Course Review:
TPC of Myrtle Beach

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

Easily the highest priced daily fee course on the Strand, this Tom Fazio/Lanny Wadkins designed track in Murrells Inlet may also be one of, if not the best, new course in the self proclaimed "Golf Capital of the World."

So just what does $175 during the peak spring and fall seasons get you? How about a TPC course devoid of housing, lush with coastal vegetation, and a golf course that features so many memorable holes, you can almost picture each one of them in your mind's eye after playing the course only once.

Looking for a signature hole? Good Luck. Could be the par 5, 483-yard 14th hole, which appears as if it was pulled straight out of Augusta with it's dramatic dogleg, tightly cut fairway without rough, and strikingly white fluffy bunkers. Or in true TPC fashion, it could be par 3, 182- yard 17th hole - a scenic one shoter that features a carry over some water to a two tiered green.

It is becoming a true cliche of the business to say that Fazio has outdone himself this time, but given the less than awe-inspiring setting of the inland quagmires of Murrells Inlet, he truly has. TPC of Myrtle Beach features five different sets of tees, and holes play entirely different from each tee as the angles and the distances to the greens change dramatically. The course could give tour players a run for their money, but could still be conquered by a straight-hitting amateur playing from the white tees.

"The great thing about this golf course is that you never find yourself

hitting the same club into the green on any of the holes," says TPC head pro Jason Edmiston. "Fazio has done such a great job at varying the holes, especially the par 4's."

The front nine is straight-up, traditional golf at it's best, with most greens visible from the tee boxes, and hardly a semblance of a dogleg. Fazio's design bobs and weaves like a boxer on the run, as he varies the length of the par 4's from 353 to 445 yards.

The back nine features a bit more of the mounding we have come to expect from a TPC course, along with some more modern risk/reward style holes. Put the two nines together from the tips, and the TPC of Myrtle Beach becomes perhaps the most challenging course in the Grand Strand.

Should the Tour decide to stick the Seniors on the back tees for the Players Championship come November, the eventual winner will have to be a long hitter and a great ball-striker. Take for example the par 4, 15th hole, which plays 445 yards from the racks and requires players to carry 250 yards of marsh to hit the fairway to the right. Most Senior Tour players will be bailing to the right like water out of a sinking boat.

But head out for a friendly Nassau from the blue tees, white tees, or red tees and the TPC of Myrtle Beach is never longer than 6193 yards. Forced carries become little more than homes for alligators (they can be found throughout the course), and most of the water guarding the greens on the par 3's becomes cosmetic.

"Lots of the trouble out here is lateral, and you can see it from the tee." Says Edmiston. "There are a lot of forced carries, but if you play from the right tees, you'll never really have to worry about it."

In contrast to the TPC of Scottsdale, or some of the other more pronounced stadium-style courses, the TPC of Murrells Inlet is refreshingly natural and believable as Kevin Costner in a baseball movie. The mounding does not really become evident until the final stretch of the back nine, when a number of holes converge in order to provide spectators with multiple viewing options.

If it is not enough that Fazio has provided the Strand with one of it's best golf courses of the last decade, he has done so without having to route his layout through a cookie cutter housing development. The TPC is pure golf course, and nothing else - no patio homes, no mansions, and no construction trailers.

"The stadium course will never have homes on it, and that alone will make it one of the most unique courses in Myrtle Beach," says Edmiston. "The masterplan calls for 6000 homes as part of this development, and another golf course, but there will never be homes here."

A round of golf at the TPC of Myrtle Beach will cost you $175 dollars until May 22 when the rates will drop to $76. Bottom line - the TPC is one of the best courses in the Strand, and they charge accordingly.

Course Information

1199 TPC Boulevard
Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
888-742-8721

Recognition

Golf Magazine - Top 20 Courses you can play in 2000
Best New Upscale Course 1999 - Golf Digest

TravelGolf.com Rating System

A - Tour Style - bring your camera
B - Solid Birdie Effort
C - Par---rty Time
D - Three Jack
F - Double Bogey

This Week at MyrtlebeachGolf.com

Go inside the TPC of Myrtle Beach, with daily reports and reviews from Senior Writer Shane Sharp.