Back To Myrtle Beach 4/22-5/7,2021

MYRTLE BEACH -- TRIP REPORT  4/22-5/7, 2021

INTRO: Despite most having the CV vaccine and a few having flights booked,
after a few of my group decided to drop out, being concerned about flying,
age and their wive's concern, the rest dropped like dominos. I got the Pfizer
vaccine and I drive, so I decided to go to MB anyway. I didn't plan on meeting
anyone, in case I had to cancel last minute, felt sick or they had the same issues.
Writing some notes each night, helps a lot to remember more of the details.

TRAVEL: My drive from Delaware is around 9.5 hours, with lunch and rest stops.
I used the 95 to Lumberton down and Rt 17-40-95 home.
ON my way home, big boat was flipped over in VA, blocking a lane, but pickup wasn't.
A bad accident had just happened in DE, as I arrived back in DE.
I didn't see either happen. The VA Express are being extended south again.

EZ-PASS: A number of years ago I was seeing the toll screen say toll not paid.
I called to get a new transponder. They had billed my account using my plate,
so no problems. Before this trip, I needed a new transsponder. They were
slow to send it, so I did the trip without it. The screens are either not there or
don't say anything, so I will have to see what happens.

HOTEL: I stayed at Ocean Reef. I prefer this quieter area of MB (71 Ave N),
being near restaurants and between everything else. The hotel was busy, at
least on the weekends, but I only saw a few golfers there.
Breakfast Buffet had fewer items and the cooking personnel were dishing out
what guests want, plus eggs to order. There were more families than usual, with
a bunch of little kids.

SPRING GROUP: I have been going to MB since 1978. We started this group with all
East coast guys PA/NJ/DE in 1998. One guy invited his brother from CA, who later
invited some CA friends. We grew to as many as 16. Lately we have had 10-12 on the trip.
This trip we had 12, 7 from CA and 5 from DE/NJ.

COMMENT: Myrtle Beach was skipped in 2020 due to Covid.

GOLF:

Thursday 4/22 -- SANDPIPER BAY:
Has 27 holes, Sand, Piper and Bay nines. SPB is a forgiving course.
Piper has three par 3's and three 5's. Bay #8 is a challenging par 4. If you can
carry the wetlands it's short, if you can't it's long.
I played with a couple from Ohio and a member who lives on SPB.
We played Bay/Sand. I feel the Bay is the nicest and most
challenging at SPB, mainly due to more water than the other 2 nines.
This is more of a warmup, SR, locals, budget course.
The cart paths are full of speed bumps from the tree roots, so they
are horrible to ride, enough though we only had to ride them at tees
and greens. The greens were still overseeded and very slow, but in
good condition.

Friday 4/23 -- ARROWHEAD:
Range balls are provided. Bag drop organized.
I played with 2 locals. One guy had moved to MB from North NJ.
He said his property tax in NJ was $15,000. With a bigger house in MB,
in Carolina Forrest, now it's at $800. We played Cypress/Lakes.
Conditions were excellent. The MiniVerde greens were excellent, smooth,
fast, no overseed. AH isn't long from the white tees, but it is fairly
tight, not always a driver from the tee. I like the Cypress/Waterway nines the best.

Saturday 4/24 -- OYSTER BAY:
Not very crowded, maybe the forecast and/or condition reports.
AH + SPB had been sold out. The 2some I was paired with either
didn't show or got off early. I went out alone, last time of the AM.
I caught foursomes after 3 holes and I wasn't playing fast, because
I figured that would happen. On #7 a 3some caught me as I waited,
so I had them join me. Turns out they had started on #10, so they
quit after #9. The group ahead of me took a food break, so I got
ahead of them on #10. It was clear until #15.
The tree lined holes have thin fairways, looking like they
were not overseeded, else very light. The greens were pretty
good, not overseeded, with nice speed. A few edges of greens
were sodded, but in some cases only part of the bad area.
This did not affect play. Some greens have fairway grass spots
in them. They will grow bigger and create a camo appearance.

There are lots of bare areas along the tree lines between the
fairways and trees and the cart paths are destroyed. This all
creates a ugly appearance. Hole #16 has great bermuda
growth, with mostly no trees. Despite clouds, the gators
were out in force on #16 and 1 on #17 green. #14 had
a big one also.

The short holes have plenty of water, the greens are very undulating and the
bunkers are deep, so while they are birdie holes with good shots, they are still
not easy pars and doubles or worse will result with a missed shot.
The 6325 blue tees have 7-8 brutal holes. The white tee yardage of 5575 looks
short on the card, but trust me it is still plenty challenging from there.
Each tee color plays like a course about 400 yards longer, if two holes were
extended to make it a par 72.

They are building a completely new tee on #17. Right now
your choice is to tee off where the red tee is at 70 yards or
the tips at 165 yards. The green is small.

The bermuda will only get better with heat, so summer +
fall will be a better time to play OB, as 1Putt1 says.
OB may have more Signature holes than any MB course.
The layout might make it a decent occasional play at
Passport rates, but I don't recommend bringing your package
group there, unless maybe you have rainchecks to use.
I believe Legends accepts rainchecks from any of their 5 courses
at the other Legends courses.

Sunday 4/25 -- TRUE BLUE:
Range balls were provided. Carts have GPS. I started on #10, which seems
to play easier than the frint 9. The conditions were good.
The greens were good, firm and fast, getting some fairway bermuda spots.
On long holes, you may find the tee markers moved up a box.
Carts are always in the sunken waste area on #18, taking a lot of the fun out
of that hole and slowing down play. The wide fairways are framed by waste
areas, so you rarely need to look hard for a ball. The difficulty is approach shots,
that have to fly onto the green on most holes, carrying over water or sand.
There are several challenging short par 3's and the tricky 320 yard par 4 2nd,
where you need to stay left. You will discover new Stranz design features
every time you play it.

Monday 4/26 -- TIDEWATER:
Range balls were provided. Premium touch screen GPS is on the cart.
Can touch a spot to get yardage to it. The tees, fairways and bunkers were all
in good condition. The greens were in good condition, but had basketball sized
brown/tan spots in them, maybe indicating a disease. I got "root rot from a lot
of rain" in the pro shop. Hopefully they are getting better instead of worse.
Putting was OK and won't ruin your round, but not what your group will be
happy with at package rates.
The scorecard has a White/Green course at 6031 yards, with the 9 hardest rated
holes being green tees. White is 6323, Green is 5734. The par 3 Hole #9 is a
lot like Augusta #16, but with a marsh instead of a pond.
The par 4 dogleg left hole #18 is very difficult, where even a good drive will leave
about a 160-200 yard 2nd shot, possibly with a pine tree in the way. Try to drive it
as close to the far marsh as possible, rather than just past the deceiving corner.

Tuesday 4/27 -- THE DUNES:
Range ball were provided. I played with 2 young 30ish guys who had played
top college golf. After the starter gave his play the correct tees talk, they said they
would play the 6615 blues and were good/long enough to do so.
The course was in great condition everywhere. Starter also said the greens were 13 stimp.
There wasn't any browning out of the overseed, due to lack of rain, like most other
courses were showing.
The Champions greens were perfect, also firm and fast. With the firm fast greens,
there can be some pins you can't get near. The bunkers are very well maintained.
The white tees are 6175 yards, but a bunch of holes have landing areas into a upslope,
so it plays longer. The greens are elevated, so there are no bounce ups. The wooded
areas are cleaned out, so finding balls in the woods is easy, helping the pace of play and
reducing penalties. On Waterloo par 5 #13, I feel it's better to hit your tee shot further
down the fairway (staying left of red stakes), for a better angle across the water to
advance further up the fairway, rather than taking an iron and trying to play near the water
from the tee. Hole #13 is usually a good gator viewing hole, with some big ones, but none "
were out on this sunny day. Apparently I just missed seeing the Player, Rymer charity
event held this day or the next.

Wednesday 4/28 -- THE DUNES:
I played it twice because I had 2 rainchecks and it's The Dunes.
I played it back to back because I could not get a good tee time to split it up days apart
while pairing up as a single.

Thursday 4/29 -- KINGS NORTH:
Conditions were good, but the overseed was browning out.
Greens putted good, still mostly overseed.
There is good room off the tee, you can see most hazards. You need good club
selection on most iron shots, to carry front water or bunkers and to get makable
or 2puttable putts on the undulating greens. There is no housing, a lot of fun
unique signature holes and you can score if you play well.
Each 9 starts off with 2 basic holes, but the rest of each 9 is so good. KN is one
of my favorites to play and I play it on most trips.
On The Gambler par 5, if too long to hit the green, play back to the fairway, to
make it a shorter hole. The long way around isn't a whole lot more forgiving.
If it's CPO, skip the island, unless you are going to walk the hole carrying your clubs.
When approaching the green from the island, you need middle of the green
yardage just to carry the water on the right half of the green. When laying up out to
the right, try to get down close to the bunkers, so you can avoid hitting over the water
on your approach shot.
The Gambler #6 hole backs up the course, all the way to #1, if starting on #1.
I think KN plays better starting on #10, so you are more ready for the Gambler and
not backed up early in the round.
On the SC par 3 #12, UGP posted photos last year of the bulkhead being rebuilt
around the green. This is the first time I played the update. They did a great job
adding room for some rough and fringe round the green. It looks better and plays
more fair, since it had been possible to back up balls into the water.
The fox squirrels beg or take food from carts here.

Friday 4/30 -- BF FAZIO:
GPS on carts. New range shuttle bus. Good conditions. Fazio greenns faster than
puttig green, which is more like Love/Norman. Greens firm and fast, but need
a little more time for the bermuda to replace the overseed to be smoother.
The fairways are wide, but you need to avoid the fairway bunkers, because you
can't advance the ball very far from most them. Avoid the greenside bunkers also,
since they are deep. This is a single tee course, so take advantage of that, for quicker
early play to get to a replay or for 9:30-12:00 tee times. The white tees look short,
but they are a good length for most at par of 71. The 3 BF resort courses send carts
to the starter near your tee time, then the starter sends you to the first tee. If you want
to putt more than a minute, be early and walk down to the putting green.
BF Resort courses have a shuttle to the range. If you want to hit balls, consider
driving to the range yourself, before going to the bagdrop.

Saturday 5/1 -- TIDEWATER;
Back to TE, using up a rain check. No change from previous report.
TW has a lot of big and steeply sloped greens. You have to concentrate on speed
a lot. The big greens seem to fool us on the amount of slope we see.
Practice some long putts before play here.

Sunday 5/2 -- CALEDONIA:
GPS on carts. Conditions were excellent everywhere. The champions bermuda greens
were firm and fast, no overseed. Some fairway bermuda spots in greens.
As I usually notice around this time, the bernuda growth seems ahead of the north
end courses. Everything was groomed and landscaped very nicely.
At a par 70, it plays like a course 400 yards longer, if 2 holes were extended to make
it a par 72, so be careful what tees you play. There are some real long holes mixed
with some short holes, so the length is very deceiving. This is a very attractive course,
without the aid of non-golf scenery. With the huge undulating greens, there will
always be some challenging pin positions.
When Booking, ask to find a day and time that allows you to start on #1.
Bunkers had rakes, cart girl nice, charity deal on hole #3 as usual.
They have the scooters to ride if interested. I believe it's an added fee.

GROUP PHASE:  My Spring group of 12 ended up with just me. I kept the next
4 courses, which were on the FGI Black Friday Pkg.

Monday 5/3 -- GRANDE DUNES:
Range balls provided, GPS on carts. The greens were very bumpy, like a dimpled
golf ball, but the depressions/indents were in lines like either severe aeration or
deep verticut was done weeks before. Growth covered the holes, but the depressions
were not filled in. Greens looked good/green from the fairway. Putts rolled worse
than typical aeration we have all seen. I am thinking that top dressing and growth
will repair the problem over time.
Pro shop guy said rountine maint, but we know they don't aerate bermuda greens
in April, unless it's the pencil point type. Starters also didn't know what was wrong.
Greens also had crab grass spots and fairway bermuda spots.
I like the many pin position choices that the large greens provide and the wide
fairways that allow playing position or just letting it rip. When you play the proper
tees here, there are 5-6 holes where you can carry it to the fairway downslope, to
get bonus yards. The best holes are 8,9,10,14,15, but not just because of the waterway.
This is a tour style course with waterway views.

Tuesday 5/4 -- TPC:
Range balls were included. Conditions were good everywhere. New bunkers very good.
The mini-verde greens were smooth and fast. A bad spot here and there on the edge,
but the best of the 4 FGI courses played.
The white tees are now where they were designed to be.
The previous management had the white tees at the SR position and Blue at the white
position. If you have not been to TPC in a few years and used to play Blue, you will be
in for a surprise, if you play Blue again. There are 3 forced carries from the tee, that will
help confirm if you are playing the proper tees. IMO the carry on #15 is a bad design,
since playing safe to the right puts you behind trees. TPC is challenging, but still fair,
unless maybe you are a beginner. Much of the challenge is the green complexes, where
most of the greens require accurate approach shots. It is a difficult course to scramble
around the greens. Hole #9 is a brutal long uphill par 4, designed like a par 5.
Houses are now left of the lake on #18 and almost down to the tee.
TPC Myrtle Beach is a good logo if you want MB apparel, so others don't have to
ask where is that course.

Wednesday 5/5 -- PAWLEYS PLANTATION:
The fairways, tees, bunkers good. The tifeagle greens were still mostly overseed,
thin on the front, thicker/heavier/slower on the back. Some bad spots on
some greens, with the par 3 #8 pretty bad.
This Jack Nicklaus course has housing lining many fairways, with OB in play on
about half of the holes. Pawleys is an attractive country club style course with
4 marsh holes and a few lakes. Many greens are narrow or small or have odd
shapes, so the pin can be hard to get to, unless perfect yardage. While not long
from the white tees, it is one of the more challenging courses in MB. Like it or not,
the entire 13/17 bridge/dam complex in the marsh is scenic, usually windy, unique,
memorable and challenging. Despite the tricky holes #13 (short and small) and
#17 (all carry to shallow green), don't let those holes ruin a generally good course
for you. On #17, a 165 yard par 3 all carry over marsh, the green is wide but too
shallow for the shot, with woods about 15 yards behind it. There are some
memorable holes, but there are not enough memorable holes to keep bringing us
back often, maybe with a limited number of long drives per trip.

Thursday 5/6 -- KINGS NORTH:
Back to KN, one of my MB favs.
Fairways greener after the recent rains. Greens still good, still mostly overseed.

Friday 5/7 -- BF NORMAN:
GPS on carts. This is a single tee course.
Excellent greens and conditions. Greens smooth and medium speed.
The gently crowned greens can leave chips/putts with double breaks.
Hole #18 has been back to being a par 5 for the last few years, like it was originally.
There are some condo holes, but also some nice waterway holes.

COURSE VISITS:

Panthers Run: Green #18 Fairly dormant, not overseeded, crab grass spots all over,
brown fairways.

TE: Similar to PR greens, but aerated. Brown fairways.

Leopards Chase: Brown fairways, Bent greens good. Have poa spots. About 8-9 stimp.
Oddly for a place not into maint, they were Hand Mowed, based on the 15" wide
mow stripes.

Glen Dornoch: New greens looked very good.

GREENS RATING SUMMARY: (Quality/smoothness/decent speed, not the stimp)
11 (Perfect)         > The Dunes
10 (Outstanding)  > Arrowhead - TPC
9 (Excellent)        > Kings North - BF Norman - Caledonia
8 (Very Good)      > True Blue - BF Fazio
7 (Good)             > Oyster Bay
6 (Above Average)> Tidewater - Pawleys
5 (Average)          > Sandpiper Bay
4 (Below Average)> Grande Dunes

NOTE: MB grass is still in spring transition, so things will be changing
quickly with warmer weather. The bermuda is sprouted a lot more than
when I arrived. There was a lot of wind this trip, but no rainouts.

RESTAURANTS: (In no particular order)

I had not sat in a restaurant to eat since before Covid.
They all seemed back to normal, with customers wearing masks in and servers
wearing masks.

Boundary House, Calif Dreaming, Lil Pigs, Longhorn, Jersey Mikes, Firehouse Subs.
All were good.

GIOS ITALIAN: After finding out about the new location in the old Applebees on
79th ave, I found out they were also down in Pawleys for a number of years.
I ate in both, 1 South and 3 in north. The 79th ave location is nicer more upscale
looking. You would never know what it was before. The menus are the same.
They have a lot of wines also, up to $500 a bottle. The Servers are excellent.
Most Entrees $18-30. If you like meatballs, the meatball app is very good.

DRUNKIN JACKS:  Only my 2nd visit here. It's good.
Very busy, so be early or go late.

FRANKS:  My first visit here. Inside it looks like it hasn't changed in years.
It looks like more people like the Outback than inside.
The Chophouse steak menu works A La Carte. Filet was very good.
I feel it's an option if playing a PM round down that way, but too long a
drive from central MB.

THOUGHTS - OBSERVATIONS - INFORMATION:

- Rt 31 has been open down to 707. This is the first time I have used it.
It may save a little time, but it's only part of the trip down to Pawleys.
It is more relaxing than driving down 17, but the 707 part is like 17.

- The old Dollhouse at Waterway Hills is a big restaurant center now.
New buildings replace TDH building, which was torn down.
SOHO Prime Steak, Sushi, Lunch + Breakfast. I guess they want to do it all.
A Cearwater Seafood + a Oyster grill/bar, don't look open yet.
Plus original Geno's pizza + Jersey Mikes subs, which are good.

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