JANET BLACKMON MORGAN/The Sun News

The clubhouse at the Heritage Club.

Heritage Golf Club (Sept. 2007)

Scenic Heritage Club offers challenges at every corner

By Alan Blondin - The Sun News

PAWLEYS ISLAND | Perhaps more than any other course on the south end of the Grand Strand, Heritage Golf Club in Pawleys Island reflects the area's plantation history.

From a plantation home-style clubhouse with columns, a chandelier and dual staircases, to large moss-draped oaks that line the 21-year-old course and make it a shot-makers layout, to lakes and patches of wetlands, Heritage Club epitomizes the Lowcountry.

And it has a layout that has the course ranked 46th in Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses.

"Down here you either get a course that looks great and doesn't play that well or plays well and doesn't look great," said Tom Damore of Murrells Inlet, a retired New York firefighter who took part in a review of the course in late September. "This course looks great and plays well."

Tom and I were joined by Lanny Correll of Pawleys Island, who owns Dr. Golf custom clubs, and Heritage course member Mary Bilotta of Pawleys Island.

Despite its beauty, the course is difficult because of formidable length at 7,118 for a par-71; trees impeding some shots from tees and fairways; deep, penalizing bunkers and greens with large mounding, multiple tiers and steep slopes.

"It's difficult but it's a fun place to play a lot," Mary said. "If you can play Heritage you will probably not be intimidated by many other golf courses."

Heritage Club has always been characterized by huge greens with huge mounding, but the slopes were lessened a bit this summer when the course was closed to install Champions Bermudagrass on the greens. The course was in very good condition.

"The greens are much better now," Mary said. "They putt much more true now, and they took some of the huge mounds out of them. Before they were almost impossible to putt, now they're much better."

Ten greens are at least 36 yards deep and three are 50 yards or deeper. Combined with the size, undulations that still may be the most severe on the Strand make the course deceptive for first-time players. "If it's a country club and the same people play it every day, all this stuff [green size and mounding] is worth it," Lanny said. "But for a resort course, it's a lot of maintenance and wasted space."

Control with irons and knowledge of the greens is essential to scoring well. "You have to have the right iron in your hand because the greens are so deep," Lanny said. "Iron play and getting the distance right is paramount here."

The front nine is cut through a forest, while the back nine wraps around a large lake that abuts holes 10, 12, 13, 14 and 18. "To me, you don't get any prettier setting than that back nine," Mary said.

The course was long from the tips - Lanny said he used short irons on only two par-3s, two par-5s and three par-4s - and from the red tees. At 5,221 yards with a few carries, Heritage Club plays long for many women. "You hear from a lot of women that it's a difficult course," Mary said.

Likes

The entire group enjoyed the layout, friendliness of the staff and Lowcountry setting. "With the oak trees and [grand] houses it feels like a country club," Lanny said.

Mary added, "I think the trees set this course apart. All the trees, especially the oaks, are beautiful. I love the golf course."

Tom enjoyed the conditioning of the course. "The fairways were plush and easy to hit off," he said. "I'd say for a resort course it's as well conditioned as any you'll play."

Dislikes

Tom and Lanny thought the greens took away from the course a little bit. Few will escape without a three-putt. "It's like playing golf at an amusement park," Tom said. "Every time you're on the green it's like a rollercoaster. I'm of the belief if you're on the green you should have a look at the cup. You shouldn't have a 100-foot putt over two humps to get there."

Lanny also thought the course's deep fairway bunkers with high lips were too penalizing. "I believe you should always have a chance to advance the ball to the green from a fairway bunker," he said.

Mary concurred. "Some traps are very difficult to get out of - they're too deep," she said. "And there is no practice bunker at the practice area."

Par-3s

The par-3s have a variety of lengths and styles, and are well trapped.

The 203-yard sixth hole has bunkers to either side of a green that has a back plateau and collection area on the left-front of the putting surface, the 155-yard eighth requires a slightly downhill drive over a slave cemetery and water hazard, and the 170-yard 11th has a 50-yard-deep green that slopes from left to right.

The 228-yard 13th, measuring 175 from the white, is the most difficult par-3 on the course with a tee shot entirely over water - often into the wind - to a green that is shallow in the front and wraps to the right along the lake and around both sand and grass bunkers.

"I liked all par-3s except the 13th," Lanny said. "It's too long and the green is too severe. All others are medium length and well-guarded."

Par-4s

Much of the course's difficulty comes from long par-4s. Five of the 11 measure 440 yards or more. "One good thing about playing back here [from the tips] is the tee boxes are in great shape," Lanny said. "... I play with a lot of good golfers and the back tees are not for anyone I play golf with. It's too much for a par-71."

The 440-yard fourth hole is one of the most attractive on the course with a consistent tree line through and around the green, a large oak on the left side of the dogleg-left fairway and large bunker on the right side of the fairway at the bend. "This is a hole worth playing," Lanny said. Another large oak on the right side of the fairway was recently felled during a storm. "It certainly changes the dynamics of the hole," Mary said.

The 426-yard 14th hole angles to the left along a lake and requires a good drive to a narrow fairway over water with a pair of bunkers and OB beyond the fairway. It also has what can be a long approach over water. "I think this is the hardest hole on the golf course and one of the hardest holes on the Grand Strand," Mary said.

Par-5s

The course has three par-5s.

The 598-yard second hole, which still measures 536 from the white tees, is likely a three-shot hole with a split fairway beginning 200 yards from the green on either side of a narrow lake that has a pair of trees at the split. The right side is straightaway and easier to hit but goes away from the green and requires a third shot over water. Mary has seldom seen anyone play up the right side.

"The right fairway on the second hole is a waste as it is longer to go that way," Lanny said.

The 606-yard 10th is a double dogleg with a difficult tee shot to a fairway that turns right, then left.

The 506-yard 18th is a dogleg left with water down the right side of the entire hole and a pair of trees on the left side keeping players from cutting too much off the dogleg. Water that comes in front of a bulkheaded green and a tree deep down the right side of the fairway deter attempts to reach a wide green in two.

"I think 18 is a great finishing hole because if you hit a great drive you have a chance to reach the green and make eagle," Lanny said. "It's a good risk-reward hole for a finishing hole."

Favorite holes

Tom liked the 426-yard par-4 14th hole. "You can bite off as much as you want to give yourself a shorter shot into the green for a possible birdie," he said. "It is the No. 1 handicap hole and it earns its ranking."

Lanny enjoyed the long 455-yard par-4 fourth hole and 18th. Mary liked the par-5 second hole - particularly the second shot which is a challenge to hit over the water - and 460-yard par-4 15th. "It's long and straight, and it's fun to have one hole like that on a course," she said.

Least favorite holes

Tom was not fond of the 535-yard par-5 10th hole. "It's a difficult tee shot with trees and OB right and trees and a hazard left," Tom said. "Even from the middle of the fairway you can be blocked out by trees on your second shot. If you're in the middle of the fairway you should have a shot toward the green."

Lanny disliked the 367-yard par-4 12th hole because of a green that slopes to the back left and back right behind a hump that has been lessened but is still large. If the greens are fast, the ball can land on top of the hump and roll off the green and into a lake lurking behind it. And he thought the par-3 13th was too difficult. "I think 13 is probably too long for anyone but a scratch golfer," Lanny said.

Mary cited the 10th, long par-4 fifth and 17th holes.