Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

Parkland stands apart

Remote setting, length separate layout from sister courses

To accurately depict the Parkland Course at Legends Resort, you almost have to compare it to the other two courses on the property.

The Heathland Course is wide open in a links style and the Moorland Course requires precise shot-making and is the toughest of the three.

Despite Parkland's extremely large greens and abundance of deep and steep bunkers, it is still the most conventional of the three. "It's more traditional with tree-lined fairways and even the contouring," said Rick Stotelmyer of Longs, a retired Maryland crime scene investigator who took part in a review of the course in late August. "There are different elevations and a few doglegs right and left. The course is laid out well."

Joining me and Rick, a 13 handicap, in the review foursome were Chip Kern of Cherry Grove, a bartender with a 7 handicap, and Sid Kale of Myrtle Beach, a retired medical company executive with a 20 handicap.

The 2.5-mile drive into the Legends complex from U.S. 501 creates a sense of remoteness, and the course layout reinforces it. Few houses come into play amidst the trees. An area deep down the right side of the eighth fairway is the only real noticeable spot with houses and out-of-bounds stakes.

Parkland, the third of the Legends courses to open in 1992, is an imposing 7,215 yards from the tips. Chip played a still formidable 6,834 yards from blue tees. "Ouch," was Chip's response to the back tee yardage, "7,200 and change. I don't think we drove that far to get here."

The course's length, several wetland areas that create forced carries, and bunkers throughout the layout, often in groups, present challenges. "There is some bodacious bunkering here," Sid said. "You get in some of them and you might as well forget about going for the green."

Mounding hides pins on a number of hole locations. "Approach shots into a lot of the greens were blind shots," Chip said, "but once you play the course once or twice and know the contours of the greens, it won't be a problem."

Greens either have multiple levels or significant slope. A couple are as deep as 50 yards and one is as wide as 58 yards. "I think these are as large as any greens I've played on," Chip said. "I've played courses with big greens but these were outrageously large."

TifEagle ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens were plush but slower than they looked. "The course conditioning was super," Sid said. "Everything is in good shape except a few cart path areas and a couple bridges. Some of the infrastructure can use work."

Likes

Chip liked the look of the course off the tees. "Each hole had a different look," he said.

Rick applauded the course for placing red stakes along the edge of dense trees and underbrush. "Placing lateral hazards by trees helped keep play moving," he said.

The entire group appreciated the staff -- "It's a friendly staff that makes you feel wanted," Chip said -- and thought annual green fees between $55 and $110, with local rates between $49 and $60, were appealing. "It's one of the best values for the money on the Strand," Sid said.

Adding to the course's value is perhaps the most impressive practice facility on the Grand Strand. It includes a 30-acre lighted driving range and massive putting green, and the Classic Swing Golf School. "They have a great practice facility here," Sid said. "It's huge."

Dislikes

There are yardage markers on each side of the fairway for 100, 150 and 200 yards, but the group would have appreciated yardages on sprinkler heads or more yardage markers, particularly outside of 200 yards on par-5s. "With the size of these greens, you'd think they'd have the sprinkler heads marked with yardage to the back, middle and front," Chip said. "There's a lot of guesswork on this course."

There's no true senior distance. The white tees are nearly 6,400 yards and reds are 5,351. "For a senior I thought the course was long but it's very fair," Sid said. "Most of the trouble you can see and know where you have to hit it."

Sid also thought the sand, which was generally plentiful and similar to beach sand, was inconsistent in spots. "There was great variation in the texture of sand in different bunkers," Sid said.

Rick noticed the fringes of the green were inconsistently cut. "The first cut of grass around the greens showed some brown, or a dull mower," Rick said. "The mower paths looked like there was an uneven mower deck."

Par-3s

The par-3s measure between 175 and 235 yards from the tips, and three are more than 200 yards. "There are some real long par-3s on this course," Chip said. "When you start getting up into 220 or 230 yards and get a little wind in your face, you're hitting at least 3-wood into the green. They're fair but can be intimidating."

Distances from the white tees were a more manageable 155 to 180. "All were good distances," Rick said. "There were no very short ones and none were extremely long."

The 175-yard third hole over wetlands had bailout room on the right while bunkers front and left protected most pin placements. The 200-yard fifth featured water behind the green that met a bunker on the right side and a deep green with a valley in the middle.

The 225-yard 13th has an uphill tee shot over marsh to a fairly flat green protected by four bunkers front right, two left and one back. The 235-yard 16th has water short of the green on the left, and several bunkers to the left of a green with a mild ridge splitting the right and left sides.

Par-4s

Most had penalizing bunkers somewhere around the landing areas. "They were laid out well with well-placed fairway bunkers," Rick said. "Good drives should avoid them."

The 380-yard first was a good straightforward starting hole with a rolling green, and the second was longer than 450 for each of the two back tees.

The 440-yard sixth had wetlands crossing the fairway 110 yards from the hole and a tree impeding shots from the right side. The 405-yard seventh has water right and several bunkers left in the landing area, and the 340-yard ninth has a dramatic second shot to a green elevated above a chasmal bunker.

The 350-yard 10th has water left and bunkers built into mounding on the right, the 470-yard 12th has high-faced bunkers about 160 yards from the green in the left center of the fairway, and the 465-yard 14th presents a tough drive with wetlands to carry on the right backed by bunkers and wetlands to lay up in front of on the left.

The 395-yard 17th has a pair of bunkers 70 yards from the green in the middle of the fairway as a target, and the 465-yard 18th is one of the few holes with an open drive and little trouble around the green.

Par-5s

Three of the four par-5s measure 545 yards or more from the tips and more than 500 from the white tees. "On all but the [515-yard] 11th it was hard to get home in two, with some trouble you could get into," Chip said.

The 570-yard fourth hole (519 from the white) turns slightly right after the drive. There are bunkers left of the landing area and wetlands left on the second shot, and the green is well protected by bunkers left and right but the middle is open.

The 545-yard eighth has wetlands fronted by rough crossing the fairway about 270 yards from the blue tees and bunkers left and right about 50 yards from the green.

The 515-yard 11th (489 from the white) is a dogleg left with a pond fronting the green. A drive over bunkers at the bend sets up a slightly downhill shot to the green. The 580-yard 15th (509 from the white) has wetlands crossing the fairway after the drive and bunkers deep down both sides of the fairway, though the green is fairly unprotected.

"Without good drives, second and third shots could be impaired," Rick said.

Favorite holes

Both Chip and Sid liked the 340-yard ninth hole, which was the shortest par-4 on the course. "It's visually nice from the tee with a raised green and large bunkers," Chip said.

Added Sid: "It makes you think about where to place your drive to set up a second shot over a cavernous bunker."

Rick's favorite hole was the long par-3 16th, measuring 180 from the white tee, in part because of how he played it. "I hit a good iron shot that rolled right by the cup," he recalled.

Least favorite holes

Chip's least favorite hole was the 225-yard par-3 13th. "It's a long, uphill par-3, and into the wind it would be a bear," he said.

Sid thought the 12th hole, measuring 424 yards from the white tee with bunkering throughout, was excessively difficult for senior players.

Rick's least favorite hole was the par-5 eighth, measuring 503 yards from the white tee with a mound on the right side of the fairway hiding the green. "It's tough to reach in two and a blind shot to the green blocks the view of a very large, wavy green," Rick said.

Contact ALAN BLONDIN at 843-626-0284.