Now’s a good time to remind you that TPC of Myrtle Beach was built with professional golf in mind.
Yes, it was always going to be public, and Joe Golfer could pit himself after the pro golfers who came before him. Just the same, it was never meant to be easy.
Some 25 years after it first opened, TPC still shows its teeth, and we’re not talking about the alligators that call this course home. These four holes bring the heat and show us all from time to time that we’re not ready.
NO. 2, PAR 5, 482 YARDS
While not the lowest handicap of the day (No. 2 is listed as the seventh-hardest hole here), the immediacy of it appearing in the round and the sheer amount of what’s going on turns this not-so-long Par 5 into an early problem spot. The first bit of water is mostly inconsequential; the second is not. The first few bunkers can be avoided with ease; the second swallow up anything close. The second stage of the divided fairway is mounded and unpredictable. And the left edge of the green is downright nasty.
NO. 3, PAR 4, 410 YARDS
While you’re not done with holes playing uphill – not by a long shot – nothing else at TPC will be this pronounced. After needing to put what you have into your tee shot to fly the natural grass area (if you plunk one in there, just forget that ball existed), you’re asked to repeat the distance against into an elevated green that doesn’t provide much wiggle room short or two either side. You can be green high 20 yards to the left of the green in two and still have no real shot at par.
NO. 9, PAR 4, 445 YARDS
You might have already started about hitting the refueling tank at the turn. After you’re done with this hole, you might just be ready for a cocktail. This 445-yard (from the whites) can be a nightmare for those who rush through it or try to get fancy. From the small pond dipping into the reachable part of the fairway up the right to the slight bend around dit to the uphill-lying green and approach zone, would-be good shots after often chalked up to the golf gods who deemed it not to be so.
NO. 17, PAR 3, 158 YARDS
Listed as TPC’s signature hole, this short Par 3 is as dangerous as anything the rest of the course offers, and there’s a reason it is among the leaders in the clubhouse when it comes to number of shots above par on the card. The peninsula green is anything but level, and roll-offs – even those that don’t make it to the water – leave players feeling like they’ve got an impossible task just to regroup and make par.
(Photos for this piece captured by Golf Tourism Solutions)
