Heathland Course at The Legends Resort (all photos by Elliot deBear)    

    Yesterday, reader Elliot deBear shared his thoughts (and photos) of his recent visit to Myrtle Beach and his reviews of the golf courses at Heritage and Caledonia.  Here is the second part of his story, including his thoughts about True Blue, TPC of Myrtle Beach and the Heathland course at The Legends Resort.

    True Blue, another Mike Strantz stunner, was brutal this day in the wind.  It is more open than Caledonia, so the wind takes a greater toll on your game.  A lot of rough sandy areas and huge waste bunkers throughout.  The greens were hard an d fast, almost impossible to hold, even with high lofted shots. Don't be afraid to bump and run here.  This is a risk/reward track all the way.  Deceptive views of greens and strategic placement of bunkers are a great combination of good versus evil.  The routing of the holes are terrific because you feel you are playing very different types of holes one after the other.  Great finishing hole and one that lets you walk off happy or miserable...either way a reason to head straight for the bar. You are exhausted after playing this beauty.
    As in previous year's reports, looking up to course designer's heaven, I raise a glass and say, "Thank you, Mike Strantz, with all my heart for the vision you were able to share with us in these two fabulous courses".
     Dinner that night was special.  We hit Frank's on Highway 17 (in Pawleys Island). This is the absolutely the best restaurant in all Myrtle.  In fact, Frank's would do well anywhere, including NY, if it were there.  The food is just excellent and complimented by a terrific wine list that is priced right.  Service matched the cuisine.  Never visit Pawleys without scheduling a dinner at Frank's.
    Woke up to a beautiful low country morning and headed to TPC in Murrell's Inlet.  This is a course we always play when in Myrtle Beach.  If it's not on your list, it should be. The track, designed by Tom Fazio with collaboration from Lanny Wadkins, is one of his more mellow projects but also one of his more dramatic-looking ones, with holes fashioned within borders of beautiful tall red pines, old oaks and different varieties of tall grasses and fescue.  Many lakes with beautiful reflections too.  In fact, there is water on 10 of the 18 holes. Another plus is that there are very few homes adjacent to the course, and those that are, are very attractive.
    TPC is about using your head and not your ego, especially on the par 5's where laying up on the second instead of trying to blast one is the smarter move.  Some of the best scenery of any course we have played over the years.  Excellent par 3s throughout. The par 5, 18th is terrific, with the lake looming out there on the left and a meandering stream floating up the right to a stand of deep, naturally shaped bunkers.  The green is framed by the clubhouse in the background.  The day before, there was a big college tournament won by Wake Forest for the second year in a row.
     After the round we moved to the clubhouse veranda for lunch. They recommended the chicken salad with crushed pecans.  The best I ever tasted.
    We were going to play our afternoon round at Pawleys Plantation, but TPC was so well conditioned, so beautiful and so empty that we decided on the replay and did it again.  The course did not disappoint the second time around.  As with Caledonia, bring a camera.   All in all a great day.  On the way out, Chip Smith, the owner and president of TPC, came over to introduce himself and ask how we liked the course and its condition.  Very nice guy who obviously takes great pride in the course, cares about customer service and, like a good family owned Italian restaurant, believes in having the owner in the kitchen and on the premise.
    Dinner at some joint on 17 called Salt Creek.  Again surprised by how good the food was.  Place was pretty empty, but served up some terrific low country comfort food.  Worked out just fine and would actually go back.
On our last day before hitting the airport and heading for home, we decided on something different to finish up.  As we had played parkland and plantation courses all week, we chose the Legends Heathland course as our closer. 

    I really like this Tom Doak designed course.  It's unique from the other layouts in the area because of its links layout, throws you a really different challenge and requires a different game head to play it.  The winds hit big again making club selection and flight placements a challenge.  What I like most about Heathland are the colors and vistas.  It's very different without the trees and marshes you experience at the other courses.  Here deep bunkers are strategically placed with large difficult to hit greens, many having multiple tiers with a lot of slope.  From the gold tees, the course played 6785 with a 72.3 rating and 127 slope, although the slope felt larger than that.  Very cool to look over the course from certain vantage points on the back nine and see the large castle-like clubhouse in the distance.  Glad we played it
    Fun trip with good weather and great company.  Can't wait to do it again next year.
    Editor's note:  Thanks, Elliot.

TPC at Myrtle Beach

Heritage Golf Club, Pawleys Island, SC (all photos by Elliot deBear)

    One of our faithful readers, Elliot deBear, recently returned from a long weekend on the south end of the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach.  He and a friend stayed in the Pawleys Island area, home to the best courses in the entire Myrtle Beach area (okay, I'm biased, I have a second home in Pawleys).  We love when Elliot submits his reviews because of his enthusiasm, as well as the great photos he takes.  Here are his notes from his trip last week to Myrtle Beach.

    I could not wait to get out of New York and land in Myrtle.  Left the airport and headed straight down to Pawley's Island to play Heritage Golf Club.  What can I say about this beautifully designed golf course that hasn't already been covered?  It is one of my favorites and a classic track in every way. The course was designed originally by Larry Young in the early 80s, but the club later called upon then little known Mike Strantz to redesign the greens and do some bunker tweaking in the 90's.  What I like most about Heritage, aside from its sheer plantation beauty, is that length and power are not a great advantage here.  
    This is a shot maker's course.  Due to challenging pin placements with subtle breaks in the greens, the second shot is everything at Heritage.  We played from the blue tees which deliver a 74.8 rating and 144 slope at 7,000 yards.  This afforded us views of the course layout from the eyes of the designer and the full range of each hole.  Conditions were good, with blue skies and only a light wind.  The greens were a little patchy but rolled very true. Saw a bunch of gators today, some fairly large.  Again, a pure classic that is always on my must play list.
    After Heritage, we ventured over to Martin's, which is always a very dangerous move.  If you haven't been to Martin's, it is the single most fantastic golf store on earth (with a shoe department larger than most shoe stores and every club in existence).  Got away lucky with only one purchase of a pair of Footjoys on sale.  Whew!
    For dinner we headed to Broadway at the Beach, a large shopping and entertainment complex built around a manmade lake.  Sadly, the place was empty, a true sign of the times.  Weather was good and nobody around. Stopped into the Key West Grill for dinner. We didn't expect much from a chain restaurant and were very pleasantly surprised. The food, service and prices were terrific.  We are New York food snobs and really enjoyed dinner.
     We went back to our condo at True Blue to watch college hoops. The two bedrooms, two baths unit was comfortable, clean and well located.  Our balcony overlooked the 15th hole. Good showers with plenty of hot water.  No complaints.
    Next day, we scheduled Caledonia for the morning round, followed by True Blue in the afternoon. This is what I consider among the best back-to-back 18s you can play in Myrtle Beach.  Back to back Mike Strantz all the way.  Caledonia, built in 1993, is a 4.5 star Golf Digest rated track that continues to receive numerous awards. It is visually fantastic.  Just driving through its entrance with 150 year old oaks lining the way with the moss hanging down is worth the visit.  Really nice antebellum clubhouse.  Course was in very good shape, greens rolled true.  Maybe the best combination of par 3's on any course in Myrtle. 

    It was very windy on this day, which caused a lot of back and forth on club selections.  I always bring a camera when playing Caledonia because there are so many great vantage points.  It was a good move today because the course was absolutely empty.  The fish stew they serve at the crossover between nines was, as usual, delicious.  We were a twosome and had the entire track to ourselves.  Couldn't believe it, again a sign of the times.  A must play track for me during each year's visit.  We had a great time and finished with lunch in the clubhouse.  Actually, the grill seemed to have more people in it than the course did.
Tomorrow:  Part two of Elliot's excellent Myrtle Beach vacation.

True Blue Golf Club, Pawleys Island, SC