Myrtle Beach gets a Big Break

        Myrtle Beach is currently getting a bit of a bump from the Golf Channel, whose weekly television series "Big Break" was filmed earlier this year at some of the area's top golf courses, including Pawleys Plantation in Pawleys Island. Pawleys Plantation is your editor's home-away-from-home course, and I watched the show last week with interest to see how the contestants would fare. The night's competition started from tee to green on the par 3 17th hole, which plays entirely over an expanse of marsh. The competitors had little trouble finding the green since their tee boxes were set at just 110 yards, compared with the 160 yards the men's tees typically demand. And it did not appear the players had to think twice about club selection, since the typical ocean winds were non-existent.
Pawleys17thgreenfrombehindCompetitors on Big Break Myrtle Beach started the episode at Pawleys Plantation on the par 3 17th hole which demands a shot across the marsh. In the distance are the homes on Pawleys Island beach and the Atlantic Ocean.
        Later, the contestants moved to the 11th hole, a straightaway par 5 where they competed for the straightest drive. Oddly, a few of the shots did not go the required 230 yards for the men (maybe the wind kicked up); the women contestants had no trouble flying past their 200-yard minimum. Finally, the guy whose two drives were farthest from the center line was forced to choose a fellow competitor for a two-hole elimination playoff on holes 12 and 18, two decent par 4s but not exactly Pawleys' most dramatic holes. I was mystified the producers did not use the short par 3 13th and its tiny island green, what club members refer to as "the shortest par 5 in Myrtle Beach." Perhaps they didn't want to position their camera people on boats in the marsh to capture the best shots.
        Both contestants made par at the 12th, but when one of them duck hooked his drive left into the marsh, took a drop and then almost yanked it into the lake at greenside, the match was virtually over. (He must have heard about the alligator that frequents the lake because needing to sink his fourth shot from about 25 yards, he did not take off his shoes and socks and play a proper stroke, instead opting to turn his back to the hole and hit the ball between his legs; it went about eight feet.)
        Admittedly I am biased, but along with Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, Pawleys Plantation is one of the two or three best golf courses south of Myrtle Beach. Prices for single-family homes have been rising incrementally the last few months, but condos and townhomes inside the gated community are still near their lowest points in 10 years. One townhome in the Weehawka section that sits between the 10th and 11th holes –- an easy walk to the clubhouse and first tee -– is currently listed for just $106,000. A few others are listed in the $120s. For more information, contact me (click here). Better yet, fill out our Golf Home Questionnaire, tell us your requirements for a golf community home, and we will respond with some suggestions about which communities match up the best. No fees, no obligation. Click here for access to the online questionnaire.

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