Strantz’s Magic Continues to Shine Through at True Blue, Caledonia

Golf course architecture is enjoying a moment in the sun as outlets such as The Fried Egg grow in popularity covering the finer points of course design. While much of the current emphasis is on Golden Age layouts, Myrtle Beach is home to a pair of contemporary courses – Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue Golf Club – that often attract the attention of the GCA crowd.

The sister layouts were designed by iconoclastic architect Mike Strantz — known affectionately as “The Maverick.” The late Strantz designed just seven courses before his life was cut tragically short by cancer, but his impact continues to be felt across the golf travel landscape, and that is certainly true along the Myrtle Beach golf scene.

Caledonia was Strantz’s first solo design and the course launched him to fame. Carved through approximately 120 acres, Caledonia is a Lowcountry beauty, playing amongst stunning live oak trees and along the marshy waters of the Waccamaw Neck.

The course is equal parts art and architecture and the experience reaches its zenith on the par-4 18th, widely regarded as one golf’s best finishing holes. The approach requires players to carry the ball over water to an undulating green that resides in the shadow of the course’s stately clubhouse. It’s an unforgettable close to a round on one of America’s top 100 public courses.

Conversely, True Blue is a big boy golf course in every sense of the word. The fairways are among the Myrtle Beach area’s largest, as are the waste bunkers that line them, and True Blue’s greens are massive, with pin placement often dictating the level of challenge on each hole.

The course encourages players to swing away with the driver, but to score well, you must play to the proper spots in the fairway and on the green, highlighting the layout’s playability for high handicappers and the challenge for more skilled players.

Strantz is one of the game’s legends and after playing Caledonia and True Blue, it won’t take you long to realize why.