Will Arnie Get His Revenge at Rivers Edge? “Breaking Par with Charlie Rymer” Episode 44
If ever there was a stop along this journey that Charlie might hit a speed bump, this was it: the challenging par-5 finishing hole at Arnold Palmer’s Rivers Edge in Shallotte, N.C. Par’s a great score here; can “The Big Timer” stave off revenge to get that – or even better?
Charlie:
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 …
(Did I mention I made birdie there?)
… 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 go Google “perfect,” and see if that shot doesn’t come up right there!)
Join me on my journey to break par!
I know they call this hole Arnie’s Revenge, but man, what did I ever do to you, Mr. Palmer? You’re going to be talking about this one for a long time. The play off the tee is down the left center of the fairway. The second shot should favor the middle fairway bunker, and you got a wide approach to a long, narrow green. This is going to be fun, I think.
Today, we’re in Shallotte, North Carolina. This is Rivers Edge Golf Club, and yeah, there’s not much to look at here. What a beautiful place. His golf course was designed by Mr. Arnold Palmer. This is the ninth hole. It’s a par-5. It’s called Arnie’s Revenge. And I know Mr. Palmer loved this hole because it’s all about risk reward. I’m going to try and put this ball in the fairway, and then for the second shot, we’ll talk risk reward. It’s the second shot that absolutely takes your breath away. We’re going to try and take this one somewhere, right at the marsh.
All right. Probably going to be decision time from there. What a place. Yeah, I know Mr. Palmer. He would’ve loved this place. Wow, it is beautiful. Sort of takes your breath away. Finishing hole on the front, finishing hole on the back. Other places in the golf course, and Mr. Palmer loved going for it. I think I’m going to be right in that zone up here. Okay, so here’s the deal. This green sits on this skinny little peninsula, and I got nothing but marsh between me and that peninsula, and it’s about 240 yards to get over there. My options are, I lay up short to the right. I got a big target to go to. There’s like a sort of intermediate layup. It’s a little smaller target, or do I just go for it? And sometimes you just got to ask yourself, “What would Mr. Palmer have done?” That’s what I did. Three wood. I got to get all of this to get it there. This is definitely not the smart way to go.
Come on, baby. I think we’ll be all right with that one. It’s just really hard to hold back talent. The whole cream rises to the top sort of thing. Mr. Palmer liked that one. Now, when I told you this was a skinny target. From this angle right here, you can look down and see. That’s a pretty skinny target. I don’t know what I was thinking going for it, but we’re all right now. It’s hard to believe they could even put a golf hole right here. Super neat. I got a lot of green to work with here. I’m going to try to get this on the ground pretty quick and get it running down there.
Something like that. Go. I grabbed a little bit on me, got the right height, just didn’t hit it hard enough. See if we can make a putt. So this is only about 15, 18 feet, but there’s a lot going on. Got some uphill. Got some right in it, some left in it. Pull it up here around the hole, and maybe it’ll fall in. That’s all right. Pulled off the tough second shot okay. Not the best pitch in the world. Mr. Palmer would’ve probably liked it. I made a birdie or an eagle. Par has never made him too mad.
Mr. Palmer delivers some great memories on his golf courses, doesn’t he? And if you love these marshland views, stick around. We’ve got more in store at our next stop!
