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