April 2023 Golf Trip

• Got back from Myrtle a week ago.  Drive there and back from Ottawa - about 17 hrs with pit stops.  Drive both ways was smooth, a bit of traffic around Washington - as per usual.  
  Stayed at Paradise Resort, 3bedroom condo on the Penthouse floor, (20th), right on the ocean.  Very nice and clean accommodations.  Buffet breakfast was included and very nice - hot and cold … and bacon!!

Played 36 each of the 5 days.  We lucked out with great weather, sunny and 70-75 each day!

Day 1 Prestwick: Fairways and greens very dry, tons of roll and greens were lightning and diabolical. Rough areas were dry and not grown yet so like hitting off hard pan.  Chipping/pitching from these areas was very difficult. 

Day 2 Thistle:  More lush in fairways and greens, beautiful layout, but greens were a lot slower than Day 1.  Rough areas same as Prestwick - dry and not grown in yet. 

Day 3 River’s Edge: Found this to be the most difficult layout.  Beautiful holes and some really tough ones, like Arnie’s Revenge, (9th par 5).  Was windy so made things real tough. Fairways and greens were beautiful and dry and fast.  Rough areas were a bit better but not grown in fully yet. 

Day 4 Shaftsbury Glen:  Layout more average than first 3 as it was more so contained within a housing community but still nice holes and greener rough.  Fairways and greens again were great and quick.  

Day 5 Wachesaw East:  Similar to Shaftsbury in that the layout is tightly contained within housing.  My buddy was quite stressed out by the closeness of houses on several tee shots.  Like Shaftsbury, the rough areas were greener so chipping/pitching was more normal but not yet ideal.  Greens and fairways were very good as well. 

Service at each course was very good, no complaints, everyone was very helpful and friendly.  All courses were very busy for the morning rounds but pace was very good, 4 - 4:20hrs per round.  The second rounds were all much less busy and hardly saw anyone else playing. 

Dinner spots included Seaworld Buffet -solid, around $45 per.  Had steaks and crab plus everything else you’d expect.  Italian place, Roma’s ?? Can’t remember the name right now, was the best of the week. Great food and excellent service staff.  Even had an accordion player playing during dinner!

In summary, Paradise Resort Condo was very clean and was perfect for our needs and was right on the ocean.  The golf courses were all very good.  Prestwick, Thistle and River’s Edge were a notch above Shaftsbury and Wachesaw.  All had very good fairways and greens.   Great time had by all and looking forward to making it an annual trip after waiting over 30 years since our last trip. 

Aside:  on the drive down and back … can’t believe how many drivers we saw blatantly on their cell phones while driving … way more than we notice up here in Canada.