Myrtle Beach Golf Myths

The top ten myths about Myrtle Beach golf. We discuss surcharges, golf carts, no shows, overbooking and other aspects of Myrtle Beach Golf.

1- Some Myrtle Beach golf courses make the package providers add a SURCHARGE to your Myrtle Beach Golf Package to play their course.

No, this not exactly correct.

The first Myrtle Beach Golf Packages got started in the late 1960's. For the first couple of years, there were only a handful of golf courses available for the packages. The cost to play golf was about the same at each of these golf courses. The hotels just created a average price for golf and included all of the these courses in their packages. They knew the golf cost would average itself out over the year.

As Myrtle Beach Golf got more popular, better golf courses were being built. These newer golf courses were more expensive to built and to maintain. They had to charge more to play these new course. The golfers liked these new courses. They began to request the newer and more expensive golf courses. If you could get a new Chevrolet or a new Cadillac and the dealer was going to charge you the same price, which would you take? The average golf cost got out of balance. The package providers did not want to go up on their golf packages cost. So they kept the basic package cost the same, but limited your choice of courses. If you wanted to play the more expensive courses, they just added the difference in the green fee cost to your package. That is the so called SURCHARGE.

2- Myrtle Beach Golf Courses have mandatory golf cart usage to speed up play.

No, this is not true.

Economics was the reason for mandatory golf carts. As the Myrtle Beach golf courses became busier, most vacationing package golfers were wanting to utilize the golf carts. There were days when the courses would have more golfers wanting to rent the carts, than carts available. This created angry customers.

The golf courses figured out the maximum number of carts they needed for a full day and everyone wanted to ride. That was the number that they kept on hand. They had to pay rent on these carts whether they were used or not. Since most people wanted to rent the golf carts, they decided to make everyone ride, MANDATORY CARTS.

3- Myrtle Beach Golf Courses charge for no show, to make you play when you don't want to play.

No, that is not true.

The golf courses do not charge you for not playing the round. They charge you for the tee time. The tee times are guaranteed tee times. The golf course agrees to allow you to tee off at a particular time. You agree to be there ready to play at a particular time. For this access you pay them a agreed upon amount. You are agreeable to this arrangement, because this guaranteed tee time allows you to make you golf vacation plans well in advance. You are not trying to find somewhere to play at the last minute. The golf course is agreeable to this arrangement, because they know how many golfers they are going to have in advance. They can make the necessary arrangements to make things go as smooth as possible. Most courses will give a refund or rain check, if play is upset by foul weather. Do not expect any sort of reimbursement if you partied to much and could not get out of bed.

4- Myrtle Beach golf courses intentionally overbook their tee sheets.

No, this is not true.

Myrtle Beach golf courses have set tee times. Usually they double tee, meaning they start simultaneously off # 1 and # 10 tees. Typically, there are 17 tee time available, in the morning, from 7:30 through 9:38 at eight minute intervals. They then close the tees to new golfers to allow the golfers that started on #1 to crossover to # 10 and the ones that started on #10 to crossover to # 1. The first golfers off of each side are expected to turn and be ready to start on the other side at 9:46 (2 hours and 16 minutes. A foursome should come off of # 9 and # 18 every 8 minutes. The afternoon rounds runs from 12:00 to 2:08. A round of golf is scheduled take 4 and 1/2 hours not much less, hopefully not much longer.

5- It took me six hours to play a round at Unnamed Golf Course in Myrtle Beach.

No, this is probably not true.

From the scheduled tee times above, one can see that an ideal round in Myrtle Beach takes 4 and 1/2 hours to complete. This may not always be the case. There have been times when a round takes five hours to play and even five plus hour rounds have been recorded in some extreme situation.

The Myrtle Beach golf courses set their tee times sheets up one year in advance for package providers to sell. They have no idea of what the weather conditions are going to be when the day actually arrives. They are going to sell the tee times expecting ideal weather conditions.

The most dreaded conditions for the golf course is rain / wet fairways. The golf carts can not go out onto the fairways. The golf carts must stay on the paved cart paths. They would just to do much damage to the turf. Having to restrict the golf carts to the paths adds 30 minutes to a round of golf. The Pro Shops hates having to keep the carts on the paths. But, on the other hand, the golf course would be closed, if it did not have cart paths the full length of the course. Golfers on package would miss a day of play, the golf courses would miss a day of revenue. What would you guys prefer to do? Sit in the hotel all day or spend an extra thirty minutes in the clean fresh air of Myrtle Beach playing golf and getting some needed walking exercise.

There are some courses that set their tee time sheets with 18 or 19 tee time slots. These courses are the abnormal and should be avoided, unless they make the cost worth the extra time it takes to play.

The time it takes a foursome to play starts when the first golfer hits his first shot and ends when the last golfer holes his last putt. Not when the starter sends you to the tee and when you get your first beer in the bar.

6- If a golf courses was in bad condition last month, last year, the last time you played there, it is going to be in bad shape the next time you play there.

No, this is not necessarily true.

Myrtle Beach golf is so competitive, not only with the other courses on the Grand Strand, but with the other resorts around the country. A course can not afford to be in poor condition for long. Grass is very resilient. Given the proper conditions and maintenance procedures it will respond in a very short period of time. Different people have different opinions on what are good conditions. What are fast or slow greens. It has a lot to due with what type of grass you are used to playing. If you have any doubts as to a courses condition, call the Pro, he will tell you the truth.

7- If the primary grass on the fairways and greens is a Bermuda Grass and the grass is brown it is DEAD.

No, this is not true.

Bermuda Grass will always turn brown and go into hibernation when exposed to the first killing frost of the cold season. It will begin to green up when the day time temperatures starts warming up. The grass will begin to grow when the nights remain above fifty degrees.

Most courses overseed the greens and fairways in the fall. This overseeding makes the golf courses green and lush. The overseeding is a very expensive operation. But without the overseeding, the course would be brown and appear dead.

From Mid February through the middle of may is the peak season for Myrtle Beach. Your golf courses better be green and in good shape or the competitive will bury you.

8- Myrtle Beach Hotel Golf Packages are the best way to go.

No, this is not always the case.

Myrtle Beach Hotels started the golf package business in South Carolina. But, this may or may not be the best option for your golf package. The hotels typically offer a standard hotel room with two queen beds in the same sleeping area. They include daily maid service and some times breakfast. Sometimes the room will have a kitchen area. They are typically oceanfront. There are off the ocean hotels available.

There is another options. The Myrtle Beach condo market has opened many new doors. You can rent a full two bedroom condo, usually for less than the hotel room per person cost. There are golf course condos as well as Oceanfront condos. These condos have separate bedrooms, living, dining and kitchen areas. These condos are equipped for full time living. The draw back for the condos is that you have to do the day to day picking up and cleaning. The up side is that you have more room and the ability to cook your own meals.

9- Myrtle Beach is the The Golf Capital of the World.

This may or may not be true.

Golf in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is as good as it gets. The Grand Strand offers over eighty golf courses for you to include in you golf package to the beach. We have golf rounds starting at $35.00 in the off season up to golf rounds costing over $ 200.00 in the peak season. You decide what you want.

10- The girls at the Doll House and The Crazy Horse instantly fall head over heels for Myrtle Beach Golfers.

This is not true.

Most of the girls at these establishments are married or have families. They are instantly in love with the money that golfers are willing to give them for a good show. They are very good actresses. You are NOT going home with them.

About the author: Howard McMeekin, PGA Life Menber, has been in the Myrtle Beach golf market since 1971. His website at Myrtle Beach Golf Pros is making his E-book "The Golf Factory" available, Free! While you are visiting his website, let him give you a free quote for a Myrtle Beach golf packages vacation. You have full permission to reprint this article provided this box remains unchanged.

Toms seven strokes clear in PGA

Posted May 21, 2011 09:34:00

American veteran David Toms made the most of ideal scoring conditions after a lengthy weather delay to burst seven shots ahead of the field in record-equalling style at the Colonial Invitational.

Co-leader overnight with compatriot Chez Reavie, the red-hot Toms birdied four of the last eight holes for a second successive 8-under-par 62 at Colonial Country Club.

The 44-year-old, who was beaten in a playoff for the Players Championship last week, matched the PGA Tour record for the lowest 36-hole start with a 16-under total of 124.

Fellow American Pat Perez set the same mark after the first two rounds of the 2009 Bob Hope Classic.

Australians Steve Bowditch (64) and John Senden (66) were tied for second at nine under with South Korean Charlie Wi (67) and American Mark Wilson (66).

Toms, however, spreadeagled the field with another bogey-free display at Colonial where he reached 17 of 18 greens in regulation and needed only 27 putts.

He birdied the first, fourth, seventh and ninth to stretch his lead to three but, after hitting his tee shot at the 11th, had to wait two-and-a-half hours to resume when play was suspended due to the threat of lightning.

"I guess it was a chance to lose some momentum," Toms, a 12-times PGA Tour champion, told reporters.

"But I came out and the conditions were perfect for scoring.

"My mindset was to just keep making birdies, try to separate myself a little bit. I just went out and played great the last eight holes or so, some of the best golf I have played in a long time."

Toms, whose most recent PGA Tour victory came at the 2006 Sony Open, said conditions following the weather delay were typical of late afternoon golf after a rain shower.

- Reuters

Tags: sport, golf, united-states

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Golf Tips: Swing Plane Faults That You Can Fix Fast

Would you like to develop a sound, simple and reliable basic golf swing? I'm sure that you know there are countless golf lessons online as well as a great deal of video golf instruction that describes the drills golf teachers use to improve golf swing faults, but very few golf instructors actually get to the root cause of why most golf swing problems begin in the first place.

In this golf instruction article I'm going to share with you a simple way to improve your basic golf swing plane so you can hit consistently longer and straighter golf shots, increase your golf confidence and develop lower score golf scores.

The majority of golf swing faults produced by amateur golfers can be traced back to a faulty swing plane that is not aligned correctly both in terms of its alignment to the target and its alignment to the plane angle it originated on.

The engineers that designed your golf clubs understand the importance of the swing plane but unfortunately when golfers purchase golf clubs from a golf shop or pro shop, as a rule they don't get a user manual with the golf clubs that describes how the golf clubs should be used correctly.

Kind of funny really when you think about it, considering that most expensive items you purchase have some form of instruction manual with them.

Anyway, there is one inarguable fact that you need to know and trust about improving your basic golf swing. The fact is that you need to swing your golf club on or very close to the original swing plane if you want to really improve the way you hit the golf ball.

The original swing plane is the angle of the golf club you're using when you address a golf ball. From driver to putter every golf club is built on an inclined plane angle because the golf ball is positioned to the side of you and in front of you.

This plane angle is slightly different with every club in your bag and so your job is to rest it on the ground as it was designed with the club face pointing directly to your target and then build your golf swing around it.

To do this effectively you need to hold onto the golf club lightly enough that the club face doesn't aim off line. Many amateur golfers I've taught at my golf school over the years squeeze the grip so tightly that the club face is twisted which creates golf swing alignment errors leading to common golf shots like slices, pulls and even fat shots.

If your grip pressure is higher than five on a one to ten scale (with ten being too tight) then you are squeezing too tightly. Also when you hold onto the grip your right hand (right hand golfer) should be positioned on the side of the grip so that when you open the palm of your hand up it would point straight down the target line.

When your hand is placed under the golf grip (facing the sky), or on top of it (facing the ground), you will in all probability alter the swing plane direction as you swing back away from the ball. Remember to build your golf swing around the design of the golf club which means that your rest it on the ground and point it towards your intended target. When you swing it away there are two basic but very important stages that your golf club should travel through.

Basic Swing Plane Stage 1:

1. The golf club should swing directly away from the ball without lifting upwards abruptly or traveling inwards or outwards too quickly as it goes back. Imagine for a moment that your golf club was laying flat on a piece of cardboard on the same angle as the golf club and that the club simply traveled backwards and forwards along the card board until the club head and shaft was parallel with the ground.

Basic Swing Plane Stage 2:

2. Now, if the golf club traveled further back the club head would now be higher than your hands but would still be on or close to the piece of card board. As it travels back the grip end of the golf shaft would point directly to the base of the card board where the golf club once rested.

The golf shaft angle is maintained as it travels from the start of the back-swing to the top and into the down swing and follow-through phases.

The best way to learn to do this is to practice with a pitching wedge and swing it back until your left arm and golf club form an angle that would represent the letter 'L.' In this position your left arm would be horizontal and the golf shaft vertical-although it would point towards the target line.

When you swing into the follow-through you again form a horizontal arm position only this time it's with your right arm, and the golf shaft would again be vertical and pointing down towards the target line.

I call this golf stroke the 'Level 1' basic golf swing as it's the first stage of the full golf swing. Just like a house needs a strong and sound foundation to be built upon, your golf swing needs a strong and sound foundation to swing upon. By practicing the level one golf swing you are building the type of support your golf swing needs to control the distance and direction of the golf ball easily.

Remember that it's easy to just swing away without really thinking much about what you're doing. But consider that the golf clubs only real purpose is to achieve a sound impact and you will realize the importance of swinging your golf club on its correct plane angle.

Even if you can't make it out to a driving range or practice fairway, practice the level one swing often and you'll notice a considerable difference in your shot-making consistency within three months.

Every sound golf swing has a level one position built into it and so can yours so start practicing your golf swing on a daily basis and in the hours, days and months ahead you'll discover the power and purpose of the on-plane basic golf swing.

Lawrence Montague has been one of Australia's leading golf teaching professionals for more than twenty years and owns one of Australia's top golf schools based on the Gold Coast in Queensland http://www.goldcoastgolfschool.com.au.

He also co-owns Pro Tour Golf College, the only pro tour prep college for aspiring male and female golfers who want to play golf on tour based in Perth, Western Australia.

You can visit his popular golf instruction channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/golfconfidencepro where he has produced more than thirty free high quality golf video lessons to improve you golf game.

Favourites lead way in LPGA Match Play

Posted May 21, 2011 16:45:00

Bae Kyeong, Choi Na-yeong, Lee Meena and Park Inbee won second-round matches as four South Koreans reached the third round of the Sybase Match Play Championship in New Jersey.

Tseng Yani, of Taiwan and Japan's Ai Miyazato were other Asians who moved on as the favourites continued to dominate, winning seven of 10 matches.

Top-seeded Choi beat Britain's Karen Stupples in 20 holes while world number one Tseng defeated American Jenny Suh 3 and 2 at the Hamilton Farm Golf Club.

Suzann Pettersen of Norway also advanced to the round of 16 by beating Taiwan's Amy Hung 5 and 3.

Defending champion Cristie Kerr was the most impressive US player in a round that was began in rain but ended in sunshine.

Number three seeded Kerr won the third through eighth holes against Spanish rookie Belen Mozo of Spain en route to a dominating 7 and 6 victory.

-AFP

Tags: sport, golf, united-states

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McDowell takes on McIlroy in Spain

Posted May 21, 2011 16:45:00

Fellow Northern Irishmen and Ryder Cup colleagues Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy will meet in a mouth-watering World Match Play Championship last 16 clash in Casares, Spain.

McDowell, the US Open champion, topped his group when he followed up his win over British Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa with a last green victory against Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas.

McIlroy, who defeated South Africa's Retief Goosen by one hole in his opener, slumped to a shock 3 and 2 loss to Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts.

"Rory beats me every time we play together," McDowell said.

"But this isn't the Northern Ireland match play championship and I'm hoping it's going to be different. It's the Volvo World Match Play and the pressure is on.

"He is a fabulous player, so talented. This course is all about driving the ball and he is pretty good at that. It's hard to play against a close friend, but you've got to leave your friendship on the sidelines."

McIlroy said about facing McDowell: "He's not going to give me anything - it's going to be a really tough match.

"I'll just try and treat it like I'm playing anyone else. I'm here to try to win a tournament and I need to get through him - that's the number one thing on my mind."

In another all-Ryder Cup clash for a place in the quarter-finals, world number one Lee Westwood faces Ian Poulter, who won the WGC Match Play title last year.

Westwood, who had cruised past Denmark's Anders Hansen 6 and 5, was dominant again, seeing off Australia's Aaron Baddeley 4 and 3.

"I've carried on from where I left off in Indonesia and Korea," said Westwood, who is now seeking his third successive victory.

"I will try to keep that going, but match play is different - you can play well and lose."

Poulter halved with Scotland's 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie, just as he had with Italian Francesco Molinari on the opening day.

Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer, both of whom could take the number one spot off Westwood this weekend, had their second victories.

Donald beat defending champion Ross Fisher 3 and 1 and next plays Sweden's Johan Edfors.

Fisher faces South Africa's Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.

Kaymer reached the last 16 with a 2 and 1 win over Noh Seung-yul, the German's second successive win over a South Korean after seeing off Yang Yong-Eun by the same score the previous day.

There was also the first three-man play-off in the history of the event caused by Schwartzel, Edfors and Miguel Angel Jimenez all finishing with a win and loss each.

Jimenez went out when he bogeyed the first extra hole and Schwartzel topped the group when Edfors bogeyed the next.

-AFP

Tags: sport, golf, spain

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Tom Watson Lessons of a LifeTime Golf 2 Disc DVD

JUST RELEASED APRIL 2010

During a career that's spanned 40 years, included 68 professional tournament victories, 8 of them majors (another 5 on the Champions Tour), Tom Watson has never stopped winning-or learning. Through his relationship with the late Byron Nelson, his own unceasing research and the epiphanies that come only to one who's tested theory under the most intense competitive pressure, Tom has become a master teacher as well as player. No tour player understands his swing, or the swing, as well. He takes you through the swing and the shots that will make your game more consistent and take your scores lower. You get his insights on every aspect of the full swing and short game, his approach to course management and the secrets to success in competition. In short, the Lessons of a Lifetime, the lessons that allowed Tom, at age 59, to challenge for the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry. The two-DVD set containing close to three hours of golf instruction and an accompanying booklet of 44 lessons was filmed at The Greenbrier Resort, where Watson is Golf Professional Emeritus. This instructional program is the ultimate learning experience, covering all facets of the game-from the grip to full shots, to chipping, putting and the secret of his timeless swing, plus specialty shots including those required in strong wind conditions. Consistency, contact, alignment, firmness of grip, pivot points, release, rhythm and legendary coach, Harvey Penick's "dead-aim" philosophy are all covered in the two comprehensive DVDs. Watson's instruction comes across in an easy-to-understand manner making it seem your standing right beside him on the tee or green. "I believe my understanding of the swing is keener today than it ever has been. This is my way of passing that knowledge along. Play well." -Tom Watson.

Price:

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Johnny Miller's Golf Clinic 3-PK

Legendary golfer and NBC Golf Analyst Johnny Miller, author of several instruction books, now shares his knowledge and expertise in this three DVD set. Fixing Your Swing provides simple, easy-to-follow cures for common problems and is divided into chapters for easy reference. Tricks Of The Trade is focused on shot making, or how to curve the ball and control its trajectory. In Secrets of Success, he shares fine points of the game, from position of a good swing to quick tips.

Price: $49.95

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