Heading for the Hills: “Breaking Par with Charlie Rymer” Episode 64 at Myrtlewood-PineHills

All you see from the tee is fairway bunkers, but there’s plenty of room around those. The ideal play is off the left edge of the sand, and if you do it right, you’ve got the best approach to a green that’s squeezed by water on the left and a bunker on the right. Birdie won’t be easy here, but let’s see what we can do!

This is Myrtlewood. It’s centrally located right in the middle of Myrtle Beach. It’s a beautiful facility, 36 holes. They’ve got a great practice area, a really cool pro shop, and I’m telling you what, it is the place to hang out and watch the sun go down. They’ve got a back patio with a deck. They always got some live music going. Great food, plenty of cold beverages and lots of laughs.

Now this is the 18th on the PineHills golf course. It’s a par four that peels off to the right. Fortunately for me today, it’s a little downwind and I like that hole shape and left to right. Little butter cut working here. Has the butter over cut. Miss that bunker. Yes, in the bunker out of the bunker. Sitting up pretty. That’s the way you’re supposed to miss them right there.

All right, I didn’t get that one very good. So I got a long second into this 18th hole, but that’s clean living right there. Ball hitting that bunker. Jumped up in the middle. Pretty decent lie. Pond is definitely in play. I’d much rather miss a little right than a little left though. Be right, baby! Thought it would jump out of that lie. Dead on lie a little short. And that’s all right because I can pitch with the best of them.

I used to come to this property a lot when I was a kid, and there was a lot of pine trees here, and they were a lot smaller back then. It makes me feel old. They were about head high. Now these pine trees are just majestic. Wow. Cool place. It’s a tough green here. Really not much area to shoot to on the front there. Had a good line on mine. Just sort of misjudged it out of the rough a little bit. It’s all right. I love pitching. The idea is you bruise the ground underneath the ball.

A lot of people try to have a lot of forward lean. When you do that, you cut the ground. I want my shaft to be straight up and down at impact. I don’t want to take a divot, just a little bruise. Bruise the turf. That was a little bruise. Grab them. See, no divot. Just a nice bruise and the ball was in the middle of that bruise. These new Bermudagrasses sure are smooth. All right. Not the prettiest of pitches. Solid four. Oh, a tough finisher.

Yep. We’ll take par on that hole all day long, every day of the week, all seven of them! Now we’re headed across the Myrtlewood property to try our hand on a shorter hole at the sister course!