 FEATURE STORY
MyrtleBeachGolf.com's Spring Golf Guide: Myrtle Beach’s Best Finishing HolesEverything you need to know about the packages, the courses, and all things Grand Strand By Shane Sharp,
Part Three in an ongoing series MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – What do you expect from a good finishing hole? Drama? Scenery? How about challenge and intrigue? The best 18th holes are the ones that you are anticipating before you putt out on the 17th green, and the ones you are still talking about weeks after your golf trip. Most of the time, they are par fours; sometimes they are par fives, and almost never are they par threes. They play into clubhouses, lakes, stiff breezes, and crowds of people on verandas. On a good finishing hole, the approach is key. On a great finishing hole, the approach shot becomes the single most important thing in your life, at that moment. “For a good finishing hole, you have to have a high fear factor,” says golf course architect Clyde Johnston. “On the approach shot, the golfer’s knees should be knocking, his heart should be pounding, and his palms should be sweating.” And the design of the hole?
Clearly, there is a tangible recipe for a great finishing hole, and here are five courses in the Grand Strand that can cook with the best of them.
The hole shortens up to 490 from the white tees, but still requires a drawn tee shot to avoid the water on the right. The second shot is where those with onions are separated from the pack. If you want to go for the green in two, you’ll have to fly a low iron or even a fairway wood to a green with water in front and behind it. Easily one of the best risk/reward holes at the beach. Caledonia Golf and Fish Club, Pawleys Island The 18th at Caledonia doesn’t stack up to the 18th at Heritage (pictured below) in terms of risk/reward, but it still has plenty of drama and scenery. The hole plays just 383 yards from the back tees, and 377 yards from the member boxes.
Tidewater Golf Club Brutal. That is how most golfers will describe the 450-yard par four 18th hole at Tidewater, one of the Strand’s most respected golf courses. The scorecard lists Tidewater’s finishing hole as the No. 4 handicap for both men and women. But try buying into that rating if the prevailing wind is in your face, and your spirit has already been broken by the course’s breathtaking, but gut wrenching, back nine. The 18th doglegs to the left, and your tee shot must reach the corner to get you a look at the green. The marsh comes into play off the tee if you hang it too far to the right, and on the approach if you are short and right. This two-shotter is often referred to by patrons as “the toughest finishing hole on the planet.” The only reprieve is that the green is three to four clubs deep and is accepting of low irons.
The tenth hole at Long Bay tends to get all the hype, with its behemoth horseshoe waste bunker and its dramatic mounding, but the par four 18th (at right) at this Jack Nicklaus designed course in the North Strand stands out as one of the best finishing holes at the beach. From the back tees, the hole plays to 445 yards, and requires a long, high fade to set up an approach to a green guarded by bunkers, bulkheads, and water. It may only play 368 yards from the white tees, with the 18th at Long Bay still requires the same precision on the second shot – just with a higher iron. Pawleys Plantation, Pawleys Island Sure, it’s another Nicklaus designed track, but the finishing hole at Pawleys Plantation has to make the grade due to its high marks the scenery and drama departments. Atypical of most Nicklaus finishing holes, the 18th bends right to left and requires a slightly drawn tee shot to end up in the “A” position on the approach. From the back tees, you’ve got a solid knee-knocker factor at 443 yards, but the white tees reel the hole back in to 372 yards. Pawleys is one of the few courses in Myrtle Beach that actually plays out towards the ocean, and you’ll be reminded of this the entire 18th as the marsh borders the hole to the left. Also look for a memorable view of the antebellum clubhouse in the distance. Also Finishing Strong The Fazio Course at Barefoot Resort -- Maybe the toughest finishing hole in Myrtle Beach not named Tidewater. The Pearl East -- Strong par five that is a true three shotter from the back tees. Marsh Harbor -- Gets upstaged by the penultimate hole, but still a winner and at just 330 yards from the tips, is one of the shortest 18th holes on the Strand.
River Club -- One of the area’s best risk/reward par fives. If you carry your tee shot about 220 yards over the lake, it sets up a six or seven iron into a kidney bean shaped green guarded by water. The Dunes Club -- A classic par four from Robert Trent Jones Sr. that requires an approach over water to an elevated green. The Senior Tour players loved in when the course hosted the Tour Championship. The South Nine at the Thistle -- While not technically a finishing hole, No. 9 at the Thistle’s South Course is one of the only par threes with enough drama and challenge to make the grade. |
All the ingredients of a great finishing hole are here, beginning with scenery. Heritage (at right) is one of the stateliest tracks in the Grand Strand, with its hulking Live Oaks, spooky Spanish Moss, and acres of Low Country marshland. The 18th brings it all to the table in a par five that plays 530 yards from the back of the bus and is as pretty as it is deadly. 
A fairway wood will put you in the “A” position for an approach shot with a high iron across the marsh to the right, and seemingly right at the clubhouse. The knee-knocker factor (if you will) stems from the fact that on the weekends, there are up to 50 beer guzzling duffers looking on from the patio. Low handicappers may view Caledonia’s finishing hole as cute, but for the average golfer, it is all that and a box of Top Flites. 
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