That venue was Tidewater, a North Myrtle Beach gem with a number of holes that play right against the marsh, with beautiful views (and challenging shot values) all around.

Tidewater, like most of their Myrtle Beach area counterparts, has the curbside check-in thing down to an art. No overfriendly greeters here. Just guys who size you up, and, if you seem to know what you’re doing, point you in the right direction.  The range is nice, and the practice green even nicer. I hit a number of different short game shots with just one other guy alongside.

The opener is a gentle par five through the woods, and it’s followed by a short dogleg right guarded by a couple of monster trees on the inside corner. Then it’s through a tunnel (you’ll do this a few times during the round) and onto the marsh portion of the golf course, where a gorgeous par three with a big valley of sin on the front left of the green awaits. Even better is the 4th hole, a sweeping dogleg-left with a 6-foot deep waste bunker running like a ribbon down the left side. I loved the look of the hole, and even after chickening out and pushing my drive into a bunker on the right, I was able to hit the green and save par. Tidewater is pretty fair that way.

I’ll spare you the “hole-by- hole” but the rest of the nine runs back through the tunnel and through trees again, before reaching No. 9, a middle-length par 3 with a wetland on the left. You’ll want to avoid that, just as you’ll want to avoid it when coming down the parallel 18th, where the same wetland guards the right side of the green.

The 13th hole is my favorite

A couple of my favorite holes on the back side are again on the marsh side of the tunnel. The 12th is a par 3 with a forced carry over the wetlands; the 13th a par-5 that I would have to claim as my favorite at Tidewater. It’s seldom that I like an uphill tee shot, but here you start (at least from the back sets of tees) from a tee box nestled close to the water, and look up to a dogleg left that starts to tighten up from “way down there.” There’s a strategic layup required after hopefully finding the fairway, and a shot into one of the biggest greens at Tidewater which will require some resolve, especially if the pin is tucked in the back right of the green.

The view from there makes it all worth it, even the trips back and forth through the tunnel and past homes that a purist might not prefer. But I don’t think anyone would argue with the variety of the holes, and quality of the conditioning at Tidewater. They seem to care about the golf, and it shows.

To learn more about Tidewater, click on the course name above and follow the links to their website.