Golfers don’t typically check the tide tables before heading out to the golf course, but those with plans to play the Jack Nicklaus designed Pawleys Plantation Golf Club might consider it.  The short par 3 13^th at Pawleys Plantation, its green almost totally surrounded by marsh and with no bailout area, is scary enough without the added attraction of hundreds of golf balls sitting in the marshy muck between the tee and the bulkhead that props up the green.  A confident swing is a fundamental requirement on the 13^th tee, and the open grave beneath the tee box inspires much more dread than confidence.  Better to play the hole at high tide, when the results of poorly played shots are out of sight.

        The hole plays short –- just 145 yards from the tips, 115 yards from the blue tees and a paltry 69 yards from the white tees –- but the green at the 13th is smaller than the famed 17^th at TPC Sawgrass.  At a mere 1/2 mile from the ocean, with nothing but marsh separating the two, the green is open to a prevailing breeze that typically blows from left to right.  On breezy days, a proper shot must start at the left edge of the green and ride the zephyrs back toward the meaty part of the putting surface (“meaty” looking more like a lamb riblet from the tee box than a hunk of ribeye).  If the wind reaches, say, 15 mph, not unusual so close to the Atlantic, a proper tee shot must start out over the marsh.

The muck and mired balls in the marsh short of the 13th hole at Pawleys Plantation do not exactly inspire confidence on the tee box.

        Members and those who have played Pawleys Plantation over time learn to ignore the pin position, denoted by the standard flag colors of red (front), white (middle) and blue (back); the tee shot is all or nothing at all.  Since the green tilts from back to front, well-struck wedges or 9 irons will stick where they land.  And because the green is so small, the reward for staying on it results in a putt of reasonable to short length for a birdie.  But if your shot joins those balls in the muck short of the green or beyond it, the drop area 10 yards to the right of the putting surface makes the third shot enormously difficult.  Not only must the length of roll of the chip shot be judged perfectly, but it also must traverse the tilt of the green from right to left. If the pin is yellow, the best you can hope for is a 15-foot putt for bogey from beneath the hole.

        If you want to have fun with your playing partner on the 13^th, bet him on the tee that he can’t make a bogey four.  If he stays on the green, concede his par putt, if not the birdie.  But chances are you won't have to; bogey four is the toughest score on the “short par 5” at Pawleys Plantation.

The back nine's two par 3s at Pawleys Plantation, #13 and #17, play off the dike that once controlled water flow on the former rice plantation.  A native pelican prefers the 17th (background right) to the 13th.

        The wide range of golf courses and sharply priced golf packages in the Myrtle Beach area are a strong magnet for golfers, especially the boys-will-be-boys groups that plan their years around an annual week’s golf vacation, buffet dining and light carousing beyond the watchful eyes of wives and girlfriends. East of the Mississippi River, there is no golf market that checks those boxes better than does Myrtle Beach. Its 100+ golf courses and dozens of all-you-can-eat seafood palaces keep competition high and prices low. Where Pinehurst may offer a safer bet in terms of golf quality, if not quantity, you can choose well if you choose wisely in Myrtle Beach; and unlike Pinehurst, you will have something to do at night besides listening to crickets or retiring early.

True Grit:  True Blue Plantation uses many of its waste bunkers as cart paths.  Photo by Elliot deBear

        I am in the Myrtle Beach area for a few weeks and last weekend played the unique True Blue Plantation golf course in Pawleys Island, a favorite of many visiting golfers, especially those who don’t mind acres of sand. The late Mike Strantz was as generous with his fairways as he was with his sand; at many points, carts are directed through the waste bunkers and up wooden runways onto those wide fairways. (It was cart path only last Sunday after a night of rain, and it was quite a workout getting to and from shots not near the bunkers.) Along with its sister course across the street, the famed Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (also a Strantz design), this is the most impressive tandem of semi-private clubs on the Grand Strand. Add in Pawleys Plantation (Nicklaus), Heritage Plantation (Larry Young/Dan Maples) and Founders Club (Thomas Walker), all within a few minutes of each other, and a golfing group could be quite satisfied for a week of play in the area. (The local restaurants, led by Franks and Frank’s Outback, are varied and excellent as well, and you will find no better lunch, with no better views of the expansive marsh -– and of the 18^th green -- than from the porch at Caledonia).

        Going through the real estate section of the Myrtle Beach Sun Times today, I came across an ad for a condo overlooking the True Blue golf course that seemed so low in price that golfing groups who return to Myrtle Beach year in and year out might want to consider using it as the base for their annual visits. The 3BR, 2 BA unit features cathedral ceilings and views of a lake, as well as the golf course. At just $123,000 –- which means you could probably get it for less than $120,000 –- eight friends could kick in $15,000 each and never have to worry about making arrangements or paying for lodging again. With presentation of a utility bill for the unit and payment of just $40 each, Myrtle Beach Golf Passport will issue an annual pass to two golfers; the pass holder can then host three others at Caledonia, True Blue and 80 other courses at significant discounts, and as many times during the year as you want.

        If we are truly at the bottom of the housing market, a unit like the one at True Blue could also provide a little upside appreciation, which would be a nice little bonus. And the eight buddies could easily figure out a schedule for their families to use the condo a few weeks a year, an informal timeshare arrangement, to take advantage of the great beach on Pawleys Island –- just five minutes away –- and the numerous children’s activities in the Myrtle Beach area. Mom will like the shopping as well, if not the golf.

        If you want more information on the True Blue unit or any other condos or single-family homes in the Myrtle Beach area, please contact me. I know the area well -– I own a condo myself in Pawleys Island -- and would be happy to make suggestions based on your particular requirements, whether you are looking for a vacation place or a permanent retirement home.

True Blue condo for sale, listed at $123,000.