Arrowhead Country Club
Presents Three Different Looks

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

MYRTLE BEACH, N.C. - With over one hundred golf courses in Myrtle Beach, saying that a course is unique to the Grand Strand usually involves telling a bit of a white lie. But the Cypress, Waterway, and Lakes Courses at Arrowhead Country Club in west Myrtle Beach may be able to get away with this proclamation without having to write "I will not tell a lie", one hundred times on the chalk board.

• An interview with Arrowhead assistant pro Scott Devaux • Past Myrtle Beach course reviews and features

The mounding on the course approaches nothing close to goofy golf, and for the most part, you will find yourself with excellent lies and stances if you hit the ball reasonably straight.

The Waterway Course is the newest nine at Arrowhead, having opened in 1995, and sports a number of hoes that play right along the Intracoastal Waterway. The par-4, 387 yard 5th hole may be one of the most memorable holes in all of Myrtle Beach, and is considered by many to be the signature hole of the course.

The Intracoastal Waterway runs along the entire left side of the hole, and a lake to the front left of the green waits to swallow up slicer's approach shots. Mix in four bunkers around the green, three front side and one to the back, and you have yourself not only one of the more beautiful holes on the Strand, but one of the more challenging as well.

A word of caution to players who fear the water - the Lakes Course will eat your lunch. In fact the Lakes Course bats a thousand when it comes to the wet stuff - nine of the nine holes legitimately have water in play.

And the first hole to bite into your foot long after the turn will be the 556 yard par-5, 3rd hole. A tee shot down the left side of the fairway is must if you want to take the fairway bunkers on the right out of play. No duffer in their right mind wants to be hitting their second shot on a par-5 with a long iron out of the beach.

The lake that lines the upper left side of the hole will come into play on both the second shot and the approach shot to the green. Even long hitters are not immune to the pitfalls of the 3rd hole - long hitters can actually reach the lake on the left off the tee. Basically, bring your "A" game on this hole, and do not walk away upset with a harmless six.

All three nines at Arrowhead were designed by Tom Jackson in consultation with Raymond Floyd. And if you have ever played a Jackson course, or watched Floyd's obsession with perfection on the golf course, it is no wonder that this duo has churned out a track the caliber of Arrowhead.

For tee times at Arrowhead, call 1-800-236-3243.