Which Myrtle Beach Courses Make You Go “&*%#!!!”?
Ah, the U.S. Open. Admit it - the sadistic side of your golf persona revels in watching the best players in the world hack it up like third-world wheat farmers. Why? Because we can all relate.
For Grand Strand golfers, it then begs the question: which Myrtle Beach-area courses offer the toughest test?
Rather than compare every single course, I decided to consolidate the process a bit and get an initial read by course designer. Our sample group profiles four architects with three or more area courses in Golf Digest's most recent listing of the "Top 50 Courses of Myrtle Beach."
The designers and courses included here list their respective course and slope ratings. Course rating tells scratch golfers how difficult the course will be; slope rating tells bogey golfers how difficult it will be. The minimum slope is 55 and the maximum is 155 (slope does not relate specifically to strokes played as course rating does).
The slope rating for a course of average difficulty is 113. By means of extreme comparison, Oakmont Country Club (this week's U.S. Open venue) normally plays to course/slope ratings of 77.5/147 - and that's before the USGA toughens it up even further for tournament play.
All ratings offered here are presented in course/slope order, and determined from the championship tees:
Pete Dye
Barefoot - Dye (75.3/149)
DeBordieu (75/140)
Prestwick (74.7/138)
Avg.: 75/142
Tim Cate
Ocean Ridge - Tiger's Eye (73.5/144)
Thistle (70.5/124)
Ocean Ridge - Panther's Run (72.4/142)
Avg.: 72.1/137
Dan Maples
Heritage Club (74.8/144)
Oyster Bay (71.6/134)
Willbrook (71.8/127)
The Witch (71.2/133)
The Pearl - East (73.5/134)
Sea Trail - Maples (72.8/132)
Man O' War (69.5/120)
Avg.: 72.2/132
Willard Byrd
Heather Glen (72.4/130)
International Club (72.8/131)
Litchfield (72.6/130)
Ocean Ridge - Lion's Paw (75/137)
Sea Trail - Byrd (72.8/132)
Avg.: 73.1/132
No real surprise here. As Golf Digest points out in this 2004 piece about Dye, the most frequently used terms to describe him are equal parts "creative genius," "the most imaginative golf course designer in the business," and "the most diabolical, unfair and even sadistic architect of all time."
Beyond his Grand Strand designs, Dye's Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort tested the mettle of the Champions Tour's best at the 2007 Senior PGA Championship, and will do the same for the world's best at the 2012 PGA Championship. My only Dye experience so far has been at his Karsten Golf Course at Arizona State University (74.1/132) - where Phil Mickelson, Billy Mayfair and Grace Park honed their skills as budding tour stars. Want a true lesson in humility? Play this typically "Dye"-abolical layout in the 104-degree desert heat.
OK, your turn. Time for you to tell us who you think designs the toughest Myrtle Beach courses!
I’ve never played a Pete Dye course that didn’t leave me shaking my head walking off the final green. Your best bet for enjoying his layouts is checking your ego at the first tee.
I’m a 30-plus handicap. Wanna guess how many courses make me go &*(&#$!???
Every course makes me go @#@%@^#&@^*. that’s why they have a beer cart girl
THe Fazio course at Barefoot is one of the toughest on the Strand. I think there are 80+ bunkers and several large waste areas, all positioned to grab errant shots. What makes the bunkers tough is the "beach" sand that’s in them. There is a 500 yard par 4 that plays uphill into the prevailing wind. And the closing three holes are no bargain either. Thank God for the cart girls!