CAROLINA FEATURES

Murrells
Inlet's Highway
707 Corridor:
Golf and Grub
in the South Strand

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

MURRELLS INLET (Dec. 1, 2001) - You are late for your tee time. It’s no fault of you or your playing partners. It’s because you are sitting in a line of cars a mile long on Highway 501, or Highway 17 and nothing short of a miracle is going to get you to the first tee on time.

If you want to avoid the ever-growing gridlock on your next golf trip to the Grand Strand, change your geography.

Or should we say, limit your geography.

Highway 707 bisects the pastoral fishing town of Murrells Inlet, and chances are you’ll find more golf balls bouncing down the road than cars. This two-lance section of highway is also home to three championship golf courses, a boatload of local restaurants, and even a few places to hang your visor, kick off your soft spikes, and bed down for the evening.

Not like the Rest of the Strand

Murrells Inlet is an old fishing village that once upon a time, served as a gateway to some of the area’s major rice and indigo plantations. Its hard to say that not much has changed in this South Strand dale; the plantation’s all became golf courses, and most the old fish camps are now modern restaurants. Yet, no area of the Grand Strand has managed to retain the majority of its original character like the Inlet.

By preserving open space, original structures and even cemeteries, the golf courses were actually the best thing that could have happened to the old plantation land. High rise condominiums, tacky tourist traps, and assembly line chain restaurants are all precluded from the Inlet by regulation. In their place are old Lowcountry homes, local seafood, burger and pizza joints, and some golf villas and low rise motels.

Where to Play

Two courses along the 707 corridor are nearly brand-spanking-new, and each caters to a different caliber of golfer. The TPC of Myrtle Beach (888-742-8721) is a premium, championship caliber course that was home to the Senior Tour Championship in 2000. Tom Fazio designed the course, and professional golfer Lanny Wadkins provided his input into a number of holes.

The TPC of Myrtle Beach is not for the faint of heart. Teeing off from the back of the bus, you’ll find 6950 yards of pure Fazio, including deceptively large bunkers, elevated green complexes and forced carries over Lowcountry wetlands. Nor is it for the thin of wallet. A round of golf including cart, some crunchy granola bars, a towel, yardage book, and all the range balls you can hit will run you $125 to $175 in the peak fall and spring seasons.

Top holes on the track include the par 4 No. 3, which requires a knee knocking tee shot over marsh, down a meandering fairway and an approach shot to a slightly elevated green. The course’s signature hole, the par 3 17th, is vintage TPC with its peninsular green. The par 5 18th is an awesome finishing hole, as it plays into the TPC’s large plantation style clubhouse.

Across the street from the TPC is the new Willard Byrd designed International Club (1-800-TEE-OFFS). When it comes to design credits on the Grand Strand, the venerable Byrd may take the gold. The Atlanta based architect is known for his ability to create a playable, traditional layout on a shoestring budget.

The International Club is just that, and they charge accordingly. Players should be able to get around for under $80 in the peak seasons, and that rate is often cut in half in the summer and winter. As for the course, it’s worth the price of admission. Fairways are narrow and straight, greens are fairly flat and are turfed with the new Tif Eagle Bermuda grass. International also features a number of crystal blue lakes fed by underground springs.

The Granddaddy of golf on the 707 corridor is Blackmoor Golf Club, a gem of a plantation track designed by Gary Player back in the late 1980’s. When Blackmoor opened in 1990, it was one of the most expensive rounds of golf at the beach. Today, it’s playable for under $100 even in the peak seasons.

Blackmoor is truly one of the most player friendly courses in the South Strand, and most everyone that plays the course raves about it. For the money it is an excellent layout that gets little recognition now that Caledonia and True Blue have garnered most of the post 1995 publicity for the area. The back nine will stand out in most players minds, as it ventures right down into the gut of the Waccamaw River Basin. The par-5’s are some of the best at the beach, in terms of scenery, and the par 3’s are far more than afterthoughts.

Where to Eat

There are so many restaurants on Highway 707 that you could return to the area every year for ten years and probably not eat at the same one twice. When it comes to seafood, take your pick. Divines and Anchovies offer some of the better upscale eats, while Lee’s Inlet House and Russells serve up a down home Inlet atmosphere.

Best burger on the corridor has to go to River City Café. You can get your 1/3 pounder with bacon, chili, onions, lettuce, cheese, mushrooms … the list goes on and on. You can sit outside and shuck peanuts if the weather is nice, or if its cold there’s usually a nice little fire burning inside.

For the best local watering hole, try Drunken Jack’s, perched right on the end of the Inlet boardwalk. Jack’s downstairs lounge is a favorite among battle tested Inleters, with its cold long necks, free pop corn, and snappy appetizers. The aforementioned Russells is also a favorite among fishermen, shrimpers and Inlet residents.

If its fall, and you need a good dive sports bar to take in a few college or NFL football games, drive down to the far end of 707 and pull up a bar stool at Jimmagans. The bar features televisions set at every angle, and the décor is dark, vinyl and essentially begs you to pop that first pop. Jimigans offers the usual sports bar sampling of burgers, pizzas, and chicken sandwiches.

The Inlet is even up on the latest pizza craze. California Pizza Kitchen opened its doors earlier this year, serving up all sorts of creative pies you won’t find at your local chain delivery store. Anchovies is also an excellent place to fire up a good pie, and Bovines has a solid sampling of wood fired pizzas served in a swank, Americana atmosphere.

Where to Stay

Accommodations are not as prolific in Murrells Inlet as they are elsewhere at the beach, but a little looking around and you’ll find some nice digs to hole up in between rounds. Litchfield Beach (888-766-4633) and Golf Club is a favorite among most visitors, and is also one of the oldest resorts in the country. The resort also offers tennis, day spas, and beach access. Litchfield is not located off of 707, but its just a chip shot south on Highway 17 in Litchfield Beach.

Off the beaten path

If you have a free afternoon, and perusing the shops of Pawleys Island just doesn’t sound tempting, take a page out of Ernest Hemmingway’s book and opt for some sport fishing. A number of charters leave out of the Inlet each day, offering full and half day excursions for Grouper, Snapper, and Mackerel fishing.

Catch – 1, (843) 651-4445, Capt. Currie ($400 ½ day, $700 full day)
The Posse, Capt. David Roper ($375 ½ day, $700 full day)

Legend has it …

Like so many of the South Strand plantations, Longwood was once a prolific rice producer, owned by two of the area’s most popluar figures.

Enamored with its low elevation and ample swampland, P.W. Fraser and John Green purchased the plantation back in 1820 to grow and farm rice. Fraser and Green were both heavily involved in the Horry and Georgetown County social and political scene.

Fraser graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) in 1822, and went on to run for a seat in the state senate. He was also an original member of the Murrells Inlet Hot and Hot Fish Club, one of the creators of the Planters Club on the Pee Dee River, and even donated some of his land for the clubhouse.

Green was a Revolutionary War soldier who was often referred to as “Big Uncle” because of his six-foot-four inch, 300 pound frame. Green was also one of the original members of the Hot and Hot Fish Club, and he is buried in the old cemetery to the right of the 13th hole.