“Breaking Par with Charlie Rymer” Episode 7: Litchfield Country Club

We’re off to a Lowcountry classic for the next leg in Charlie’s quest to break par: Willard Byrd’s Litchfield Country Club, one of the South Strand’s original designs. Let’s see how “The Big Timer” handles some unexpected adventure on its par-4 18th hole!
 

Cancer knocked me down, but not out. Now, I’m cancer free. The recovery? It’s been tough. I’ll need patience, a lot of humor …

(You can only keep talent down for so long!)

… And support from friends and family. Over the last two years, I haven’t played much golf, but there’s no better place to get back in the game than on 66 courses in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We’re keeping score, but just teeing it up means I’ve already won!

(You’re not going to believe where this ball ended up!)

Join me on my journey to break par!

This is a really nice finishing hole. Dogleg right that demands a well-placed drive, because there’s water up the left side that’s reachable off the tee, and you don’t want to miss right, because you’ll have plenty of trees to contend with. Which way will we go? Let’s tee it up and find out.

So I’m on the 18th tee at Litchfield Country Club. This was the first golf course in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and boy did it open up the floodgates for what’s become one heck of a global hotspot for golf. Now, this was designed by the legendary Willard Byrd, and I’m going to tell you what, folks, this is an old school, old south, Lowcountry gem.

So when you’re playing golf in Myrtle Beach, always look for those striped poles in the middle of the fairways. That’s a 150 marker. I’m going to go with the three wood here, and try and knock that stake, that striped pole, out of the ground. Get left, baby. Well, that’s not what I was trying to do, but I’ve got one heck of a recovery game.

One of the hard things about coming out here and filming this golf or filming at 66 golf courses, we try to do a lot of it early in the morning, just so we’re not bothering the golfers or paid customers, the guests that come from all over the world. We got lucky here at Litchfield, because we had a gap in play. We don’t always have a gap in play. So if you see us out filming, we’re going to get out of your way real quick, and sorry to bother you.

Oh my goodness, look at this one. You guys are going to love this one. I love being in the trees. See, I drive it real crooked, and have since I was a kid. So I’m like 180 yards away. See, the flag is right up … There’s three pine trees, and the flag’s right up … You see the flag? Come on, get in on that flag. You see the flag right up in there? Yeah, I’m going to hit it up there near that flag. I love shots like this.

What I’m going to do is I’m going to take it a little left of this low tree, I’m going to take it under that oak, to the left of the pond, I’m going to hit a low slice, it doesn’t start slicing until it’s gone about 100 yards. You ready for this? You got that camera rolling? All right, here we go. You guys are going to say, “That guy is Houdini.” This kind of shot, what it does is it gives me an opportunity to show you how good I am. You ready, right? Okay, we’re ready. Here we go. 80 yards, and then it’s going to start slicing.

Well, I didn’t get on the green, but I got close enough. Watch this. I’m going to make me a nice par. I love being in the woods.

I almost hit that one perfect. These guys are speechless. They don’t know what to say. See, that’s the other thing about this challenge, playing these courses, I love that I can play, number one, that’s a good thing, but I’m playing by myself, so I’ve got to talk to these camera guys. Ooh, I think I saw a coyote. No, it’s a golden retriever. I’ve got to play by myself. I need people to listen to my stories. I’ve got all kinds of stories. I’m glad I got this camera going. You sort of have to listen to my stories on this camera.

One little leaf. One little leaf took the spin off this ball. It would’ve spun right in there. In fact, it might’ve gone in if it hadn’t have been for the one little leaf. But like it is, I get a chance to hit a good little pitch here.

Hang on, baby. I told you I was going to make an ugly par. When you hit it in the woods, you’ve got to be positive. Yeah, dead center. There we go. Told you I’d make par there. I hate right to left putts.

Into the woods, and out of trouble. See how easy that was? Even through seven, time to get great on number eight!

Miss an Episode? Just Click the Links Below to Catch Up!

Episode 6: Caledonia

Episode 5: True Blue

Episode 4: Pawleys Plantation

Episode 3: Founders Club at Pawleys Island

Episode 2: Heritage Club

Episode 1: Wedgefield Country Club

Series Trailer