You know that a bond has been forged when a fellow calls you “man.” Or “buddy.” Man or buddy. They both work. I’m being facetious, but being called both today at Legends Heathland was the only distant sensation I felt. From my pace of play discussion with Morris to my weather interlude with Tall John, my conversations at this fine golf complex were completely personalized. The golf was pretty solid, too. I should get to that.

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Tom Doak is not the same man he was in 1990, when Heathland opened. Then, he was in his early thirties, with precisely one course credit as a solo golf course designer/architect. Without going into profound detail, Doak and his mentor, Paul “Pete” Dye, inspired a rebirth of the values of traditional Scottish golf course architecture. Although his Heathland course draws its name from the courses outside London, the bones of the layout are Scottish. What some new-world golfers mistake for wide fairways, Doak recognizes as diverse playing angles, born of the Old Course in St. Andrews. What some new-world golfers consider empty space around greens, Doak recognizes as run-offs for chipping, pitching and putting recovery shots. Sand leaves but on option (the blast) while a run-off provides alternatives like the bump-and-run, the into-the-slope and the roller.

 

A standard "seeing-eye" bunker at Heathland

A standard “seeing-eye” bunker at Heathland

 

I counted enormous greens into the double figures at Heathland. Another feature of old-world courses is the indiscernible meld of fairway into green. Golfers tended to putt from yards off the green, given the fast and firm conditioning that prevails even today in the British Isles. While fast and firm is never a guarantee in Myrtle Beach, Doak did his best to offer this experience by expanding his putting surfaces. I paced off putts of over 100 feet on many greens. It might have meant that my approach shots need work, but I choose to look beyond my own shortcomings.

 

Railroad ties serve to reinforce a stocked-sod bunker

Railroad ties serve to reinforce a stocked-sod bunker

 

If you pay proper attention as you tour the Heathlands, you’ll notice a number of features indigenous to golf courses in the British Isles. The seeing-eye bunker (one that erupts from the earth to obscure a putting surface); the stacked-sod bunker (sometimes revetted with railroad ties); stacked (consecutive) bunker schemes; deep (pot) bunkers; internal contours on putting surfaces and separate zones on greens.,

 

A two-tiered green and stacked (consecutive) bunkers

A two-tiered green and stacked (consecutive) bunkers

 

One of the major elements in absentia on a heathland or linksland course is the enhanced pond or lake that is often found on USA courses. Golf course architects use water hazards for irrigation as well as penalty; they simply don’t occur as often on an Isles course. What one does find in fair abundance is the burn, or stream. A gentle hazard to cross, the burn still extracts a bit of flesh from golfers. The Heathland course offers burns to cross on a number of holes, typically at a diagonal.

A Tom Doak staple: the pitch-shot par three

A Tom Doak staple: the pitch-shot par three

 

Although I stayed in North Myrtle Beach, my southernmost trip to Legends gave me pause to consider establishing the resort as a home base for future trips to the Grand Strand. The clubhouse and lodge are comfortable and the courses offer great diversity among themselves, in addition to proximity to the fine courses of Pawley’s Island and Murrell’s Inlet.