It's difficult to believe you're just one car turn, one long driveway and several golf cart zooms off of Highway 17, the main strip mall stretch of Myrtle Beach.
Myrtle Beach National's West Course can take you away like the bubbles from those old Calgon commercials. You might not feel like you're lost in a forest ? it's still hard to miss the huge white clubhouse that looks like it should house a museum. But you won't feel like you're still in the often frenzied atmosphere of Myrtle Beach, either.
The shame is that almost nobody knows it. Golfers come to Myrtle Beach National to play King's North, of course ? a contender for Myrtle Beach top-10 honors and shoe-in as one of the top 20 courses on the Grand Strand.
When you have that No. 6 hole with its own Gambler Kenny Rogers plaque ? that island fairway hole that's touted as "The Most Unique Par 5 in all of golf" ? it's inevitable that any sister courses are going to feel like Tito Jackson.
Myrtle Beach National has two sister courses in the West Course and the SouthCreek Course. West Course at least deserves some Janet Jackson consideration. It may not be the longtime headliner of headliners, but it's more than worthy of its own fan base.
"I've been here probably a half dozen times and I've only played the King," Wisconsin golfer Eric Schrockenthaler said, shrugging.
Nothing wrong with that per se. But limited thinking has a way of leaving you with some hidden gems.
The West Course certainly qualifies, especially with its finishing stretch. How many golf courses have you heard of that close with a par 3? West Course does, and it actually makes for a dramatic finish. It's 221 yards to the pin from the back blue tees and big numbers that can completely change a round ? and more importantly your bets for the day ? are hardly out of the question.
If you plunk one into the water running along the entire left side of the hole, your playing partners aren't going to be the only ones doubled over. Geese and swans are also liable to be sent flying.
And you wanted to end on just another ho-hum par 4?
Of course, West Course has some fun, drivable par 4s leading up to 18. No. 15 and No. 16 give you some huge openings between the trees to really let your tee shot fly. Strolling down the fairways on these holes (walking is definitely an option), with the pines on all sides, no condos in sight and a birdie in play is a pure golf pleasure.
If it's a quiet day on the course, if everyone's playing King's North, your foursome might even feel like it's on a remote, private golf escape. But still, you have access to all of Myrtle Beach's everyman strip clubs.
"It's a nice course," vacationing golfer Jim Leffer said. "And it's not going to get you as wet as King's North."
The design team of course architect Francis Duane and consultant Arnold Palmer don't pour on the forced water clears at West Course, but it's not as easy as you might first think either. This golfer found the very low key 119 slope rating a little deceiving and had company in that view out on the course.
The West Course can sneak up on you over its 6,866 yards.
Suddenly, you're on No. 14 staring down a water carry off the tee and a fairway that takes a sharp dogleg left about 180 yards from the green. Then there's No. 17, a 491-yard par 5 that's yardage screams pushover and reality reveals danger.
This is another of Duane's doglegs and there's a huge bunker and a bigger tree right at the turn.
At least, it's a peaceful knee knocker.
Myrtle Beach National West: The verdict
No one is saying you should play West Course over King's North if you have one shot here. But rather than play King's North again or search far and wide for a Myrtle Beach sleeper, this could be your course.
The back nine is among the more relaxed settings on the Grand Strand.
There are a number of doglegs that make you think on the West Course. There are also big tuffs of snarly bushes in several bunkers, the kind of thing you see on some Scottsdale courses. Of course, you're not going to think they're so cute if you have to hit out of one.
This is one Myrtle Beach course where nature hasn't been overpowered by construction. West Course proves that not all lesser sisters should be ignored.
Myrtle Beach dining
Greg Norman Grill (843-361-0000) is right off Kings Highway in the Barefoot Landing shopping complex and it's worth a stop.
When a famous athlete gets into food, you expect the worst, especially in a high-priced chain restaurant, but Greg Norman's delivers surprisingly tasty selections. The salmon salad is particularly good. It's more reasonable at lunch and the views on the patio over the water are better then too.
Myrtle Beach hotels
Myrtle Beach has tons of hotels, but not a lot of the upscale ones most seasoned travelers expect. If you lean that way, the Marriott Grand Dunes is clearly the best, but the Sheraton Myrtle Beach Convention Center is in the same general league (minus the ocean access) and often much cheaper.
West Course is actually the granddaddy of Myrtle Beach National, having opened in 1973.
Man O'War