gortyl

We had caddies, so that REALLY helped out. No way I shoot 89 without them. And that # 4 hole was very interesting. In all honesty, I pulled my drive left of where they told me to hit it and the ball barely cleared the bunkers down the left side and it rolled almost to the edge of the fairway. It was a blind second shot. The caddie told me to hit a 190 shot, which saved me because I thought it was playing a lot more uphill and would have hit a choked-down 4-wood without any other guidance. I trusted the caddie and hit a pure 5-iron that ended up pin high (pin was middle), about 18 feet right of the pin. What's also funny about this, and probably helped me a LOT, is that as we were making our way to that tee box, my buddy mentioned that the pros play # 4 from the top of the hill and he said it plays as a 501 yard par 4. So I actually played the hole thinking it was a par 4 and when I missed the putt, I thought I missed a par putt, not an eagle putt. Only then as everyone was finishing up did I realize it was a Par 5. Yes, the sand shots killed me as well. My short game is in disarray right now too and wasn't helped by the thick rough 3 feet off the green which is a great protector of that course too. It's kind of a tough course to walk, but definitely tough for the caddies carrying two bags all over the place. Anyway, yes, it was great time finished off by a great steak dinner in the city late that night!

Sorry I'm just now getting back, but today was a travel day after yesterday's perfect day. It's funny, going in to the round yesterday, two of the guys were asking me why it's so hard. I talked about its length and it's tough green complexes, but I had no idea that they basically force you to play from 6700 yards. The only other tees are 6200, but they're the red tees and they're specifically called out as Ladies Tees on the scorecard so there's no way most of us men are going to play from 6200, so you have to step back to the next set of tees, which is 6700. It was just a perfect day for golf yesterday. Got there early, got some shirts, ate lunch out back on the patio, hit some balls, putted a few and we were off. The only negatives I'd say are: 1. the absolute crazy, maniacal process that they force you to go through to even play there; 2. the practice green was the fastest green I putted on all day; 3. the 15th green was a bit sketchy in spots; 4. slow play; 5. all the losers honking their horn as they drive by the course (happened at least 10 times during my round). Other than that, it was fantastic. I shot 89 from the white tees with two triple bogeys on the front. I birdied # 4 with a driver, 5-iron, just missing my eagle putt. I was in the sand a lot, which was bright white and very soft, but not too deep. We had caddies, although they were a hole late. We teed off at 2:21pm and finished 18 in basically complete darkness. We couldn't see any of our drives, but I hit mine right down the middle of the fairway between the bunkers, one of my better drives of the day, leaving me 98 yards out, uphill, hit it thin over the green, miraculously found it, chipped on and two putt for the 89. My goal was to break 90, so I was very happy. Can't wait to get back some day....

Thanks man. Appreciate the help. One of the guys hosting us finally got on the reservation system and booked us for this afternoon. Looking forward to it...perfect day for some golf!

Rent a car for sure....Myrtle is very spread out. Even if you stayed on the resort, you may not have short walks to everywhere you want to go. Barefoot would be a good example of this. And like I said, the bad greens didn't take too much away from the golf itself. You're a Bethpage guy, if I stay the night and get the wristband, etc., can I take an afternoon tee time or do I HAVE to play in the morning?

Weather is definitely an issue, but more so in the winter. Of course after about 90 straight days of sunshine and 70 degrees, it rained 3 of our 5 rounds including a downpour Saturday morning. It was a "light" rain, not a storm, which is typical of the climate. We were able to play in rain gear and not really have the rain itself impact the golf at all. Caddies said that the winter (which is late October to early April, really) is a crapshoot - it might rain like it did Saturday and be in the 50s instead of the 60s like it was or it could be sunny and 65. The beauty of going in the winter is that it is less crowded and less costly.

Just got back from Bandon Dunes. Played all four courses there. Spectacular, spectacular golf! Collectively, I can't imagine four other courses in the same location that are so unique, so challenging, so fun in such a great setting. It's truly all about golf there. The only bad part is how tough it is to get too, especially if you aren't on the west coast. It's funny too, since this thread is about rankings. We asked about 15 employees what their own ranking of the four courses were. 12 of them (!) said Bandon Trails, which is the lowest-ranked course in GD's rankings of public courses. Because of that, we played Trails twice, so five rounds in three days. No carts on the course and it is very hilly or "dunesie", so they were tough to walk. My own personal ranking was in this order: Bandon Dunes, Bandon Trails, Pacific Dunes, Old Macdonald. Not that I thought Old Mac was "bad" by any stretch, in fact I loved it and felt it was the closest of any of them to Scottish links-style courses, I just thought the other three were slightly better. Interesting though, if I were to go back and play just ONE course, it'd be Pacific Dunes. It was the hardest course for me and I'd like another crack, but if I had to play one course over and over out of those four, it'd be Bandon. Anyway, best pure golf trip I've ever been on.

Played all the Barefoot courses 30 days ago and the greens (not unlike most other places in the country) were in bad shape. Didn't totally take away from the golf, but figuring it's your first time through Myrtle so you'd like to know. As the weather cools down, hopefully they get them back. I think Caledonia is a fun course myself and feel like the Legends (which was also on our rotation on this year's August trip) had some tricked up holes. Heathland was very nice and I thought true to links-style golf (the greens were some of the best I've played on this year). Moorland I hope catches fire some time very soon so they can add the proper mini-golf structures that course deserves. Investing $100 in a golf bag is better than risking $500 or $1000 or more in golf club damage.

Gents - I'm sure you NYers are sick of all the "how to get on Bethpage" questions, but I do have yet another question that I haven't found on any previous threads. If I spend the night and get the wristband, etc., do I HAVE to play in the morning or can I reserve an afternoon tee time? I'm thinking most of the afternoon tee times will be booked by locals and those who are in the reservation system (which I am not). My colleague won't get to the course to meet us three until about 12:30pm, so I'd want to wait for him. Desired tee time is this Wednesday afternoon....appreciate the help.

Of courses I've never played, so just a guess: Cypress Point, Augusta National. Of courses I've played: You asked for one, so I just wanted to acknowledge that I read that. However, like everyone else, I'll choose more than one. Really, the thing they have in common is the challenge. If I'm going to play "just one course", it best be challenging and all I can handle. Pebble Beach - the history, the views, the challenge, the changing conditions, the beauty. Sawgrass - it's just a beast that will never make you feel like you've got it figured out, which would be such great competition. Carnoustie - similar to Sawgrass, the challenge would be just magnificent every time and the history and stories are amazing (my caddy tried to tell me all of them during my round and afterwards at the Carnoustie Club; could have listened for months).

I'll be in Myrtle that same week. 10th trip down there with my buddies. I've only seen the ocean once in 10 years. We'll play 7 rounds in five days. More of an endurance challenge than a golf challenge. I can give a great review of Thee Doll House, but since you'll be with the family....

Played 20 of the 100 and will add four more next month while at Bandon. That will be 6 of the top 10. This is what I live for...another notch in the golf bag.

There are three courses that jump to mind when I think of the "most difficult": - The Prince Course at Princeville on Kauai in early 2007. Conditions were perfect, but it was target golf with a capital T; absolutely zero room for error. I'm sure I shot over 100. - Carnoustie in September 2004. Sunny, but a wee bit breezy....try 30 mph sustained winds the entire round. I know what I shot because my scorecard from that day is sitting right above this computer in my office in a frame -102...and it was probably the best round I have played up to that time considering I was around a 27 handicap (had to fudge my GHIN card just to be allowed to play since I think the max men's handicap was 24). - Wolf Creek (Mesquite, NV) in summer of 2003 (2nd vote for this course on this thread). No wind when I played, but it was 108 degrees, I was hungover and drove in a compact car with three other guys for 90 minutes. If you don't hit the fairway, your ball is likely gone. I must have lost 10 balls on the front 9 and shot around 60. On the way to hole #10, you have to drive by the parking lot. We were all sunburned, dehydrated, golf ball poor and feeling like we just spent two hours in the ring with a hungry Mike Tyson. We all looked out at the parking lot, looked each other in the eyes as sweat was gushing down our foreheads and without saying a word, we stopped the carts at bag drop, grabbed our bags and hightailed it out of there!

With money no object and everything else being equal and you had one round to play out of the ones you mention, which would you go with (noting the weather tomorrow afternoon)????? Thanks!!

I like the reply almost a year after the last post! Honestly, I do...actually used the search feature. Which is what I just did so I have to throw this out there - I am headed to Seattle Tuesday and want to play. You've all mentioned many courses but I'd like to ideally find a course no more than 20 or 30 minutes or so from Bellevue (where I'm staying). I've already played the Newcastle courses, so would be looking for your favorite Seattle course within 20-30 minutes from Bellevue. Thanks in advance for suggestions.

Three pages of posts and no one said "towels". I just want a simple, cheap towel in each cubby hole of the cart that I can take out for every shot and for every trip to the green. Whether it's dew, rain, mud, sand or just a place to lay your other clubs, a simple towel would be most welcome.