COURSE REVIEW

Multiple beer cart girls just part of Grande Dunes' grand pricey plan

By Chris Baldwin,
Contributor

(Oct. 13, 2004) - Everyone loves the beer cart girls. They're one of the true slices of Americana, as red, white and blue as apple pie, fourth of July barbecues, red Corvettes and firefighter opera singers at Yankee Stadium. Still few golf courses regard the beer cart girls with as much reverence as Grande Dunes Resort Course.

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Everything's done on a grand scale at this North Myrtle Beach golf complex/housing monstrosity/marina and the beer cart girls are no exception. In fact, they are a major part of the marketing campaign. Grande Dunes guarantees that you'll never have to wait nine holes to see a beer cart girl. Oh the horror! Never more here. There are at least two beer cart girls on duty at all times at Grande Dunes, each assigned to one of the nines.

"Golfers love it,'' head pro Frank Coughlin said in a phone interview. "With all the great features of the club right along the Intracoastal Waterway, you'd be surprised how many comments we get on our beer cart system. It's all about service. Who wants to only see the refreshment cart once or twice the entire round?"

Who indeed!

And in case you've struck up a particularly enlightening conversation with the beer cart girl, Grande Dunes tries to insure you won't be distributed by a restless trailing foursome.

"We single tee as opposed to most of other courses around here that double tee,'' Coughlin said. "That allows us to have at least 10 minutes of separation on the tees instead of the eight you usually get in this area."

OK, so the single teeing is technically designed to improve pace of play, not pace of beer cart girl flirting. Can't a golfer dream? Especially here.

Grande Dunes is all about big, mammoth, hulking dreams, the kind a Donald Trump has. The public golf course is just part of $20 billion, projected 20-year building plan for over 2000 acres of land. This is only year three of the building. A separate members-only 18-hole course is set to open next year. There are condominiums, more condominiums and at least a 100 dream homes already in construction. Grande Dunes' website proudly trumpets the fact that marina villas are pre-selling now, registration required. Houses are sold with the equivalent of sports stadium seat licenses here.

The company behind the development (Burroughs & Chapin) date their ties to Myrtle Beach back to 1865. Franklin G. Burroughs, a Civil War veteran, is supposedly the schemer who first envisioned Myrtle Beach as a grand American vacation destination. It's doubtful he would recognize the Myrtle Beach of today with its gaudy strip mall beach area populated by everything from cheesy T-shirt shops to tattoo parlors galore to an I-MAX Theater. Yet old Franklin G. Burroughs surely would appreciate all the green dollars this project under his name is bringing in.

Forget the condos with the asking prices of nearly $3 million, a simple round of golf at Grande Dunes can put you back $179. The mammoth here includes the heftiest greens fees in the area.

The Grande Dunes website breathlessly proclaims, "Never Before.Never Again."

Not sure if that's a threat or a promise. Regardless, the golf course definitely strives for the unique. It's elevation changes are somewhat rare for a Grand Strand course and its greens are downright mammoth. They average 10,000 square feet and feature eight regular rotating pin placements. The course you played last week is not necessarily the course you'll play today.

"The large greens provide us a lot of chance for variety,'' Coughlin said. "We like to change things up and keep it fresh.''

The greens also ensure you'll get much fresher with your putter than the beer cart girls by the close of this round. Grande Dunes might loom as the ultimate nightmare for someone suffering from the putting yips.

The water views provide some solace at least. Nos. 8, 9, 10, 14 and 15 all play along the Intracoastal Waterway. Yet Coughlin's personal favorite hole of the moment is No. 17, a par 5 with water running along the entire left hand side and a moat in front of the green. Say this about Grande Dunes, it has no fear of challenging golfers with the wet stuff.

All the dramatic water shots may mask Grande Dunes' real challenge: it's unexpected elevation changes spread along a massive (what else?) 7,618 yards.

"Some of the fairways slope down,'' Coughlin said. "We have one par 3 on the Intracoastal Waterway that's a 60, 75-foot drop."

That would be the No. 14, with its green jutting out over the waterway. It's a picture postcard hole. As long as you're not watching your ball plummet to its watery resting place.

With a project this large, ambitious and upscale there is sure to be some country club attitude on even the course open to the public and Grande Dunes delivers. Like many private clubs, it closes its gates on Tuesdays for course maintenance.

"It's important for the groundskeepers to have that day,'' Coughlin said. "We have certain standards to maintain.''

Of course, they do. It's Grande Dunes, the course where even plentiful beer cart girl trips are regulated. And you thought massive real estate projects did nothing for the common man.

Places to eat

The Dining Room at Grande Dunes offers steaks and seafood, but if you've grown tired of the resort atmosphere there are plenty of other options. Martini's Continental Cuisine & Piano Bar (843) 249-1134 offers more than 30 different varieties of James Bond's signature drink of course and an option for dinner for two or four in a cozy wine cellar. Locals have dubbed it the Proposal Room. If you absolutely have to stick to the golf theme, there's Greg Norman's Australian Grille (843) 361-0000. The Shark only visits a few times a year though and the PGA Tour player prices are always around. No guy struggling through q-school's affording this meal.

Places to stay

The Marriott Resort at Grande Dunes (843) 449-8880 is really a mile away from the sprawling development which is actually a plus. It's one of the quieter hotels in the Myrtle Beach area with its own private beach entrance. And the cocktail waitresses at the oceanfront balcony bar are some of the cutest in town. Of course, you pay for all this atmosphere. Another option if you want the big hotel thing is the Radisson Plaza (843) 918-5000, a 400-roomer, that's little over a year old. It's easier on the wallet to stay in one of the many non-chain hotels along the beach.

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.