COURSE REVIEW

Deer Track hoping to revive reputation with changes to Toski Links

By Tim McDonald,
National Golf Editor

SURFSIDE BEACH, S.C. (March 27, 2006) — Deer Track Golf Resort has taken more than its share of criticism over the years, especially its South course. It is generally regarded as the lesser of the resort's two courses, the other being the North course, or Toski Links.

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"Deer Track? Don't even bother going there," said one Myrtle Beach golf insider, who wished to remain anonymous. "It isn't worth it."

It's also been written up in various publications as a place to avoid, especially the South course.

"Like its sister course, this is a development course with large, water-filled ditches separating most of the holes from the condos and housing," wrote the Myrtle Beach Golf Association, which put the South course in its "basement." "While Deer Track was the co-winner of the 2001-02 hospitality award, their friendly people can't overcome the inferior conditions here, which have declined to the level of a poor municipal track."

The South course currently has the back nine closed due to renovation work, but is expected to open at some point in the future, though officials are unable to pinpoint a date. That's mainly because of a dispute with developer Portrait Homes, which bought land that contained a sliver of the golf course affecting two greens.

Possibly in response to the criticism, the resort put the Toski Links under the knife with work on the green complexes and bunkers. The Toski Links had already undergone a renovation in 1996, and officials completed the most recent work in September.

They re-shaped many of the greens and reduced or removed most of the bunkers in an effort to make the course more player-friendly.

"It really has made a huge difference for our golf course," said Deer Track Director of Golf Karl Kimball. "We had some bunkers out there that were 4,000 square feet, and we had more than one. Our biggest bunker now is 1,200 square feet and we only have one. When I designed this, my whole idea was to have two or three really good pins per playing surface, which would be for tournament play, and we've accomplished that.

"For daily play, I wanted to make sure people had an opportunity to get down here and enjoy their golf, and not have to worry about hitting a 40-yard bunker shot because we had several of those."

Now, the course's maintenance crews won't be overwhelmed in preparing the course for daily play, Kimball said.

"It worked out exactly the way we wanted it to work out," he said. "So, we're real pleased with it and we've had a lot of really nice comments."

Golfers appear to be pleased with the work, if a recent day in November was any indication; the place was hopping and Kimball said the resort hosts 260-270 rounds a day in good weather.

"The place looks like it's in decent shape," said high handicapper Winston Wynn on a recent November outing. "Granted, the greens are slow and I don't like the way the ball sinks down in the rough, but I think it's a fair course. I'd definitely play it again."

The verdict

The changes have definitely improved the course, though it would certainly not be considered in the upper echelons of Myrtle Beach golf.

There are a number of good holes, like the opening par-5 No. 8, a 390-yard par 4 with a nasty fairway bunker left and deep pot bunkers right of the green, and the closing holes 16-18 are particularly well laid-out.

The resort is offering discounts for golfers to play the newly renovated course.

Stay and play

Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort is at the southern end of the Grand Strand, a great place to play the south courses. It's affiliated with three courses: the Litchfield Country Club, River Club and Willbrook Plantation. The latter two in particular are excellent layouts. There's a racquet club and fitness center, and several restaurants to choose from: Websters Lowcountry Grill and Tavern, the eateries at the golf courses and the Calypso Beach Bar and Grill.

Sea Trail Plantation has one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom accommodations, as well as mini-suites and luxury suites from $72 to $386 a night. It's on the southernmost coast of North Carolina, and most of the golf villas are on the fairways of the courses, within walking distance of the Byrd/Jones clubhouse and the Magnolia Restaurant. The villas have full kitchens and the plantation has tennis, swimming and fitness centers. It's a good opportunity to play the plantation's three resort courses, as well as the other courses located here at the northernmost end of the Grand Stand.

River Oaks Golf Plantation, just to the west of the Intracoastal Waterway, is also a good, centrally located place for golfers to stay and play Myrtle Beach. It's easy to go north or south via Highway 17, and it's close to Broadway at the Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. They have one-, two- and three-bedroom villas, many of them overlooking the fairways of the 27-hole golf course on the property. It's also within walking distance of both Fantasy Harbour and the Waccamaw Pottery shopping complex. There are also indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis and walking trails.

Dining out

Myrtle Beach has more than 1,600 restaurants, and they aren't all fried fast food. In fact, the area has some nice eateries: Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Frank's Restaurant and Bar on Pawleys Island, Bella Napoli, Islamorada Fish Company, just to name a few.

The buffet at Sea Trail Plantation is excellent. Try a drive through Murrell's Inlet to find one of dozens of specialized seafood restaurants, with freshly-caught seafood, or eat at Greg Norman's excellent grille at barefoot landing.

Fast fact

The Platt family actually conceived the idea for Deer Track in 1959, but construction didn't begin til 1972 because of the death of V. Francis Platt Sr. At that time, it was the 20th golf course on the Grand Strand.

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.