Myrtle Beach Golf News

Week two of Big Break Myrtle Beach is in the books, and a show that began at breakfast with talk of the players being more relaxed ended with tears as our first contestant was sent home.

Breakfast was served at 5:24 a.m. and producers wasted little time getting things started. Charlie, who won super immunity last week, giving him the opportunity to opt out of an elimination challenge, had a letter awaiting him on the table.

The “love letter” congratulated Charlie on winning the challenge and let him know that if he advances to the final four of the competition without using the super immunity, he will pocket what’s in the Macanudo box.

Charlie opened the box, his eyes grew wide and his verbal reaction is, “Whoa!”

The site of $10,000 in cash will do that to a young man (or an old one in my case!).

“There is 10 grand with his name on it,” said Dave, seemingly daring Charlie to tempt fate down the line in an attempt to keep the $10,000.

Toph said people were going to be gunning for Charlie. Buyer beware, Charlie birdied both holes of last week’s challenge and looks like one of the show’s best players.

After some happy talk on the range, we jump right into the next immunity challenge on the 13th hole of the Fazio Course at Barefoot, which has two greens.

The challenge utilizes both greens and requires players to decide which one they want to play to. The task is magnified because players have to make their decision without knowing how close their fellow competitors hit the ball to the hole.

The two shots closest to the pin on each hole earn immunity, meaning four players will be guaranteed a spot on next week’s show. The player closest to the pin wins $2,500.

“The competition becomes very real for these contestants because somebody will be going home at the end of the show,” host Tom Abbott said.

Hole location No. 1 was 115 yards and required a carry over a waste area. The No. 2 location was 110 yards straightaway.

Only five contestants played to the first hole location. Dave’s ball was 5’ 9” from the cup and Tessa’s was 6’3” outside the hole, good enough to earn both immunity.

Toph and Carolin, both of whom look strong in the early going, advanced from the second hole location, but what would a challenge be without Anthony trolling his cast mates? As Carolin’s anxiety level rose as Christian’s shot was measured (it was 3 inches outside her ball), Anthony said, “She annoys me. First chance I get, I’m going to give her the boot.”

Based on his performance…

The second episode of Big Break Myrtle Beach airs Tuesday night at 9 p.m. on Golf Channel. The debut show seemed to foreshadow ample drama in the coming weeks as 12 contestants – six men, six women – vie for the opportunity to earn their big break in the world of professional golf.

The first episode set up 19-year-old Anthony Quezada as one of the show’s polarizing personalities and episode two will likely continue that narrative. In a show preview, Quezada says, “I told her I’d kick her butt.”

Golf Channel’s Matt Ginella, one of the world’s leading authorities on golf travel, ranked his five favorite Myrtle Beach courses on the popular Morning Drive program. Find out which courses Ginella likes best and see how it compares your list. Spoiler Alert: Matt couldn’t contain his list to just five courses!

Well another Ryder Cup has come and gone and as the dust settles there’s really only one question that emerges out of it all, Why does Europe keep winning?  

With wins in 8 out of the last 10 Ryder Cups European dominance seems to be unassailable. But why is this? Everybody seems to have a theory but as a person who has caddied on the world tours for the last 35 years, more then half of that on the European Tour, I might have a unique insight into this phenomena.

On the surface of things it would be hard to believe that the American team should ever lose this event. Even though both the United States and Western Europe have a similar population base of about 300 million people, everyone knows that there are countless more golf courses in the states and therefore countless more golfers. This fact alone should give them a tremendous advantage.

Yet the European teams seem to buck the trend. Of course, in this equation holds part of the reason why things have gone the way they have. If you want to know a large part of why the team from the other side of the pond has become so competitive it’s because the American side gave them that opportunity.

Prior to 1979 the Ryder Cup was an event played just between America and Great Britain and Ireland but due, to a great extent, to the lopsided population base available to the two combatants the results were a foregone conclusion. To give the Great Britain and Ireland team a life-line, the American team suggested that they could bolster their side with players originating from Continental Europe. Hindsight is 20/20 but this turned out to more then just a life-line. Almost immediately new golf superstars like Ballesteros, Olazábal and Langer where playing along side the likes of Faldo, Lyle and Torrance. The tide had turned.

But for me this doesn’t explain everything. How could a part of the world where golf is nearly unheard of in bits of it keep beating a country where nearly every person has picked up a golf club at some point in their life?

Well I’m going to tell you.

Contestant Emily Tubert, lead producer Scott Lee, and challenge producer Chris Graham offer insight and opinion on the first episode of Big Break Myrtle Beach.

We’ve been anxiously awaiting the debut of Big Break Myrtle Beach and where better to start in a coastal destination than a boat?

The premier episode opens with all 12 players cruising down the Intracoastal Waterway with no idea what is in store when the boat docks at Anchor Café, an onsite bar at Marina Inn, the show’s host accommodations property.

After being greeted with a frozen drink and making quick toast while overlooking the Intracoastal, our fearless participants are startled by a television turning on. Everyone’s favorite Travelocity Roaming Gnome appears on the screen to explain the format and leaves the contestants wondering what 12 golf balls of various colors sitting in shot glasses means for their future.

The gnome, still sporting his poker face, reveals only that contestants will be playing as individuals, not teams, and instructs everyone to pick a golf ball. What it means will be revealed tomorrow.

It will be a restless nights sleep for the players wondering what to expect.

As they walk down the dock away from Anchor Café, they find their Big Break professional bags. Uber confident Anthony Quezada, the show’s youngest participant at 19, says, “I’m finally going to be carrying my own bag, but not for long. I’m going to have people carrying it for me on tour.”

Uh, ok. In the interim, he can focus on winning Big Break Myrtle Beach.

At 6:01 a.m. the next morning the breakfast bell rings and our nervous contestants find out their fate for the day. Toph Peterson reads a letter that informs players that anyone who has the same color ball will be their opponent in the first challenge.

After a session on the range, the famed glass break, which is synonymous with the show, is revealed as the first obstacle.

Hosts Tom Abbott and Paige Mackenzie make their first appearance and tell the players they are competing for more than $180,000 in cash and prizes and an exemption into the 2015 Valspar Championship (men) or the 2015 Portland Classic (women) for the winner.

Abbott reveals the first challenge victor will win Super Immunity, which allows them… 

The season premier of Big Break Myrtle Beach will air Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Golf Channel. The network’s most popular original show, Big Break is making its long anticipated appearance in Myrtle Beach.

Twelve aspiring young professionals – six men, six women – competed on four Myrtle Beach golf courses in hopes of winning Big Break, and, along with it, an opportunity that could launch them onto the game’s biggest stages. The 11-episode series was filmed in June.

Golf Channel has launched a new travel website – GolfAdvisor.com – that features many of the game’s premier travel writers, including Matt Ginella, one of the network’s stars.

The site recently convened an all-star travel panel – Ginella, Jason Deegan, Mike Bailey and Brandon Tucker – for a roundtable discussion of all things Myrtle Beach golf.

It’s a great read from four guys who certainly know and understand the Myrtle Beach golf market. While we definitely recommend reading the entire story, here are a few passages, including a debate over the area’s best course, we wanted to share:

Favorite high-end golf course
Ginella: Caledonia Golf & Fish Club. From the driveway — through a long tunnel of oak trees — to the subtle charms of a Mike Strantz design, and the betting that takes place after the round on the back porch, I can't get back to Caledonia soon enough.

Tucker: The Dunes Golf & Beach Club. Sorry, Caledonia, I'm a sucker for the classics.

Hard to argue with either choice!

Best bargain golf in Myrtle Beach

Deegan: Many Dan Maples designs — there are seven along the Grand Strand — won't wow you, but dollar for dollar, golfers are well served. The Heritage Club is the best one, but Sandpiper Bay Golf & Country Club in Sunset Beach, N.C., might be the best bargain.

Bingo, Mr. Deegan! Sandpiper is one not only one of the best bargains in the area, it’s one of the most underrated tracks we have. Heritage is, needless to say, outstanding.

Deegan was no less helpful in providing his best Myrtle Beach travel tip, saying

“Don't chase a star-studded itinerary by trying to play all the “ranked” courses. Chose the most convenient schedule for you and your buddies by playing near where you are staying.”

There are enough ranked courses in each area of the Strand to provide great golf on any trip, but the point about playing near your accommodations is a good one for most groups.

The complete story offers an evaluation of the best restaurants, resorts and value in the area, and is well worth reading, especially if you have a fall trip to Myrtle Beach planned. We will close with Ginella’s answer when asked about the most surprising thing about the area:

“It's not surprising there are so many value-golf options along the Grand Strand, but not many people realize that the top courses here can compete with some of the best public golf in the country.”

Amen, Matt.

One of Myrtle Beach's best and most scenic courses, Tidewater Golf Club, reopened on October 1 with new miniverde bermuda grass greens. The course was closed for four months for the installation of new greens and several other projects, including the expansion of every fairway, and it was in pristine condition upon its reopening. Enjoy the first look at the “new” Tidewater.

Tidewater Golf Club, one of Myrtle Beach’s best and most honored courses, reopened on October 1 after an extensive greens restoration project.

The course, which plays along the Intracoastal Waterway and Cherry Grove Inlet, installed new Miniverde Bermuda grass greens as part of the project.

Tidewater didn’t merely install new greens. Management hired a company to study drainage and perform a soil analysis on each putting complex. The result was vastly improved drainage and a new, custom soil profile that ensures the course’s greens will have optimal conditions in the short and long term.

“We are extremely excited,” said Archie Lemon, Tidewater’s general manager. “At Tidewater, we have a beautiful layout; it’s second to none. Now our greens are back up to the standard we want them to be.” PHOTO GALLERY

Tidewater closed for the project on June 9 and also used the time to enhance the course’s playability and already dramatic aesthetics.

Among the improvements was the widening or lengthening of every fairway on the course. The notable expansions included:

• The fairway on the par 5 eighth hole was lengthened by 60 yards, bringing it much closer to the tee boxes.
• The landing area for the second shot on the par 5 16th hole was widened by 20 yards.
• The 18th hole, one of the Grand Strand’s toughest par 4s, had its fairway widened by 10 yards in the landing area.  

“We’d all rather be playing from the fairway, and sometimes the difference between being in the fairway and rough can be night and day for golfers on holes like No 18,” Lemon said.

Speaking of expanded surfaces, the greens were restored to their original size, which netted Tidewater an additional 10,000-square feet of putting surface. There was also an additional 3 ½ acres of sod laid on the course outside of playable areas, more than 400 trees were removed, and the bunkers all received new sand.

The project was spearheaded by Kris Spence Golf Design. Spence, who oversaw the renovation of Sedgefield Country Club, host of the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship, is renowned for his golf course restoration work.

Tidewater, which has been ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, was the first layout ever named best new course in America by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine, and it raised the profile of the Myrtle Beach golf community upon its 1990 opening. Nine of the course’s 18 holes play along either Cherry Grove or the Intracoastal Waterway.

Tidewater’s most famed hole is the par 5 13th, which offers a view of the inlet and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. The thirteenth is hardly the only memorable challenge at Tidewater. The fourth hole, a par 4 that plays along Cherry Grove, is arguably the most dramatic par 4 along the Myrtle Beach golf scene.

With new greens and pristine conditions, Tidewater is a must-play course this fall.

Links Magazine ranked the top 25 golf islands and a small corner of the Myrtle Beach golf market stood tall. Tiny Pawleys Island was ranked the 10th best golf island, outpolling the likes of Prince Edward, Puerto Rico and New Zealand.

The magazine said of Pawleys Island, while recognizing it for offering best bang for your buck, “How can you not go with an island alongside Myrtle Beach, especially when two of the 10 courses are Caledonia and True Blue.”

While Caledonia and True Blue, both of which are ranked among America’s top 100 public courses, anchor the considerable golf offerings on Pawleys Island, they are hardly alone. Pawleys Plantation, one of the most scenic courses on the Myrtle Beach golf scene, Heritage Club, a top 100 caliber layout, Willbrook Plantation, Founders Club and Tradition Club are all outstanding tracks.

The charms of Pawleys Island extend beyond the golf course. The sprawling live oak trees and lowcountry setting make Pawleys the antithesis of downtown Myrtle Beach, where nightlife and entertainment are rarely more than a block away.

None of that is to say Pawleys lacks for fun, it’s just a little more quaint. The area is home to some of the Grand Strand’s best restaurants, highlighted by Bistro 217.

When you add it all up, Pawleys Island is certainly worthy of its spot on the Links Magazine list, which was headlined by No. 1 Great Britain, No. 2 Ireland and No. 3 Australia. Despite it’s many virtues, it’s hard for Pawleys Island to compete with entire countries!

If being voted America’s best golf destination by readers of USA Today and Golf.com wasn’t enough to convince you of the virtues of a Myrtle Beach golf vacation, Golf Magazine has provided plenty of corroborating evidence.

I’ve been to Myrtle Beach way too many times to keep track. But I do know that I made my first trip before I got married, so that has to be at least 30-some years ago.

I can still remember driving there from Philadelphia, through the night with three friends, in a compact whatever. We took turns behind the wheel, which of course is the only thing to do, even though I’ve since ignored that and almost dozed off at the controls.

Just don’t tell anyone.

I also recall us almost hitting something that had wandered onto I-95 somewhere deep into North Carolina, although we were never sure exactly what it was. I’m assuming animal. I was hitting about 90 on the speedometer at the time.

Then we had to play our first round on no sleep about an hour after we rolled in. Rookie mistake. But hardly the last time I’ve ever done something like that. Later we got a flat tire. It’s funny what sticks in your memory bank. Yet it must have made some kind of an impression, because I always keep going back.

Truth is, I’m not sure I ever considered flying down until I started going to the annual Golf Writers Association of America championship that was held in Myrtle Beach for over half a century before circumstances unfortunately forced its to move. Now those were some great times. The final round was played at the Dunes Club, followed by a candlelight dinner in their dining room, where for our 50th anniversary Arnold Palmer came in to be the guest speaker.

It doesn’t get any better.

Get an up-close look at the cast of Big Break Myrtle Beach with tonight’s ‘Meet the Players’ special at 9 p.m. on Golf Channel.  The one-hour special will introduce you to the 12-person cast – six men, six women – and preview the excitement (and ample drama) of the coming season.

The series will debut on Golf Channel at 9 p.m. on October 7.