Golf Community Reviews

Heathland Course at The Legends Resort (all photos by Elliot deBear)    

 

    Yesterday, reader Elliot deBear shared his thoughts (and photos) of his recent visit to Myrtle Beach and his reviews of the golf courses at Heritage and Caledonia.  Here is the second part of his story, including his thoughts about True Blue, TPC of Myrtle Beach and the Heathland course at The Legends Resort.

    True Blue, another Mike Strantz stunner, was brutal this day in the wind.  It is more open than Caledonia, so the wind takes a greater toll on your game.  A lot of rough sandy areas and huge waste bunkers throughout.  The greens were hard an d fast, almost impossible to hold, even with high lofted shots. Don't be afraid to bump and run here.  This is a risk/reward track all the way.  Deceptive views of greens and strategic placement of bunkers are a great combination of good versus evil.  The routing of the holes are terrific because you feel you are playing very different types of holes one after the other.  Great finishing hole and one that lets you walk off happy or miserable...either way a reason to head straight for the bar. You are exhausted after playing this beauty.
    As in previous year's reports, looking up to course designer's heaven, I raise a glass and say, "Thank you, Mike Strantz, with all my heart for the vision you were able to share with us in these two fabulous courses".
     Dinner that night was special.  We hit Frank's on Highway 17 (in Pawleys Island). This is the absolutely the best restaurant in all Myrtle.  In fact, Frank's would do well anywhere, including NY, if it were there.  The food is just excellent and complimented by a terrific wine list that is priced right.  Service matched the cuisine.  Never visit Pawleys without scheduling a dinner at Frank's.
    Woke up to a beautiful low country morning and headed to TPC in Murrell's Inlet.  This is a course we always play when in Myrtle Beach.  If it's not on your list, it should be. The track, designed by Tom Fazio with collaboration from Lanny Wadkins, is one of his more mellow projects but also one of his more dramatic-looking ones, with holes fashioned within borders of beautiful tall red pines, old oaks and different varieties of tall grasses and fescue.  Many lakes with beautiful reflections too.  In fact, there is water on 10 of the 18 holes. Another plus is that there are very few homes adjacent to the course, and those that are, are very attractive.
    TPC is about using your head and not your ego, especially on the par 5's where laying up on the second instead of trying to blast one is the smarter move.  Some of the best scenery of any course we have played over the years.  Excellent par 3s throughout. The par 5, 18th is terrific, with the lake looming out there on the left and a meandering stream floating up the right to a stand of deep, naturally shaped bunkers.  The green is framed by the clubhouse in the background.  The day before, there was a big college tournament won by Wake Forest for the second year in a row.
     After the round we moved to the clubhouse veranda for lunch. They recommended the chicken salad with crushed pecans.  The best I ever tasted.
    We were going to play our afternoon round at Pawleys Plantation, but TPC was so well conditioned, so beautiful and so empty that we decided on the replay and did it again.  The course did not disappoint the second time around.  As with Caledonia, bring a camera.   All in all a great day.  On the way out, Chip Smith, the owner and president of TPC, came over to introduce himself and ask how we liked the course and its condition.  Very nice guy who obviously takes great pride in the course, cares about customer service and, like a good family owned Italian restaurant, believes in having the owner in the kitchen and on the premise.
    Dinner at some joint on 17 called Salt Creek.  Again surprised by how good the food was.  Place was pretty empty, but served up some terrific low country comfort food.  Worked out just fine and would actually go back.
On our last day before hitting the airport and heading for home, we decided on something different to finish up.  As we had played parkland and plantation courses all week, we chose the Legends Heathland course as our closer. 

    I really like this Tom Doak designed course.  It's unique from the other layouts in the area because of its links layout, throws you a really different challenge and requires a different game head to play it.  The winds hit big again making club selection and flight placements a challenge.  What I like most about Heathland are the colors and vistas.  It's very different without the trees and marshes you experience at the other courses.  Here deep bunkers are strategically placed with large difficult to hit greens, many having multiple tiers with a lot of slope.  From the gold tees, the course played 6785 with a 72.3 rating and 127 slope, although the slope felt larger than that.  Very cool to look over the course from certain vantage points on the back nine and see the large castle-like clubhouse in the distance.  Glad we played it
    Fun trip with good weather and great company.  Can't wait to do it again next year.
    Editor's note:  Thanks, Elliot.

TPC at Myrtle Beach

 

Heritage Golf Club, Pawleys Island, SC (all photos by Elliot deBear)

    One of our faithful readers, Elliot deBear, recently returned from a long weekend on the south end of the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach.  He and a friend stayed in the Pawleys Island area, home to the best courses in the entire Myrtle Beach area (okay, I'm biased, I have a second home in Pawleys).  We love when Elliot submits his reviews because of his enthusiasm, as well as the great photos he takes.  Here are his notes from his trip last week to Myrtle Beach.

    I could not wait to get out of New York and land in Myrtle.  Left the airport and headed straight down to Pawley's Island to play Heritage Golf Club.  What can I say about this beautifully designed golf course that hasn't already been covered?  It is one of my favorites and a classic track in every way. The course was designed originally by Larry Young in the early 80s, but the club later called upon then little known Mike Strantz to redesign the greens and do some bunker tweaking in the 90's.  What I like most about Heritage, aside from its sheer plantation beauty, is that length and power are not a great advantage here.  
    This is a shot maker's course.  Due to challenging pin placements with subtle breaks in the greens, the second shot is everything at Heritage.  We played from the blue tees which deliver a 74.8 rating and 144 slope at 7,000 yards.  This afforded us views of the course layout from the eyes of the designer and the full range of each hole.  Conditions were good, with blue skies and only a light wind.  The greens were a little patchy but rolled very true. Saw a bunch of gators today, some fairly large.  Again, a pure classic that is always on my must play list.
    After Heritage, we ventured over to Martin's, which is always a very dangerous move.  If you haven't been to Martin's, it is the single most fantastic golf store on earth (with a shoe department larger than most shoe stores and every club in existence).  Got away lucky with only one purchase of a pair of Footjoys on sale.  Whew!
    For dinner we headed to Broadway at the Beach, a large shopping and entertainment complex built around a manmade lake.  Sadly, the place was empty, a true sign of the times.  Weather was good and nobody around. Stopped into the Key West Grill for dinner. We didn't expect much from a chain restaurant and were very pleasantly surprised. The food, service and prices were terrific.  We are New York food snobs and really enjoyed dinner.
     We went back to our condo at True Blue to watch college hoops. The two bedrooms, two baths unit was comfortable, clean and well located.  Our balcony overlooked the 15th hole. Good showers with plenty of hot water.  No complaints.
    Next day, we scheduled Caledonia for the morning round, followed by True Blue in the afternoon. This is what I consider among the best back-to-back 18s you can play in Myrtle Beach.  Back to back Mike Strantz all the way.  Caledonia, built in 1993, is a 4.5 star Golf Digest rated track that continues to receive numerous awards. It is visually fantastic.  Just driving through its entrance with 150 year old oaks lining the way with the moss hanging down is worth the visit.  Really nice antebellum clubhouse.  Course was in very good shape, greens rolled true.  Maybe the best combination of par 3's on any course in Myrtle. 

    It was very windy on this day, which caused a lot of back and forth on club selections.  I always bring a camera when playing Caledonia because there are so many great vantage points.  It was a good move today because the course was absolutely empty.  The fish stew they serve at the crossover between nines was, as usual, delicious.  We were a twosome and had the entire track to ourselves.  Couldn't believe it, again a sign of the times.  A must play track for me during each year's visit.  We had a great time and finished with lunch in the clubhouse.  Actually, the grill seemed to have more people in it than the course did.
Tomorrow:  Part two of Elliot's excellent Myrtle Beach vacation.

True Blue Golf Club, Pawleys Island, SC

Pawleys Plantation, home to a fine Jack Nicklaus layout along the marshland, is just one of dozens of Myrtle Beach area golf communities that are "on sale" in the current market. This is the approach to the 16th hole, perhaps the toughest par 4 on the course.

 

Myrtle Beach prices could lure some off sidleines

 

    It is déjà vu all over again, as Yogi Berra might say.  This morning, we learned that housing starts across the nation increased dramatically in February, shocking economists who had predicted a more than 1% decrease in starts.  Instead, the numbers rose more than 22%.  (Editorial comment:  No wonder so few economists predicted the near collapse of the financial system.  They are like weathermen; they predict sunny, we get rained on without protecting ourselves, then they say, "Oops, conditions no one could have predicted."  Nice work if you can get it.)  New home construction starts in the southern U.S. rose an impressive 30%.
    Coming as they do after three months of double-digit drops in housing

starts, these latest numbers might be cause for optimism about the general trend of the market.  But we still have more than 13 months worth of unsold inventory across the land, much of it foreclosure sales whose pricing keeps solvent homeowners from listing their own homes.  In short, most homes in the current environment are forced sales by those who must relocate for one reason or another (relocation, old age, death, foreclosure) -- all reasons that keep prices low.  Until the majority of the foreclosures are flushed out of the system, the best we should hope for is a stabilization of prices before they start to inch up again in certain areas.  
    Those areas may not include Miami, Las Vegas and the Phoenix area for some years to come, given the huge inventories of unsold and half-finished projects there.  But sheer demographic power will have a positive effect on prices in other areas attractive to retirees with equity in their homes and warm weather in their souls. 

    I am in the Myrtle Beach, SC, this week and, scanning the real estate sections and talking with local residents, it appears the market has come to pretty much of a standstill.  Neighbors of ours who have two properties in the area -- a condo and single-family home -- have put both up for sale and will take the first reasonable offer on one of them and live in the other.  Prices have eroded up and down the Grand Strand, especially on the high-end properties; at the lush Grande Dunes resort, which includes a resort and private golf course, both excellent, million dollar homes are on the market for nearly half what they sold for a few years ago.  
     More modest homes in the Myrtle Beach area have not dropped by such significant percentages from their highs, but bargains abound.  In Sunday's paper, a 2 BR, 2 BA unit overlooking the Greg Norman course at the Barefoot Resort was listed for just $135,000. (See other examples below.)  When prices are such that you start asking yourself "How bad can it (the property) be?" it may be time to start considering a nice little vacation or retirement home.

Other current listings in Myrtle Beach:

International Golf Club, 4 BR/3 BA on golf course, $379,500
Grande Dunes lot, $399,900
Grande Dunes, 4 BR/4 BA on lake, short sale*, $795,000
Long Bay Club, 4 BR/3.5 BA, golf views, $359,900
Indigo Creek patio home, 17th fairway, $219,000
River Club, 3 BR/2 BA, water & golf view, $369,900
Brunswick Plantation, lot, view of Crow Creek golf course, $69,000
The Legends golf resort, 4 BR/4 BA, lake view, $419,000
Wild Wing Plantation, 3 BR/2 BA, golf view, $220,000
Prestwick, 4 BR/3.5 BA, lake, golf views, $499,000
Wachesaw Plantation lot, 5th fairway private Fazio course, $189,500
Pawleys Plantation 3 BR/2 BA, $349,900
True Blue condo, 2 BR/2 BA, golf and water view, $169,000

 

* a "short sale" occurs when the price of the home is lower than the amount owed.  The owners try to get what they can on the sale, then work out the difference with their mortgage holder.

The fifth hole at Trillium Links near Cashiers, NC, is indicative of the wild ride around the rest of the mountain course.

    A roundup of properties currently for sale for under $500,000 in selected golf communities in the southeastern U.S. (coast, inland and mountains).  All properties include golf course views.

Savannah, GA area

Community:  Southbridge
Course designer:  Rees Jones (public)
Home:  3 BR, 2BA villa
Price:  $338,000
Notes:  Lagoon view also

The Landings at Skidaway Island
Arnold Palmer, Tom Fazio, Arthur Hills (private)
3 BR, 2 ½ BA single family
$449,000
Notes:  Recently renovated

The Ford Plantation
Pete Dye (private)
1.5-acre lot
$399,000
Notes:  A short walk to clubhouse and first tee; homes $1M+

Aiken, SC area

Cedar Creek
Arthur Hills (public)
3 BR, 2 ½ BA, single family
$399,000
Notes:  Ranch; 2 large guest suites

Woodside Plantation
Rees Jones, Bob Cupp, Nicklaus Design (private)
3 BR, 2 BA, single family
$329,900
Notes:  1,441 square feet

Mount Vintage Plantation
Tom Jackson (27 holes, private)
2 BR, 2 ½ BA, Patio home
$359,000

Notes:  Emphasis on equestrian

 

 Waynesville/Cashiers, NC area

Trillium Links
Morris Hatalsky (private)
2 BR, 2 BA, condo
$465,000
Notes:  Pond view as well as course view

Maggie Valley
William Prevost Sr. (public)
3 BR, 3 BA, single family
$269,900
Notes:  View of 18th fairway

Laurel Ridge
Bob Cupp (public)
.81-acre lot
$295,000
Notes:  Adjacent to 9th green.

    In real estate ownership, the experts say never have the most expensive house in the neighborhood, or the least.  Like Goldilocks' porridge, you don't want the price to be too hot or too cold, especially when it comes time to sell.  The most attractive market for homes is typically in the middle.
    Cedar Creek, a mature and nicely landscaped golf community, lands squarely in the middle of the price range for homes in the area of Aiken, SC.  Today, Dick Salsitz, a Cedar Creek resident and local real estate agent I have known for some years, sent me a few Cedar Creek listings at a range of price points.  When I visited the community four years ago, I was impressed with the prices of homes and lots; they seemed like good value for the money.  
    The current prices have receded to the levels I recall in 2005.  They include a single-family brick home at the 18th green of the Arthur Hills golf course for $384,900; a larger brick home on the 4th tee for $569,000; and three separate lots on the golf course, ranging in size from a half to ¾ acre and in price from just $119,900 to $164,000.  Count on construction costs in the neighborhood of $175 per square foot.  Doing a little math, a 2,100 square foot home on that lowest priced lot would produce a brand new home with a golf course view that cost less than $500,000, land included.  Membership in Cedar Creek's course, with preferred tee times for the public course, will set you back just a couple of grand more.
    Aiken is a charming town rich in history.  It was the summer playground for wealthy Charleston merchants in the 19th Century.  To escape the malaria of the city, they brought their families and their horses to Aiken.  The equestrian culture has stuck; the area is dotted with horse farms, and horse racing and polo make up a good part of the local activities schedule.  
     Golf has insinuated itself onto the scene as well, and in a few weeks, some competitors at the Master's golf tournament in nearby Augusta, GA, will rent homes from owners in the more upscale local golf communities, especially at Woodside Plantation, with its three private golf courses (Bob Cupp, Rees Jones, Nicklaus Design), and Mount Vintage Plantation, also private, which recently opened its third nine by Tom Jackson.
    If you would like an introduction to Dick and Cedar Creek or to any of the other communities in the area, please let me know.

    I erred yesterday (see below) when I referred to the home Hugh Hefner has put on the market as the Playboy mansion.  It is actually the mansion across the street, home to Hef's ex-wife.  I apologize for the mistake and for the lack of any golf community related information here.  I'll post something more relevant later today.

    On any other day, the $7.5 million pro golfer Jim Furyk is asking for his three-year old Maui home at Kapalua Plantation might have topped the real estate section headlines in the Wall Street Journal, but not yesterday.  That is because Hugh Hefner is selling the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles for an asking price of $28 million.
    You can read about both by clicking here.

Baby boomers in the North Carolina mountains are a happy lot.  Presumably that includes those who live and play at Connestee Falls, near Brevard.

    The Gallup polling firm and Healthways, a health management company, have published the results of more than 350,000 interviews they conducted last year to assess the anxiety level of Americans regarding health, wealth and general well being.  The web site ahiphiwire.org published the results, broken down by congressional district.
    Although the data can be cut any number of ways -- by gender, race, income and age -- I was most interested in the attitudes of folks in my age cohort, 45 to 64, which I suspect comprises most of those considering golf real estate.  The results are displayed at the web site on a map of the U.S., by congressional districts.
    In the southeastern U.S., attitudes are all over the place, with no

discernible pattern. For example, along the entire Georgia coast, baby boomers are not generally a happy crowd, showing up consistently in the 2nd quintile from the bottom.  Along the South Carolina coast, notions of well being in the baby boomer crowd are generally positive, in the third and fourth quintiles.  Along the North Carolina coast, folks living from the Virginia state line to about mid-state are in the middle category of attitudes, while those who live from Wilmington south to just above Myrtle Beach are among the happiest folks in the nation (418th out of 435).  I have reviewed a number of golf communities in this area and can recommend Porters Neck, St. James Plantation, Bald Head Island, Ocean Ridge Plantation and others.
    If you want to be surrounded by baby boomers who are happy, consider the mountains of North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, which are covered in the dark green on the map, signaling the top 20%.  Asheville, NC, and Knoxville, TN, and their surrounding areas are rife with excellent golf communities and knockout views.  Ditto the upstate area of South Carolina, home to the high-end Cliffs Communities, where Tiger Woods is designing his first U.S. golf course; that part of the map is covered in the light blue representative of the second-highest quintile.  
    Florida is a mosaic of colors, the happiest baby boomers living in the high net wealth area of the Palm Beaches and the unhappiest, not surprisingly, in the area of Miami, hardest hit by the bad economy and housing crisis.  Mississippi is one of the unhappiest states, whereas Alabama and Texas look much like Florida.  Virginia appears to be the most contented state in the southern U.S. among baby boomers.
    When choosing a place to live, remember that attitude is infectious, for better or worse.  So too is noodling around the Well-Being map.  Click here for access.