COURSE REVIEW

Myrtle Beach National: No. 6 at King's North elevates golf course to Grand Strand royalty

By Tim McDonald,
Contributor

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (Dec. 22, 2006) — There's only one thing Jim Woodring regrets about the vaunted sixth hole at King's North.

"What a finishing hole that would have been," said Woodring, general manager at Myrtle Beach National's three golf courses: King's North, South Creek and the West Course.

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True enough, but the hole, even coming relatively early in the round, still causes a stir among both regulars and visitors at the Francis Duane/Arnold Palmer-designed course. It's undoubtedly one of the best holes along the entire Grand Strand, a hole that will have you standing around scratching your head as you stand on the tee box overlooking it.

How do I play this thing?

It's a 568-yard par 5 that wraps around a lake to the left, with an island fairway straight ahead. That island fairway looks ominous, but provides the shortest — and maybe safest — route to the green, which actually curves around to the left and heads back toward the tee box.

You can take the long, "safe" route to the right, dry fairway, but that will leave only the gorillas the chance to reach in two. Besides, it isn't that safe; a series of bunkers guards the right side of the narrow landing area, unless you can take them out of the picture with length.

No, the best way is to swallow your fear and head toward the island fairway. Now, the question is, how far?

"What people don't think about is there's nothing that says you have to hit it to the end," Woodring said. "Hit to the middle, then back toward the bunkers (which sit on the other side of the right-hand fairway). Then you're in good position for a short iron in."

Even then, you have no guarantee, because there's a lip at the front of the harshly sloping green, obscuring your view.

No. 6 has a tendency to overwhelm the rest of the course, but there are still some excellent holes. In fact, local newspaper Sun News named Nos. 6, 14, 16 and 18 among its "100 greatest holes along the Grand Strand."

No. 14 is a long, dogleg par 4, and 16 is part of an excellent stretch of closing holes, along with the par-3 17th's elevated tee, with a "Pine Valley" style trap and lake in between. No. 18 isn't exactly a dud closing hole — a par 4 of which Palmer said: "This is as good as it gets on a finishing hole."

There are those 42 sand traps for one thing, the bulk of them left, leaving a wide landing area right. From the back tees, it's wise to use a long iron or fairway wood.

The verdict

King's North isn't one of those Myrtle Beach golf courses that wows you with ocean or Intracoastal Waterway scenery. And aside from No. 6, the holes don't provide any particular melodramatics.

"I haven't seen anything spectacular," said Dick Davis of Ohio. "I played this course 25 years ago before it got to be such a big deal and got so expensive. I expected better."

Maybe so, but it is a course that steadily grows on you as you progress through the round. The shot values are excellent, the routing feels natural, despite Palmer's earth-moving, and it's very playable depending on which set of tees you choose.

Palmer came here in 1996 and revamped the course, moving 400,000 cubic yards of earth, adding bulkheads, 7,000 azaleas and 600 hardwood trees, while enlarging lakes, bunkers and greens. He also rolled his bunkers down to water, another Palmer trait.

Golf Digest listed it 20th in 2005 among Myrtle Beach courses.

It's also women-friendly, being named as one of the top 100 courses in the U.S. for women by Golf for Women magazine.

Stay and play

Country crooner Kenny Rogers personally christened No. 6, known as "The Gambler." A sign with the lyrics to his famous song meet you at the tee box.

The Avista Resort is right on the beach and the Atlantic Ocean in North Myrtle Beach: if the ocean is too rough for you, you can be as slothful as you want in the resort's lazy river, which winds from the cool of inside to outside in the bright South Carolina sun.

The Comfort Suites on Frontage Road is a great place to stay at Myrtle Beach, particularly if you're on a fairly long trip here and need to get to a variety of courses. It's located at the intersection of the Highway 17 bypass and 501, so you can go north, south, east or west with relative ease, while bypassing the busy part of 17.

Dining out

The options are more endless than the golf courses, everything from fast food to fine dining.

For a treat, try Martinis in North Myrtle beach. It's a piano bar that is said to get rowdy at night. Try the filet mignon with shrimp, with the best sauce I've had on the Grand Strand.

It's a local hangout that's been through a number of changes over the years and keeps coming back. I hope it stays the way it is.

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.