Meredith:
Welcome to the Gimme Golf Podcast, powered by Myrtlebeachgolftrips.com. This is episode number 43. Today we are going to talk about underrated Myrtle Beach golf courses. We're following up with a great article written by Chris King, one our local Myrtle Beach golf writers. And he picked three underrated courses. I thought they were great picks. We're going to talk about that. I also have my three picks, and joining us today is also Nate DeWitt. Nate, good to see you today, this beautiful morning.
Nate:
Good to see you too. Yeah, It's always beautiful in Myrtle Beach, right? I'm doing fantastic.
Meredith:
Good, good. Well, let's talk about some underrated golf courses here in Myrtle Beach. You know, we have done some really great episodes highlighting some of the best golf in Myrtle Beach, but oftentimes we forget the underdogs. Sometimes the underdogs are just as good as our more premium courses. I think it was great that Chris wrote that article because it really did highlight some great courses. Do you want to start out and talk a little bit about that?
Nate:
Yeah. It's like any of these golf courses on Chris's list and ones we're going to describe would be top courses anywhere else. It's just, it speaks to the quality of golf in Myrtle Beach, I believe. There's so many great places to play. Obviously, a lot of courses that get the fanfare are the Golfweek rankings. You've got Dunes Club, Caledonia, Kings North, Grande Dunes get the fanfare. Locals have discovered these golf courses, and I'm not going to say that people on vacation haven't discovered them as well. But some of these on Chris's list and ones we'll talk, about are staples to locals. Good price, great value, great service.
Nate:
What's cool about his title of his content piece, Low Profile, Big Deliverables Myrtle Beach's Three Most Underrated Golf Courses. Now to note, he is, in this particular piece, he is concentrating on Central Myrtle Beach golf courses. He and Ian Guerin, our other golf writer, also did a debate that you can scroll back on MyrtleBeachgolftrips.com. They did debate the underrated golf courses and they used the entire area.
Nate:
This particular content piece for Chris, he's talking about the Central Myrtle Beach golf courses. Of course, you and I, we talk about the south end a lot. I think my list, probably my three, I think are on the south end.
Meredith:
Okay. I actually, I just expanded. I picked one more on the north end, central and south. So I definitely have a variety. On Chris's picks, like you said, they're more centrally located golf courses. He picked Myrtlewood Golf Club, Wild Wing, particularly Avocet, and Burning Ridge.
Meredith:
So those are three courses you don't often hear about. Now, many people are familiar with Myrtlewood because Myrtlewood has been here for decades. It just... Everybody knows Myrtlewood. I mean, I grew up here. Even as a kid, before I was even a teenager, I played Myrtlewood. I think everybody's familiar with Myrtlewood. Maybe a lot of people are not familiar with he amazing renovations that Myrtlewood Golf Club has had. I mean, Myrtlewood is not the same Myrtlewood that it was 10 years ago. It was great then, but it's even better now with the renovations that we've had on the Palmetto in Pine Hills Courses. Myrtlewood is awesome. So-
Nate:
New greens and bunkers 2018, 2019 back to back years renovations. I'll take that a little step further. The Pine Hills course gets overshadowed by a Palmetto Course.
Nate:
I like playing the Pine Hills Course because to me, I mean, the conditions are... Both golf courses are generally, always great shape. But the Pine Hills, I can play it a little better. It's a little bit easier. It seems like it's probably a little shorter outlook in the square foot. I could be wrong about that. So you take those two courses. They are definitely underrated, but then I put Pine Hills even more underrated than Palmetto and it shouldn't be.
Meredith:
That's a really good point. That's true. I think sometimes the courses on the Intracoastal Waterway, they get so much attention because they're so beautiful. You're going to find those holes on the Palmetto. So sometimes, just those waterway holes can take away the attention of Pine Hills. You bring up a really good point. Both courses are great to play. That is one of courses where you can go and you spend the whole day. You get to play both of them.
Meredith:
I'm always throwing in this about the food at many of our courses. Especially, particularly our Founders Collection courses. They have wonderful chefs. You can have a really nice meal. I mean, they have a fantastic menu. I'm always telling people, you could actually go to the golf course and have lunch, and not even play golf, and expect to have a really good meal.
Meredith:
So you could definitely make a full day at Myrtlewood. While we're talking about this 36 hole facility, I know that we hadn't planned to bring in Myrtle Beach National, but while we're talking about it... Same thing with Myrtle Beach National. I mean, there you have three amazing courses. You could spend the whole day out there. Two days just at that location.
Meredith:
So you really have so many options here in Myrtle Beach. Now, moving on to Wild Wing. I'm so glad Chris brought this one up, because it is actually my second as well. The Avocet, course is amazing. Do you like playing the Avocet?
Nate:
I do. Of course, I remember when Wild Wing was a 72 hole complex... Woodstork, Hummingbird, Falcon, Avocet. It was like the golf Mecca back in the 90s. It was just busy. It's down to one golf course, but definitely the Avocet course was the best one of the four.
Nate:
It's hard to believe that course would be underrated, but I think as you, as you generally get outside of Myrtle Beach on five one, and it's not that far outside, golf courses tend to say, "Oh, I got to drive a little bit for it." But you're not really driving. It's just, it kind of loses... I shouldn't say rating, but I think that's why it's on Chris's list, because it's forgotten now that it's only 18 holes, perhaps.
Meredith:
Right, and it's somewhat on the fringe of Myrtle Beach.
Nate:
Yeah.
Meredith:
But you're right. I mean, Wild Wing used to be bustling. Back in the day you had two great instructors out there. My personal instructor, LPGA, Gwen Miller. She's no longer there. She's... I think, semi retired up in North Carolina in the Asheville area now. But she was my swing coach growing up. She was jamming out there on the range, just incredible coach. Also, the late great Michael Schroeder, loved him. What a great person and what a great instructor. They were tag team instructors at that facility back in the day. I personally have some really good memories of Wild Wing, but particularly, Avocet. There's something about that course that I just love as very player friendly. I can score low and I love the wildlife. It's beautiful out there.
Meredith:
There's not a lot of homes on the course. That's one thing that I've always loved about Wild Wing. You go out there and you could play a few holes, and not see one home in sight.
Meredith:
Now I have not played that course, I think since about 2016. Coincidentally, when I was Mrs. South Carolina, Larry Nelson was endorsing a nonprofit organization I had, Junior Golf Exchange, when we were trying to help get fitted golf equipment to junior golfers. I actually met with Larry Nelson in Atlanta, and we were actually talking about Avocet. I played that course during that time. He is one of the designers, you know, at Wild Wing. So it's a pretty cool connection there.
Nate:
Yeah. Larry Nelson and Jeff Brauer, I believe, were the two designers there. What's cooler, we've mentioned Wild Wing and Myrtlewood Palmetto. Obviously people come to Myrtle Beach, they don't understand the Double-T scenario. Where you have tee times for two hours front and back, close the tee down, and turn. Wild wing and Myrtlewood, you can get like a 10:30 tee time, 11 o'clock tee time, because they single tee. Which means they go off one tee all day long. So, two good reasons if you're that person who likes to sleep in and wants to play at the 10 to 12 hour. Two good golf courses. Yep.
Meredith:
So that's for me.
Nate:
For sure.
Meredith:
Yeah. That's a really great point that you bring up that will help someone, especially with their booking. For those groups that are coming in and having those late nights. That's good piece of information there, Nate.
Nate:
Exactly. Exactly.
Meredith:
All right. So moving on to... Let's move on to my number three. We're moving on to the south end now. You're going to love this, because now we have arrived at Blackmore. I love Blackmoor, good old Blackmoor. That course is definitely, you're moving into the... What I call that low country territory. Where you really feel that Southern charm out on the golf courses, a lot of wildlife...which I love out there.
Meredith:
That course is a lot of fun. You can really score low. I think that's probably why I love Blackmore so much, because I play that course very well. It's short and you have some challenging holes. Particularly hole number three, it's a par five. It's a beast, a beast of a hole. It's so much fun to play because if you drive the ball right, you can drive right in front of the marsh area and then hit over and try to get on the green and two. But if you do not know exactly where you're landing the ball... Well, it's not going to be good. It will eat you up and spit you out. It's so much fun to play.
Meredith:
Then on hole number eight, another one of my favorite holes. It's, they have that risk reward challenge and who doesn't love those risk reward challenges? So you can save yourself probably around 40, maybe 50 yards. I don't know exactly what the yardage is that you could save yourself. If you just try to directly go for the green in a very narrow shoot, lining with trees. Or you can go around and just take your time on a big dog leg, right to the green. But it's always fun. I always say, go for the risk. Just go have fun. Go for the risk. Why not, you know?you're-
Nate:
Exactly. Go ahead and lose a ball out there, right?
Meredith:
Go ahead and yeah, don't pull out your Pro V1 on that one
Nate:
a lot of dog legs. A lot of strategic tea placement out there, like you say. I'm trying to remember...it's been a while since I've played it. Are there a lot of dog legs left for the majority or are they mixed... Trying to think.
Nate:
No, actually they're mixed because I'm thinking about the holes now. It just doesn't favor the left to right hitter or the right to left player. There are some dog legs, so you do have some decisions off the tee. Whether sometimes you hit driver or maybe hit an iron in play, right?
Meredith:
Yeah. I would say... I mean, there are probably more right dog legs on Blackmoor than left. I'll tell you the most challenging hole. I'm going to go with hold number 12, because that dog leg is literally, I feel like it's almost 90 degrees. It's probably not. It feels like it literally is 90 degrees.
Meredith:
If you hit the shot right, and you can launch it high, you can actually cut through over trees. But you're taking some risk. You really got to control the ball. If you do that, I've been able to have some shots like that. Then I've also gotten caught the trees, trying to
Nate:
That dog leg left is where my big cut would come out.
Meredith:
Yeah. So Blackmoor is great. Then a nice clubhouse there, just a really nice facility. It's very laid back. They have like rockers on the porch and stuff. So it's a very, what I call chill kind of golf course, where after you're around, if you want to have a few drinks, maybe a beer, maybe a nice cold lemonade, you could sit out on the rockers. They're right there overlooking number 18. It's a lot of fun to watch the golfers come in.
Meredith:
I believe they have a live camera there daily that you could go on their site right now and actually watch the golfers on number 18. I'm not sure if they still have that. But they always have had a live camera on number 18. So love Blackmore, and great staff and people down that way. So now that we're on the south end... Nate, let's talk about your three picks.
Nate:
Well, mine are tough and you know, everyone going to say that I'm kind of biased. I was the former head Golf professional at Willbrook and River Club. So those are on my list and they, even before I was there, I thought they were very underrated. To the point where Willbrook, back in the... I want to say mid 90s, the south end had yet to really be discovered. Then you brought Caledonia and True Blue into the mix. Then it kind of got people looking at the south end.
Nate:
I think Willbrook and River Club. Those are two golf courses that you cannot ever get tired of playing. Very nice. So those were two. I had a hard time with this list. I've got one on my list that people will say, "What do you mean underrated? It gets a lot of fanfare."
Nate:
True Blue Golf Club. I'll tell you True Blue is underrated. I love Caledonia. Don't get me wrong here. It's you know, one of the top Myrtle Beach, but it overshadows True Blue. If I had my putters, I would play True Blue because I just, I love the layout. It seems like it's a big golf course. Now don't get me wrong, Caledonia beautiful setting. I'm sure a lot of people would disagree with me, but I think Caledonia kind of overshadows True Blue. Both two fantastic Mike Strantz designs, but I'm partial to True Blue. So I put it in my underrated category.
Meredith:
Now let's talk about the sand at True Blue. There's a lot of sand out there. So, that is a shot that you need to know how to play. That's the one thing... I haven't played true blue in a long time. I like that course, but I do remember that course, having a lot of sand. I could be wrong. Does they have a lot of sand?
Nate:
It does, a lot of race area. What they've done is they've made the entire golf course a waste bunkers. So you won't see any rakes. It's all played as waste area. Kind of like Kiawah, the ocean course. So yeah... A lot of sand. It well defines the golf course and you stand on the tee. You really feel like you've got a lot of room, which I need. It's like, I got the confidence. Like, you can land... There're some holes out there you can land a jet airplane. And it's like... This is pretty cool.
Meredith:
That's a good thing.
Nate:
Getting back to getting back to the south end in general, you can't go wrong with any of those courses down there, like Tribune, Caledonia. They do get the fanfare. Pawley's Plantation gets a lot of the fanfare.
Meredith:
Right.
Nate:
You've got great golf down there. You can throw in Founders Club, Tradition Club. They tend to get overshadowed, and you could play there day after day and not get tired of those as well.
Meredith:
You're right. I mean, all the courses down there are very unique. They each kind of have a signature theme, but they're very similar. Again, you get that low country feel and-
Nate:
And don't forget, Litchfield Country Club. I mean, it's been around since 1966. It has... But it is a favorite amongst a lot of people who live here. I mean, they love playing Litchfield. I mean, it's just fun to play.
Nate:
I'll throw one other in there. I think it's... I don't know how you can call this underrated people. It's been discovered as Prestwick Country Club. It was identified as a top five golf course in the poll we did at myrtlebeachgolftrips.com ranked by PGA professionals. So, I mean, that's a Pete... [inaudible 00:16:49] That's a Pete Dye design. So again, kind of south Myrtle Beach. Central, I guess you call Prestwick central, pretty close to the airport. But yeah... these lists are tough.
Meredith:
I love... And I definitely think Prestwick is a course that everybody should play. I love that design. Like you said, it's a Pete Dye. Very challenging.
Nate:
It's tough. It's tough-
Meredith:
Yeah. It's tough. It's a tough course. I mean
Meredith:
I can't seem to score low on that course. I find it really challenging, but it's so much fun. I'll tell you what, number nine and number 18... Those holes, right there are game changers. You can be having the best round ever at Prestwick, then you get to hole number nine. It's a beast, like that hole number three at Blackmore, it will eat you up and spit you out. Because depending on the wind, you...it is windy. I mean, I've never played nine or 18 where there is not some wind that you're dealing with and the fairway is so narrow.
Meredith:
I do not recommend using a driver. I mean, not unless you're like Dustin Johnson. I would not use a driver on that hole, because you've got to keep it in play. I mean, we're talking ... It's a huge body of water, a very skinny fairway that you have to stay on. Then you've got those dye bunkers that are big pits that you're walking into. You feel like you're 12 feet down in the earth hitting out of these bunkers if you get in. So it's very strategic placement on where you want that ball and if you're having a great run and you get on 18, take my advice, just play it safe. Just get through passing through the beast, So you can get onto number 10.
Nate:
Yeah. That ninth bunker in the back of number nine, that is... and there was a story that Myrtle Beach golf, either Chris King or Ian Guerin did about the five nastiest bunkers in Myrtle Beach. That is number one. [crosstalk 00:18:49].
Meredith:
It is nasty.
Nate:
I guess... Aren't there bunkers in Scotland called hell? It's like, that would be it there.
Meredith:
That's right, golf purgatory.
Nate:
Yeah. It's like you don't want to be here. You know, eighteens a par four and I don't... Eighteen's a par four. Nine's a par five, but I think number nine is harder.
Meredith:
Oh, it's much harder.
Nate:
It's I mean, yeah, 18 is tough. It's got... There's mounding, there's bunkers. It's not a tough T shot, but I think what makes nine tough at Prestwick is the T shot and the approach shot for that matter.
Nate:
I mean, you got to almost put it... You almost got to put yourself in a situation where you're hitting a wedge nine, eight iron in that you feel confident hitting.
Nate:
I don't know, even if you are in [GoFor 00:19:41] territory for your second shot there... I don't know why you do it, because it, the margin of error is so small on that hole. So-
Meredith:
It is.
Nate:
It's yeah. But, what it comes off course either had a great day. I mean, you're always going to have a great day, but you're always like, "I'm exhausted or man, I want to play more."
Meredith:
Right.
Nate:
But it's worth playing, and obviously typical Pete Dye design. You miss greens out there. You got to have, you got to have your short game too.
Meredith:
Definitely. Yeah. And just the variables, just the variables of the condition of the course and the wind. I mean, it's just uncontrollable.
Nate:
Yeah, exactly. But-
Meredith:
It makes me think about the golf in Scotland. It's so much of it is just, you're dealing with variables, environmental variables. That's what makes golf so much fun, because you have those challenges as well. It's not just about having a good swing and decent equipment and whatnot, but then you have the onslaught of variables.
Nate:
Yeah. You know what's great about this and a lot of these questions on this list? You know, we've got renovations that have occurred on a lot of these golf courses. I know I mentioned Tradition. We did Palmetto, Pine Hills. Prestwick just got done a renovation that you don't get a lot of credit for, but they did a lot of bulkhead work out there. I was out there and Chase was telling me about the bulkhead. Things like that have to be done. So you got a lot of reinvestment going back into Myrtle Beach golf courses. So it speaks well for the area.
Meredith:
So it really does. Well, these are some great underdog courses that like you said, do not get a lot of fanfare. So it's great to touch on these courses, because these are the courses that a lot of locals play too, because they have some really good rates, good afternoon rates. Because they are not, some of them are not the most premium courses. Again, you can go out and have a great experience on these courses as much as you could, some of the more premium courses in Myrtle Beach. So it's always good to shine the light on these courses, because these are a lot of courses that you and I, Nate, we go out and play these courses.
Nate:
Yeah. I mean, I mean, you're talking about in the, like I said, I go back to the headline, Low Profiles, Big Deliverables... You know, customer service is great across the board of Myrtle Beach. I know where I'm from any of these golf courses that we've talked about or where on Chris's list would be the top, top of the top. So you're coming from where you live, to the golf capital of the world. It's like, man, I think they're all great. You know, it's like, so-
Meredith:
Exactly. You made a great point there. I mean... We are so concentrated with golf courses. We have so many quality courses along the Grand Strand that even these courses, that don't get that highlighted, the fanfare... they, like you said, "You put these courses in another state, in another area, where there's not a lot of golf courses." I mean, they're glorious.
Nate:
Exactly. Completely agree. And like I said, I've always said I haven't played it by ad course from Myrtle Beach. So enjoy them. Lists like this are tough and people debate, but at the end of the day, you can't go wrong playing any of the ones, any of them.
Meredith:
Exactly. So if you want to play some of these courses and you're listening to this podcast, you should consider maybe an Underdog Myrtle Beach Golf Package. You can actually go to MyrtleBeachgolftrips.com. You can speak with one of our golf directors, mention some of these courses. Maybe you want to go play Willbrook, True Blue and Prestwick some of Nate's picks. Or maybe its Arcadian Shores and Wild Wing Avocet and Blackmore. You can go back to Chris King's article and pick those courses and play some underdogs. You might even find you'll have some savings there too as well.
Meredith:
But again, you can go to MyrtleBeachgolftrips.com, and you can have a golf director free of charge, help you book your next Myrtle Beach golf vacation.
Meredith:
This has been a lot of fun and shout out to all these courses that we mentioned, because again, they're just as good as our more premium courses.
Nate:
Exactly. Always a lot of fun to talk about Myrtle Beach golf courses.
Meredith:
It is, it sure is. All right, so everyone, thanks for joining us on this 43rd episode of Gimme Golf. We look forward to seeing you next time and enjoy our other podcast. If you haven't, you can scroll down on the Gimme Golf podcast page and go back and listen to some of our other golf podcasts. So we hope you enjoyed this episode.
