This was a Facebook Live Video
Meredith: Hi everyone, thanks for joining us live. We are at the gorgeous granddaddy of golf courses today, Pine Lakes Country Club. With me is head golf professional Jonathan Brock. Jonathan, thanks for inviting us out today.
Jonathan: We’re glad to have you. Thank you for being here.
Meredith: This weather is perfect golfing weather here in Myrtle in the spring time.
Jonathan: Gorgeous. Absolutely.
Meredith: I want to talk about this gorgeous course and, behind me … look at this Clubhouse.
Jonathan: A fantastic clubhouse. Used to be an old hotel when we opened back in 1927.
Meredith: Really? Wow.
Jonathan: Just a gorgeous, gorgeous spot to be.
Meredith: This is an amazing view here. Wow, beautiful. So I have heard that Sports Illustrated was founded here. Tell me a little bit about that.
Jonathan: That is correct. Time Warner executives, back in the day they were on a retreat. They came, they came up with the concept of Sports Illustrated. Didn’t know where it was going to take off to. Less than a year later the first publication came out, and we have the first copy at History Hall, right here at Pine Lakes.
Meredith: Wow. Hear that. Sports Illustrated, right here in the heart of Myrtle Beach. You know, one of the things I love, not just the history of this course – and this course is always in great shape and so much fun to play – but the location of this course is so central to Myrtle Beach. I mean, the airport is just right down the road here. I would say, if you’re coming down to play Myrtle Beach golf, this is one of the first courses that you need to play because history behind this course is amazing, but the location is awesome. Do you find that a lot of golfers come here? Is this one of your first stops among golfers in Myrtle Beach?
Jonathan: Absolutely. Centrally located, like you said. The airport is close by. Right in the heart of Myrtle Beach 48th Avenue, if you’re familiar with the area. You can’t pick a better location. We do stay busy, obviously, but just a great, great location.
Meredith: I love this course, and I’ve played this course numerous times. Is it true that on all the holes out here that you can see this clubhouse in sight?
Jonathan: That is correct. It is not a very big piece of property. It has a 1927 design. A lot of the greens and tees are close together, very walkable, which makes the piece of property a little bit more compact where you can get views of the clubhouse from just about every hole out there.
Meredith: Right. I’ve tried it too when I’ve been out here. I’m like, “I can see the clubhouse, I can see the clubhouse,” and I like that, because when I was growing up and learning how to play golf, I played a lot of courses that are very comparable to Pine Lakes. So it is very walkable, I love that. So if you like to play golf, come out to Pine Lakes. You can walk the course and it’s very player-friendly. You have a lot of the holes that I feel like are pretty open, that you can bring out the driver. So let’s talk a little bit about how you play Pine Lakes.
Jonathan: Sure. This is a very player-friendly layout. 1927 design once again. Pretty much what you see out there is what you’re going to get. There’s not a whole lot of trick-shots or dog-legs or different things that you have to do. It’s pretty much a straightforward golf course. Green to tees are very close together, like you said. Very walkable. Very lady-friendly as well.
Meredith: All right ladies, did you hear that? This is a great course for you as well. And what’s the length, maybe the yardages?
Jonathan: We’re a par-70 golf course, which does play a little longer. We’re about 6700 yards of a par-70 golf course.
Meredith: So the benefit, you can being out that driver.
Jonathan: Correct. We have four sets of tees, ladies obviously being the up tees and our number four tees being our championship tees.
Meredith: Okay, and what are some of the signature holes here? Like, the holes that are definitely one of the reasons why you need to come out here, other than the history and the beauty of this course.
Jonathan: Right, Hole 14 is probably the one that gets talked about the most. It’s just a very lengthy par-4 that you have to decide whether you want to hit over the water on your second shot or lay back, depending on your tee shot. So just a very tough par-4. Also, hole number 11. When we first opened up we had a gentleman out there that started the serving of the chowder on the hole, so it gets a lot of publicity as well. Currently, we don’t have that any more, but we’re looking to bring back all those history and traditions back to Pine Lakes.
Meredith: Very cool. So is there anything that you would like to add to Pine Lakes and share with the viewers today, one of the reasons that they need to come out here and play this course?
Jonathan: When you think Pine Lakes, you just think history and tradition. It’s almost taking a step back in time from the old, plantation style clubhouse right when you pull in, to our starters and our backdrop guys, who we’re going to outfit in the old knickers to bring back some of those old touches.
Meredith: I love that idea. That’s so cool.
Jonathan: It’s just one of the things that we’re known for. A lot of courses these days are modern in design, that’s not what we try to be here at Pine Lakes. We’re old, we’re history, we’re tradition and that’s what we want.
Meredith: Y’all are old-school golf here.
Jonathan: Absolutely.
Meredith: I love that. Let’s talk a little bit, lastly, about the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame. Tell me all about that.
Jonathan: Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame started here at Pine Lakes in 2009. Right out the back of our main dining room we have a History Hall area. We have all the plaques from all the founding fathers of golf in Myrtle Beach, the ‘who’s who’ of golf. They’ve all got their plaque out back. We got a lot of people that like to come here just to look and see some of the great names that have been there.
Meredith: You have kind of like a little pub in there too, so if you want to come out and take a look at the Golf Hall of Fame, if you want to see some of the history of what we discussed about Sports Illustrated here at Pine Lakes. You can have a nice cold beer in the little pub inside, and enjoy some that history here.
Jonathan: Absolutely. We actually have a room that’s dedicated to the history. We call it History Hall, where you can see a lot of the old plaques and some of the old memorabilia that they’ve stuck around through the years.
Meredith: Right. Well, it’s so cool and I want to go in and take a look at it. But before we go in, if somebody were to want to come out here and play – which obviously they need to come out and check out Pine Lakes – how are they going to book? Where do they need to go?
Jonathan: Best way is to book through myrtlebeachgolftrips.com. Obviously you can call our local number here at the clubhouse as well, and book tee-times.
Meredith: All right folks. So if you want to come out here and experience the beautiful Pine Lakes Golf and Country Club, and the history behind this course, it is definitely a must-play. So go to myrtlebeachgolftrips.com. Go ahead. Book your next Myrtle Beach golf vacation.