To steal from the great baseball philosopher Yogi Berra, golf is 90 percent mental, and the other half is physical. Unless your last name is Woods or Scheffler, we all battle mental demons and that can be doubly the case when you arrive at the tee facing a shot that could lead to disaster.
Myrtle Beach has nearly 90 golf courses, so the area is home to more than a few knee-knockers, but here are the area’s five most daunting tee shots (non-par-3 division).
● Any list of this nature is influenced by personal scar tissue, which means the sixth hole at Wild Wing Avocet makes the cut for me. The 406-yard (all distances
from white tees) par-4 features water on the left and woods/OB on the right. Because of the length, you need a well struck drive and approximately 220 yards from the tee you have a 50-yard window to land your ball. This is one of Myrtle Beach’s most difficult holes and the tee shot is a big reason why.
● The finish at Glen Dornoch is stunning, but the tee shot on No. 18 is as frightening as the Intracoastal Waterway views are pretty. You can leave driver in the bag on this 367-yard par-4, but your tee shot must carry native areas, and the waterway runs along the entire left side of the hole. In the prime landing area, this fairway is perilously narrow. Finding the short grass here is a major accomplishment.
● The sixth hole at King’s North, aka “The Gambler,” is one of Myrtle Beach’s most recognizable challenges. The alternate island fairway provides players a daunting decision: aim for the 45 yards of fairway surrounded by water in hopes of setting up an eagle putt, or play the hole conventionally? What makes No. 6 scary is that even played conventionally, the tee shot is a nervy one. The (regular) fairway runs toward the water and bunkers lining the right side need to be avoided, meaning your margin for error is thin. (Top photo)
● Waterloo, as the 13th hole at the Dunes Club is known, is Myrtle Beach’s most famous hole. The 90-degree, dogleg right, which plays around Lake Singleton,
doesn’t require a long tee shot, but the closer you are to the water, the better positioned you are. Matter of fact pulling the tee shot left isn’t that much better than hitting it into the water, which means players have to flirt with the alligator-filled lake and that introduces a lot of trepidation.
● We all like to start a round on a positive note, and that’s certainly possible at Willbrook, but the tee shot on the dogleg right first hole is terrifying. There is water on the left, trees on the right, and dreams of an opening hole double bogey dancing in your head when you step to the tee on the 400-yard par-4. Good luck.
Golf is as much mental as it is physical, and these five tee shots represent the moment in a round when confidence, strategy and nerves intersect. How you handle that witches’ brew will go a long way towards determining how you play.
