Sunday, Sep. 07, 2008

Unique layout trademark of Founders Club

Sandy course at the beach

PAWLEYS ISLAND -- If you're not hitting out of sand at Founders Club at Pawleys Island, you're driving on it.

Every hole on Thomas Walker's new 7,007-yard design on the site of the old Sea Gull Golf Club is surrounded by sand, from the tee box through and sometimes around the green.

Waste bunkers serve as cart paths on practically every hole, and they also provide the attractive shaping of a golf course that has a unique look in the market.

"The waste areas just really frame the golf course well and make it a target course," said Curtis Swartzman, a college student from Columbus, Ohio, and 6.1-handicap who took part in a review of the course in late August. "When you stand on the tee box every fairway is well defined."

Joining me and Curtis in the foursome were his wife, Renee, a pharmacist with a handicap of 25, and John Trivett of Myrtle Beach, a 2.7 handicap and Hard Rock Park bartender who had just graduated with Curtis from the Golf Academy of the Carolinas. We weren't deterred despite playing through the fringe effects of a tropical depression.

The course has some elevation change in fairways, as well as some elevated tees and greens. Mounding and pot bunkers add to difficulty and in some places split fairways, and water is in play on more than half the holes. There are a fair amount of fairway and greenside bunkers within the confines of waste bunkers, which keep balls in play but present challenging recovery shots.

"It's a test from the back tees," John said. "If you don't hit your drive in the fairway you're in trouble - at least in a bunker if not worse. Overall, it's a very impressive course. The course design and layout is very unique. This is a great course with many options, and if you dare there are shortcuts, but also the risk of adding strokes."

The course was in very good shape, including the sand that was packed in most cases where carts were allowed. "This sand isn't bad to hit out of," John said.

Founders Club is the first course on the Grand Strand to install the Emerald form of ultra-dwarf Bermudagrass on its greens, and they were consistent in addition to holding approach shots. "These greens are smooth," John said.

The group was as impressed with tee boxes as anything. The back tee box on the first hole is an extension of a practice putting green. "These tee boxes are as nice as any I've ever hit off," Curtis said.

Likes

Renee liked the condition of the greens and tees, the beauty of both the course and the surrounding landscaping, and sand cart paths rather than concrete. "It added to the natural beauty of the course, although it often added to the difficulty as well," she said.

While each fairway was framed by sand, Curtis liked the fact that most holes were surrounded by trees and set apart from each other. "You don't see any other golfers as you play," Curtis said, "and I kind of like not having to deal with other golfers. It lets you enjoy the scenery without distractions."

Curtis liked the options afforded by five sets of tees with a variation of 2,200 yards, though there was a large gap of nearly 900 yards between the gold and white tees. "The variety of yardages from the five sets of tees makes it playable for everyone," he said. "You can give this golf course a number of different looks."

Dislikes

Founders Club does not have a driving range. "I felt with no warmup that was a tough way to start," Renee said.

The drive from the third green to the fourth tee consists of a right onto one street, left on another and right on another before you pick the cart path back up.

John found you have to rely on the yardage book on holes where waste bunkers lie beyond your view of the fairway. "Some of the visuals can trip you up if you're playing it for the first time," John said. "You can drive through fairways."

Pot bunkers in unnecessary places and ornamental grasses in waste bunkers and in front of tee boxes can create unfair penalties around the course.

Par-3s

The 190-yard third hole has a carry over water and eight tee boxes. The white tees can measure between 142 and 166. Four tee boxes are slightly higher on the left and provide an angle with less water to carry, and four tee boxes are lined up to their right. The green and water angle back to the right.

The 209-yard fifth measures 158 from the white and has tee boxes angling from back right to front left in a waste bunker. Water must be carried from the two back tee boxes, though it stops well short of the green, and the green has a backdrop of three bunkers set in mounding.

The 186-yard 11th has a slightly elevated green that slopes to the back, has waste bunkers left and right and a pot bunker front middle that lines up with a ridge in the green separating a higher left and lower right side. The 146-yard 16th has an elevated tee and fairly deep green. "The par-3s were beautiful yet challenging due to forced carries, but they were playable and fun," Renee said.

Par-4s

The course starts with a benign 381-yard hole. It's wide and has a lot of room behind the green, which you soon learn is uncharacteristic for the course. The 432-yard second hole has water down the entire left side, stopping at the green. The 395-yard fourth is narrow with a road on the right and trees/out of bounds on the left.

The 396-yard seventh is a dogleg left with a drive over water and tall trees guarding the bend on the left, and the 427-yard eighth has water on the left but a generous landing area off the tee.

The 372-yard dogleg-left 13th measures 341 from the white and doesn't require a driver with a waste bunker cutting off the fairway inside 100 yards. The 15th is a potential birdie hole, though you may be faced with a blind uphill second shot without a good drive.

The 501-yard 17th is 430 from the white and played into the wind the day we played it. The 373-yard 18th hole is fairly short and narrow, with water fronting a three-tiered green that is wide but shallow.

"Basically, if you hit the fairways you can post a decent score on these par-4s," John said. "If you don't, you will have some trouble making par."

Par-5s

Each of the par-5s presents some type of risk-reward scenario. "The par-5s offer a variety of options off the tee and are reachable in two," Curtis said. "Three of the par-5s can be had out here, I think. You can make up some ground on those holes and it adds to the excitement of playing the course."

The 546-yard sixth measures 518 from the white and turns right with water down the entire left side. The fairway is split by rough in front of the green and a small pond sits to the right of the green.

A fountain in a long water hazard to the left of the ninth fairway and green is visible from U.S. 17 and is a trademark of the course. The 559-yard hole is 493 from the white and turns left on or after the drive and slightly right afterward. A long drive could go through the right side of the fairway and a pair of bunkers are positioned to catch drives down the right side. The green is protected by a waste bunker and water left, a pair of bunkers behind it and a large and vegetated waste bunker to its right.

The 542-yard 10th measures 510 from the white, has a downhill tee shot, then turns left after the drive over a waste bunker that crosses the fairway. Mounding on the right side blocks a view of the green until you're inside 100 yards on the left side, which has a waste bunker backed by water beginning at the crossing waste bunker.

The 511-yard 12th has a fairway split by mounds with a series of pot bunkers interspersed, from which balls can't be advanced very far. After the drive, the fairway slopes down to a water hazard fronting an elevated green that has a higher back left portion protected by a pair of front bunkers. The water hazard requires a carry of more than 50 yards from the right side and 70 yards from the left.

Favorite holes

Renee enjoyed the par-4 14th hole, which played 449 yards from the back tee and 313 from the red. It's a dogleg-right with a fairway that slopes downhill beginning 170 from a green that is very elevated with bunkers on either side. "I liked the look of the hole and the elevation change up to the green," she said.

Curtis and John both preferred the 511-yard par-5 12th, measuring 506 yards from the blue tees. "It's a gambler hole," Curtis said. "Your second shot is a forced carry over water if you dare to hit it, or lay up to your favorite yardage and wedge it up."

Least favorite holes

Renee thought the par-5 12th, measuring 372 from the red tee, could present difficulties for many women. "The forced carry to the green was longer than a player such as myself can really handle, especially from the left side, which was discouraging," Renee said.

Neither Curtis nor John appreciated the 17th - which measured 501 yards from the tips and 447 from the blue tees - especially since we played it into a stiff wind. "Five hundred yards is a long par-4," John said. "That's a par-5, and you had to hit a fade off the tee the way the tree line was set up."

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

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

To see a photo gallery from the course review at Founders Club at Pawleys Island, go to MyrtleBeachOnline.com.