Course review: World Tour offers diverse sampling of golf course design

The concept of replica holes at International World Tour Golf Links results in a smorgasbord of golf course architecture.

Players have an opportunity to sample multiple varieties of golf course design in one 18-hole round on one property.

The course features holes inspired by those at courses in Scotland, Canada and the U.S.

“My favorite thing about the course is it is a variety of styles,” said Thad Wier III, a touring pro from Myrtle Beach who took part in a review of the course in late October. “It does a decent job of giving you a different feel and different experience of the different courses that are imitated. You get to play a bunch of different styles with St. Andrews holes that are wide open, the island greens and layup holes.”

Joining me and Thad in the review were Steven Mackenzie of Myrtle Beach, a House of Blues music hall host with a handicap of 31, and Linda Siegfried of Calabash, N.C., a retired Kraft Foods manager and part-time beverage cart worker at Meadowland Golf Club with a handicap of 35.

World Tour opened in 1999 and was designed by Mark Bennett with input from owner Mel Graham.

The course has nines called Open and Championship. A third side known as the International nine included holes from England, Spain and Australia but closed in June 2013.

Steven enjoyed playing a golf course with a theme. “It’s cool that each hole has a story to it,” Steven said. “You don’t find too many courses like that. It’s a great sampling of what the world’s golf courses have to offer. It has some beautiful holes and each hole isn’t the same thing over and over again.”

Some holes more closely resemble the holes they are inspired by than others, but even those that aren’t very similar are still solid golf holes.

“The course has open fairways and its diverse hazards are challenging to my skill level,” Steven said.

The course is short at just 6,525 yards from the back tees. “For a pro, it’s quite short and very open for the most part so there were a lot of no-risk drivers that turned into wedges,” Thad said.

World Tour has MiniVerde ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens that are generally very large and often have severe slopes, and they were fast and in very good condition for our visit.

“They were tricky and they were fast so they give you a fun challenge,” Linda said.

Added Steven, “The greens move fast so you need time to adjust.”

The course recovered quickly from flooding in the Myrtle Beach area in early October. “I thought the course condition was excellent, even after the flooding,” Thad said. “The course was in immaculate shape. I couldn’t have expected anything more.”

The course replicates not only holes but some aesthetic features of its imitated holes, such as the Hogan Bridge at Augusta National and Swilcan Bridge at St. Andrews and plant beds dot the landscape.

“The course is pretty with the bridges and the manicuring,” Linda said. “I loved the course’s aesthetics.”

Likes

The course staff is well prepared to host golfers at every stop, beginning with a greeter at the guard gate who relays via radio to the bag drop staff what golfers have arrived. Steven found the staff to be friendly and helpful. “The course resembles a high-end golf course and the staff treats you as such,” Steven said.

Linda appreciated elevated tee boxes on many holes, and that many women’s tees were elevated even on holes where some of the men’s tees weren’t. “Some of the ladies’ tees were elevated since they were off to the left or right, giving you an advantage on your drive,” she said.

She also found most areas off fairways to be well-kept. “Balls were easy to find if you went in the woods because areas are cleaned out nicely,” Linda said.

Thad was impressed with how well the greens held up to play, as we had an afternoon tee time on a busy day. “The green speed was good and rolled fairly well for how much play the greens got that day,” Thad said.

Dislikes

A couple weeks after flooding, Steven found the Championship nine had mosquitoes in areas, though they were “not too bothersome.”

While the course is short from all men’s tees, it is a formidable 5,334 for women, which is less than 1,200 yards shorter than the tips. “The course was not short for women,” Linda said. “It’s woman-friendly being wide, but long holes made you try harder since the red tees were close to all the other tees. It made it fun, but somewhat unfair.”

The group found there to be some unfair pin placements, including on a slope to the far left of the Open No. 1 green. “Hole placement was tricky with how fast the greens were,” Linda said.

Not all holes closely resemble the holes they are inspired by, as Thad found with the Open’s par-3 seventh hole. “I don’t think it resembles Augusta No. 16 that much,” Thad said.

Par-3s

The par-3s were inspired by the 12th and 16th holes at Augusta, 17th at TPC Sawgrass and eighth at Royal Troon, and measured between 126 and 170 yards from the back tees and between 116 and 162 from the gold, which are the regular men’s tees.

“For short holes, the par-3s are some of the more aesthetic holes on the course,” Steven said.

The Open’s 132-yard third (TPC 17th) features a small, rolling green that generally slopes to the back off the back lip of a mid-sized front pot bunker. The 170-yard seventh (Augusta 16th) has water front and left of a green that slopes front and left with bunkers back left, front right and back right.

“Some par-3s are difficult but they’re interesting,” Linda said. “You need to be a placement golfer on the [Open No. 3] with water surrounding.”

The Championship’s 126-yard third (Royal Troon eighth) has a downhill tee shot from stacked tee boxes. It’s deep, narrow green had five bunkers left and right and sloped to the front and right. The 155-yard fifth (Augusta 12th) has a wide creek fronting a shallow and flat green with a bunker in front and two in the back.

“The par-3s were a little short of what I usually play but the shots into the Open No. 3 and Championship No. 5 holes are some of the best on the course,” Thad said.

Par-4s

The par-4s were inspired by holes at courses including St. Andrews, Augusta National, Colonial Country Club, Pine Valley, National Golf Club of Canada, Winged Foot, Olympic Club, Oakmont and Bay Hill. Just two are 420 yards or longer and five are 380 or shorter.

“While the par-5 hazards were spread out and sparse, the par-4 hazards were more constant and posed more catch-22 situations,” Steven said.

The Open’s 370-yard first and 354-yard ninth holes are inspired by St. Andrews’ first and 18th holes and have large connected fairways. “I like the two fairways together. It’s wide open, it’s out of the box and you don’t see it too often,” Steven said. “That first fairway is so big and easy to hit. Usually the first tee is so panicky because everybody is there waiting on you, and you can’t really embarrass yourself too much.”

The greens are huge – the first featuring a sprinkler head in the center – and the Open ninth green has a severe slope to the front and left.

The Open’s 401-yard fourth (Colonial 12th) turns slightly left with water curling around the right side of the fairway, and the 344-yard sixth (Pine Valley 12th) is pockmarked with 14 bunkers, mostly down the right side. The 391-yard eighth (National GC of Canada) is a mild dogleg right with a green that plateaus back right and is tucked behind a deep front-right bunker.

The Championship’s 380-yard first (Winged Foot 18th) is cut narrowly through a tree line and has an elevated two-tiered green. The 455-yard fourth (Augusta 11th) has a pond to the left of the green, the 418-yard seventh (Olympic 14th) has a very elevated green that is backed by water, and the flat green on the 360-yard eighth (Oakmont 14th) becomes a birdie opportunity if you can avoid bunkers on both side of the fairway off the tee.

“Most holes you can bash a driver with little risk and have an easy wedge, but some holes like the Championship first and ninth holes require some course management,” Thad said.

Par-5s

The par-5s were inspired by the 16th at Pinehurst No. 2, 15th at English Turn, 10th at Cypress Point and 13th at Augusta, and measured between 485 and 542 yards. The longest from the gold tee was 501 yards.

The Open 531-yard second (Pinehurst 16th) turns slightly left, has a burn down the entire left side and is well protected by bunkers throughout. The green slopes sharply to the front. The 542-yard fifth (English Turn 15th) has fairway bunkers left off the tee and water down the entire right side leading to a small island green protected on the left and right by bunkers.

“The par-5s were solid,” Thad said. “My favorite was the Open fifth because the bunkers were well placed off the tee and made for a good risk-reward second shot.”

The 491-yard Championship second (Cypress Point 10th) is a dogleg right over a bunker at the bend with a slightly uphill second shot to a green that slopes to the front. A drive that cuts the corner can lead to an eagle opportunity.

The 485-yard sixth (Augusta 13th) turns sharply left around a creek that continues down the left side before cutting across the front of a green that slopes hard to the front and slightly right and is protected by four bunkers back, back left and back right. The fairway slopes toward the creek.

Par-5s measures between 410 and 421 yards from the front tees. “All the par-5s were good,” Linda said. “I liked the distance and they were still wide enough that you didn’t get in trouble.”

Favorite holes

Steven enjoyed the Open first hole patterned after St. Andrews’ opening hole because of the generosity of the fairway, and the par-3 Open third hole inspired by the par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass. “It’s short and sweet,” Steven said. “The landscaping is exceptional and I enjoyed the view from the green.”

Thad’s favorite holes were the “very pretty” Championship No. 5 (Augusta No. 12) and Open ninth (St. Andrews No. 18) because “it’s a different style with a huge fairway and green.”

Linda’s favorite hole was the Open third hole (TPC Sawgrass No. 17), which measured 86 yards from the green tees. “If you make it on the island you feel great,” she said. She also liked the Championship par-5 sixth hole (Augusta No. 13). “It’s a beautiful hole with lots of water,” she said.

Least favorite holes

Steven’s least favorite hole was the Championship ninth hole (Bay Hill 11th), a 420-yard par-4 that measures 395 from the gold tee. It has water to the left off the tee and the green is on a narrow strip and angles to the left with water to its left and right and a bunker to its right buffering the green from the cart path and water. “It gets too narrow around the green,” Steven said. “I could probably hit balls from the fairway all day and not get on the green.”

Thad said “there weren’t any poorly designed holes,” though he thought the green slopes were too severe on the Championship par-4 first (Winged Foot 18th) and par-5 second (Cypress Point 10th) holes.

Linda’s least favorite hole was the Championship par-4 first hole, which measured 334 yards from the forward tee. “There’s a hidden bunker short on the right side of the fairway,” she said. “It looked like a dip and not a bunker from the tee box.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Course review: World Tour offers diverse sampling of golf course design."