MYRTLE BEACH FEATURES

A road map to the spring season in the Grand Strand

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (Feb. 20, 2003) -- Let's skip the pleasantries, shall we?

You are sick and tired of shoveling snow for three hours just so you can get the minivan out of the driveway and into your parking stall at work. If you watch one more infomercial on the Golf Channel you're going full frontal 4-iron into your new plasma screen TV.

The only light at the end of winter's tunnel is your annual golf gorge to the Grand Strand, which is one month away and counting. You want some answers to some very basic questions and you want them now. We're feeling you, brother. Let's cut to the chase.

My group won't settle for anything less than the best. Are the top courses from last spring still the must-play courses for this spring?.

Most people will tell you that picking a favorite golf course in Myrtle Beach, or anywhere else for that matter, is too subjective and reliant upon personal preferences. This is a cop-out. Hey, you've seen the reality show "Are You Hot?" on ABC, right (don't lie)? You've either got it, or you don't.

The Caledonia Golf and Fish Club, Tidewater Golf Club, the TPC of Myrtle Beach, the Fazio Course at Barefoot Resort, Grande Dunes and the International World Tour are in almost every seasoned Grand Strand golfer's top 10. After that, there's some general agreement about the next tier: Glen Dornoch, the Dunes Club, Tiger's Eye, Pawleys Plantation, King's North, Rivers Edge, Carolina National, the Avocet Course at Wild Wing, True Blue, the Heritage Club, Oyster Bay, the Players Club at St. James, and Prestwick.

The crap shoot begins after that. We'll toss a few third tier course names out there that are worth your time and money: Crow Creek, Farmstead, the Tradition Club, any course at Barefoot or Legends Resort, the Witch, Shaftesbury Glen, Heather Glen, Blackmoor, Lockwood Folly, Panther's Run, and Pine Lakes International.

Can my group still expect five-hour rounds this spring, because we'd like to be able to get to dinner by 6 p.m. in order to make it to the Masters Club by 6:45?.

Er, yes. Pace of play has always been a major issue on Grand Strand courses during the peak fall and spring seasons - for different reasons. The spring is simply a logjam situation. Thousands of golfers arrive from New England, the Midwest, and even North Carolina with golf games that are as cold as the winter temperatures from their home states.

In the mornings, hordes of hungover hackers (not your group of course) queue up at double-teed first and 10th holes like NASCAR drivers waiting for the green flag. Five-hour rounds are the norm, even though most courses post target playing times of 4.5 hours. If it gets too bad, flag down a ranger and state your case. Good luck, because a lot of these "player assistants" are transplants from the great, white north who signed on for the free golf and not to play the role of enforcer.

My group hasn't been to Myrtle Beach in a couple of years. Are there any "must play" courses that have surfaced since then?

New course construction came to a screeching halt two years ago. But in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a handful of solid new tracks came online. Grande Dunes was the most heralded of the lot, getting a "Top Ten You Can Play" nod from Golf Magazine. The late Robert Trent Jones' former right hand man, Roger Rulewich, designed the course, which features one of the best back nines in town situated on the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway.

On the inland front, Shaftesbury Glen has quickly established itself as one of the best conditioned layouts in the Grand Strand since opening two years ago. Myrtle Beach regular Clyde Johnston designed the course, which is owned and operated by the Glens Group of Heath, Glen Dornoch and Possum Trot fame. Farmstead Golf Links is another to add to your list - a wide open, wind swept course in Calabash, N.C. that is always in good shape and features one of the East Coast's only par-6s (the 18th hole).

• Reader forums • Myrtle Beach course guide • Myrtle Beach course reviews • Grand Strand Shouldn't Rest • Caledonia Golf and Fish Club • Myrtle Beach's Best Links Style Courses

Should my group avoid courses on MBGA.com's "basement" list? We notice that many of the same courses have been in the basement since our last trip to the beach.

Yes and no. A few words about the "Myrtle Beach Golf Association." First, there is no such association, which the Web site's founder Donald Wizeman freely admits. MBGA.com is simply a domain name and the home page of Wizeman and a handful of chaps in the hotel and golf business who wanted to run a "watchdog" operation to disseminate information on local course conditions.

The courses in the "Players Top 20" are compiled via reader e-mails, while courses land in the basement by way of information provided by local informants. Wizeman says the site is updated three times a year, once along with the onset of the spring golf season. Bottom line: MBGA.com's intentions are good, but an Internet site that covers course conditions and is updated three times a year should not be used as the last word on where to play.

>For example, Prestwick Country Club - long a favorite track among locals and visitors alike - recently was placed in the basement. MBGA.com's initial report of Prestwick having four temporary greens was erroneous - there was only one temp green on the 17th hole, and the regulation green is back in play as of two weeks ago.

However, the report that the remaining regulation putting surfaces were in sub-par condition was accurate. The smart money says Prestwick will have this conditioning issue worked out within the next month as daytime temperatures climb into the mid-60s. But even if the greens come back with flying colors, the course is stuck in the basement until the next update.

My group has been coming to Myrtle Beach for 10 years and we've stayed at the beach every year. Should we consider moving to a golf villa?

Does a one-legged duck swim in circles? Staying at the beach is overrated, gentlemen, and golf villas are the only way to go. Put it this way. What if you and seven of your best buddies lived in a couple of two bedroom condos within walking distance of two or three golf courses? Moreover, each condo was equipped with a full kitchen, an outdoor patio with grill, washer/dryer and two color TVs. Your frat house days may appear to be over, but do they really have to be? Bag the beach.

My group enjoys a good gentlemen's club as much as the next, but we despise smoke, bad music and $5 domestic beers. Is there hope for us?.

The Masters Club, plain and simple (not that we've been there, but we've heard good things). This Myrtle Beach mainstay features happy hour specials on beers, great looking ladies, and a virtually smoke-free environment (so we hear.).

This is my groups' first trip to Myrtle Beach, and I had no idea we had to book so far in advance. I haven't made a single tee time. Are we out of luck?.

It depends on the size of your group and the courses you are willing to play. If you are a group of eight to 16 and want to play Caledonia in the morning and True Blue in the afternoon, you'd have a better chance of convincing Tony Blair that war with Iraq is a bad thing. For groups of eight and under willing to tee it up on any course that has short grass and 18 cups, you are probably fine. But you need to either contact individual courses or a package provider TODAY.

We keep hearing that the Dye Course at Barefoot Resort and the Surf Club are going private, but we also heard both are still open to public play. What's' the deal..

The Surf Club will eventually go private. The venerable facility has plenty of members, doesn't see eye-to-eye or rely on many of the area's larger resorts for rounds, and should be closed door this time next year. As for the Dye Course, it's just not going to happen anytime soon - the membership quota hasn't been met and Barefoot Resort needs all the play it can get.

The last time my group was in Myrtle Beach, we kept hearing the term "replay." We think we know what it is. Okay, we have no idea. What is it?.

Most Grand Strand courses offer replays at their track, nearby courses, or affiliated courses. Discounts on replays usually approach 50 percent of the rack (off the street) rate, or between $20 to $25 a golfer from package rates. The drawback is you are not guaranteed a spot in the rotation, and could spend the afternoon making phone calls or driving around. Also, the relationships between courses and properties are as foggy as the pea soup rolling in off the Atlantic on a chilly March morning. The best thing to do is ask your package provider or call the courses directly.