The Long Bay Golf Club, Myrtle Beach

If a player can tame The Long Bay Club, they may feel confident enough to take on the Golden Bear. The Jack Nicklaus-designed course is considered one of the most difficult on the Grand Strand.

Rightfully so. Long Bay's formidable features include:

-A demanding 137 slope from the championship tees to a difficult 127 for the ladies

-Countless large man-made mounds. They're particularly lethal near the green, creating a new approach (so to speak) to your wedge game.

-Handsome but deadly par-3s, especially No. 13, a mid-iron test to an island green.

-Many bottomless bunkers surrounding Long Bay's small Bermuda landing surfaces.

-And a striking horseshoe waste bunker on the courses signature hole, the 353-yard (championship tees) No. 10 has become one of the most recognized in golf.

Long Bay's par-3s are attractive, but they can be cruel to the scorecard. The best of the four is No. 13 and it's wide island green. Not a long test, this par-3 teases players with various pin placements. The hole plays a club less if the pin is on the left. Ten yards too much and players likely will visit the drop area.

Golfers likely will remember Nos. 4 and 18 (par-4s) and Nos. 11 and 15 (par 5s). No. 4 is rated the courses most difficult hole. At 472 yards from the back tees, it features a narrow fairway guarded by waste areas on both sides. The homeward bound hole demands a left-to-right tee shot to trim off the distance to the green. Both par-5s on the back nine-547 yards and 492 yards- provide different looks. No.11 is a dogleg left design to a small green protected by a horseshoe bunker. No. 15 veers to the right. Players must carry a meandering creek on their second shot and avoid a water hazard that runs by the right side of the green.

"Most of the time when players walk off the course," Roger Batton said, "they're not frustrated but they're coming back because of the challenge of it."

Arrange to visit The Long Bay Golf Club and other attractions in Myrtle Beach using our Myrtle Beach vacation website.
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