Tom Fazio's TPC Myrtle Beach Curse Bings a Five-Star Challenge in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

By Robert Gray, Contributor

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. -- Golfers looking for a top-shelf experience along South Carolina's Grand Strand, and willing to pay the commensurate cash, may want to tee it up at the TPC of Myrtle Beach.

It is the only Golf Digest-designated, five-star course in the Myrtle Beach area and ambitiously aims to give players of all abilities a taste of the tour. 

"We feel that we are set apart by offering a product that allows the client to play where the pros play," said TPC Myrtle Beach's Keith Stanzel. "Our practice area is built with (PGA) Tour standards. Our golfers get the feeling of playing between the ropes."

Lessons are available, and both weekend warriors and current pros use the manicured range to stay sharp. Don't be surprised if you look up while hitting balls at the range to see Dustin Johnson stroking shots out of sight here on his home course in Murrells Inlet, just south of Myrtle Beach.

TPC Myrtle Beach: The golf course

Just a year after its debut, the Tom Fazio-designed course hosted the 2000 Senior Tour Championship, and it still plays up to that level.

Pine trees line many of the lush, tight-driving fairways that favor players such as Johnson who can dial up the straight and narrow shots needed to navigate chutes too lean for many duffers to stay in play.

Scratch golfers may not have too much trouble landing in the short stuff, but the course offers an array of challenges for those driving from the tips. There are numerous forced carries over water and waste areas that vary in height and distance.

The par-3 fifth features both, with literally little room for error to land on the undulating green.

The well kept MiniVerde greens also demand a deft touch. They create a fast track compared to neighboring courses -- on a recent visit clubhouse officials said they were running 10.5 feet on the Stimpmeter.

If the 6,950-yard course plays too long from the back tees, TPC Myrtle Beach has four other, shorter options that offer some relief, while driving less-difficult and shorter carries.

Golfers will want to go long but not all out for the ninth hole as trouble awaits bombs off the tee. As one attendant who plays it regularly noted, this 472-yard par 4 is harder than many of the par 5s.

A quick check of the scorecard shows the dogleg right No. 9 is the top handicap hole. It's long, requires a drive over some waste no matter which tee box you use, features a narrow landing strip for aggressive tee shots and a deceptively tricky green.

At the turn, even if you don't drink bourbon, you will likely be treated to some wild turkey. They freely roam the course but may not help relax your swing, especially if they approach your group.

The 16th hole's tee box address is picturesque with woods and water on opposite sides, but it may as well have a sign that reads, "Welcome to Bunkerville." There are traps awaiting tee shots that miss the narrow fairway short-left or long-right. The green is guarded by four more traps.

TPC Myrtle Beach: The verdict

The serene track is a welcome respite from the bustle of the Grand Strand, but it belies the challenges that await golfers. Definitely bring your long-knocking driver, and be sure to air out most of your shots, not just off the tee.

There are plenty of undulations throughout TPC Myrtle Beach's fairways, and approaches should bite into the green, or balls will go skittering off the greens in a hurry.

"It's a very enjoyable course," said Cary, N.C. resident David Snider, a single-digit handicapper. "It's fair, and if you hit the ball well, you can score. There's a good amount of trouble but not as much as at others (around Myrtle Beach).

"It's more out of pocket (rates run up to $175 per round depending on the season) than other courses in the area, but it's worth it. It's more of a big-boy golf course."

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Big Win for 'Johnny Golfer': Texas A&M Unveils New-and-Improved Campus Course

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- For a day at least, the spotlight at Texas A&M wasn't on Johnny Football, aka Johnny Manziel, but on something almost as rare as winning a Heisman Trophy – a new campus golf course.

Texas A&M has a brand new golf course on campus, thanks to an extensive overhaul 

by: Aggie alum Jeff Blume

Last weekend, Texas A&M unveiled its new Campus Course, a par-71, 7,008-yard gem designed by one of its very own, Jeff Blume, a 1989 landscape architecture graduate.

Blume, who is based in the Houston area and worked with Robert von Hagge before opening his own firm in 1997, has quietly built a solid reputation as a designer. He puts this project near the top of his list of accomplishments, not only because his legacy will live on "hallowed ground," but because of the quality of the course.

Former Texas A&M and Houston Oiler quarterback Bucky Richardson pretty much spoke for everyone who played it for the first time last weekend when he said, "The golf course is a huge upgrade in every way. The Campus Course is something we can all be very proud of."

Indeed it is. It replaces the flat 6,800-yard Ralph Plummer design that had been there since 1952. With very little top soil on the old course, growing grass was problematic. It had seen its day and then some. 

Indeed it is. It replaces the flat 6,800-yard Ralph Plummer design that had been there since 1952. With very little top soil on the old course, growing grass was problematic. It had seen its day and then some.

So in came Blume and Houston businessman Robert Steele and Sterling Golf, which is a partner with the university on the $5 million course. They didn't cut any corners. In addition to a state of the art irrigation system, the course also got six inches of sand-capping, and it showed. In the little more than a year after the old course was shut down, the new Campus Course at Texas A&M grew in quickly, especially the Mini-Verde greens, which were fast and true, and, of course, a little firm.

As for the rest of it, Blume, who scouted out the classic courses in the Northeast for the project, gave it an early American look. There are 158 bunkers on the course, many of them clustered in the style of Charles B. Macdonald or Donald Ross.

"You don't have very much of that in Texas," said Blume, whose credits also include the much-heralded Grand Pines at Bentwater in the Houston area as well as Sterling Country Club.

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