Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010

Litchfield Country Club

One of area's oldest courses has charm but plays to current standards

By Alan Blondin -

PAWLEYS ISLAND --You're not likely to be confused about the era in which Litchfield Country Club was built.

The course opened in 1966 as one of the first five 18-hole layouts on the Grand Strand and plays like it with tree-line fairways and a traditional Lowcountry look and feel accentuated by live oaks.

"This reminds me of an old-style country club with the look and maturity of the grounds and clubhouse," said Rick Grigas of Myrtle Beach, a salesman and 19-handicap who took part in a review of the course in late January. "It has an old world feel. I like the mature landscaping, and the live oaks really add to the ambiance."

Rick and I were joined in a review foursome by his wife, Marilyn, a retired vocal music teacher with a 25 handicap, and Gary McAndrew of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, a retired firefighter captain with a 6 handicap.

The 6,692-yard Willard Byrd design has a number of old-school features. It is generally flat and the layout lends itself to walking because all tee boxes are just off the previous green. Walking is allowed anytime.

Though the course is fairly tight most holes have ample width in landing areas off the tee. If you miss a fairway, however, out-of-bounds stakes are close to a number of fairways and greens. "I like courses like this with an old style and tree-line fairways because this is the kind of golf course I grew up on," Gary said.

There are also numerous pockets of water lurking on the sides of or just off fairways. "There are little pockets of water throughout the course," Gary said. "They're marked well, just have to look for them."

Every hole has at least one greenside bunker and there are also a fair amount of fairway bunkers, though few are difficult to escape and the sand is consistent.

The greens may be the oldest on the Grand Strand, have a common form of Bermudagrass, are on the small side but not tiny, and have slopes that are mild and steady in one direction rather than having undulation. "The greens rolled very well," Rick said.

Few holes are straight. There are seven holes that turn left compared to four that turn right, and the dogleg lefts are often sharper. "There were a number of dogleg lefts but they gave me enough room and the trees were short enough for me to move the ball," said Rick, who plays with a pronounced fade.

"People who can move the ball will really like this course," Gary said.

Flower and plant areas around some tees and greens are well-manicured. "The grounds are well-groomed," Marilyn said. "The greens and fairways are in great shape."

Rick credits that to Litchfield being one of 13 courses in the area managed by Myrtle Beach National Company. "You're never going to go wrong playing a Myrtle Beach National course," Rick said. "I've played them all and they're all solid courses."

Likes

Marilyn appreciated the stone hole depictions at tee boxes and yardage markers in fairways that gave distances to the back and front of greens as well as the middle.

Gary found the greens receptive. "The greens held well and accepted shots," he said.

Rick considered walk-in rates of $48 to $100 depending on the time of year, and less expensive discount card rates, to be reasonable. "It's a very good value for locals and tourists alike," Rick said.

Despite the country club feel at Litchfield, Rick didn't detect a country club attitude. "It has a traditional feel, but the people that work here and the members don't have the country club air about them," he said.

The group found the course workers, including rangers and the woman on the beverage cart, to be friendly, helpful and courteous.

Dislikes

The group was disappointed to learn only practice mats with rubber tees can be used on the driving range in the winter.

The multitude of doglegs can be constricting off the tee. A driver can occasionally get you in trouble, particularly from the white tees, with either OB or hazards lying beyond the fairway.

Par-3s

The par-3s measure between 184 and 219 yards: a formidable and surprising length considering the course is 34 years old. "All of the par-3s have some good length to them, even from the forward tees," Gary said.

They're a little too long for Rick, measuring between 165 and 189 from the white tees. "I'd like to see a couple shorter ones for the high-handicappers," Rick said. "They're a bit too long, but they're certainly playable and visually appealing."

The green on the 202-yard fourth hole is protected by a trio of bunkers and slopes right to left, and the 186-yard seventh hole has bunkers front left and front right of the green.

The 219-yard 12th has three bunkers around the green, and the 184-yard 17th has bunkers front right and front left, as well as water well short of the green on the left and right.

"The par-3s are bunkered well but not severely," Gary said.

Par-4s

Litchfield has a pair of par-4s measuring about 425, and it also has five that are relatively short, measuring between 345 and 366 yards. "The par-4s had a great assortment of distances," Rick said.

Driver isn't needed off the first hole, a 345-yard dogleg left. The 425-yard third is the course's No. 1 handicap hole with water pinching the fairway down the right side.

The 393-yard sixth turns left on the second shot and features water to the right of the green, and the 358-yard ninth is a slight dogleg right with trees and OB on the right and trees and a bunker on the left. A pine near the green impedes shots from the far left side of the fairway.

The 389-yard 10th turns right to left with a small oak hanging into the left side of the fairway at the bend about 160 yards from the green. The dogleg left, 424-yard 11th is the toughest hole on the back nine with OB on both sides, a pond on the right, and bunkers front left and front right of the green.

The 366-yard 14th has water down the entire left side, trees narrowing the fairway just in front of the tee boxes and a high-lipped bunker to the front right of the green that hides a number of pin placements. The 354-yard 15th has water cutting into the fairway from the left beginning 80 yards from the green, and the 18th has water coming into the fairway from the left beginning 50 yards from the green.

"I felt the par-4s were tougher than the par-5s overall," Marilyn said.

Par-5s

The 499-yard fifth hole turns slightly left with water down the entire right side of the hole, and the other three par-5s are between 519 and 538 yards from the tips and no more than 502 from the white tees. "They had very fair distances," Rick said. "There were some good three-shot par-5s that require quality shots."

The 519-yard second hole is a dogleg right featuring a big oak at the bend on the right side deterring efforts to cut the corner. The 520-yard 13th turns left around a water hazard and presents a tough drive, and the 538-yard 16th turns left after the drive and slightly right before the green.

Favorite holes

Both Rick and Gary enjoyed the 520-yard par-5 13th, which measured 498 from the white tee. Rick considered it the course's toughest par-5. "That's a lovely par-5 with the water down the left side from tee to green framing the fairway," Gary said.

Marilyn enjoyed the par-4 eighth hole, which played 292 yards from the red tee and turned slightly right, and the 382-yard, par-5 fifth hole because of the way it set up for her drive.

Least favorite holes

Gary's least favorite hole was the 219-yard, par-3 12th, which was difficult enough because of its length but also had out of bounds stakes just to the right of the green, not far from a downslope on the side of a greenside bunker. "The right-side homes could come into play and with a bad bounce the ball can go OB," Gary said.

Rick's least favorite hole was the par-3 fourth, which measured 185 from the white tee. "The distance was a bit too much for me," he said.

Marilyn didn't find any holes to be unfair from the red tees.

Contact ALAN BLONDIN at 843-626-0284.