COURSE REVIEW

Man O'War is one Waterworld that's no flop

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (May 9, 2005) - Some golf courses intimidate from the first tee. Man O'War intimidates from an altitude of 3,000 feet.

Visitors to Myrtle Beach often first see the Dan Maples' design from their airline seats. With its water stretching everywhere, Man O'War is unmistakable from the sky. Looking down on it from up high it appears like its fairways and greens are slim islands bobbing in a giant's bathtub.

• Caledonia Golf and Fish Club Sets the Bar in the Grand Strand • A Family Thing: Dan Maples Builds on Legacy • Golf Digest rankings raise as many questions as answers • Grand Strand pro shops carve gift niche amid superstore dominance

It's enough to take your swing, if not your breath, away.

"Coming in from the air, people can point out Man O'War more easily thanalmost any other course,'' said Wayne Welden, the course's director of golf. "Withall the water, it's very distinctive."

Distinctive enough to bring the memories back later in wobbly knees. There isjust something about water that intimidates like no other obstacle. People see ManO'War from the airplane or view its panoramic pictures and imagine the worst. Theyhear or read that 16 of its 18 holes have water and they tighten up.

How else do you explain an extremely solid player like Betty Poole of Brandon,Ontario meekly conceding, "That means I'll have to punt it up until I get to theedge'' when faced with an island green? How else do you explain one of the workers atthe three course Maples complex admitting all the water on Man O'War makes him "alittle squeamish"?

This is Man O'War's fear factor. This course might as well be a pit bullsleeping in the corner. It's possible this particular pit bull could be most gentledog in the world, but just looking at him still makes you uneasy. Man O'War is likethat. Every golfer remembers their own Jean Van de Velde water moment when a littleplop transformed a dream round into a nightmare. Man O'War tends to bring thosefeelings rushing back.

Suddenly, you're either set on playing it or determined to stay away from it.

"The Man O'War is a course a lot of people love to play because of all the water,'' Welden said. "They're exhilarated if they conquer it and it is conquerable."

That's right, conquerable. It turns out Man O'War is a lot like a rollercoaster with a reputation for producing screams. It is much scarier from afar thanwhen you are actually on it. Up close, Man O'War offers these wide fairways, plentyof room to skirt around the water on all but a few holes. Sure, a wild shot is allbut guaranteed to splash down, but the worst shots should carry a price. That is themark of a good golf course, not a monster.

For all the water fixation, it turns out that Man O'War's greens are actuallythe sleeping beast that bites most golfers. These are perfect bent grass greensmaintained by a neat freak/sadist. A tap is all it takes to send your putt chargingahead and it's easy to suddenly feel like you are in a car piloted by a teenagedriver in training. You're never quite sure where you're going, but you know it isgoing to be a sudden jerky trip.

"These greens take some getting used to,'' John Shepherd, a golfer fromKnoxville, Tenn., said. "If you're used to playing other surfaces and then you getout here to this bent grass, it's a lot quicker."

If the greens cause the damage, the water still grabs all the glamour. It isinteresting seeing how the sight of blue makes people doubt their game. Take No. 14,a straightforward 382-yard, par-4. In normal circumstances, this would practically bea gimmie hole. Only the green's on an island and that changes everything. Suddenly,everyone's going short or long with their approach shots, overcompensating to avoid asplash down in either direction.

The water does not mess with your swing as much as it messes with your mind.

Maples' design uses this to full advantage. The Carolina family designer may be overrated in these parts (see Man O'War's sister course The Wizard), but maybe Maples is just a psychologist at heart. Putting in back-to-back island greens at Man O'War (No. 14 and No. 15) is a stroke of mind warfare Sun Tzu could appreciate.

There is no chance for a landlover to catch his breath after No. 14. Anyonealready jittery becomes even more so when faced with the 173-yard, par-3,island-green 15th. Somehow through sheer psychology Maples transforms an18-handicap-rated hole into an intimidator. In this foursome, everyone nervouslylanded in the deep sand bunker right in front of the island green.

Call it a case of the water yips.

Man O'War is all about overcoming your preconceived notions. The hardest holeon the course -- the No. 1 handicap, 593-yard, par-5 eighth -- is one in which waterdoes not come into play. It is all in the eye of the beholder.

"We use this is as a warm-up course,'' Paul MacDonald, a frequent Myrtle Beachvisitor from the Boston area, said dismissively. "The greens and fairways are in goodshape, but it's really not that difficult at all if you don't get caught up in it."

Of course as MacDonald talked, his buddy Bob Leonard of Goffstown, NH stalkedup to the 10th tee, visibly upset about what had transpired on No. 9. That would bethe hole with the island fairway. The same hole that once cost Welden a shotat the course record (a bogey on nine, his closing hole, left the golf director oneoff the mark). The same hole that's built on the kind of intimidation factorMacDonald waved off.

"Just hit your shot,'' Leonard, glowered at MacDonald.

Just another day at Man O'War, the friendly island paradise.

Man O'War: The verdict

Built on a 100-acre man-made lake, Man O'War is one Waterworld that doesn'tdeserve to be a box office bomb. It carries a gimmicky concept to be sure, but thatis backed by a very playable course. At 6,967 yards from the back tees, it is notdesigned to infuriate as much as it is to entertain.

This isn't a course that has gone bunker crazy. Instead Maples makes good useof the bunkers he does put into play, matching them up with the water obstacles tocreate challenges that make you mull over club selection. Even the No. 9 islandfairway that draws most of the complaints is large enough to allow for a decentmargin for error.

The greens are in great shape and at a time of year when many Grand Strand courses are looking a little ragged making the transition from summer to fallseasons, Man O'War was sparkling green. With $39 p.m. weekday rate ($35 if you getone of the easy to find coupons), this is one water test worth taking.