Glory or Graveyard? The 5 Scariest Golf Shots in Myrtle Beach

Halloween, the night of ghouls, goblins and fright, is in the rearview mirror, but fear of the five scariest shots on the Myrtle Beach golf scene remains.

These are shots that cause your palms to sweat and your body to tense up, because your ball has as good a chance of landing in its graveyard as it does the safety of well-manicured grass.

Here are five shots that could haunt you on the course and after you’ve returned home from your Myrtle Beach golf trip.

1. The beauty of the 13th hole at Pawleys Plantation is matched only by the terror it induces on the tee. The peninsula green looks out across a marsh that serves as a barrier between Pawleys Island and the mainland. The shot appears much shorter than what the scorecard says – 115 yards from the blue tees, 69 from the whites. The green seems impossibly small and the distance too short. When the tide is out and countless golf balls that have met their marshy grave are visible, it’s yet another reminder of the difficulty of the scariest shot in Myrtle Beach. Advice? Hit it high, land it soft and pray!

2. Whether you are going for the green in two (it requires a perfect shot) or three, the approach into par-5 ninth hole at Rivers Edge is only slightly less nerve-jangling than spending Halloween night in a pagan cemetery. The ninth green, surrounded by marsh, is narrow and trouble surrounds it. Hitting it requires precision and serious nerve.

3. World Tour Golf Links recreates some of the game’s most famous holes, so how could we not include one that makes players around the world go weak in the knees? The third hole on the Open 9 replicates the famed island green 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass. Playing just 132 yards, distance isn’t a problem but you think about this hole from the moment you book a round at World Tour. We’ve all seen the pros dump balls in the water on the exact same shot and heard Johnny Miller describe their failures. It’s hard not to have those thoughts in your head as you approach the tee.

4. For 15 holes, The Wizard is a links style course where water isn’t a factor, but that changes on the last three, capped by the par-4 18th. Playing 421 yards from the tips and 394 yards from the whites, it’s a long hole that requires a forced carry over water on the approach. There is no bailout room and a 235-yard drive from the white tees still leaves approximately 165 to get home. On a course that gives players the chance to score, the approach on No. 18 at The Wizard can be a curse on your round!

5. The par-4 18th hole at Caledonia is universally regarded as one of the area’s best and most fun holes to play. Here is what they don’t tell you: it’s also one of the scariest. A forced carry is always a source of tension, but there is another factor in play at Caledonia. Nothing frightens the average player more than a gallery, and there are almost always people watching on the clubhouse deck overlooking the 18th green. The assembled masses ooh and ahh based on the quality of the approach shots over water, and the pressure of the crowd, combined with your own expectations, can create a type of fear golfers rarely face. But it’s great!

What do you think is the scariest shot in Myrtle Beach?