Fear on the Fairway: 10 Par 4s That Haunt Myrtle Beach Golfers
Halloween celebrates all things ghoulish and scary, things that aren’t often associated with golf. But the game has induced fear in everyone who has played it.
You know the feeling of addressing the ball on a hole where par is an accomplishment to celebrate, and anything less than a blow-up represents a quiet victory. As we celebrate Halloween, here is your guide to Myrtle Beach’s ten scariest par 4s.
● Lunch with Michael Myers might be preferable to your outcome on the sixth hole at Wild Wing’s Avocet Course if you don’t hit the ball straight. This 406-yard
monster (all distances from white or most commonly played tees) has water running up the left and woods that can’t be played out of to the right. Did I mention the double green No. 6 shares with the 17th hole is the course’s most undulating? Par isn’t a good score here, it’s great. (pictured right)
● When the PGA Tour came to town, the 390-yard third hole at the Dunes Club played as one of the course’s hardest holes, and it’s much more challenging for us “regular” players. The uphill two-shotter, which includes fairway and greenside bunkers, plays to a large green that is guaranteed to be lightning fast. PGA Tour pros played No. 3 over par for the week, so you can do the math on what that says about your chances.
● There is nothing complicated about the challenge of the 441-yard fifth hole on Barefoot Resort’s Fazio Course. Sure, there is water on the right and sand every step of the way, but this bad boy is 441 yards long and that’s your biggest impediment to par.
● Glen Dornoch famously finishes along the Intracoastal Waterway, and that stretch begins with the 371-yard 16th hole. Prepare yourself for a downhill lie on the
approach to a green that is 13 yards wide at the midpoint and flanked by sand and the marshy waters of the Intracoastal on the left. This hole has haunted many a golfer when it comes time to total up their score.
● The third hole at Pine Lakes has been my own personal house of horrors. The fairway is Pine Lakes’ widest, but to have any chance of feeling comfortable on the long approach, your ball needs to be on the left-center of the fairway. Water runs up the right side of the fairway and along the edge of the green, leaving just a sliver of land to miss short. This is the No. 1 handicap on the Granddaddy and in this case, the USGA’s system got it right.
● Tidewater is one of the area’s prettiest courses, and the 410-yard 18th brings the waters of the Intracoastal into play, but this beauty has produced a lot of ugly numbers. The dogleg left demands power and precision. If you can hit a long draw off the tee, the challenge becomes more manageable, but that’s not easy. Did I mention the marsh runs right to the edge of the green? There is room to miss left on the approach, so don’t get greedy, even if that means accepting bogey.
● TPC Myrtle Beach’s 445-yard ninth hole has left more than one player feeling as if they’ve seen a ghost. There is room off the tee, but that approach to an elevated green flanked by a deep bunker on the right is the stuff nightmares are made of. (Top photo, captured by Golf Tourism Solutions)
● Prestwick Country Club is one of the Myrtle Beach area’s most popular layouts, but the 409-yard 14th has left more than one golfer shell shocked. There is
never more than 30 yards of fairway to work with, and there isn’t much room to miss the green. (pictured right)
● Wachesaw Plantation East has hosted four LPGA events, and No. 18 on this Clyde Johnston design was certainly built to test Tour-level players. The fairway is of modest width, and the green is flanked by water and sand on the left. The closer you get to the putting surface, the less room there is to miss on this nerve-jangling finisher.
● There might be harder par 4s than No. 1 at Willbrook, but there are few scarier than this dogleg right. Water runs along the entirety of the left side of the hole and trees menace on the right. This is the toughest opening tee shot along the Myrtle Beach golf scene.
Just like Halloween, the fear of these 10 holes is part of their charm, so let us know how you have fared on Myrtle Beach’s scariest par 4s.
