Wife and I booked a couple days away from Columbia as a getaway post Xmas. We are staying in a cute separated garage AirBnb right off 17 in Murrells that allows us to bring our dogs. All will depend on the weather as far Friday or Saturday. I will be playing with the Wife riding, and probably getting paired with whoever the course decides. I am not looking for anything super fancy, super expensive, or incredibly difficult (did that on my guys trip back in November). Also might use this opportunity to look into communities and surrounding areas, as MB (Carolina Forest)/Murrells/Socastee is where we want to live full time in the hopeful near future, depending on jobs (I'm early 40's, she's late 30's, no kids).
I shoot in the 90's, don't hit it super far, and like I said not looking for anything to really beat me up. Places I'm thinking:
Legends - Heathland (I love Tom Doak designs), Wild Wing (all 27?!?!), Arrowhead (all 27?!?!), Blackmoor, MB National, Wachesaw East, Myrtlewood, or maybe Shaftsbury (long HIKE).
Open to other suggestions, looking for a chill atmosphere, that won't complain with me having a Rider, won't complain with me being a single, and won't be 5+ hours.
My wife rides with me all of the time and never had a problem. 90% of the time they don't charge for her.
Legends Heathland - This is the more forgiving course at Legends.
Legends is busy, so if you hope to not get paired up, this has
higher odds of pairing up or being low on carts and charging a rider.
Wild Wing, AH, MW, Shaft - They fit your request.
The Humm 9 at WW is a possibility for a quick 3rd 9, since many
don't know about it and it's not in the daily rotation like the 3
nines at WW.
MB National - West is the most forgiving. West + South are the lower cost.
KN is the premium. MBN has always seemed lenient with carts.
I don't think any of the courses complain about a rider.
If not busy or not needing an extra cart is when the odds are better for no rider charge.
Carolina Forest seems to be a nice place to live with a lot of new communities, but 501 is
a traffic problem. If moving to MB, where you prefer to play golf should also be
factored in regarding drive time.
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You should be OK during the holidays. There are so many courses in MB that you can find one that's not too busy. I'd check a site like GolfNow to determine what has a lot of tee times available. GolfNow certainly does not cover anywhere close to all of the courses in MB, but if a particular course has tee times available for an hour or two, especially after noon, you should be OK.
You might need to be willing to drive a bit to find courses both willing to work with a single and not complain about a non-playing companion. Whispering Pines is generally good about working with singles in the offseason although you're likely to be paired up but not made to take a fourth to ride with you. I'd reconsider avoiding a ride to a course as the layouts in North Myrtle/southern North Carolina might not be too crowded at that time of year. And I can almost guarantee that The Wellman Club will be happy to take a single with a non-playing rider, but you'll have to drive about an hour: https://myrtlebeachgolftalk.com/community/mb-course-talk/the-wellman-club/ . On the good side of the long ride, you'll find a good course that you can probably play in less than 3.5 hours that won't complain about your wife riding with you.
As an alternative to a true golfing trip, maybe you should just use this time of the year, when traffic is relatively light, to look all over the MB area for a future home. Conway is well off the beach but seems pleasant. South of Murrells is a totally different vibe than central Myrtle although with less golf courses (but maybe a higher quality per capita), and southeastern North Carolina is laid back with more courses but maybe not quite the high-end (but secluded) demographic that you can find south of Myrtle.
Thanks guys, I don't mind being paired up with anyone. More interested in a good fun round, that's relaxed and an opportunity to play a new course.
From where you are staying Wachesaw East could be the closest. Also a bit further south of there is Tradition, Willbrook, River Club, all nice courses as are the ones you have listed.
Might look into The Wizard too, always forget about there & MoW. 🙂
Thanks for your post... A get-away to Murrell's Inlet always sounds nice; great restaurants in the area, nice board walk, convenient to shopping if that's needed, and easy access to Garden City Beach. As for golf during this time of year, I think you would be satisfied by so many different choices. If driving is not a big concern then the whole MB area is your option, maybe coordinate a neighborhood investigation with the locating of a course. The Carolina Forest area can be quite busy as there are numerous developments with and without golf. The Route 501 corridor can be crazy busy during the summer and during the college season as Coastal Carolina & Horry Georgetown Tech College definitely generate a lot of activity along with the usual commercial traffic. Wild Wing, MB National, Arrowhead, Legends, Man O'War, and Wizard are all situated in this area and offer terrific golf experiences. Maybe choose one from this list then make a second choice among the courses in and around the Litchfield or Pawley's Island area such as Tradition, River Club, Willbrook, Prestwick, or Caledonia Golf & Fish Club. Good luck and enjoy.
Retired Insurance Broker
Thanks for everyone's help and insight. We have decided to cancel and re-schedule our trip, for the weekend of Cinco De Mayo (1st week in May). Although with the PGA tournament the next weekend, I might go back to the drawing board and see about lining those up together.
My wife is really into nature photography/birds and Huntington Beach State Park is almost Mecca on the East Coast. The park took some serious damage from the recent storm, and is still closed. With the upcoming holiday and people probably having time off, there wasn't a clear picture when the park would re-open. Also we knew with the amount of rain that courses might have damage & flooding, and would at least be Cart Path Only.
And while we were excited to see how the area was in the dead of winter, we will just have to do community/neighborhood tours another time.
