Leopard's Chase Golf Club

SUNSET BEACH, N.C. | It seems designer Tim Cate has been getting more creative with both layouts and aesthetics in his most recent courses, and Leopard's Chase Golf Club continues that trend.

Leopard's Chase is an attractive layout made difficult by a multitude of bunkers and fast, undulating greens, and features white rock embedded with seashells lining the walls of some water hazards, a waterfall near the 18th green and ornamental grasses throughout.

"The entire layout is very good," said Horry County Police Chief Johnny Morgan, who participated in a review of the course in late January. "The aesthetics of it are fantastic. I think it's a little difficult for the average player. The greens are a little unforgiving. They're pretty difficult with the combination of the undulations and speed."

Morgan and I were joined by Todd Cox, a detective with the Horry County Police Dept., and Donald DeMore, a retired New Jersey high school principal who resides in Sunset Beach, N.C.

Leopard's Chase opened last February, and Cate, whose other courses include Thistle Golf Club and layouts at Ocean Ridge Plantation and St. James Plantation, created a 7,155-yard course featuring TifSport Bermudagrass fairways, which feature a smaller blade than the 419 Bermuda on most Strand fairways, and smooth L93 bentgrass greens.

"I thought these greens putted very true and they were consistent throughout," said Donald.

Nearly all of the green have significant undulations. "I don't think there was a flat putt out there," Donald said.

Some touches were done strictly for aesthetics, such as the boulder wall lining the far side of a pond running to the right of the par-3 eighth hole, and patches of cord grass, wire grass and weeping love grass. "I think it's a gorgeous course," Donald said.

Many of the bunkers have high faces and lips. "I hit maybe eight more bunkers than I do in a normal round," Todd said. "They were well-placed. The sand in the bunkers was fantastic."

The course has an odd combination of nines for a par-72, with three par-3s on a par-35 front nine that measures only 3,377 yards, and three par-5s on a par-37 back nine that measures 400 yards more.

Our group played on a windy day, and the course is susceptible to the wind because it's open and the tree lines are thin.

"The course was extremely challenging from the blue tees with the wind factored in," Todd said. "I hit every club in my bag but a 5-wood, and I'm carrying 15 clubs."

The group found the course fair, particularly because of five tee boxes. Todd began playing the tips but moved to the 6,645-yard blue tees largely because of the wind and temperatures in the 50s. "Anybody who plays golf can come out here and find a tee for them," said Todd, who added if you play the back tees, you'd "better pack a lunch."

Leopard's Chase has especially strong par-3s and par-5s and a tough three-hole finish. It consists of the 215-yard, par-3 16th, 585-yard, par-5 17th that has bunkers narrowing the fairway at several points and a pond occupying the right half of the fairway for about 85 yards, and 439-yard, par-4 18th featuring waste bunkers on both sides of the fairway and a green tucked behind a water hazard to the left.

"That's possibly the three most challenging finishing holes I've played," Todd said.

Looking at vegetation and trees around the course, it's obvious it's in its infancy. "This will be a gorgeous course when everything is in bloom and grows in," Donald said.

Likes

Donald was impressed by the L93 bentgrass greens and liked the design philosophy of accessible greens. "Even a short hitter can play the course and score well because there is always a way to every green," he said.

Johnny liked the well-groomed bunker sand and the layout's rewarding of good shots.

Todd liked the fact that the residential areas bordering the course are currently undeveloped, as well as the variety of holes and diversity of greens. "No two holes are the same and every hole has a distinctive character," Todd said. "And this course does not have the typical flat greens seen at the beach."

Dislikes

The new course has nice facilities other than a temporary clubhouse.

Johnny thought there were too many high-lipped bunkers, and though the course allows walking, he thought there were a few long drives from greens to the next tee. He also thought hazards made fairway landing areas too narrow in many instances from the black or blue tees, especially in comparison to the other tees. "Drives [on par-4s] had to be in the center or they were penalized," Johnny said.

Todd thought the front nine was somewhat more bland than the back, and there were too many hazards. "Sand and water was everywhere," he said.

Donald disliked the number of forced carries on par-5s.

Par-3s

The 190-yard fourth hole measures 168 from the blue and 156 from the white and has a green that is surrounded by water on all but the back right side, though there are bunkers to the right and back and an area of rough left of the green. The 178-yard second hole has water that runs predominantly along the right side and behind the green but must be crossed from most tee boxes.

The 192-yard eighth hole has water along the right side, and both the 190-yard 13th and 215-yard 16th holes have wetlands that must be carried but come up well short of the greens. The 16th green is elevated.

"The par-3s are very beautiful and enjoyable to play," Donald said.

Par-4s

The par-4s are generally well bunkered around both fairways and greens, and some waste bunkers double as cart paths. Only the 361-yard first hole measures less than 400 from the tips, though no par-4 is longer than 385 from the white tees. "Par-4s over 400 into the wind are very hard to get home in two," Johnny said.

The fifth, sixth and seventh holes form a tough stretch of par-4s measuring between 425 and 451 yards. The fifth green is surrounded by a waste bunker, the sixth has a carry over water off the tee and a long bunker on the left side of the fairway, and the seventh is long with a sprawling bunker complex on the left front and left side of the green.

An elaborate tiered waterfall system to the left of the par-4 18th green features small waterfalls coming from the back left to the front left of the green, flowing into a large waterfall that empties around boulders into a pond at the front-left of the green.

"As competitive as this golf market is you have to do something to set yourself apart," Todd said. "The waterfall coming up the 18th is a great touch and makes it a beautiful hole."

Par-5s

The par-5s from the tips measure between 542 and 585 yards, with three 569 or longer. "The par-5s are long from the tips regardless of the wind," Todd said. "And they're not just what you see is what you get. There is sand and obstacles out there."

The 576-yard third hole turns right around a waste bunker and water from the middle of the hole to the green, with left fairway bunkers positioned to catch both drives and second shots. The 569-yard ninth hole has water down the left side both on the drive and near the green, and bunkers on the right side at both landing areas.

The dogleg-right, 542-yard 11th is broken into four segmented parts. A drive of 220 yards is needed from the tips to carry wetlands and a backing fairway bunker and reach a landing area protected by another two bunkers on either side. A second shot can either be placed on a 60-yard deep island fairway between wetlands, or carried over the second 50-yard deep wetland that ends 65 yards from an elevated green protected on the left front by a pair of sprawling traps. "That's an interesting par-5," Johnny said. "It gives you a lot of options."

Long hitters can go for the green in two on the 543-yard 14th hole that measures just 486 from the white. It doglegs sharply to the left around low wetlands and has an uphill second shot to one of the course's few relatively flat greens.

"The par-5s are awesome," Johnny said. "They all reward good shots and penalize poor shots."

Favorite holes

Donald liked the 10th hole, a 418-yard par-4 that played 303 yards from the gold and featured waste bunkers on both sides of a fairly narrow fairway. "It's a relatively short but difficult par-4," Donald said. "It's beautifully designed and set up so a good tee shot allows for different approaches to the green."

Both Johnny and Todd enjoyed the segmented par-5 11th. "It's one of the best par-5s I've played," Todd said. "It's a challenging par-5 regardless of skill level. It's a well-designed hole. I like holes like that. Everything was divided into landing areas. It's like playing three par-3s. It allows me to be creative."

Johnny also liked the par-3 fourth and par-4 18th holes, though he believes the 18th should have a wider landing area.

Least favorite holes

Donald didn't like the placement of wetlands on the segmented par-5 11th. "It's a par-5 with two forced carries in what are normal landing areas," he said.

Todd's least favorite hole was the par-5 third. "Who would like 576 yards into the wind," he said.

Johnny's least favorite holes were the third and par-5 10th, both because of what he considered excess sand that made the holes reminiscent of a Jack Nicklaus layout.