Wicked Stick: Three Best Holes

Wicked Stick Golf Links, the only John Daly signature Myrtle Beach golf course, was designed with the idea of letting traveling golfers enjoy the grip it and rip it game that Long John helped popularize. The fairways are generous and bombing the driver is encouraged, but the layout offers a diverse and enjoyable round.

We asked head pro John Thomas to share the course’s three best holes. He obliged.

No. 7, 265-yard, par 3: Myrtle Beach’s longest par 3, No. 7 is an absolute monster from the Daly tees. It’s long but manageable from the blue (205 yards) and white tees (188 yards). There is a pond on the right and a green with a surplus of undulation.

“Par is a good score,” Thomas said. “There is a pretty deep pot bunker on the front right, a shallow bunker on the back left and you play into an egg shaped green with a big elephant buried in the middle of it.”

Good luck!

No. 9, 403-yard, par 4 – Wicked Stick’s ninth, one of the course’s more scenic holes, demands a quality approach. Water fronts the green so there is no coming up short, and the challenge is substantial.

“There is water to the left and mounds (off the tee), but it’s really wide open,” Thomas said. “You don’t have to hit a driver. Whatever you can get to 150 yards, that’s what you want to hit off the tee. You have to hit the green (on the approach).”

No. 18, 528-yard, par 5 – A risk-reward golf hole, there are several different ways to play No. 18. It’s a dogleg left that offers players the chance to go for the green in two, but it’s a risky gambit. Most players that dream of an eagle, attempt to pound the drive to the corner of the fairway and hit a long iron into what amounts to an island green.

Playing 485 yards from the white tees, even mid to high handicappers can be tempted after a long drive, but most play it safe.

“Most people play it down the right side about 260 out then layup,” Thomas said

Sounds like a smart way to finish a good round.