Tim Cate’s name may not be immediately recognizable, but his golf courses, builded mainly in North Carolina, are different of those builded by others golf architects in Myrtle Beach. Which one is your preferred golf course amongst those four courses?
''It's just golf, let's have fun''
I have played Thistle many times and it has always been in good condition.
It is a shame that the other three are not maintained like Thistle.
Thistle has been a favorite for years. Been quite awhile since we've played the Cat courses. We often talk about putting them in the mix for a trip, but the lingering concerns about course conditions send us elsewhere. Sounds like things have been slowly getting better, so hopefully one of these years...
These days Thistle wins easily with it's conditions and clubhouse.
If all conditions were equal, it would be close between Thistle, TE, LC.
With good conditions, TE would probably satisfy the most golfers of
all handicaps, in traveling groups.
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''It's just golf, let's have fun''
From a pure golf architecture perspective (i.e. if conditions etc. were all comparable), Tiger's Eye is the best with Leopard's Chase in second, followed by the Thistle and Panther's Run.
When factoring in course conditions, the Thistle is obviously far and away the best right now, but none of the Thistle nines are especially great golf. While they are definitely better than Farmstead was from an architecture perspective, it's similar to Farmstead in that people overrate it due to the conditions.
Meadowlands gets some of that now too, although I think Meadowlands is a better design than Farmstead.
I agree with UNCGOLF, right now Thistle is by far the superior course, but if all 4 were in Thistle condition, I would prefer TE, LC, then TH.
Conditions wise, Thistle should get the most votes, but I do agree with @Uncgolf about design.
Denis Gilbert
Quebec City, Canada
No love for Panthers Run? I am not really surprised. Many reasons can be invoqued. Of course, a lot has to do with the conditions of play. According to an employee, during the last spring, the extreme drought the region has endured for many weeks has taken a toll on many courses in the area. Because the Big Cats courses had not access to any underground water sources, they had to rely solely on rainfall to keep their water supply replenished. In cases of extreme drought, it is important to manage the water usage carefully and that can result in fairways and tees being "less green" than usual. The grass was healthy but it just had not completely broken dormancy due to the lack of rain. This generated many golfers complaints at this time. Probably, just a part of the big picture.
Recent reports, in February 2023, shows that the conditions are improving: https://myrtlebeachgolftalk.com/community/mb-course-talk/ocean-ridge-conditions/#post-20632
''It's just golf, let's have fun''
Regardless of conditions, the other 3 Cate courses in the poll are more
interesting.
I have heard about water problems other times since Big Cats
conditions went downhill. However, back when Big Cats was
properly maintained, they had enough water back then. It makes no
sense that a golf resort like that would depend mostly on rain.
It's still possible that they don't want to spend the $$ to fix whatever
is wrong with their water system or to buy water like in the earlier
years. They started with bent greens, which needed plenty of
water in the summer.
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If conditions are relatively equal: Leopards Chase, Thistle, Tigers Eye, Panthers Run.
What I assume to be current conditions: Thistle, Leopards Chase, Tigers Eye, Panthers Run.
I chose Thistle because the last time I played the others...they were in bad bad shape.
Given them all in good shape...I would pick Leopards Chase. Something about the layout that just really speaks to me.
Thistle was my choice. I have not played LC. I prefer to see the glass of water half-full. So i think the conditions will improve at the Big Cats.
''It's just golf, let's have fun''
With the condition issues in recent times at the Big Cats the sensible choice at the moment is Thistle.
Leopard’s Chase just shades Tiger’s Eye for me and they are in a different category to Panther’s Run and Lion’s Paw although they are both courses that would make up a good 36 hole day if conditioning was better.
''It's just golf, let's have fun''
