Grande Dunes (Resort): (http://www.grandedunes.com/amenities/ame_go_resort_club.aspx)
Grande Dunes (Resort) was designed by a team of former key members of Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s design team. The course plays along the Intracoastal Waterway and has undulating
fairways leading to enormous, well-protected greens. Forgiving off the tee, it demands precision in the approach shots. Over 7,600 yards from tip to tip make this one of the longest courses on the East Coast. Overall, the course is long and challenging. The Resort course has received numerous awards including Golf Magazine’s “Top 10 Courses You Can Play.”
Grande Dunes (Members): (http://www.grandedunes.com/amenities/ame_go_members_club.aspx)
The Members Club at Grande Dunes is a design collaboration between PGA Hall of Fame inductee, Nick Price, and golf architect, Craig Schreiner. This creative layout weaves throughout the area's natural pine preserves and along the Intracoastal Waterway, presenting a unique variety of shot-making challenges on a gently rolling terrain. This fabulous course is complemented by an elegant 27,00 square foot Italian-designed clubhouse overlooking the lake between the 9th and 18th greens.
The course features wide, generous fairways. The front nine is a classic parkland-style with tree-lined fairways, while the back side offers a combination of links and parkland characteristics. Many holes are sculpted to create a natural feel, keeping with the architects’ philosophy of “least disturbance.”
“Our club has a very distinctive look and feel,“ notes Buccerone. “We cross-cut the tees just like many of the greatest golf venues. Our bunkers are filled with pearl-white Felspar quartz sand – the same sand used at Augusta National. When they play, our members and their guests will have the option of riding in a golf car, walking and carrying their own bags, or using our caddie program which offers both full-service caddies and forecaddies.”
Pine Lakes International Country Club: (http://www.pinelakes.com/)
Pine Lakes International CC is the oldest course in Myrtle Beach, though it will be reopened after a significant renovation in March 2009. The first president of the PGA, Robert White, designed this course. Mr. White's Scottish heritage is present throughout the course's design. This club was the site of the 1988 National Golf Writers Tournament and the site of the 1992 Du Pont World Amateur Handicap Championship finals.
Hole #10 has a plaque dedicating the hole to the late Gene Sarazen, "for his outstanding contribution to the game of golf and gracious support in behalf of Tara Hall, home for boys." Mr. Sarazen scored a 78 on this course at the age of 78.
You drive up to the splendid clubhouse, and smiling attendants clad in white gloves, knickers and red jackets take your bag. Before your round, the starter, clad in a tartan kilt, gives you a quick history of the club and describes the dominant features of the course. Later, as you line up your putt or prepare to tee off on the course's many fine holes, you may well hear bagpipe music wafting through the trees.
Rest assured that the staff won't send you off down the 1st fairway and leave you until your round is over. On some days, you may well be walking to the 3rd tee when you are interrupted by another tartan-clad assistant sitting under the elm tree behind a table covered in white linen. "Would you like a mimosa?" he asks, handing you a glass. "Or orange juice?" Here, on this splendid classically designed course, it is fitting to walk. But if you prefer a cart, for a slight additional fee you can rent one of the club's small fleet of electric carts that look just like
miniature Rolls Royces.
Also distinguishing the club from the other Strand golfing experiences is the course itself. Pine Lakes is a throw-back to the best of the traditional layouts. White, who consulted with Donald Ross on the design, created a straight-forward 18 through the pines, oaks and elms. There are even hints here of Alistair MacKenzie, particularly on the 170-yard 7th which plays through the woods downhill over a lake to a green surrounded by three large bunkers. In April, the blooming azaleas and dogwood behind the green give the hole a look similar to Augusta's 12th. By today's standards, Pine Lakes is not a long track, only 6,609 yards from the tips (5,376 yards from the forward tees). Yet, few have gone real low here. In spite of its overall short length, distance is required to reach several of the par 5's in two. Five par 4's (2, 3, 6, 12, and 17) measure well over 400 yards from the back and two of the par 3's are over 200 yards. The lack of "modern" features may put off some golfers, but for those who like their courses straight-forward and non-gimmicky, you can't beat Pine Lakes.
You will also welcome the friendly service and other pleasant amenities such as the grille, which stands slightly apart from the club's columned, antebellum clubhouse and offers the Strand's finest hamburger. The ground beef is of the highest quality and is ground right on the property. Pine Lakes is also known for its role in the formation of Sports Illustrated. In the early '50s, a group of 67 executives from Time-Life, Inc., including Henry Booth Luce, came to Myrtle Beach by train to play Pine Lakes and to plan a sports weekly. Luce's famed SI appeared on newsstands shortly thereafter.
Tidewater Golf Club: (http://www.tidewatergolf.com/)
Tidewater is located on a beautiful seaside peninsula. It's a traditional course that uses the natural environment to add to its difficulty and aesthetic beauty. Nine holes overlook dramatic bluffs and meander alongside the Intracoastal Waterway, Atlantic Ocean, and the saltwater marshes. Inland holes are carved through a dense forest. The signature hole is #13, a 545-yard, par 5, which plays alongside the Intracoastal Waterway and affords a great view of the Atlantic Ocean. Water hazards come into play on six holes.
Nearly two decades of rave ratings prove that Tidewater Golf Club is simply one of the best golf courses on the Grand Strand. On its opening in 1990, the course was enthusiastically applauded as one of America's truly great new layouts. Ranked in Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play in 2007, it has also recently made Golf Magazine's "Top 100 You Can Play” listing. To this day, it remains the only layout ever to be named "Best New Course" by both Golf Digest and Golf Magazine. Golf Digest rated this course as the 4th "Best Public Course" in the state for 1996. It was also rated as the 9th "Best in State" course for 1995-96, and the 10th best for 1997-98. GOLF MAGAZINE rated this course 39th best under the 1998 category of "Top 100 Courses You Can Play in the U.S."
Grande Dunes (Resort) was designed by a team of former key members of Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s design team. The course plays along the Intracoastal Waterway and has undulating
fairways leading to enormous, well-protected greens. Forgiving off the tee, it demands precision in the approach shots. Over 7,600 yards from tip to tip make this one of the longest courses on the East Coast. Overall, the course is long and challenging. The Resort course has received numerous awards including Golf Magazine’s “Top 10 Courses You Can Play.”Grande Dunes (Members): (http://www.grandedunes.com/amenities/ame_go_members_club.aspx)
The Members Club at Grande Dunes is a design collaboration between PGA Hall of Fame inductee, Nick Price, and golf architect, Craig Schreiner. This creative layout weaves throughout the area's natural pine preserves and along the Intracoastal Waterway, presenting a unique variety of shot-making challenges on a gently rolling terrain. This fabulous course is complemented by an elegant 27,00 square foot Italian-designed clubhouse overlooking the lake between the 9th and 18th greens.
The course features wide, generous fairways. The front nine is a classic parkland-style with tree-lined fairways, while the back side offers a combination of links and parkland characteristics. Many holes are sculpted to create a natural feel, keeping with the architects’ philosophy of “least disturbance.”
“Our club has a very distinctive look and feel,“ notes Buccerone. “We cross-cut the tees just like many of the greatest golf venues. Our bunkers are filled with pearl-white Felspar quartz sand – the same sand used at Augusta National. When they play, our members and their guests will have the option of riding in a golf car, walking and carrying their own bags, or using our caddie program which offers both full-service caddies and forecaddies.”
Pine Lakes International Country Club: (http://www.pinelakes.com/)
Pine Lakes International CC is the oldest course in Myrtle Beach, though it will be reopened after a significant renovation in March 2009. The first president of the PGA, Robert White, designed this course. Mr. White's Scottish heritage is present throughout the course's design. This club was the site of the 1988 National Golf Writers Tournament and the site of the 1992 Du Pont World Amateur Handicap Championship finals.
Hole #10 has a plaque dedicating the hole to the late Gene Sarazen, "for his outstanding contribution to the game of golf and gracious support in behalf of Tara Hall, home for boys." Mr. Sarazen scored a 78 on this course at the age of 78.
You drive up to the splendid clubhouse, and smiling attendants clad in white gloves, knickers and red jackets take your bag. Before your round, the starter, clad in a tartan kilt, gives you a quick history of the club and describes the dominant features of the course. Later, as you line up your putt or prepare to tee off on the course's many fine holes, you may well hear bagpipe music wafting through the trees.
Rest assured that the staff won't send you off down the 1st fairway and leave you until your round is over. On some days, you may well be walking to the 3rd tee when you are interrupted by another tartan-clad assistant sitting under the elm tree behind a table covered in white linen. "Would you like a mimosa?" he asks, handing you a glass. "Or orange juice?" Here, on this splendid classically designed course, it is fitting to walk. But if you prefer a cart, for a slight additional fee you can rent one of the club's small fleet of electric carts that look just like
miniature Rolls Royces.Also distinguishing the club from the other Strand golfing experiences is the course itself. Pine Lakes is a throw-back to the best of the traditional layouts. White, who consulted with Donald Ross on the design, created a straight-forward 18 through the pines, oaks and elms. There are even hints here of Alistair MacKenzie, particularly on the 170-yard 7th which plays through the woods downhill over a lake to a green surrounded by three large bunkers. In April, the blooming azaleas and dogwood behind the green give the hole a look similar to Augusta's 12th. By today's standards, Pine Lakes is not a long track, only 6,609 yards from the tips (5,376 yards from the forward tees). Yet, few have gone real low here. In spite of its overall short length, distance is required to reach several of the par 5's in two. Five par 4's (2, 3, 6, 12, and 17) measure well over 400 yards from the back and two of the par 3's are over 200 yards. The lack of "modern" features may put off some golfers, but for those who like their courses straight-forward and non-gimmicky, you can't beat Pine Lakes.
You will also welcome the friendly service and other pleasant amenities such as the grille, which stands slightly apart from the club's columned, antebellum clubhouse and offers the Strand's finest hamburger. The ground beef is of the highest quality and is ground right on the property. Pine Lakes is also known for its role in the formation of Sports Illustrated. In the early '50s, a group of 67 executives from Time-Life, Inc., including Henry Booth Luce, came to Myrtle Beach by train to play Pine Lakes and to plan a sports weekly. Luce's famed SI appeared on newsstands shortly thereafter.
Tidewater Golf Club: (http://www.tidewatergolf.com/)
Tidewater is located on a beautiful seaside peninsula. It's a traditional course that uses the natural environment to add to its difficulty and aesthetic beauty. Nine holes overlook dramatic bluffs and meander alongside the Intracoastal Waterway, Atlantic Ocean, and the saltwater marshes. Inland holes are carved through a dense forest. The signature hole is #13, a 545-yard, par 5, which plays alongside the Intracoastal Waterway and affords a great view of the Atlantic Ocean. Water hazards come into play on six holes.
Nearly two decades of rave ratings prove that Tidewater Golf Club is simply one of the best golf courses on the Grand Strand. On its opening in 1990, the course was enthusiastically applauded as one of America's truly great new layouts. Ranked in Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play in 2007, it has also recently made Golf Magazine's "Top 100 You Can Play” listing. To this day, it remains the only layout ever to be named "Best New Course" by both Golf Digest and Golf Magazine. Golf Digest rated this course as the 4th "Best Public Course" in the state for 1996. It was also rated as the 9th "Best in State" course for 1995-96, and the 10th best for 1997-98. GOLF MAGAZINE rated this course 39th best under the 1998 category of "Top 100 Courses You Can Play in the U.S."
Soooooo jacked for pine lakes.
ReplyDeleteHope Pine Lakes lives up to its billing!
ReplyDelete