Sunday, Oct. 05, 2008

Each hole of Cate's Tiger's Eye has its own personality and appeal

Character at every turn

SUNSET BEACH, N.C.Tiger's Eye Golf Links doesn't take a hole off.

Even some of the better courses on the Grand Strand have holes that seem to simply connect one quality hole to the next. But there is no lull on Tim Cate's 7,044-yard design that opened in 2000 at Ocean Ridge Plantation.

The course gives a consistent diet of dramatic white-sand bunkers, water hazards lined by boulder walls, waste bunkers containing vegetation and elevation changes.

"There's something on every hole that sets the hole up nicely and defines the landing area off the tee," said Roy Dunn of Myrtle Beach, a mortgage consultant with a 12 handicap who took part in a review of the course in late September. "There is something to consider on every shot. It could be water, a grove of trees, waste bunker, anything. No shot was wasted."

Joining me and Roy in the review foursome were Dick Lehrer, a tax specialist from Sunset Beach, N.C., with a 12 handicap, and Faye Gawencki, a waitress from North Myrtle Beach with a handicap of 14.

Cate's built-in features combined with consistent manicuring keep each hole attractive. "This place is beautiful," Faye said. "This course is really amazing. I love it. It's one of the nicest and prettiest courses I've played, and I've played about 50 to 55 courses in the area."

The course's greens often have multiple levels or significant undulation that can create difficult pin placements, and feature a smooth G2 bentgrass. They were generally full though there were a few sparse areas. "I thought the greens rolled consistently although they had erratic covering in some areas," Dick said. "The key to them was they all rolled a consistent speed."

Tiger's Eye can be scored upon because of open areas in front of most greens that make them accessible, large bailout areas around most greens and wide fairways that don't favor a particular ball flight.

"I like the generous areas around the green on most holes that allow you to miss to either side or even in back," Dick said. "... You can play a fade or a draw off the tee, especially from the back. Either shot works on 90 percent of the holes."

The course has no housing close to fairways, so out-of-bounds stakes, resident flower beds and neighborhood dogs aren't a concern. "I felt isolated out there and I like that," Roy said. "There aren't many houses, and when you live and play in Myrtle Beach you don't get that enjoyment very often. ... The course came highly recommended and it didn't disappoint."

Likes

Faye enjoyed the course's wide fairways, as well as the quality and dramatic design of the bunkers. "The bunkers are cool looking and easy to get out of because they have flat areas," she said. "... I love how the landing areas are easy to distinguish. They're right in front of you and wide, so you can see everything."

Dick also liked the quality of the sand and manicuring of the bunkers, as well as the condition of the fairways. "The fairways were flawless," he said. "I never had a bad lie."

Dislikes

Faye was perturbed by the lack of liquor sales on the beverage cart. The cart attendant informed us only beer and wine could be sold on the cart in accordance with North Carolina state law. "I like the beverage cart to have alcohol on it," Faye said.

She enjoyed the fact she could hit driver on par-4s and par-5s despite a significant advantage gained by playing the 4,502-yard red tees, but wouldn't have minded having more hazards come into play from her tee box.

Dick was disappointed the yardage book didn't clearly define how long of a carry he had to cut the corner over the water on the par-4 fourth hole from the back tees. "It would have been nice to have the distances over the major hazards on the fourth hole," he said.

Par-3s

The 190-yard second hole measures 150 from the white tee, is over a pond with a rock wall-lined bank and has a pair of deep bunkers that protect the front left of a green that is elevated enough to require an extra club.

The 178-yard sixth hole is 140 from the white tee and the green is surrounded on all sides but the right by a waste bunker with several trees growing out of it. "The views from the tees were great on the par-3s, especially from the ladies tees," Faye said.

The 165-yard 11th hole is a beautiful hole measuring 128 from the white tee and has a peninsula green with water on all sides but the left and a bunker front right. All banks of the water hazard are lined by boulders. The 208-yard 17th measures 165 from the white tee and is the course's toughest par-3 with water to the left of the green and bunkers right and front right.

"Each of the four par-3s was unique - one was surrounded by water, one surrounded by sand, one green was high on a hill and one had a long carry over water," Roy said.

Par-4s

Most of the par-4s at Tiger's Eye have a manageable length, as six are 400 yards or less from the back tees. There are a couple monsters, however, in the 452-yard 12th hole and 447-yard 16th.

The 12th is a straight hole with a large multiple-finger bunker to the front right of the green, and the 16th has a pair of right fairway bunkers, a creek intersecting the fairway 90 yards from the green, and bunkers front left and front right of the green. Like most par-4s and par-5s on the course, the front of the green is accessible. "Most featured open fronts to the green, leaving the option to bump the approach or have an open chip to the hole," Roy said.

Both nines begin with a short par-4 that can be birdied. The 377-yard first hole requires a drive over water to a fairway that turns to the right, and the 356-yard 10th hole is a dogleg left with a wide, uphill fairway.

"I like a first hole like this where it's open, everything is in front of you and you can see the flag so you know it's not too long," Dick said. "It's a first hole that will make you feel good."

The fourth and eighth holes have water to the right of the fairway, and the 422-yard fourth and 415-yard ninth holes are two of the most attractive holes on the course.

The fourth is a dogleg left that can be shortened with a drive over water, but a series of waste bunkers populated with dead trees await behind the water in the middle of the fairway, and water lurks behind the fairway.

The ninth has a slightly downhill second shot to a green protected by a wide rock wall-lined water hazard.

Par-5s

The par-5s range in length from 531 to 592 yards and three are longer than 550, though two are shorter than 500 from the white tees. There is water and/or waste bunkers down at least one side of each. "Every par-5 was long - well over 500 yards from the blues - and had hazards to consider on each shot," Roy said.

The 551-yard third is straight and narrow with a waste bunker down practically the entire right side, and the 562-yard seventh has water and a series of bunkers down the right side.

The 531-yard 15th has a green angled to the left into a water hazard that begins 180 yards from the green, and water from the right narrows the fairway considerably for the second and third shots.

The 592-yard 18th is a slight dogleg right with a creek to carry on the drive and a waste bunker running along the right side of the hole from 170 yards through the green. "They are all just long and beautiful," Faye said.

Favorite holes

Roy liked the par-4 fifth and 10th holes, for selfish reasons. He birdied both.

Both Faye and Dick enjoyed the par-4 ninth hole, particularly because of the water hazard fronting the green that featured rock walls on all of its banks.

"It's a very pretty layout and the water looked intimidating but really wasn't in play except for a poor second shot," Dick said.

Least favorite hole

The least favorite hole was unanimous for the entire group - the 531-yard, par-5 15th.

Water down the left side from 180 yards through the green gave the hole its risk-reward characteristic, but water around the right side couldn't be seen from the fairway and left only a sliver of fairway for about 100 yards.

"The problems of the hole required previous hole knowledge," Dick said. "It's not well-marked from the fairway. There was no way out of that hole. You have to be so precise on your second shot."

Roy's disagreement with the hole stemmed from the hidden right water hazard. "The 15th is tough to play the first time because you don't know exactly where the water is," Roy said. "The water and sand hazards on the second shot are blind and its tough to judge distances. I think it's a good hole to play again, it's just tough for the first time."

ONLINE: To view Blondin's Q&A Forum 'Ask Al,' go to MyrtleBeachOnline.com.

TO PARTICIPATE

To take part in a future course review, e-mail ablondin@thesunnews.com with a name, phone number, handicap and estimate on which tee you would play.