Legends Resort Moorland Course a test in links golf

A drive of more than 3 miles down a secluded road from U.S. 501 to the Legends Resort Moorland Course ensures there's nothing to distract you from the environment and task at hand. There's nothing to detract from an open and rolling layout.

"I like links style golf. I think it's neat," said Tim Walkoe of Chicago, a standup comedian who took part in a review of the course in late June while in town headlining at the Comedy Cabana. "You're so far out in the woods and the foliage is so different, the terrain makes it feel like you could be anywhere in the country. I really like the openness of it. It's not by houses, it's not by a highway, it's not by anything.

"The experience was outstanding. It's a wonderful golf course."

The task at hand at Moorland, a 21-year-old, 6,755-yard P. B. Dye design, is one of the more difficult on the Grand Strand.

It's the most challenging of three courses at Legends Resort and features a layout susceptible to wind, huge waste bunkers, a multitude of deep pot bunkers, extremely undulating and often multi-tiered greens that are commonly elevated, mounding, native grasses, wetlands, water hazards, trees lining some fairways and elevation changes.

"Moorland is one of the more difficult courses around, but I think it's a beautiful course," said Kimberly Kirby of Myrtle Beach, a bartender at Blarney Stones Irish Pub with a 32 handicap who also participated in the review.

Joining me, Kimberly and Tim, a 20-handicap, in the review foursome was Alex Cruz of Myrtle Beach, a bartender at Celebrations' clubs with a 4 handicap.

Because of Moorland's difficulty, Alex suggests playing the Legends' Heathland and Parkland courses first. "It's the course you should play last if you're going to play all three out here," Alex said.

Helping to set Legends courses apart in the Strand market are local specials instituted by Arnold Palmer Golf Management. A summer rate of $35 or less includes green fees, a cart, a breakfast buffet, lunch off the menu and two drinks - draft beer included. A twilight golf special after 5 p.m. is between $15 and $20 and includes appetizers and two beverages.

"It's a real value," Tim said. "In the Chicago area this would be a $100-plus golf course. It's like the Wal-Mart of golf courses - in terms of value, not product."

Moorland's huge TifEagle Bermudagrass greens were in excellent shape and rolled very well. Deep bunkers protect many greens. "You could use a ladder to get out of some bunkers," Tim said. "Saudi Arabia is missing some sand."

Moorland requires some strategy. "You can try to slam it or play position golf," Tim said. "I believe the latter is best. The holes are vast and there are wide fairways, but there are plenty of ways to get in trouble."

Likes

Alex, who has joined the Legends membership program, appreciated the value and enjoyed the views and accessibility to beverages. "The cart girl comes around at just the right time," Alex said.

Kimberly was impressed with the surroundings. "The view is my favorite thing," Kimberly said. "I love playing courses that aren't surrounded by homes."

Tim liked the elevated greens and thought the course was fair at each tee, and also appreciated the lack of housing. "When you roll up on somebody's backyard, encountering [someone] eating a sandwich on the porch or dogs can ruin your day," he said.

Tim also appreciated manicuring around the course, exemplified by areas of plants and native grasses separating tee boxes on the par-3 seventh hole. "The way they've manicured the tees is creative," Tim said. "It's like botanical gardens."

Dislikes

Tim thought some of the greens were too large and too severe. Alex believed the undulations on some greens made it difficult to find fair pin placements, some sand traps could have used more sand, and the rough was penalizing.

Kimberly thought the large bunkers were very intimidating, the elevated greens made for difficult approach shots, and workers in the middle of the 16th fairway "made for a unique hazard," Kimberly said. "I shot a ball right under the guy's cart." To their credit, one of the workers retrieved a ball for us that was deep in cord grass to the left of the fairway.

Yardages in the yardage book weren't consistent with the scorecard.

Par-3s

The 175-yard third hole measures 150 from the white tee, has a deep green that slopes sharply from left to right and a waste bunker below the right side of the green. The 245-yard seventh hole is slightly downhill and has water down the left side. "Talk about a tough par-3 at 245 yards, and that water on the left is intimidating because it's long and you want to swing through it but you're afraid to hook it a little," Alex said.

"There is little room for error on No. 7," added Tim. "The green is like an alluring woman who beckons you but will break your heart."

The 145-yard downhill 13th measures 130 from the white. A large green slopes forward and has a waste bunker to the front, left and back. The 194-yard 17th is 150 from the white with a slightly elevated green that is nearly surrounded by a waste bunker that begins at the tee boxes and contains a lot of vegetation.

"Some of the par-3s are short and some are long so it gives you the best of both worlds," Alex said. "Bunkers can break you if you're not careful. It's hard to get up and down out of them."

Par-4s

The green on the 370-yard first hole can't be seen over a knoll from the right side of the fairway but is visible with a big drive down the left side, and the green is very undulating with a hill on the back-right portion of the putting surface.

"A blind shot with a whacked-out green - it wakes you up," Tim said. "The green might be a bit much for the first hole."

The attractive 399-yard third hole turns right around water that pinches the fairway near the green, the 362-yard eighth hole's green is atop a hill and the 343-yard 14th hole can have a partially blind second shot.

Moorland has three extremely long and difficult par-4s. The 468-yard fourth hole still measures 450 from the white, requires a drive over a waste bunker and has a large, deep bunker on the left side of landing area off the tee. The 465-yard ninth measures 448 from the white and has a deep, two-tiered green, and the 459-yard 12th measures 420 from the white and has an uphill second shot. A back pin can make the hole play about 490.

"Some par-4s are long from the back tees and it makes you really try to hit it far, which can put you in some trouble," Alex said. "Other holes are shorter and you go for it and put yourself in bad positions."

The 424-yard 18th hole turns left around water to an elevated green that is tucked behind a mound and two bunkers. The 270-yard 16th measures 223 from the white and has a narrow opening to the right side of an elevated green that has native grasses along a hill to the left side falling to a trio of bunkers below the front left of the green.

"[No.] 16 is a par-4 that will make or break you," Alex said. "Four decent players can go out there and hit good drives and be on the green. How many courses can you do that on? So you kind of have to go for it. But if you miss you're probably in trouble. You don't want to be in anything over there on the left."

Eight of the 10 par-4s are more than 250 yards from the red tees, and three are longer than 320. "I struggled with them," Kimberly said. "They were a bit far for me, making it hard to make par."

Par-5s

The par-5s all measure 510 yards or less from the tips, with the exception of the 574-yard 15th hole, which measures 529 from the white tee. "You can make it there in two with a good drive and second shot [on three holes], which makes it fun and equals out with the long par-4s," Alex said.

The 510-yard second hole requires a drive over water to a narrow fairway to the left with water down the entire right side through the green and mounding left. A low-lying waste bunker lines the right side of the hole along the water and is lined by railroad ties along the fairway, and it cuts in front of a green protected by bunkers left and back and water right.

The 463-yard 11th hole has a narrow elevated green protected by bunkers front left and front right. The long 15th turns left around a wide creek off the tee and four bunkers built into a ridge in the middle of a wide fairway angle to the left in the landing area. The creek cuts through the fairway about 170 yards from a deep three-tiered green and continues up the right side.

"The par-5s are my favorite," Kimberly said. "Open fairways with hazards on the side and beautiful open landscape make for enjoyable play."

Favorite holes

Despite a variety of holes to choose from, the favorite hole for all three players was the 496-yard par-5 sixth, which measures 480 from the white tee, 458 from the green and 382 from the red. It turns left around a waste bunker below the fairway that runs into water to the left and back of the green. A trio of bunkers and native grasses protect the green's right side. "If you get a good, straight drive, life is beautiful," Tim said. "If not, have a nice day."

Said Alex: "It lets you take a rip at it and you can make it there in two with a good second shot, and bunkers don't really come into play so it's set up for a birdie for any handicap player."

Said Kimberly: "It's very open with a beautiful view. If you can keep right, making sure you miss the long bunker on the left, it's a fun hole to play."

Least favorite holes

Tim's least favorite hole was the par-4 10th, which measures 290 yards from the green tee and features a slightly uphill tee shot to a rolling fairway and a multi-tiered deep green with one bunker right and several bunkers below the green on the left side. "There's too much trouble," Tim said. "The bunkers to the left of the green are so deep it's impossible for an idiot golfer like me."

Alex wasn't fond of the 537-yard par-5 second hole. "The tee shot from the back is hard: If you leave it out to the right it's in a sand trap or in the water, and if you go left you're in another fairway," he said. "Water around a small green makes it hard for your third shot. It's a beautiful hole but I hate it."

Kimberly's least favorite hole was the par-5 15th, measuring 445 yards from the red. "It's an extremely challenging hole," she said. "You have a fairway full of bunkers, water running along the whole left side and water cutting through the fairway."

To view Blondin's blog, Green Reading, or Q&A Forum, Ask Al, go to TheSunNews.com.

This story was originally published July 3, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Legends Resort Moorland Course a test in links golf."