MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.?It was an innocent golf trip by a bunch of New York magazine types nearly 60 years ago. But it?s something sports fans should remember every week.
It was 1954. Depending on what story you believe, it was a springtime gathering of New York executives from Time Life, or some golf writers from the magazine who were headed to Augusta for that year?s Masters.
Either way, there was some golf played at Pine Lakes Country Club and, most likely, a few bourbons or beers consumed on the gracious patio. Pretty soon emerged a fairly radical idea for the time; a weekly magazine dedicated entirely to sports.
On Aug. 16, 1954, the first edition of Sports Illustrated hit the newsstand, with a photo of Milwaukee Braves? slugger Eddie Matthews on the cover. Visitors to the course today will find a large bronze plaque outside the clubhouse, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the magazine and telling the story.
Pine Lakes has a tidy little history of its own, being built in 1927 by golf architect Robert White, the first president of the PGA of America and a native of St. Andrews, Scotland. It?s the oldest course along what?s known as The Grand Strand and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The course was restored a few years ago and now makes up one of the better-known tracks in Myrtle Beach, which has more than a few. There are only two par-five?s on the par-70 course. But lest you start salivating into your Cheerios, be warned there are some tough par-four?s. The back nine par-four?s average a sizable 399 yards.
The signature hole could be number three, the number one handicap hole on the course. It?s a 370-yard par-four (formerly a par-five) from the most forward of the four tees, and a whopping 463 from the show-off tees.
The course has a bit of a Scottish links feel but is a few blocks inland from the Atlantic Ocean and features towering pines and plenty of ponds or small lakes. And the white clapboard-style clubhouse is a Southern-style beaut.
?You can do Ruth?s Chris (the upscale steak house) or Murphy?s Law sports bar or Margaritaville,? said Chris King of golfholiday.com. Myrtle also offers fine theatre, sculpture gardens, a terrific boardwalk and also a Clifton Hill-style drag with goofy dinosaur shows and a Ripley?s Believe it or Not.
With so many courses, a little advance planning is a good thing. I more or less stumbled upon Caledonia Golf and Fish Club in nearby Pawleys Island as I waded through my online options for a two-day visit last fall. The descriptions sounded great. The reality was even better.
You approach the course by driving down one of those long laneways topped with ancient-looking live oak trees, a canopy that feels like Augusta. The conditions are beyond superb, and there are a surplus of lakes and ponds with dazzling herons and egrets and trees dripping with Spanish Moss (which is neither Spanish nor moss if you want to get technical about it). Built on what was an 18th-century rice plantation, it simply oozes southern charm and it might be the most beautiful course you?ll ever play that?s not on the ocean.
They even have large, ?fox squirrels? with black-and-white faces that look like a cross between a squirrel and a raccoon; squaccoons if you will.
The approaches to many of the greens are scary tough, and you finish with an 18th hole that makes you hit your approach over a huge body of water to an elongated green backed directly by the clubhouse, where patrons sipping mint juleps or bourbon Old Fashioneds sit in rocking chairs and will most probably urge you on, not that most of us need the added pressure.
I paid $10 for a pair of drinks on the porch after my round; less than what you?ll pay at some Ontario resort courses for a tall boy of beer from a golf cart. They also have free chowder on hand for something even cozier.
It?s a nice par 70 layout, although it?s marred by a goofy number nine hole that?s only 110 yards from the blue tees and has no real interest to it other than some tough bunkers.
Five par-threes and three par-fives help duffers a bit, and the course is only 6,526 from the back tees. Good tee shots and crisp approaches are essential, as there?s plenty of water and generous sand traps.
Porter and Air Canada fly to Myrtle Beach, but the vast majority of visitors from the north arrive by car.
?They?ll arrive at the course after driving all night and just tee off no matter the weather,? said Kimberly Miles of the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, shaking her head. ?Visitors come here in February or March and ask if it?s warm enough to swim. I always say, ?It depends on if you?re a Canadian.??
Jim Byers? trip was subsidized by Myrtle Beach Tourism.
JUST THE FACTS
ARRIVING Porter Airlines flies directly to Myrtle Beach from the Toronto City Centre/Billy Bishop Airport
PRICING A tee time at Caledonia on a Friday in late February recently was listed for $145. They recently advertised a March-April package where a group of four golfers can enjoy Caledonia and the next-door True Blue Golf Plantation course. The three-day, four-round deal is $659 per person. Checking the Pine Lakes site a few days ago, I found a deal for $340 in February and early March that includes a round at each of Pine Lakes, Prestwick and Myrtlewood Pine Hills or Palmetto, plus three nights at the Hampton Inn Broadway Beach, complimentary continental breakfast daily and includes carts and taxes, based on a standard room with double occupancy.
WEB SURFING www.VisitMyrtleBeach.com, www.golfholiday.com, www.mbgolf.com, www.fishclub.com, www.pinelakes.com.
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