Pawleys Plantation: Still One of Grand Strand's Best Courses

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (July 8, 2002) -- Pawleys Plantation will have you know it was plantation-style golf before plantation-style golf was cool. It was Spanish moss draped Live Oaks, dastardly doglegs and marsh framed greens when True Blue and Caledonia were still just glimmers in Mike Strantz's eye. It was cool lemonade on the clubhouse patio and she crab soup on a dreary winter afternoon.

And after 14 years of doing battle with the South Strand's premier golf clubs, Pawleys Plantation will have you know it can still bring it with the best of them.

In fact, Pawleys Plantation is a better golf course today than it was when it first opened in 1988. Like Dick Clark and Katie Couric, this Jack Nicklaus designed layout has shown no signs of aging. The bunkers are framed by crisp lines and are filled with fluffy, white sand. The fairways are a lush green hue that glows in the morning sunlight like some sort of surreal turf oasis. And the greens have experienced a full-blown Renaissance with their recent conversion to TifEagle Bermuda grass.

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Caledonia and the TPC are both wonderful golf courses, but they don't have Pawleys Plantation's back nine. Oh, what a back nine. The look on golfers faces when they see the course take a turn towards the coastal marshland on the par 4 12th hole is worth the price of admission. The feel of the layout goes from Harbour Town to Kiawah faster than Oprah changes diets. As you putt out on 12 and point your buggy towards the massive span of bridge that will take you to the controversial par 3 13th, you understand that this isn't your typical Myrtle Beach cookie cutter golf course.

"You won't forget that part of the course, especially not the 13th hole or the (par 3) 17th hole," Kirtz says.

The 13th is a wisp of a golf hole with its shoebox sized tee box and faux island green. Few holes in the Grand Strand inspire such extreme feelings, with "love" and "hate" standing in as the emotional bookends. Golfers love the hole because it is different, scenic, and makes for a good story when you get back to your tranquil, non-controversial home course. They hate the hole because even at 69 yards from the white tees, it's harder than Chinese math. The wind is almost always in your face, the green is dryer than British humor and approach shots stick like butter on Teflon.

"I hate it, but that doesn't account for the rest of the course, which I actually love," Kirtz says.

The rest of the course, to the surprise of many players, doesn't reek of the Golden Bear in his modern golf course design prime. Holes dogleg to the left as often as the dogleg to the right. The only things buried under the greens are the subtle contours of the natural coastal plain. And you don't have to beat your driver 300 yards down the middle of the fairway to have a go at par.

From the back of the bus, Pawleys plays to 7026-yards and to a slope of 146, and is undeniably one of the toughest tracks in town. But slide up to the whites and you'll find a 6127-yard endeavor that requires some Mensa level thinking and artful shotmaking. One of the best examples of Pawleys Plantation as a brain over brawn golf course is the par 4 10th.

Pretty heady stuff for the No. 6 handicap hole.

Bogey or double bogey the sixth, or any hole on the course for that matter, and there are those who will tell you it's almost impossible to hold a grudge. The overtones of southern hospitality at Pawleys Plantation are difficult to ignore, and the traditional Lowcountry Clubhouse shimmers like a refuge for those who are visibly shaken by the eight they had to card on the 13th when the wind caught their tee shot and pushed it into the marsh.

But Pawleys Island and its environs have always been more of a sanctuary than a purgatory.

The island's first inhabitants settled here because the stiff sea breezes from the nearby Atlantic Ocean chased the mosquitoes away. George Washington passed through and praised the area for its beautiful beaches as did French general Lafayette. The island also claims to be America's oldest resort, and it is hard to argue when your face is stuffed full of blackened Grouper.

Pawleys Plantation sits on the site of an antebellum rice plantation that was once part of the Georgetown County conglomerate that produced half of the country's rice from 1840 to 1860. Nicklaus himself so adored the property that he built a house here, once telling a reporter that he felt a certain "affinity" for the Lowcountry.

"History-wise, design-wise and scenery-wise, you'd be hard pressed to find a better golf course," says Kirtz.

Standing on the tee box of the par 3 17th and gazing out on the marsh following a Lowcountry sunrise, you'd be hard pressed to argue.

Where to Eat

The Litchfield Beach Fish House (843-237-3949), the little seafood joint on the east side of Highway 17 with the fish coming out of the roof, is a favorite among locals. Grouper, Snapper and Flounder are the house specialties, and Litchfield serves it up blackened, fried or broiled. Bob Mimms has owned the place for close to twenty years, and you can only imagine how much things have changed in his little sliver of Pawleys Island. One thing, however, has been as steady and stable as one of the large fishing boats that heads out from the Inlet each day - Mimms way of doing seafood.

Where to Stay

Carolina Golf Travel offers one, two and three bedroom golf villas at True Blue Golf Plantation. This Myrtle Beach stay and play mainstay will also fix you up with a custom golf package that includes a variety of courses around the Strand. Call 1-866-409-2177 for more information.

Where to Shop

The Original Hammock Shops (10880 Ocean Highway) are a Pawleys Island Institution, housing 22 shops ranging from women's fashions to Lowcountry goodies. The original hammock shop also claims to be the birthplace of - you guessed it -- the hammock. The idea for the hammock came from native South Carolinian Joshua John Ward, a riverboat captain who ferried rice and supplies between the vast rice plantations and nearby Georgetown and Waverly Mills. Capt. Josh found the lumpy, grass-filled mattresses on his boat too hot for the sultry coastal summers, so he set about designing a soft, cool bed that would serve his purpose. The result was a hammock so strong and comfortable that its handmade design has endured for more than a century unchanged and unchallenged.