Calabash Golf Links:
It's a Family Thing

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

CALABASH, N.C. -- What is it you like so much about golf courses in Myrtle Beach? The big name designers that have rolled out no expenses barred layouts over the past five years? The great deals on replays in the afternoons?

One the other hand, what is it you don't like about Myrtle Beach golf? The traffic that slows you down as you head to the second course of the day? The corporate and economic environment that drives golf course development which leads to walls and walls of homes and condos lining your fairways like the droves of patrons at the Masters?

Calabash Golf Links just over the South Carolina border in the "seafood capital of the world" - Calabash, NC - can give you almost everything you like about Grand Strand golf, and remedy some of the things you don't.

For your big name designer, Calabash offers up Willard Byrd, one of true fathers of Myrtle Beach golf. Sure, Byrd may not be as trendy a name as Tom Fazio or Jay Morrish, but to deny yourself a round at a Byrd designed course when visiting Myrtle Beach and its environs is to thumb your nose at all that is coastal Carolina golf.

If you are happy with getting a great deal on both your a.m. and p.m. rounds, and not just your replay, then you will be delighted with Calabash Golf Links - peak season greens fees never exceed $70, and summer rounds go for under thirty bucks.

Oh, and those things you said you hate, like traffic and development laden golf courses? Forget about it. There are more boats than cars in Calabash, and the Golf Links is a family owned endeavor that is entirely unspoiled by housing development.

"I just wanted a golf course, so I researched it and retained Willard Byrd," says Calabash owner and frequent patron Kemp Causey. "I wanted a golf course that people could play in four hours. I am a traditionalist, and this course is designed so you can come out and have fun."

Its no surprise that the loving owner of this three-year-old facility can best sum up the playing experience at this traditionally crafted gem. Causey can usually be found knocking it around on the course, rolling some putts on the practice green, or chatting up players inside the pro shop. Oh, and as far as his golf game; let's just say that Causey will tell you that he needs a few strokes, and let's just say if you give them to him you'll have your work cut out for you.

This North Carolina native is nothing if not a southern gentleman, an entrepreneur, and lastly and most importantly to the golf business, a realist. Calabash is as fun and hospitable as any course you'll play, but Causey's dream course was never intended to compete with the likes of Tidewater, Oyster Bay, River's Edge, or any of Brunswick County's more expensive, high-end courses.

"This is just a golf course," Causey says in his polite yet matter-of-fact manner. "We get most of our play from people coming up from Myrtle Beach, and they don't even realize that they are in North Carolina, but most of them realize that there are not houses. You also won't find any bulkheads or bridges. I just tried to take God's piece of land that only had seven feet of elevation and build a course. I would never try to bring Boone (North Carolina) to the coast."

Calabash Golf Links is fun, straightforward, comfortable and affordable. In many ways, the course is like your old girlfriend from high school: you can always call her when you are back in town. Sure, she may not be the prettiest thing in town, but she looks good enough to turn a few heads and going to the movies with her is as comfortable as slipping on an old shoe.

"We are not a high profile course," explains Causey. "We are in the middle range in terms of price, but we have great conditions, and we are oftentimes the course that people want to come back to."

What players like to comeback to is a layout that is not tricked up, has nowhere near the budget of a high-end daily fee course, yet is as well conditioned as many courses that charge over $100 per round. Sure, Calabash doesn't sport the much sought-after bentgrass greens of expensive daily fee courses, but it does a good enough job with its Bermuda grass that you can't complain for the price.

Planted within the midst of this "middle range" course are two holes that are as solidly designed as any two holes you will find in Brunswick County. The par 5, eleventh hole plays 528 yards from the tips, and you can see the entire hole - all the way up to the pin - before you hit your tee shot. For traditionalists, the ability to see the challenge that awaits on a golf hole is as comforting as sipping an afternoon cocktail on the front porch. True to form, No. 11 graciously shows players all it has to offer from the moment you pull up to the tee.

Adding to the experience on this hole are two key ingredients: scenery and solid design. In the scenery department, an old piece of lowcountry farmland stretches out to the left of the fairway, and the backdrop behind the green consists of a lush array of Carolina hardwoods and pines. In the solid design department, the hole's landing area narrows enough to force long hitters to take dead aim between two bunkers that flank the fairway to either side.

The reward of booming, deadeye, three hundred-yard plus drive is that you will be able to go for the green in two. The risk is rooted in the aforementioned bunkers, and their ability to turn this birdie opportunity into a possible bogey.

The par 4, 14th hole is essentially the four shot version of No. 11 - a scenic hole with a clever design that will stick in your mind well into your visit to the 19th hole. The narrow teeing areas are fronted on both sides by water, and the fairway, while devoid of doglegs, winds its way between two fairway bunkers up to a green that is wide open to approach shots aimed to the right side.

So the next time plunking balls off patio homes, fighting bumper to bumper traffic, or paying over a hundred dollars for a round of golf sends you over the edge, think about heading for the border and the open arms of the Calabash Golf Links. It many not be your ex-girlfriend, but Kemp Causey and his crew will be glad to hear from you.

Course Information

Calabash Golf Links
820 Thomasboro Rd.
Calabash, NC 28467
800-841-5941
Website - www.calabashgolf.com

Directions

From Myrtle Beach - take U.S. 17 to Thomasboro Road turn right and course is 1.5 miles down on the right.

Where to Stay

For cozy resort style lodging, bed down at the Winds Inn on Ocean Isle Beach (910-579-6275), or for one of the beach's best bed and breakfasts, try the Goose Creek B and B (800-275-6540.) As is the Grand Strand tradition, both offer golf packages and great hospitality.

Where to Eat

Cruise N.C. 179 through Calabash at stop at any seafood restaurant. Sick of fish? Order up a steak or ribs at Bronco's Steakhouse and Salon (910-579-8993) just over the Ocean Isle Causeway on the right-hand side.

If you like Calabash, you'll also like . . .

Brick Landing Plantation, Brierwood Golf Club, Ocean Isle Beach Golf Club and Lockwood Folly Country Club.