Want to golf like a pro? Here are top tips for golfers by Myrtle Beach area professionals
Dennis Nicholl has a lot of experience in the game of golf.
As head professional at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach for 16 years, Nicholl has seen people have too much fun while on the course.
“Myrtle Beach is Myrtle Beach, and people are coming here to have a good time,” he said.
While most players do not disrupt the links, every now and then someone takes a tumble, Nicholl said.
“What happens is (a group) have a little bit too much to drink ...They either drive their cart over into a bunker or drive it into a pond or something ridiculous,” Nicholl said. “We think that we’ve seen it all, and with that, tomorrow someone else does something and you shake your head and you say, ‘oh my gosh, what were they thinking?’”
While sinking a cart in a lake is a rare occurrence, Nicholl and other golf pros in the Myrtle Beach area said that respecting the course is an important part of the game.
Professional golfers from some of the most popular courses in the Myrtle Beach area based on a recent Sun News readers’ poll, recently provided a list of golf etiquette tips players should follow.
Here’s what new golfers should know before booking their tee times.
Staying on the cart path and pace of play
Aside from accidentally parking your golf cart in a sand trap, knowing where you can and can’t drive them on a given day is important. Failing to do so could even hurt the course.
“Some golfers just don’t like to drive on the cart path only,” Nicholl said. “Nine times out of 10 (golfers will) drive to the lowest area of the golf course and create huge tire tracks that damage the golf course and take weeks or months sometimes to heal.”
Jason Corneau is the head golf professional at Prestwick Country Club in Myrtle Beach, which is The Sun News readers’ favorite golf course based on the poll. He said course officials tell players before their tee time what parts of the links are off-limits for carts, although some forget or ignore them.
Another mistake people make is driving off the cart path and onto par three holes or parking near the green Georgetown’s Wedgefield Country Club Director of Golf Champ Detamore added
“When you drive the carts up (on the green), they’re compressing the soil, and it makes it very difficult to grow grass,” Detamore said. “So that’s where you get a lot of golf courses with bare spots on the sides of the greens.”
“(Golf) superintendents hate that,” he added.
The Dunes has gone so far as to install GPS monitors on its carts that will shut the cart down until it is put in reverse if players stray too far from the allowed areas.
The Dunes was named the third-best course in the Myrtle Beach area, according to the readers’ poll, and Golfweek Magazine rated it the third-best public golf course in South Carolina.
Golfers can avoid damaging the course by checking which parts of the links are safe to drive on before they start their rounds.
Playing in a timely fashion is also important for golfers to keep in mind, said Chris Cooper, head golf professional at North Myrtle Beach’s Tidewater Golf Club.
“(Our largest challenge is) making sure each guest plays ready golf, they’re ready to hit their shot. They stay right behind the group in front of them,” Cooper said. “We want to make sure that every guest experiences Tidewater in four and a half hours... pace of play for us is our No. 1 priority.”
Tidewater was voted as Sun News readers’ second favorite course to play in the Myrtle Beach area.
Fixing ball marks and other rules you should know
Caring for the course itself is also an important part of the game. Detamore at Wedgefield said not repairing ball marks, fixing divots or removing foot marks from sand traps is a big mistake people make.
Detamore said maintaining Wedgefield, which was rated fifth by readers in the Sun News poll, costs between $5,000 to $10,000 a year and taking care of the course by mending ball marks and divots helps ensure the quality of the course.
Dunes pro Nicholl said not taking care of ball marks or divots also hurts other players’ games.
“The golfers behind those players just shake their head when they hit a great drive or something and it’s in a divot that wasn’t filled,” he said. “It’s more of a frustration.”
Another source of frustration is golfers drinking alcohol while they play. Already a key source of cart mishaps, it is also a legal concern for courses, pros said.
Golfers can enjoy alcoholic beverages like beer while they play, but they cannot bring their own from home. South Carolina law bans players from bringing their own alcoholic beverages on the links, according to Myrtle Beach Golf Tips. Detamore added failure to comply could put courses like Wedgefield’s license to sell liquor in jeopardy.
“One of the biggest things is bringing your own personal coolers,” Detamore said.
While many Grand Strand golfers do not bring their own drinks, others do not dispose of their trash properly. Littering is a major no-no Prestwick Country Club’s Corneau said.
“Drinking beers and throwing them off to the side is one issue, I have,” he said. “Just leave it in the cart, we’ll clean it. We work to keep the place clean and looking good, and it’s just something we don’t really care for when people do it.”
But when golfers do practice good etiquette, it makes play go faster and more enjoyable for everyone.
This story was originally published August 3, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
