Picturesque play along the Waterway

By Alan Blondin

Myrtle Beach Golf Magazine

Holes along the Intracoastal Waterway are among Arrowhead Country Club's selling points.

And while the Waterway is the largest body of water on or around the property, it is by no means the only body of water prevalent on the course.

Water is visible or in play on 25 of the facility's 27 holes, and 16 of the 18 on the Cypress and Waterway nines that were reviewed by a foursome assembled for Myrtle Beach Golf Magazine in late April.

The water, mounding created by the movement of a lot of earth in the building process, and a reasonably short distance of 6,644 yards from the tips makes Arrowhead a lot more of a shot-maker's course than a bomber's course.

"Of the 18 holes, there are only two that don't have water somewhere on the fairway," said reviewer Ross Martin, a Grand Strand hotel general manager. "The water is not brutal to you, but it's a nice aesthetic. ... And the course blends waste bunkers in nicely."

Ross, a 10-handicap who lives in Myrtle Beach, was joined in the foursome by me, Lance Trent of Myrtle Beach, a restaurateur with a 6 handicap, and Joanne Schell of Longs, a retired nurse with a 21.7 handicap.

Ross, Lance and I played the 6,644-yard back blue tees on the Waterway and Cypress nines, while Joanne played the 4,624-yard forward red tees. Arrowhead also offers 6183-yard white tees and 5,559-yard green tees, and has a Lakes nine that measures 3,317 yards from the back tees.

Both the fairways and greens played firm and fast, which made it difficult to hold greens and even more difficult to get the ball close to the pin.

"It's a little short from the tips. I don't think it played long at all," Lance said. "But the fairways were rolling fast. ... The mounding on the course makes the 6,600 yards play more difficult than the length."

Arrowhead, a Tom Jackson and Raymond Floyd design that opened all of its holes between 1994 and '95, has a number of rolling fairways and larger mounding on the outskirts of fairways that result in some uneven lies and awkward stances.

"It's a shot-maker's course," Ross said. "If you're not in the fairway, you're kicking off a bank somewhere. ... They moved a lot of dirt and there aren't many flat lies out there."

The nature of the layout, knowing yardages to the beginning and end of water hazards, and several risk-reward scenarios make prior experience on the layout advantageous.

Lance said he probably would hit fewer drivers if he were to play it again. "It's one that if you play it a few times, there's a lot of course knowledge you would get from seeing it that you don't see in [the yardage book]," Lance said. "Especially around the greens."

Joanne wants another shot at the course as well. "I think I would play it better the second time," she said. "It takes a lot of course management."

Arrowhead has a combination of Crenshaw bentgrass and Bermudagrass on the greens. The bent is more dominant in the winter and Bermuda is more active in the summer. Other than problem areas on a few greens, they "were in great shape," Lance said.

On the day we played, an inexperienced member of the maintenance staff had left the plastic cups level with the surface on most holes instead of an inch below the ground, which tightened the circumference of the holes and kept balls on the lips from falling in.

The Intracoastal Waterway comes into view as the backdrop to the fourth green on the Waterway nine, and the Waterway runs along the entire left side of the fifth hole, a 387-yard par-4 that is well-bunkered in the fairway and around the green, which also has a pond to its right.

The Intracoastal Waterway reappears on the fourth and fifth holes of the Cypress nine. The 355-yard fourth hole requires an iron or fairway wood over a creek to a fairway on the left, setting up a shot back over the water to a green on the right with the Waterway on the left. The tee box on the fifth hole backs up to the Waterway between a pair of condominium buildings.

"It's very picturesque," Joanne said. "A lot of holes on that Waterway nine have a lot of character."

Lance said he believes par-3s are the strength of the course. "I loved the par-3s," he said.

The green on the third hole on the Waterway nine, measuring 175 from the blue and 158 from the white tees, is nearly three-quarters surrounded by water with a bulkhead and front and back bunkers. "It's a beautiful hole," Joanne said. "This could be their signature hole if it wasn't for the Waterway."

The sixth hole, measuring 213 from the blue and 183 from the white, has a false front and a very undulating green. The 205-yard third hole on the Cypress nine features a tee shot to a green to the left of a wide creek, and the 198-yard sixth hole has an elevated green and water to the right.

The par-3s measure between 88 and 118 yards from the red tees. "They were pretty and fair," Joanne said. "You could reach all of them, and you can't always reach the green on par-3s at other courses."

Arrowhead's two par-5s on the Waterway nine are very reachable, and the two on the Cypress nine are likely three-shot holes. The fourth on the Waterway nine is 520 yards from the back with a waste bunker down the left side, and ninth is 486 yards with water to the left and back of a deep green.

The second hole on the Cypress nine is 571 from the back and requires a drive to the right across a wide creek, second shot down a long fairway, and approach shot back over the water to a green on the left.

The eighth is 549 yards and the fairway is split by a creek. The drive is to the right of the creek and second shot is over it to the left.

"I think the par-5s are fun and have a lot of risk-reward," Lance said.

Many of the par-4s turn right or left around water.

Arrowhead has become a favorite of locals. A free locals card allows residents to play for $35 year-round, and every fifth round is free. The card also garners 20 percent off in pro shop, though local tee times only can be made less than 48 hours in advance during peak times.

The facility benefits from having 27 holes.

"The nicest thing about this course is with three nines, we didn't have to wait on holes during the peak of golf season," Ross said. "And if a group of guys want to play another nine, they can go play a nine they haven't played before.

"The three nines all have their own characteristics."