Legends Resort - Place of Putter Purgatory
My biannual trip to the Mecca of golf (Myrtle Beach, SC) had its good, bad, and ugly moments (like every other round I play):
The good: The weather for the most part, low 60's, decent amount of sunshine, got 3 full rounds in.
The bad: Stiff 15-20mph winds on the first day, monsoon season style rain on the last day.
The ugly: The incompetence (or laziness) of the staff at Legends, TifEagle greens, the long drive home through the monsoon.
To summarize, it felt good to get away from the hustle and bustle of Northern Virginia and take it easy. I didn't shoot that well overall, but I'd like to blame it on subtle swing changes and of course, putting. For the course by course recap:
Date: Thursday 3/3/2011
Location: Heritage Club, Pawley's Island, SC
Score: 101
Excuses: Very little sleep, long drive, no practice (thanks to an unobservant employee)
Course Conditions: Pretty Good
The Good: Weather was warm, the fairways, tee boxes, and sand were in excellent shape, very pretty course
The Bad: 15-20mph winds on that first day, made teeing off an adventure...
The Ugly: TifEagle Greens that were not cut low enough, the nameless employee who gave us our driving range card (instead of tokens) and neglected to tell us the range was closed. Therefore no practice... Factor that in with very little sleep and recovery from a long drive and it was quite a show by the end.
If you have never played the Legends course, let me fill you in on the logistics. There are six total courses attached to the Legends resort: Heathland, Parkland, and Mooreland (which are on site near the condos / housing area), Oyster Bay (45 minute drive), TPC Myrtle Beach, (30 minute Drive), and Heritage Club (40 minute drive). On site at the resort you get free unlimited use of the driving range. At the outlying courses (Oyster Bay, TPC, and Heritage Club) you have to pay additional for the use of their ranges. So of course, my group and I decided to use the range and then go to the course. However, when the employee gave us the range card, he neglected to tell us the range was closed for standard maintenance. So instead of practice, we lug our clubs all the way to the practice facility only to be met with a sign that read, "Closed for weekly Maintenance from 9-11AM." FAIL.
Therefore we head to the course and only practice our putting. However if you do most of your golfing around the Washington, DC area, you are aware of the bentgrass (L3 or A1 variety) that you take for granted. In South Carolina, they use a strain of Bermuda grass called TifEagle for their greens. Historically bentgrass has provided the game's best putting surface. It's a strain of grass that grows upright, allowing golfers to putt on its tips, which promotes the smoothest roll. Combine the upright growth with the ability of bentgrass to withstand a close shave and it often produces the game's fastest, truest putting surface.
Conversely, bermuda tended to lay prostrate, which led to a "grainy" putting surface. When golfers putt into the grain, the ball was prone to jump and break more. When putting with the grain, ball speed increased while break decreased. A golfer unaccustomed to bermuda is subject to struggle getting adjusted. And struggle we did... Suffice to say, a two-foot putt wasn't a gimme... The best part of the day, drowning my sorrows with all you can eat Crab Legs at Dirty Dick's Crab House and 10 hours of sleep. Vacations rock!
Date: Friday 3/4/2011
Location: Oyster Bay Golf Links, Sunset Beach, NC
Score: 101
Excuses: Water
Course Conditions: Great
The Good: Best weather of the weekend, course was in excellent shape, excellent pace of play, and the greens rolled extremely well (well manicured TifEagle)
The Bad: Water, water everywhere but not a drop that I would want to drink.
The Ugly: My swing. Not a place for mistakes. Narrow and lots of water.
Overall, very aestetically pleasing course and a very challenging layout. Not a course I would recommend if you're going through a swing change or if you aren't a very good golfer... Lots of opportunities for high scores. Also the hazards included water on almost every hole and an 8 foot alligator on the 14th hole guarding the green... Suffice to say, free drop from anywhere within a 50 yard radius of the gator, unless you were in the water.
The finishing 4 holes on this course were excellent. Lots of water, challenge and beautiful scenery. Finished with a tough par on the final hole (drive ricocheted of a tree, blasted a 5 wood 210 yards over water and into a deep sand bunker, chipped out of the bunker to 10 feet, made the downhill putt). I know I could have shot a lot better but afterwards got some great knowledge on the fundamental flaws with my swing (that ironically had nothing to do with the swing itself). Dinner at the Bonefish Grill. Highly recommend the rockfish special. Get it while it lasts!
Date: Saturday 3/5/2011
Location: Heritage Club, Pawley's Island, SC
Score: 94
Excuses: Swing Changes, putting
Course Conditions: Good
The Good: Warm Weather, the fairways, tee boxes, and sand were in excellent shape, very pretty course
The Bad: TifEagle Greens that were still not cut low enough, the putting woes continued
The Ugly: Not much, beautiful day, improvement from Thursday
Not much to say here, course conditions did improve, the wind was manageable and overall a good golf day. Incoporated the swing change and my first drive was awesome. Displayed poor club choice on my setup shot however... Can't win them all I guess. Had fun and improved from the last round, that's all that matters.
Date: Sunday 3/6/2011
Location: Heathland, Legends Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC
Score: Incomplete
Excuses: Beginning of the monsoon
Course Conditions: Good (until it started to rain)
Won't bore you with details of an incomplete round. Very nice course, very slow and frustratring greens, made slower by preciptation. Got great par on the first hole, great drive, great approach with my 9 iron and put it 12 feet from the cup, semi-satisfying 2 putt. From there we got to about the 7th hole when the sky opened up and the clubface shut down. To the car! Time to go home. 10 hours later, we made it.
Overall, great trip. Not great golf, but great to get away, relax, and not take things too seriously. On a side note, this may be my last trip to Legends mainly due to the service (or lack thereof). There was a noticeable lack of employees that:
1) Didn't want to help you
2) Didn't know how to help you, or
3) Didn't know what was going on
I think it will be worth the extra $100 to get a place that actually caters to the customer.
Next Stop: Stonewall
The good: The weather for the most part, low 60's, decent amount of sunshine, got 3 full rounds in.
The bad: Stiff 15-20mph winds on the first day, monsoon season style rain on the last day.
The ugly: The incompetence (or laziness) of the staff at Legends, TifEagle greens, the long drive home through the monsoon.
To summarize, it felt good to get away from the hustle and bustle of Northern Virginia and take it easy. I didn't shoot that well overall, but I'd like to blame it on subtle swing changes and of course, putting. For the course by course recap:
Date: Thursday 3/3/2011
Location: Heritage Club, Pawley's Island, SC
Score: 101
Excuses: Very little sleep, long drive, no practice (thanks to an unobservant employee)
Course Conditions: Pretty Good
The Good: Weather was warm, the fairways, tee boxes, and sand were in excellent shape, very pretty course
The Bad: 15-20mph winds on that first day, made teeing off an adventure...
The Ugly: TifEagle Greens that were not cut low enough, the nameless employee who gave us our driving range card (instead of tokens) and neglected to tell us the range was closed. Therefore no practice... Factor that in with very little sleep and recovery from a long drive and it was quite a show by the end.
If you have never played the Legends course, let me fill you in on the logistics. There are six total courses attached to the Legends resort: Heathland, Parkland, and Mooreland (which are on site near the condos / housing area), Oyster Bay (45 minute drive), TPC Myrtle Beach, (30 minute Drive), and Heritage Club (40 minute drive). On site at the resort you get free unlimited use of the driving range. At the outlying courses (Oyster Bay, TPC, and Heritage Club) you have to pay additional for the use of their ranges. So of course, my group and I decided to use the range and then go to the course. However, when the employee gave us the range card, he neglected to tell us the range was closed for standard maintenance. So instead of practice, we lug our clubs all the way to the practice facility only to be met with a sign that read, "Closed for weekly Maintenance from 9-11AM." FAIL.
Therefore we head to the course and only practice our putting. However if you do most of your golfing around the Washington, DC area, you are aware of the bentgrass (L3 or A1 variety) that you take for granted. In South Carolina, they use a strain of Bermuda grass called TifEagle for their greens. Historically bentgrass has provided the game's best putting surface. It's a strain of grass that grows upright, allowing golfers to putt on its tips, which promotes the smoothest roll. Combine the upright growth with the ability of bentgrass to withstand a close shave and it often produces the game's fastest, truest putting surface.
Conversely, bermuda tended to lay prostrate, which led to a "grainy" putting surface. When golfers putt into the grain, the ball was prone to jump and break more. When putting with the grain, ball speed increased while break decreased. A golfer unaccustomed to bermuda is subject to struggle getting adjusted. And struggle we did... Suffice to say, a two-foot putt wasn't a gimme... The best part of the day, drowning my sorrows with all you can eat Crab Legs at Dirty Dick's Crab House and 10 hours of sleep. Vacations rock!
Date: Friday 3/4/2011
Location: Oyster Bay Golf Links, Sunset Beach, NC
Score: 101
Excuses: Water
Course Conditions: Great
The Good: Best weather of the weekend, course was in excellent shape, excellent pace of play, and the greens rolled extremely well (well manicured TifEagle)
The Bad: Water, water everywhere but not a drop that I would want to drink.
The Ugly: My swing. Not a place for mistakes. Narrow and lots of water.
Overall, very aestetically pleasing course and a very challenging layout. Not a course I would recommend if you're going through a swing change or if you aren't a very good golfer... Lots of opportunities for high scores. Also the hazards included water on almost every hole and an 8 foot alligator on the 14th hole guarding the green... Suffice to say, free drop from anywhere within a 50 yard radius of the gator, unless you were in the water.
The finishing 4 holes on this course were excellent. Lots of water, challenge and beautiful scenery. Finished with a tough par on the final hole (drive ricocheted of a tree, blasted a 5 wood 210 yards over water and into a deep sand bunker, chipped out of the bunker to 10 feet, made the downhill putt). I know I could have shot a lot better but afterwards got some great knowledge on the fundamental flaws with my swing (that ironically had nothing to do with the swing itself). Dinner at the Bonefish Grill. Highly recommend the rockfish special. Get it while it lasts!
Date: Saturday 3/5/2011
Location: Heritage Club, Pawley's Island, SC
Score: 94
Excuses: Swing Changes, putting
Course Conditions: Good
The Good: Warm Weather, the fairways, tee boxes, and sand were in excellent shape, very pretty course
The Bad: TifEagle Greens that were still not cut low enough, the putting woes continued
The Ugly: Not much, beautiful day, improvement from Thursday
Not much to say here, course conditions did improve, the wind was manageable and overall a good golf day. Incoporated the swing change and my first drive was awesome. Displayed poor club choice on my setup shot however... Can't win them all I guess. Had fun and improved from the last round, that's all that matters.
Date: Sunday 3/6/2011
Location: Heathland, Legends Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC
Score: Incomplete
Excuses: Beginning of the monsoon
Course Conditions: Good (until it started to rain)
Won't bore you with details of an incomplete round. Very nice course, very slow and frustratring greens, made slower by preciptation. Got great par on the first hole, great drive, great approach with my 9 iron and put it 12 feet from the cup, semi-satisfying 2 putt. From there we got to about the 7th hole when the sky opened up and the clubface shut down. To the car! Time to go home. 10 hours later, we made it.
Overall, great trip. Not great golf, but great to get away, relax, and not take things too seriously. On a side note, this may be my last trip to Legends mainly due to the service (or lack thereof). There was a noticeable lack of employees that:
1) Didn't want to help you
2) Didn't know how to help you, or
3) Didn't know what was going on
I think it will be worth the extra $100 to get a place that actually caters to the customer.
Next Stop: Stonewall
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