Myrtle in April

I will be in Myrtle the week ending 4-20(for ganjagolfer ) would like to know if anyone who has played these courses can give me any info.

Eagles Nest
River Hills
Thistle
Carolina National

We played Carolina National last year and I really liked that course, plus it is on the way out of town for us. So if anyone can give me any scoop on the three others it would be appreciated.

We played CN last year and I really enjoyed it plus it is on our way out of town so we are playing it the day we leave. Last year we played Indigo Creek on the day we left, which was a bad idea because we drove 45 mins from N Myrtle to S Myrtle to play, it would have shortened our trip an hour and half if we played CN. Our rounds are listed in order in my original post, so Eagle's Nest is first, that is the one course I haven't heard much about. The other two, I have heard things about them on here as well as friends who have played them, and everyone says River Hills is a nice course and Thistle is top notch.

I don't think we played any round last year in under 5 hours so I will be expecting that, I think some of my buddies will probably get irratated but I have all ready warned them to expect it. Looking forward to going down, 17 more days

Works well on the budget also to throw an inexpensive course in the mix.

Have fun

Day 1: Eagles Nest "Home of the 3 hardest finishing holes on the Grand Strand". I didn't expect too much from this course based on what people had said about it. We arrived an hour early, hit range balls of very poor quality(old school style with the thick red ring), then went to the putting green. We were told a half hour before our tee time that we "need to head down to the tee", where we ended up waiting 45 mins to tee off, I am noticing that this is a common thing in Myrtle. Once we were out the pace was pretty good(a little over 4 and a half hours), with occasional waiting on the par 3's and 5's.

Now to the course, it was a good old style layout, with several dog-leg holes, tree lined with Pines, small undulations but nothing gimmicky. I would rate the greens a 6/10, slightly patchy with a few brownish spots, and a little bumpy. The fairways and tees were the same condition I am giving it a 6/10. Bunkers were mostly consitant so maybe a 7/10. There were several areas on the course(greens and fairways) that were being resodded and were not marked as Ground Under Repair. Overall I would give the course a 6/10 and would say it was a good "warm-up" course as someone stated, but left a little something to be desired.

The course slogan of the hardest finishing holes is more of a gimmick, there is water on all three holes, but can easily be avoided. All though one of the guys in my group would say it was for him he played them +10. More to come...

Day 2: River Hills. This course was recomended by a few friends, it is also home to an event on the Hooters Tour in September. We had to wait just about every shot and got even worse when a twosome jumped in front of us on the back nine. Range balls were free but they were the same poor quality thick red stripped ranges balls we hit the day before. Was about a 5 and a half hour round.

The course was really nice, great layout with mounding along the edges of the fairways. Strategicly placed hazards that made you think about where you hit your shots quite a bit. Several dogleg holes and the 3's and 5's varied from short to long. The fairways and tees I would rate an 8.5/10 and were in great shape for being early in the season. The greens were about an 8, just a little brown in spots and grass was a little on the thin side in spots, but they rolled very true. Bunkers were average probably a 7/10. Overall the course I would say is 8/10.

The practice facility was good with big range and targets about 25 yards apart. Large putting green consistant with the rest of the course. Chipping area had lots of different shots available and a sand trap. Would definitely recomend this course.

Day 3: Thistle Golf Club. A very nice course, employees were very friendly. Range balls were free, the range was okay, a little small but also had a small chipping green with a bunker. The practice green was pretty big and consistant with the greens on the course. We played the north and the west courses at this 27 hole facility.

The course: All I can say is WOW, this course was extremely plush for early in the season, still a little bit of brown grass but coming in very nicely. The course had well manicured greens, tees, and fairways. This course layout was quite challenging. A links style course with fairway mounding and a lot of trouble lurking for an errant shot. The wind was up a bit and seemed to change direction often, adding to the challenge. Greens were a 8.5/10, tees and fairways a 9/10, bunkers were 8/10. Overall I would say 8.5/10, and would highly recomend this course.

Most of the guys actually scored better here than the last few days, well except me, it was pretty easy to drop shots quickly here with several risk reward shots. This is by far the best designed and in the best condition course we have played this week.