<img decoding="async" alt="World Tour Open Nine #3" src="/media/images/WT_open_3.png" style="width: 600px;height: 300px" />
Story by Ian Guerin
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. | Brad Crumling has noticed the bigger tour groups and foursomes alike fawn over two of his property’s holes.
Crumling, the head golf professional at <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/world-tour-golf-links">World Tour Golf Links </a>just outside Myrtle Beach city limits, has not just one, but two, island greens at the replica course. There’s one paying homage to the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Verda, Fla., and another patterned after the 15th hole at English Turn in New Orleans.
At World Tour, those two holes are separated by just a few hundred yards. “Island greens always give the golfers something to talk about after their round,” Crumling said. “That’s what they remember when they’re drinking a beer reminiscing about the round. … I believe the island greens hold a lot of clout at World Tour.”
The TPC Sawgrass replica is the third hole on the Open 9 here. It plays at just 115 yards from the white tees to the middle of the green. But as anyone who has watched the Players Championship on TV or in person since 1982 knows, getting to that point can be a struggle. 
It’s a similar feel at World Tour, where landing a ball on the good stuff doesn’t mean it’ll stay there.
“[World Tour’s version] is by far the most requested hole by large groups to do their closest to the pin contests. They regret that after the round,” Crumling said. “In all honesty, people love the challenge and the visual aesthetics of seeing an island green. For us, it helps that it’s a replica of probably the most famous island green par 3 in the U.S., if not the world.”
Two holes later, it’s on to a English Turn’s famed Par 5, the only such island green in play along South Carolina’s Grand Strand golfing mecca.
The 435-yarder requires a near perfect drive to even open the possibility of going after the green in two, and most wisely layup that second shot to prevent disaster.
“It’s a different type of risk/reward challenge that you don’t see very often,” Crumling said. “An island green with at least a long iron or maybe a 3 wood to get home in two is quite daunting to most professionals, let alone the amateurs that are typically playing our course.”
Pro or duffer, there are opportunities galore around the area for players to test their touch on an island green. <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/world-tour-golf-links">World Tour’s</a> due are joined by several others that have swallowed up their share of golf balls over the years.
The rest are all Par 3s, but they each have their own identity. So, grab the short iron and see if you&#8217;re ready for glory.<img decoding="async" alt="Willbrook Plantation Golf Club Hole #6" src="/media/images/WB6.png" style="width: 275px;height: 250px;float: right" />
TRUE BLUE PLANTATION NO. 3 
Another earlier opportunity to fly water with precision is actually padded somewhat by a massive green. <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/true-blue">True Blue’s</a> third hole is large enough that it is accompanied by a catch bunker that surrounds the lower half of the hour-glass shaped putting surface. The sliver of grass connecting the island to the mainland isn’t wide enough to do much good on errant shots, so you’ll want to make sure your misses are of the wider variety.
WILLBROOK PLANTATOIN, NO. 6 
How much water is around the island green at <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/willbrook-plantation">Willbrook’s</a> sixth hole? The bridge connecting it to the tee and then on to the next whole is some three times longer than the putting surface. Three sides of this raised green is lined by the bulkheads, presenting a bit of an extra visual pop. Fitting, since that’s also the sound that many a shot makes on this Par 3, frequently before they bounce up into the air and plunge into the drink.
MYRTLE BEACH NATIONAL KING’S NORTH, NO. 12 
Maybe the most artistic Par 3 in all of Myrtle Beach &#8211; from a drone shot, at least &#8211; the creatively placed short hole includes a pair of bunkers to the left of the green in the shape of an “S” and a “C”. The high-end white sand makes those pop from the tee box, but they also draw players’ attention away from the true target, a pin that can be devilishly placed near the front bulkhead or the backside patch of grass that can be even worse.
LONG BAY GOLF CLUB, NO. 13 
At 123 yards from the white tees, <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/long-bay-golf-club">Long Bay’s</a> hole for this category finds itself sort of in that no-man’s land for club selection. It doesn’t get any easier in that the green is smaller and pond around it is huge. If you miss the mound long, right or short, and you’re automatically wet. Go way left and your ball may be wide enough to find green grass &#8211; be it on the other side of the small bridge while lying underneath a tree. If you find yourself there, just take a drop as if you were in the water.
RIVER CLUB, NO. 14 
Going over water into a green is fairly common at <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/river-club">River Club</a>. So, too, is having it protected from errant shots to either side or the back. But only one hole here actually fits into the all-sides category. Technically, you could fly the green long (way long, actually) but it won’t do you any good since the back-side water isn’t exactly easy to cross back over. If nothing else, the white tees play from 149 yards, so at least most players can take a relatively normal swing with wedge or 9-iron.
OYSTER BAY GOLF LINKS, NO. 15<img decoding="async" alt="King's North Hole #12" src="/media/images/KNG12.png" style="width: 275px;height: 250px;float: right" /> 
Just north of the state line, <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/oyster-bay-golf-links">Oyster Bay</a> is a gator-heavy course that brings water into the equation more often than not. So by the time you reach the Par 3, 103-yard 15th, it’s going to feel a little less intimidating. Still, the smaller green here &#8211; connected on the right by a wooden bridge and the left by only a patch of rough &#8211; is going to present problems for anyone who can’t get up and down in a hurry.
TRADITION GOLF CLUB, NO. 15 
A number of Ron Garl’s home-state designs in Florida make common use of the island green, so it’s no shock that he included one in his only local layout. At <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/tradition-golf-club">Tradition</a>, he packaged it with two large bunkers, three trees and even some pine straw. Players who miss the green on this 157-yarder may be thankful of all that, as the putting surface is heavily crowned and shots around the fringe tend to drop off considerably.
 
Ian Guerin is a DJ and freelance writer based in Myrtle Beach. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/iguerin?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@iguerin</a> and Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/IanGuerinWriter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facebook.com/IanGuerinWriter/</a>

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Island Greens Add Spice To Myrtle Beach Golf Scene

Courses in this Article

River Club

Willbrook Plantation

Long Bay Golf Club

King's North at Myrtle Beach National

Tradition Golf Club

World Tour Golf Links

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