Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Blackmoor: A layout full of surprises

Blackmoor's oddities make it unique venue

MURRELLS INLET -- At Blackmoor Golf Club, you're likely to see something you haven't seen before.

The rarities begin with the 371-yard par-4 eighth, which can be played as a dogleg right or short hole directly through a tree corridor. But they don't end there.

"The course is truly unique," said Ken Haselden of Myrtle Beach, a 5 handicap and retired Andrews High School teacher and coach who took part in a review of the course in late October. "It's different. It has a lot of strange holes. That's not a bad thing, it just has a lot of unique holes with a hole you can play two ways and a number of doglegs."

Ken and I were joined in the review foursome by Mike Daniels of Murrells Inlet, a golf-related business owner with a 2 handicap, and his wife and fellow Wachesaw Plantation member, Sue, a technology consultant with a handicap of 12.6.

The 20-year-old Gary Player design is favorable to high-handicap players who tend to fade the ball. There are eight true dogleg holes, and only the par-4 10th turns significantly left.

"I don't think there are any courses in the area with this many doglegs, and with design philosophy they usually try to even up the doglegs left and right," Mike said. "Here they're almost all right, and that favors higher handicap players. It can be difficult if you play a draw."

The course is only 6,614 yards from the tips and as long as 6,217 from the next tee up -- the white tees -- but holes are generally tight with hazards, out of bounds, housing, thick tree lines or roads on either side of just about every fairway. "They put a premium on driving it straight here, that's for sure," Ken said.

The back nine is a bit more quirky and interesting than the front, with a strong par-5 closing hole, the short 332-yard, par-4 11th featuring high mounding on the right and a tree in the fairway, and a plethora of doglegs. "It's a fun course to play with several challenging holes," Sue said.

Greens featuring TifEagle Bermudagrass are relatively flat.

Blackmoor features a number of long drives on wooden cart paths through wooded areas and over wetlands, particularly between the eighth and ninth holes, and ninth and 10th holes. The course is well-manicured, with ornamental pampas and cord grass lining the hills to several elevated tee boxes.

"The course is certainly above average in comparison to many courses on the Grand Strand," Ken said.

Likes

Sue thought there was "fair yardage for varied levels of play." She thought all holes were reachable in regulation except the sixth (measuring 356 from the red tees). "It's always wet and plays longer than the yardage," she said.

Mike liked the importance placed on hitting fairways at Blackmoor. "I like the premium on accuracy over just pounding the ball because driving is a strength of mine," Mike said. "You have to drive it straight to score, so if you spray the ball either left or right you will have a long day."

Ken appreciated the choices several holes presented. "There are a number of holes where you can play safe or take a chance to drive close to the green," Ken said. "You really have to think about your position off the tee."

Dislikes

Both Mike and Sue thought the number of doglegs were excessive: six of the seven par-4s or par-5s on the back nine are sharp doglegs.

The greens were slower than Sue prefers, rolling an estimated 8 on the Stimpmeter with poa trivialis overseed beginning to grow through the TifEagle Bermudagrass at the time of our round.

Mike thought the greens could have been jazzed up -- they were fairly flat and often at fairway level -- and though he enjoys tight driving holes, he empathizes with players having to deal with out of bounds and hazards lining fairways. "It has the feeling of a bowling alley," he said.

Ken believed the tee shots were too demanding for average players. "In general, the fairways are rather narrow," he said. "The golfer who sprays the tee shot will struggle tremendously. High handicappers could have problems keeping it in the fairway."

Par-3s

Two of the course's first four holes are par-3s. The 182-yard second hole is open to the tee with a quartet of small bunkers in mounding behind the green. The 162-yard fourth requires a tee shot over water to a green framed by trees.

Two of the course's final four holes are also par-3s. The tee shot on the 166-yard 15th is slightly downhill to a shallow green that is nestled in front of trees and behind wetlands, with a trio of pot bunkers in the slope leading to the wetlands to the front right of the green. "I love the 15th hole," Sue said. "It's a very challenging par-3, and with a back-right pin it's a bear."

The 174-yard 17th is straightforward with trees to the left. "There's a nice mix of medium-length par-3s with different looks," Mike said. "Don't be long on Nos. 2 and 17 and don't be short on Nos. 4 and 15."

Par-4s

The opening hole is a difficult 421-yarder with a drive over wetlands to a tight fairway with trees on the left, both a creek and out of bounds just off the cart path on the right, and a small, elevated green with bunkers front right and front left.

"The first hole is a great starting hole," Sue said. "You have to use enough club to get it to the green because of the slope in front of it."

The 412-yard sixth features a sunken right side of the fairway and S.C. 707 runs along the right side of a white picket fence. The eighth plays as a 371-yard, dogleg right, but can be shortened to just over 300 yards by taking the right-side shortcut.

"There's a good variety of lengths, starting with a strong par-4 at No. 1, with a couple of elevated greens that make the holes play one-half to one club longer than the yardage reads," Mike said.

The 411-yard 10th is a dogleg left that doesn't necessarily require driver off the tee to get around the tree-lined bend, and the left half of the green becomes shallow behind a bunker.

The 366-yard 12th is a sharp, dogleg right with a narrow bunker horseshoeing around the back of the green. "It's tough to hit out of because it's narrow and bowl-shaped," Sue said.

Par-5s

Three of the four par-5s are 520 yards or shorter from the tips. "They're medium in length, leaving short wedges for your third shot," Mike said. "If you're playing well you can make up a few shots on the par-5s."

The 514-yard third hole has wetlands crossing the fairway about 300 yards from the back tees, and the final 30 yards leading to the hazard is downhill. The tight, 544-yard seventh has a waste bunker crossing the fairway 315 yards from the tee as well as a large bunker on the left side of the layup area.

The 499-yard 13th is a sharp dogleg right after the drive that should yield birdies, and the 509-yard 18th is a dogleg left after the tee shot with mounding to the left of the green and both water and a thin bunker on the right side of the green.

"It's a great finishing hole," Sue said.

Favorite holes

Sue liked the par-5 18th as a closing hole, where she chipped in for birdie, and the par-4 fifth, where the dogleg is eliminated from the women's tee and the hole only measures 161 yards. "It's a driveable par-4 for most women," she said. "It's a fun hole to play because it gives you a good opportunity to take a couple strokes off your round."

Mike's favorite hole was the 166-yard, par-3 15th. "It's a very good par-3 with a very small landing area for a back pin placement, especially from the back tee" he said. "I think it's the best hole on the golf course. It's solid and challenging, and there's nothing tricky about it."

Ken enjoyed the 18th hole, calling it "the perfect risk-reward, par-5 finishing hole," and also liked the eighth. "This is one of the most unusual holes I've played," he said. "It is really tempting to aim right and go for the green."

Least favorite holes

Sue enjoyed the par-4 14th hole the least. It measures 315 yards from the red tees and the cart path runs along the inside of the dogleg right, with water beyond the fairway. "The 14th hole gives me a headache," Sue said. "If you don't know your target, you will end up in disaster. Because the cart path cuts through the hole it comes into play, and if you hit it, you will end up in some bizarre places."

Mike's least favorite hole is the 413-yard 16th, featuring a dogleg right around a hill that leaves a blind shot to the green if the drive doesn't clear the bend. Water lurks on the left side of the fairway.

"From the back tee the dogleg is too far out, leaving a blind second shot with no real target," Mike said. "Also, a large oak tree about 100-150 yards off the tee makes you play the hole way left toward the water."

Ken wasn't enamored with the opening hole. "No. 1 is 421 yards uphill to a small green, and there is a narrow fairway with OB right and trees left," Ken said. "This is not an easy way to begin a round."