Craig Mac
BoM 4/10 7/11 12/14
Got back last night from Myrtle Beach and despite the wildfires down there we had a great trip, here are some pics and course reviews from the trip.
Here was our group this year(I am bottom left):
The Courses:
Aberdeen Country Club(Shot a 95 here)
Aberdeen Country Club is a Tom Jackson designed golf course that is "Tucked among towering hardwoods and the beautiful Waccamaw River, this course features extensive mounding, wide landing areas, & bent grass greens." This course to most of our group seemed to have tricky greens and some felt they were "gimmicky" with the pin placements. There were some heavily sloped greens and most pins were cut in the middle of the slopes. I don't have a problem with that if it is only a few, but it seems it should be a good mix of 6 easy, 6 medium, and 6 hard pin locations. This course seemed to have about 12-13 hard locations and 5-6 medium, and most hole locations were on the "short" side of the greens.
As you can see the course is heavily tree lined with mounding around the fairways and greens. Most errant shots would hit the mounds and never be seen again. I did like the course and condition wise it was probably around an 8.5/10 with fairly fast greens.
Above is a picture of the par 4 4th hole a 335 yard hole with a small stream crossing the fairway that prevents the longer hitters from hittin a driver. Fellow THP'er chappslappy hit his shot of the week here. From 180 yards in to the wind he hit a hybrid to about 10 feet. The ball is just right of the flag in this photo but is hard to see in the picture.
Black Bear Golf Course(Shot an 88 here)
Black Bear is another Tom Jackson deigned golf course described as "A classic parkland course completely engulfed by nature. The Beast may look intimidating with it's 23 beautiful finger lakes, but the wide fairways and smooth Champion greens make it very tamable." To be honest I found it to be very similar to Aberdeen CC with the exception of the dense trees lining the course, a little less mounding around the course and a more open layout. It was much more playable for the average golfer, and the greens, despite being patchy in areas, were more player friendly with a better balance of easy/medium/hard pin locations.
The course also featured GPS in the carts, which helped see some of the trouble lurking in the shadows, small streams and ponds that weren't visible off the tee came in to play quite a bit. It was always a good idea to look at the course guide on every hole so you didn't find trouble. Above is the par 5 second hole and the pond is not visible until you get about a hundred yards away.
Around the 8th hole the wind shifted direction and the smoke and ash from the wildfires burning in North Myrtle Beach began to cover the golf course. Above is a picture of the short par 4 11th hole and you can see the smoke in the photo. This was a fun course and most of the 8 of us scored pretty well here. I would rate this course about an 8/10, with a little taken away due to the slight patchiness of some of the greens.
Heather Glen(Blew up to a 101 here)
I was looking forward to this course as it was our "premium" course for the week. The 4 courses run by this group are designed to be Scottish themed. Designed by Architect Clyde Johnston, he "built menacing, deep pot bunkers that can sometimes even be hidden from the fairway. There are railroad ties and mounded fairways." As beautiful as the course was it was mentally taxing to play. Fairways required well struck shots and it was easy to get yourself in trouble quickly. Shot selection had to be carefully considered around this 27 hole facility.
Above is the par 5 3rd hole on the Red Course. A carefully placed tee shot to avoid the trees left and the bunker right left puts you in a good position for an easy layup or if you are feeling bold it was possible to reach in two.
Above is the toughest tee shot on the course IMHO. You had to pick a club and a specific line to find this fairway, the 150 pole is over the biggest bunker on the left side. Sorry about the quality of the photo, I think my camera was switched to different mode and that is the reason it looks brownish.
One of the features of this course was menacing pot bunkers, this was one I saw from another hole and snapped a pic. This bunker turned out to be on the right side of a par 3, about pin high. If you pushed your tee shot there you were faced with this shot to a green that was at least 15 feet above you.
This was too beautiful of a hole not to photograph, a long par 5 with a stream cutting about 20 yards short of the green with railroad ties on both sides of the banks. One of our foursome found this hazard and luckily it was dry and he was actually able to get up and down out of it.
The pic above had to be the best looking tee shot on the course as well as the hardest!! A dogleg left par 4(green is left of the trees in pic), with a split fairway with a hazard in the middle(more railroad ties). The safer play was to the right side, but it left you a much longer shot and not to mention those stacked sod pot bunkers in the right of the photo. The left fairway cut off a lot of distance to the hole, but required a better shot to avoid the hazard right and the waste bunker left.
All in all this was the most challenging course we played all week and our scores for the day proved it. The greens were fast, but they were receptive to shots. The course was in amazing shape and every hole was a marvel of course design. I'd give this one a 9.5/10. Only taking away .5 because the use of the pot bunkers seemed a bit pointless to me, but that is probaably because I got stuck in one.... [ame="http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?p=77944#post77944"]see here for more explaination[/ame]
Carolina National(Shot a solid 81 here)
Carolina National is a "27-hole Fred Couples signature golf facility set along the Lockwood Folly River. Carved out of low-country marshlands, the course offers golfers an endless variety of playing experiences." I have now played this course 3 times and will continue to play it! First of all, it is an hour back on the trip home so it is convient, and second it is a great course. I don't want to say it is an easy course, you can still get in a lot of trouble, but it is player friendly. And after getting beat up on some of the other courses we play it is nice to play one that is fun and familiar.
Above is a picture of the 328 yard par 4 4th hole(Heron Course). A big bunker in the middle of the fairway, makes you think about what club to hit and where you want to hit it to. Many big bunkers and the marsh comes in to play behind the hole as well as down the right side of the hole.
Above is the par 5 9th hole(Heron Course). This hole requires a good tee shot to find the fairway. I would not consider this hole reachable in two for most players. It is more of a hole where you try to hit a good tee shot and hit a layup to a number you are comfortable with.
Above is the par 4 9th hole(Ibis Course). Picture is from the green facing back towards the fairway. The hole has a split fairway with a giant waste area between the two fairways and the left side is not visible from the tee. Driver is not needed on this hole as it plays on the shortish side, but the split fairways aren't that wide so accuracy is a must here.
I would rate this course an 8.5/10. I love the course and it was in great shape, but I feel it is a little too "player friendly" to recieve a higher rating. It is a great course to finish a vacation with, a track that won't humble you too badly.
Random Pics:
This was my attempt to take a panoramic view from our porch, the house claimed "Ocean View" but it was across the street from the Ocean.
This one I took yesterday morning at sunrise. Between the leftover wildfire smoke and the fog it made for an interesting picture.
Here was our group this year(I am bottom left):
The Courses:
Aberdeen Country Club(Shot a 95 here)
Aberdeen Country Club is a Tom Jackson designed golf course that is "Tucked among towering hardwoods and the beautiful Waccamaw River, this course features extensive mounding, wide landing areas, & bent grass greens." This course to most of our group seemed to have tricky greens and some felt they were "gimmicky" with the pin placements. There were some heavily sloped greens and most pins were cut in the middle of the slopes. I don't have a problem with that if it is only a few, but it seems it should be a good mix of 6 easy, 6 medium, and 6 hard pin locations. This course seemed to have about 12-13 hard locations and 5-6 medium, and most hole locations were on the "short" side of the greens.
As you can see the course is heavily tree lined with mounding around the fairways and greens. Most errant shots would hit the mounds and never be seen again. I did like the course and condition wise it was probably around an 8.5/10 with fairly fast greens.
Above is a picture of the par 4 4th hole a 335 yard hole with a small stream crossing the fairway that prevents the longer hitters from hittin a driver. Fellow THP'er chappslappy hit his shot of the week here. From 180 yards in to the wind he hit a hybrid to about 10 feet. The ball is just right of the flag in this photo but is hard to see in the picture.
Black Bear Golf Course(Shot an 88 here)
Black Bear is another Tom Jackson deigned golf course described as "A classic parkland course completely engulfed by nature. The Beast may look intimidating with it's 23 beautiful finger lakes, but the wide fairways and smooth Champion greens make it very tamable." To be honest I found it to be very similar to Aberdeen CC with the exception of the dense trees lining the course, a little less mounding around the course and a more open layout. It was much more playable for the average golfer, and the greens, despite being patchy in areas, were more player friendly with a better balance of easy/medium/hard pin locations.
The course also featured GPS in the carts, which helped see some of the trouble lurking in the shadows, small streams and ponds that weren't visible off the tee came in to play quite a bit. It was always a good idea to look at the course guide on every hole so you didn't find trouble. Above is the par 5 second hole and the pond is not visible until you get about a hundred yards away.
Around the 8th hole the wind shifted direction and the smoke and ash from the wildfires burning in North Myrtle Beach began to cover the golf course. Above is a picture of the short par 4 11th hole and you can see the smoke in the photo. This was a fun course and most of the 8 of us scored pretty well here. I would rate this course about an 8/10, with a little taken away due to the slight patchiness of some of the greens.
Heather Glen(Blew up to a 101 here)
I was looking forward to this course as it was our "premium" course for the week. The 4 courses run by this group are designed to be Scottish themed. Designed by Architect Clyde Johnston, he "built menacing, deep pot bunkers that can sometimes even be hidden from the fairway. There are railroad ties and mounded fairways." As beautiful as the course was it was mentally taxing to play. Fairways required well struck shots and it was easy to get yourself in trouble quickly. Shot selection had to be carefully considered around this 27 hole facility.
Above is the par 5 3rd hole on the Red Course. A carefully placed tee shot to avoid the trees left and the bunker right left puts you in a good position for an easy layup or if you are feeling bold it was possible to reach in two.
Above is the toughest tee shot on the course IMHO. You had to pick a club and a specific line to find this fairway, the 150 pole is over the biggest bunker on the left side. Sorry about the quality of the photo, I think my camera was switched to different mode and that is the reason it looks brownish.
One of the features of this course was menacing pot bunkers, this was one I saw from another hole and snapped a pic. This bunker turned out to be on the right side of a par 3, about pin high. If you pushed your tee shot there you were faced with this shot to a green that was at least 15 feet above you.
This was too beautiful of a hole not to photograph, a long par 5 with a stream cutting about 20 yards short of the green with railroad ties on both sides of the banks. One of our foursome found this hazard and luckily it was dry and he was actually able to get up and down out of it.
The pic above had to be the best looking tee shot on the course as well as the hardest!! A dogleg left par 4(green is left of the trees in pic), with a split fairway with a hazard in the middle(more railroad ties). The safer play was to the right side, but it left you a much longer shot and not to mention those stacked sod pot bunkers in the right of the photo. The left fairway cut off a lot of distance to the hole, but required a better shot to avoid the hazard right and the waste bunker left.
All in all this was the most challenging course we played all week and our scores for the day proved it. The greens were fast, but they were receptive to shots. The course was in amazing shape and every hole was a marvel of course design. I'd give this one a 9.5/10. Only taking away .5 because the use of the pot bunkers seemed a bit pointless to me, but that is probaably because I got stuck in one.... [ame="http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?p=77944#post77944"]see here for more explaination[/ame]
Carolina National(Shot a solid 81 here)
Carolina National is a "27-hole Fred Couples signature golf facility set along the Lockwood Folly River. Carved out of low-country marshlands, the course offers golfers an endless variety of playing experiences." I have now played this course 3 times and will continue to play it! First of all, it is an hour back on the trip home so it is convient, and second it is a great course. I don't want to say it is an easy course, you can still get in a lot of trouble, but it is player friendly. And after getting beat up on some of the other courses we play it is nice to play one that is fun and familiar.
Above is a picture of the 328 yard par 4 4th hole(Heron Course). A big bunker in the middle of the fairway, makes you think about what club to hit and where you want to hit it to. Many big bunkers and the marsh comes in to play behind the hole as well as down the right side of the hole.
Above is the par 5 9th hole(Heron Course). This hole requires a good tee shot to find the fairway. I would not consider this hole reachable in two for most players. It is more of a hole where you try to hit a good tee shot and hit a layup to a number you are comfortable with.
Above is the par 4 9th hole(Ibis Course). Picture is from the green facing back towards the fairway. The hole has a split fairway with a giant waste area between the two fairways and the left side is not visible from the tee. Driver is not needed on this hole as it plays on the shortish side, but the split fairways aren't that wide so accuracy is a must here.
I would rate this course an 8.5/10. I love the course and it was in great shape, but I feel it is a little too "player friendly" to recieve a higher rating. It is a great course to finish a vacation with, a track that won't humble you too badly.
Random Pics:
This was my attempt to take a panoramic view from our porch, the house claimed "Ocean View" but it was across the street from the Ocean.
This one I took yesterday morning at sunrise. Between the leftover wildfire smoke and the fog it made for an interesting picture.
