 GOLF COURSE REVIEWS:
King’s North at Myrtle Beach NationalBy Shane Sharp, Contributing Writer MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Eight years after its complete makeover, King’s North at Myrtle Beach National will have you know that its doing just fine. The course’s immaculate bentgrass greens are still firm and true. The 43 bunkers on the par 4 18th are still sucking in duck hooks like it was their job. The par 5 sixth hole, officially known as “the Gambler” is still taunting golfers with the prospect of going for the green in two. All in all, it’s a good time to be associated with the Arnold Palmer designed layout located off Highway 501.
King’s North underwent one of the most extravagant face-lifts in Myrtle Beach golf history back in 1996. One of three courses, the “North Course” as it was known pre-remodel, had been open for 26 years and had fallen out of favor with members and tourists. Enter Palmer and principal design associate Ed Seay. The design tandem was charged with the task of rebuilding the tee boxes, greens, bunkers and lakes at the venerable layout, and rebuild they did. “There is not much that is the same about this golf course,” Woodring says. “The routing is the same, but that is about it. They switched the nines, because the current 18th hole is more dramatic with its view of the clubhouse. Lakes were extended, bunkers were added and the greens are completely different.” King’s North will not overwhelm you with its setting – the Myrtle Beach National complex is located off one of the most congested traffic arteries in the southeastern U.S. And the only time you’ll know you are anywhere near the beach is when one of King’s North’s signature coastal birds flies overhead. Nor with it bowl you over with pomp and circumstance. The practice range still has a token operated ball machine, there are no toasted almonds on the first hole, and the clubhouse architecture is “post-Brady-family-deco.” But visit any Myrtle Beach golf chatroom, talk to savvy locals, or confer with local head professionals, and you will hear one familiar refrain: King’s North is one of the best layouts on the beach. “There are so many courses down here, it almost becomes a matter of preference,” Woodring said. “But people who play here time and time again, say it grows on them.” Pebble Beach it may not be, but is it really such a stretch for King’s North to considered such a local creature comfort? Day in and day out, the track is in excellent condition. The greens, as of this playing, were approaching perfection, and that is following the annual fall verticut. If you like a course that begs you to pull driver first, and ask questions later, you’ll find it here. If all you require for complete golf Nirvana are a few memorable holes mixed with a bevy of well-crafted, playable ones, King’s North will be your bag. Most importantly, Woodring believes that golfers find in King’s North a course that they would be happy to play every day of the week. When asked if Palmer and Seay left behind some kind of signature at King’s North, Woodring, pauses, glances down at one of the courses gently undulating greens, and goes into a five minute diatribe about playability. “I think first and foremost, this course appeals to a variety of different skills levels,” Woodring says. “There are six sets of tees and it can play as hard or as easy as you want it to. It is hard to blister this course. We held the Myrtle Beach Open here last week, and only one kid came out and posted a low score in the 60’s. Even with all the room in the fairways off the tee, it can give you all you want.”
The No. 4 handicap first hole plays 502 yards from the tips, as is relatively devoid of trouble with the exception of a small pond about 200 yards out to the left that gobbles up duck hooks. The No. 3 handicap 10th plays 517 yards from the back tees, and begs players to favor the right side of the fairway with its sand and water on the left.
And nowhere on the entire layout will you become more acutely aware of the course’s tee box differential than on King’s North’s locally famous 18th hole. From the back tees, the hole plays 464 yards versus 377 from the green tees. Throw in the 43 bunkers down the left side of the fairway and the lake to the right of the green and this two-shotter becomes a challenge for the King himself. “When Arnold was out here to open the course the wind was blowing something fierce,” Woodring says. “He played from the back tees and took driver, three-wood into the green, and this was back when he was still fairly long.” |
Speaking of the back tees, if you want to “see the entire course”, it will cost you around 7000 yards. If you want to own up to your true handicap, you can play from the white tees at 6024 or the green tees at 6195 and make the course that much more enjoyable. 
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