50 year old guys. Strangely, it seemed we were more mentally fried than physically, as our bodies held up pretty well.

 

I'm unsure of what type of grass is used on the greens of these courses, but the breaks and speed were at times almost impossible for me to perceive. Many of the greens also had tiers or ridges that put a premium on hitting the right area of the green. Since accuracy with irons is not a strength for me, I had a lot of long putts with huge ridges to negotiate, resulting in more 3-putts than I would have liked. There were no 4-putts, although I did witness a couple.

 

One thing is clear to me - I have lost a fair amount of swing speed over the last couple years, presumably due to my age and/or physical condition. It probably does not help that my irons are old enough to legally buy a drink and the sweet spot is about the size of a pea. Once I accepted that I needed to grab 1 or 2 extra clubs and try be more relaxed, I suddenly started hitting irons quite a bit better. I had been unwilling to accept that fact and would grab a 7 iron from 160-165 and try to muscle it, rather than grabbing a 6 (or maybe even a 5) and swinging smooth. I need to get more active in the weight loss thread again....

 

One final thought that maybe one of you can provide some insight about – I have no idea what it says about my grip (too loose, too tight, cheap glove?) but I ended up with blisters on three fingers, mostly in the area of my overlap. My friend uses an overlap grip, too, but had no signs of blisters.

 

If you have made it this far, I applaud you . If you have any questions or comments, I would be happy to entertain them. I will be adding a few pictures when I get home.

 

[MGoBlue100]

Great read, thanks for doing the write up! I live W of Greenville, SC, so I know and have played a few of those courses. I'm disappointed Grande Dunes was so scruffy, that's usually a great track, and they price it accordingly. Hopefully you had a great time. The wedge comment made me laugh out loud!!

If you head back, let us know; I've got 20 great restaurant/bar recommendations!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[cksurfdude]

Yeah .. entertaining read, thx! Love the soul-searching course strategy/management comments .. stuff a lot of us (ie. Yours Truly) need to work on, too!

[Kenny B]

I've made two trips to Myrtle Beach to play and enjoyed them both.  All great courses; one trip was at the end of October and the weather was beautiful; the other trip was in August and it rained every day.  The only reason I went in August was it was my buddy's 50th birthday and he always wanted to go to Myrtle Beach.  Even though we never dried out, we had a lot of fun.  I can see why it's probably THE buddies trip destination!!  Great read... thanks.

[Golfspy_CG2]

Thanks for sharing what sounds like a great buddy trip. Great thoughts and write up. Loved the line about the age of your irons. Ha

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[MaxEntropy]

I finally had a chance last night to grab a couple pictures of each course.

 

Grande Dunes:

 

#11 - Pretty hole, but nothing terribly difficult.

 

#14 - Tough shot to get the right yardage. We both bailed to the left to make sure we were dry.

 

Wild Wing - Avocet:

 

#3 - Picture doesn't do the steepness of the bunker faces much justice. My friend hit his second to about where the picture ends in the bunker on the left. Borderline ridiculous stance and made a very good shot to get out of there the first try.

 

#5 - water is behind the green, too. There is a ball on the green. It was me and I missed the birdie putt.

 

TPC Myrtle Beach:

 

#1 - Course was in great condition

 

#5 - Another pretty par 3. Slightly downhill on a breezy day made club selection tricky.

 

* Gator sunning itself on the bank

 

Myrtle Beach National - King's North:

 

We were told it is possible to reach the bank near the green with a good tee shot. GPS showed it was around a 230 carry to do so. No one tried in our foursome

 

#6 - "The Gambler". Par 5. From our tees, it was around a 200 carry to the island, which leaves 150 - 170 second shot. 3 of the 4 of us landed safely, with me being the moron to sky the ball and end a few yards short of being dry..

 

#17 -Another nice par 3. Being long wasn't terribly fun.