Unless you crave the honky tonk and neon lights of an active beach resort, the place to be on South Carolina’s Grand Strand is in the area south of Myrtle Beach, between Surfside Beach and Georgetown, which comprises the towns of Murrells Inlet, Litchfield and Pawleys Island. Most of the best of the 100 golf courses on the Strand are down there, minutes from each other, including the famed Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, as well as True Blue and Pawleys Plantation. So too are some of the most highly rated of the gated golf communities near the coast, including The Reserve at Litchfield, DeBordieu Colony, Pawleys Plantation and Wachesaw Plantation.
The clubhouse at Heritage Plantation
One gated community, though, doesn’t get much love -– until you actually play its golf course and take a closer look at its real estate. Heritage Plantation, about two miles south of Caledonia and west of Pawleys Plantation, was developed in 1986. It is time it got noticed.
I play the Heritage golf course every year or two, and last Sunday, as in the past, I was impressed with the efficient way they process members and public players from bag drop to parking lot -– via golf cart shuttle since it is 300 yards down the road -– to first tee. Because of the brutal competition for green fees in Myrtle Beach, Legends Group, owners of Heritage, Oyster Bay and the three Legends golf courses, has seen fit to throw in breakfast, lunch and two beers with the price of a greens fee; the lunch included the run of the menu, not just a hot dog. For the $50 I spent, it was a great deal.
Dan Maples co-designed the original layout with Lary Young, a local developer but, importantly, the late Mike Strantz re-contoured the greens a decade ago. Strantz, who was responsible for the original designs at True Blue and Caledonia, is known for wacky layouts like Tobacco Road and severely sloped greens, but at Heritage, he ratcheted back his inclinations to create green complexes fitted nicely into the general lay of the land. That translates into large putting-scapes where pin position possibilities seem almost endless (as do the possibilities for multiple 60-foot putts). What could seem burdensome to players with a questionable short game will add to the fun for others.
The golf course is ringed with magnolias and 300 year old live oaks, and a couple of conserved slave cemeteries on the former Midway and True Blue Plantations add to the course’s unique atmosphere. Home styles inside the guarded gates of Heritage tend toward the brick and Low Country styles you see in other local golf communities. Prices begin just below $300,000 for single-family homes -– no condos on site – with the sweet spot in the high $400s. If you would like more information on Heritage or to schedule a visit, please contact me.
Heritage Plantation is characterized by marshland, lakes, 300 year old live oak trees
and handsome real estate.