GolfTravelReviews: The Reviews "The Dunes Club: Epitome of Traditional Architecture"

On a golf trip to Myrtle Beach in late summer 1998, one of my rounds was with two brothers -- Chuck, 35, and Drew, 37 -- from Roanoke. Since they were children, they have been coming every year to the Strand with their parents who also made an annual pilgrimage to Myrtle Beach when they were kids. Now, the reunion consists of their mother, a grandmother, an aunt and Chuck’s two daughters.

"We stay in Cherry Grove," explained Chuck, a salesman with International Paper. "It is a bit quieter. We love it [Myrtle Beach]. There is plenty to do. We go on the roller coaster at the Pavilion and we play miniature golf with the kids. Also, you can’t beat the beaches."

Yes, there's plenty to do in Myrtle Beach. You'd have to play two rounds a day every day for two months to play all 100+ courses, and there's enough restaurants, attractions and entertainment to keep a golfer or his family occupied and happily entertained even longer.

Here's an overview of the courses I played this trip.

The Dunes Golf and Beach Club

During a visit to Myrtle Beach in August 1998, I had the great fortune to play The Dunes, one of the Strand's oldest courses, designed 50 years ago by Robert Trent Jones. My playing partner, Dunes Director of Golf Clifton Mann, says it is comparable to Pine Valley and some other great venues, and I have to agree. It is the epitome of traditional architecture, with wonderfully contoured and conditioned holes that weave fairly closely together through mature pines and hardwoods and around tidal marshes. No tricks here. Just a wonderful string of holes that are never boring but yet require clear thinking to negotiate.

Host of The Energizer Senior Tour Championship (this event moved to Myrtle Beach's new TPC course in 1999, and is now the Ingersoll-Rand Senior Tour Championship), The Dunes features a stretch of holes -- 11 through 13 -- that are almost magical in their design. #11 is a 460-yard dogleg right to a green perched beside the marsh. At the "joint" of the dogleg is a stand of trees that blocks approach shots from the right side of the fairway. The par-3 12th is virtually all carry over the marsh to a heavily bunkered green. We played the hole from the back tee which required a carry of 245 yards into the wind. The par-5 13th is what Jones has called "heroic architecture." The 567-yard classic doglegs around a large lake to an elevated green. After a well-placed tee shot, the second shot must carry a portion of the lake to what looks like a tiny sliver of fairway.

The Dunes is a very exclusive private club of some 650 members, but it is accessible to guests of a select number of member hotels.

Marsh Harbour, Ocean Harbour

Of the other courses I played, I would recommend Marsh Harbour in Calabash, a delightful tree-lined Dan Maples design with some outstanding par 3's and one of the best par 5's you’ll ever play, the 17th, a true three-shot hole requiring second and third shots over marsh. Nearby Ocean Harbour has perhaps the most dramatic and interesting land of any course on the Strand. Because of perennial problems with the greens, the course will be (was) closed most of next summer (1999) while Arthur Hills makes some much-needed modifications. The greens will be redone, tee boxes will be enlarged and some fairways will be widened in a project to make the course more enjoyable. When Hills is finished, you will definitely want to play this venue, which I think will be one of the tops on The Strand.

Heather Glen

A definite must-play is Heather Glen. The sister course of Glen Dornach, Heather Glen is located in Little River. It has three superior nines, all interesting, well designed and very playable for all levels. The courses twist and turn through thick forests of pines, oaks, and cypress, and there are enough risk-reward holes to entice the daring. The best nines are the second and third nines. The fairways and Bermuda greens were in excellent condition and the course was well managed to maintain pace of play.

Others

Of the other courses I played, Caledonia was still having problems with its greens but efforts are (were) being made to rectify this perennial problem. I was also in a tournament at Arrowhead, Moorland at The Legends, and King’s North at Myrtle Beach National. Those three courses deserve a look as well, but I would caution visitors to find out about conditions before making tee times.