Legends is a Wee Bit of Scotland on the Strand

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - With golf's popularity soaring, Scottish style links courses have become as vogue as beanie babies and the Goo Goo Dolls. But rare is the golfing facility that can not only provide players with the Scottish playing experience, but with real slice of golf's birthplace as well.

"When you play at the Legends, we try to make it as much like Scotland as possible," says assistant pro Andy Bemis "We have a bagpiper who plays in the afternoon when the weather is good. We try to create that atmosphere."

With a club house straight-out of the motherland itself, a real Scottish pub, and three links style courses that rank among the best on the east coast, the Legends is more than just a wee bit of Scotland.

• No. 8 on Heathland Course has Distinct Scottish Flavor • Legends' Parkland Course Brings Augusta to the Table • "Hell's Half Acre" Highlight of Tough Moreland Course

"We don't consider one course over the other," says Bemis. "Heathland tends to get played the most. The head pros here think that the Parkland is the most fun to play. The Parkland is a little bit more challenging. It has more length, tree lined fairways and some marshlands. It is more of an American style course."

According to Bemis, the Heathland course is closer to the Scottish style links course that we have all come to expect out of the British Golf Renaissance. There are lots of open areas throughout the course, and plenty of mounding and pot bunkers as well.

"You can run balls up into all of the greens on the Heathland," says Bemis. "It can get really get windy out there."

If the Heathland is the favorite course of the first time visitor, and the Parkland is the favorite course of the resident professionals, where does that leave the Pete Dye designed Moorland Course?

"The Moorland books up after the Heathland." says Bemis. "It is more of PGA stadium course. The course has more elevated tees and greens - it has a lot of dramatic golf shots and lots of target golf."

Keep it in the fairways on the Moorland Course or you may just find yourself in something not common to most Scottish layouts - the water. The course has quickly established the reputation as one of the toughest tracks on the east coast to open in the past ten years.

"If you can not hit it straight at Moorland, you will be in a lot of trouble," adds Bemis. "The best course for the high handicapper is the Heathland."

Whatever you preference for links style golf, the Legends will satisfy like a cold Scottish Ale on a brisk British afternoon. Each track is as varied as the birthplace of golf itself, and no where is this more evident than in the greens of each respective course.

"The greens for the most part are generous," says Bemis. "We have a few small greens, but you'll usually be hitting a wedge into them. Heathland's greens have a lot of roll to them, Parkland's have gentle breaks. Moorland's are the same as Heathlands with a number of rolls, pitches and slopes."

For more information on greens fees and resort packages, call the Legends at 1-800-503-1865.