Myrtle Beach review of Thistle and Arcadian Shores

By Steve Gordon

The first week of March my longtime golf partner and I decided to take an early spring getaway to Myrtle Beach before it got super packed and overcrowded.

We got in six consecutive days of golf before jumping in the car to drive back north. In the process we played six different courses in iffy early season weather (that was still better than SE PA/South Jersey conditions) but that didn’t detract from two courses that jumped out of the pack in Arcadian Shores and Thistle.

I’d like to point out that both of us like new courses and although it has been maybe 20 years since we played Arcadian Shores it was like playing a new course. On the other hand the 27-hole once private Thistle Golf Club was totally new to us.

Our day at Arcadian Shores started out looking like a washout. A severe overnight storm dropped more rain to add to the over 100 inches the area has endured. We drove over to the course shortly after breakfast with no expectations. Once there we sat inside talking golf with a beverage and aside from a couple other people we were very much alone.

The puddles were jumping as the rain slowed before it eventually stopped. There was nobody on the course. We made the call to take on this former top 100 Rees Jones layout around noon. All the courses we visited were wet with very soft turf and standing water, bunkers that were compacted and wet and of course cart path only was the theme for the week.

One thing that was evident was that the fairways were consistently firmer from what we experienced the past two days but still soft enough that there was no roll on tee shots and no run up shots were possible.

Oh my, this is just what we needed, two seniors playing the 5628 yard gold tees on a course playing very long.

The dormant Bermuda rough framed the lush green fairways and greens and made the course have a very unique and pleasant look to it. This was a first solo design for Jones but it featured classic Jones traits that would define his work on multiple courses and redesigns.

Angles to the greens and well place bunkers dotted nearly every hole. The doglegs were subtle and the forced carries were minimal but make no mistake that this was not a pushover. The mostly wide fairways were tree lined but without heavily wooded or overgrown areas. If you got that far off the fairway generally you wouldn’t have a shot unless perhaps you had Mickleson like skills because that is part of how Jones tests you.

From the white tees only one par 5 stretched over 500 yards. This is after all a resort golf facility and sitting at sea level the ball doesn’t carry as far most are used to, so in addition to being an older layout the design wasn’t made to punish golfers, just give them a challenge.

I think the third hole was the best of them. There was a little water not in play to tee off over and no fairway bunkers on this 465 yarder (508 from the back tees). All the challenge was a sloping green that was heavily bunkered.

The par 3 holes were all comfortable distances from 138 to 168 yards from the white tees. The number one handicap hole was also the prettiest and played a moderate 367 yards from the white tees. The hole presented two distinct challenges. First to put your tee shot in a favorable position and then hit a shot to carry water that was hard to the front of the green. Hit the tee shot too far and you had a downhill lie. Hit it too short and you had to lay up.

Thistle is a Tim Cates design built to have a Scottish feel. The name comes from the original club of the same name in Leith, Scotland that is no more. What was so unique about this course is that it did not have a typical Carolina look to it except for water that was on 23 of the 27 holes.

It opened in 1999 as a private facility 30 minutes north of Myrtle Beach in Sunset Beach, North Carolina. The clubhouse features stately wood paneled walls with a huge fireplace just inside the main entrance. The Myrtle Beach area is a tough place for a high end private club to exist so to survive it opened as a high end facility to the golf crazed masses to the Myrtle Beach area.

Of the Stewart, Cameron and MacKay courses the MacKay provides the toughest test with the highlight being the par 5 seventh hole. I was rolling along with four straight pars as I stepped on the tee of this 526 yard (white tees) tester. Generally I don’t agree that a par five is really a number one handicap hole but this one deserved that rating and it was atypical to the rest of the course.

On the next tee my card did not show five consecutive pars.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to play all 27 holes and no two holes were remotely similar. There was a nice mix of long and short par 4 holes ranging from 317 to 397 yards and all with a unique feel and challenge. The water on the course was manageable but it was strategically out there in play and made you be careful on those holes where you were forced to shoot over it.

The end of the week came too fast as we packed the car for the 10 hour drive home. All the courses we played were a treat for two golf starved guys from up north but Arcadian Shores and Thistle just made the trip and the memories…and for good conversation on the road.

“Remember that day I was playing well and then hit that one bad tee shot and ended up with a triple?” I commented at one point. “ Man, I could really have had a great score that day.”

Early spring fling in Myrtle Beach

By Steve Gordon

Living in SE Pennsylvania I expect winter golf to be hit and miss and this year it has been more miss. It has been more rain than snow but temperatures haven’t given up many playing days. Given that situation, it doesn’t play well for an avid golfer so I decided on an early March trek to Myrtle Beach. It gets me on the course and it gets me in and out of town before the onrush of an overly busy early spring.

With 99 courses in the Myrtle Beach area the choices are varied. This trip took me to community based venues at Sandpiper Bay (where I started my week) and Aberdeen Country Club (where I ended my week), the high end Thistle Golf Club, the popular Sea Trail courses and the highly acclaimed Glen Dornoch and Arcadian Shores layouts.

The first day out after not playing for a couple months is always interesting. I proceeded to play my first 18 holes with one ball not counting the opening tee shot I topped off the first tee into a small pond. That is always a bonus.

I actually played respectable overall taking my 13.7 GHIN handicap index and my 72-year-old bones to the gold tees. While I still hit the ball OK, those forward tees are there for a reason. Also another thing to consider is playing at sea level you lose something like 10% in distance. Add to that overly wet conditions with the area taking on over 100 inches of rain recently, there would be no roll taking potentially 30 or more yards of roll off tee shots for starters not to mention no running the ball through wet approach areas in front of the greens.

Sandpiper Bay was a player friendly 27-hole layout with new Bermuda greens that have grown in very well. It was a good place to start the week with my longtime playing partner who I traveled with. The clubhouse was spacious and casual and General Manager Tim Tilma explained, this facility has a niche of its own being part of a residential community while also able to handle larger groups of golfers.

While there was water throughout the course, as with most courses in the area, the course did not put have long forced carries over it. The course was in good shape getting ready for the season. Also the holes were not compressed by trees and unplayable area to penalize players. Another nice touch was the offer of an additional nine holes as available for 10 bucks.

Sandpiper Bay 9th hole.

The second day was a visit to Glen Dornoch. This Clyde Johnson design opened in 1997 and has been a favorite stop on the Grand Strand. A feature is the double green servicing the 9^th and 18^th holes from opposite directions and both hard on the Intra Coastal Waterway.

  

This is not be a course for the faint of heart as it requires some very precise shot making on several holes. I cite the par four 16^th hole that calls for an accurate, but not long, tee shot to the end of the fairway and then a challenging 150 yards downhill to a green complex that does not forgive a wayward approach shot. I would also cite the 18^th hole and you just have to see that one for yourself.

View of Intra Coastal Waterway behind 8th green at Glen Dornoch.

Our third day found us at Arcadian Shores, an old favorite and a course once ranked on a top 100 list. A severe overnight series of thunder storms put this in doubt as we sat in the clubhouse watching the weather. By noon it cleared and we were off, cart path only that was a theme for the week, and the dormant Bermuda framing the holes was memorable.

This was the first solo design from noted architect Rees Jones and set him on a career that gained him the nickname as The Open Doctor for his work tweaking and setting up US Open courses for the USGA. The course shows features that would highlight many of his later designs with playing angles and challenging players to hit risk reward shots where failure put you in places you don’t want to be. That said the course gives options away from trouble spots but they give you a longer or tougher shot to the green.

Approach shot on 13th hole at Arcadian Shores.

 The agenda for the week continued at the once private Thistle Golf Club. Visiting this 27-hole facility for the first time we were fortunate to be able to play all three nines. Overall Thistle does not look like many other courses in the area. It is mostly open but water is prevalent being present on 23 or the 27 holes. While it isn’t all in front of you and you can play around it, there are a handful of holes it will be in your face. Add that to greens that were lightning fast with contours. Putting was fun.

Getting into a groove with four consecutive pars in the middle of the MacKay nine, the 7^th hole ate my lunch. Off the tee there is a challenging forced carry over wetlands funneled between trees to a fairway that took a 90 degree turn to the left. From there a long second shot is required to have a mid to short iron over wetlands to the green. There were some breather holes out there but this wasn’t one of them.

Tee shot on par 5 seventh hold on MacKay nine at Thistle.

The week was coming to a close as on our fifth day we took the drive up to Sea Trails Golf Club. This facility is home to three tracks names Maples, Jones and Byrd for the designers. Not having played golf for months the muscles were getting like jelly. Thank goodness for the hot tub at the hotel.

The clubs were loaded and we were pointed in the direction of the first hole of a very playable but challenging Willard Byrd design. While a number of the courses in the area are built on similar terrain these golf course architects have a way of making their creations their own and Mr. Byrd didn’t disappoint.

There was some water, some trees, dogleg holes that went both ways, a long par 5 and a gator sunning itself near the cart path on the short reachable par 5 final hole. It seemed not to be interested in us and we weren’t too interested to test that and walk toward it and flip his tail to say hello as one tour pro did once caught on TV.

View from back tee on par four 14th hole on Byrd course at Sea Trail.

After Sea Trail and another relaxing soak in the hot tub the bags were packed. In the morning we’d have some breakfast and head north making a pit stop at the Aberdeen Golf Club before hitting the highway.

Tom Jackson put in 27-holes on this low land layout that goes underwater from time to time when the area gets the brunt of hurricanes. Originally an 18-hole residential layout called Buck Creek, ownership changed a few years back and Jackson returned to add nine holes and the name changed.

We started on the Meadows course which was the nine added to the original 18. For a couple of tired players it was just what the doctor ordered and fitting for a residential community golf course. It was no pushover however.  

At the turn we set out on the Woodland nine to continue our round. It was like being on a different golf course and everything the pro shop attendant said it would be. This was a set of holes as challenging as any of the holes we played throughout the week. They not only required a lot of solid shots they called for some smart thinking on how to play them. It was a fitting end to a great week of golf in Myrtle Beach.

Par 3 fourth hole on Woodlands nine at Aberdeen CC.