COURSE REVIEWS

Grande Dunes Country Club

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH - Like it or not, when it comes to golf, Myrtle Beach has become a statement town. Going to open a new golf course amid the 110 plus existing tracks? Better have something that sets your layout apart from the others.

Grande Dunes has it all right, in a big way. In fact, "big" is the statement. Big bridge that leads into the one of the biggest residential developments to ever hit the Strand. Big golf course designed by a former associate of the late Robert Trent Jones, one of the biggest names in golf course architecture.

You get the point.

"It is a big project, with the marinas and hotels coming on board," says head professional Mike Buccerone "The course was designed by Roger Rulewich with the intent to do another golf course with another clubhouse. We will have a 36-hole project within the Grande Dunes development, and the new course would be more geared more towards membership."

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The Grande Dunes Country Club is perched on a bank overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway to the west, and U.S. Highway 17 to the east. And unlike many Grand Strand courses that shy away from their maritime environment, Grande Dunes puts water in play on almost every hole.

"The front nine was originally the back nine was the front nine when we started," says Buccerone. "But we thought about what people would remember. They would remember the holes along the Intracoastal Waterway and with all the courses down here, everyone needs a trademark."

While not directly situated on the drink, the front nine still features eight holes with water in play. The most benign hole may be the par 4 starting hole, which plays anywhere from 452 to 331 yards depending on tee selection. Water is in play along the right side of the fairway, but shouldn't present much of a problem for those without a banana slice in their repertoire.

Buccerone advises players to grab a few pars on the courses' opening holes before the course toughens up and bogey becomes the norm, and not the exception.

"Once you get to hole number six, the game is on," he says. "The slopes, the bunkers, the forced carries, with all that taken into consideration, it is on. But with six tees you can go in there and pick your poison. You can bring as much of the darkside of this course into play as you want."

No. 6 is an intriguing par 4 that plays to just 365 yards from the championship tees, and forces players to either carry, or carve a drive around a bunker that sits dead center in the middle of the fairway. The par 5 seventh may be the toughest hole on the course, and one of the stronger three-shoters in the North Strand.

The hole's meandering fairway spans nearly 571 yards from the tips, and forces players to negotiate water on off the tee, on the second shot, and on the approach.

The back nine is everything that Buccerone makes it out to be, and is truly the highlight of the course. Rulewich honed his notion of the "penal" under one of the game's most sadistic designers, and no two holes demonstrate this like the par 5 13th and the par 3 14th.

Thirteen is classic Jones risk/reward. Water bisects the fairway approximately 146 yards in front of the green, forcing either a conservative layup or a heroic carry. Fourteen is perhaps the most dramatic hole on the course, featuring an elevated tee shot to a narrow green protected by a huge bunker to the right. Cut it too much, and the Intracoastal Waterway awaits like a watery Top Flite graveyard.

But Rulewich, you will find, is not as unforgiving as his mentor.

"I think from a player's standpoint, it can be a player-friendly course if you select the right tees," Buccerone says. "The tee locations and the big greens will keep players from getting beat up too much. The greens may be some of the biggest in Myrtle Beach. You can hit the green and still be 70 feet away and still have three and four putts."

Clever front nine and scenic back nine aside, every Myrtle Beach course built over the past 20-years is merely bait for the real estate market, and no track more so than the Grande Dunes C.C. The Grande Dunes development is one of the most ambitious undertakings in the southeastern United State.

All told, it's a $20 billion project with a 20-year build out set on 2200 acres of "prime" Intracoastal land. Condominiums will bring nearly $600,000 per unit, and 80 midlevel priced homes will be constructed along the existing golf course as part of one of the first residential phases.

"The whole project is designed to be a major Atlantic coast, upscale resort flavor, something that Myrtle Beach doesn't have," says Buccerone "We have a four star hotel coming on board and with our hotel and the homes, you will have it all here. We want to bring something to Myrtle Beach that it hasn't had."

One thing that Grande Dunes County Club will have is a hefty price tag for a round of golf. Summer rates come in around $89 with a cart, and Buccerone says that peak season greens fees will approach $160 per round.

There are presently no on-site accommodations at Grande Dunes for visiting golfers, but condos at neighboring Myrtlewood and rooms at the Hampton Inn at Broadway at the Beach are available in package deals.

Oh, and as far as that competition from the region's deluge of courses, Buccerone says that bigger should ultimately be better.

"With this project, it is such a long term project," he says. "You have to suffer short term effects of losing some rounds, but with a 20-year build-out, you have to look down the road. New golfers are going to want to come and try it, and we are getting some of the golfers that are causing older courses to have declining rounds."