MB North trip Sept 22 - 25

Dates: 9/22 - 9/25
Lodging: Village at the Glens
Courses: Meadowlands, Tiger's Eye, Thistle, Barefoot Resort - Love
# of Golfers: 8

Mix of golfers and handicaps - Age range 50 - 70+. Handicaps - mostly mid to high, one low.
All courses, except Meadowlands, some of us have played before.

Arrived Wednesday from multiple places - FL, GA, NY, NJ
Tried to eat at Boundary House or Oyster Rocks in Calabash and 1+ hr wait. The reservation thing is new to me - been coming here 20 yrs and always remember the vast majority of places did NOT take reservations.
We ended up at Adela's Mexican restaurant in N. Myrtle Beach. Got a recommendation from a local we knew - good place.

First of all, EVERY course we were at, the staff was great. The people at the bag drop, inside at the pro shop, in the grille, the starters - everyone was uniformly pleasant, helpful, professional. Absolutely no complaints. I think we remembered to tip everyone.

Thursday - played at Meadowlands. Was thinking this would be a good warm up course and I think that's accurate. Nothing great or particularly memorable but a nice course and in pretty good condition.
They hired the good grounds grew from Farmstead when it closed apparently since they're both owned by same family I think.
Very close to where we were staying.

Lunch at Rockefeller's Raw Bar in N. Myrtle. A dive bar which some guys liked the best. I went for oysters and oyster shooters. Saw a women in there who looked like Liz Cheney. 

Went to dinner at Clark's Seafood & Chophouse - always a good meal. Food is great there and if you can sit in the "landing" area, a good view. And was able to get a reservation. The waitress was kind of "interesting". I thought she was going to make the one guy cry. And the oldest guy in our group, who was in Vietnam, said she reminded him of his NCO. I think it was her idea of humor but was waiting for her to tell me to "drop and give her 20" if I didn't order fast enough. Possibly she used to work at Dick's Last Resort.

Friday - Tiger's Eye. 3rd time I'd played there over the years. The general consensus was a very nice layout but conditions were not good, especially the greens. Bumpy, bare spots, etc. Makes me a little sad. Could really be good with some work. Right now, I'd recommend avoiding the Cat Courses.

Went to Sharky's in Ocean Isle Beach for lunch. Fine, nothing special. Good grouper sandwich. Skipped dinner and snacked removed link

The young(er) guys went to 810 Billiards/Bowling in N. Myrtle for entertainment - had a great time.

Saturday - Thistle
We played Stewart/Mackay and then after a quick lunch, played a team scramble on Cameron. Everyone's favorite course/day of the trip. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect.
The course is very nice, a whole bunch of different holes and looks. I've played it a couple of times before - may like Mackay or Cameron best but all nice. 
They have great golf carts - very plush with GPS system. They also use electric fencing so can't go in fairway until after passing tees plus other areas you need to avoid. Or carts stop and you'll need to back out.

One tip - if you want to play a 3rd nine like we did, order from the cart before you finish - the grille was backed up, I think only one cook on duty then. We barely made our 3rd nine tee times but starter was great in getting us out. With the replay rate you can play 9 or 18 so three of the guys played another nine after the scramble finished. A really good day. Everyone said add Thistle to any future Myrtle Beach North trips.

Went to dinner at Chianti South which we could walk to from Village at the Glen. Very good Italian dinner. Appetizers were outstanding, as were entrees. Some wine also flowed. Highly recommended though you'll need a reservation.

Sunday - Barefoot Resort - Love Course
Probably my favorite of the BF courses. 
Great shape and carts also have GPS in them. 
Greens are VERY small and in a lot of cases, narrow and/or humped. Some blind shots so best advice is aim for front of green - generally you don't want to bounce/roll off back. Danger lurks long.
Very good condition and pace of play was good - we were always ahead of expected pace - ranger was happy with us. Pace of play was good at all courses - I don't recall any significant waiting at any round.
Anyone having a really bad hole would take a BPLI (Ball In Pocket Lost Interest), which speeds up play.
if you want to warm up at BF, get there a little early since you need to take shuttle to range.

May stay 'n play at BF next year and play all four courses.

Lodging: Village at the Glens.
Have stayed there multiple times over the years. Fine but nothing special.
First the good - there is no check in, you got a text with the key code to your condo. One of our condos, the code didn't work. I texted them and after trying a few things they sent someone out - was literally there in ONE MINUTE - and all fixed. very fast service.

The condos themselves - the bedrooms have 1 single, one double which was fine. The living area had one chair and a couch which "could" sit three, but seemed a little awkward - could have used another chair. All the kitchen stuff was fine. The negative was bathroom towels - each bedroom got 3 towels and 3 washclothes. The towels were quite small - not sure large enough for my granddaughter. Who's is five. Tip: bring a beach towel to use. And pool is near by also. No trash service or towel replacement service - wash and dry your own.

All in all, was a considered a very good trip - a lot of camaraderie. Already planning for 2023.
And apologize for the long-winded report.

     Pete