<img decoding="async" alt="Long Bay 7th Hole" src="/media/images/Nicklaus_Long_Bay_7th_Hole_600x300.png" style="width: 600px;height: 300px" />
Story by Ian Guerin
LONGS, S.C. | Throw Jack Nicklaus’s name into the mix at any golf facility, and it’s going to turn heads.
Dub a particular hole the signature of the bunch, and it’s gaining serious traction. That’s exactly what No. 10 does at Long Bay Golf Club.
The back-nine kickstarter delivers in a big way, with its massive waste bunker swallowing up the fairway and an offset and elevated green bringing the heat from there. But here’s the thing about those 350 or so yards: They’re as dry as a bone.
That doesn’t mean the rest of Long Bay is.
While giving you variations of the wet stuff, these four still manage to bring their own heat.
NERVES OF STEEL
After a few solid warm-up holes, Long Bay starts to show itself for what it truly is: A course that isn’t meant to be approached with ease.
Take the Par-5, 468-yard No. 7. (pictured above)
Thanks to a tree in front of all sets of tees, players are forced to shoot toward the left side of the fairway. That’s important, because if you stay right &#8211; boom, tree. If you fade too far to the left, well, now you have a pond in your way for your next shot. It’s among the biggest reminders that Nicklaus used to design courses that he believed you didn’t deserve to conquer.
WHET YOUR APPETITE
Even with that pond on No. 7, the Par 4 No. 9 is gonna feel a bit like a shock to the system. That’s because a lengthy pond is gonna ride the left side of the hole from tee to green. For every one of those 327 yards, it’s in your peripheral, making you wonder if this is the shot that you’re going off-kilter.
It’s all highly avoidable, of course, but considering that water was basically moot prior, the game is clearly on.
DINK, DUNK, DIVE
We tried to warn you. But you got distracted by Nos. 10, 11 and 12 and all their dryness.<img decoding="async" alt="Long Bay 13th Hole" src="/media/images/Long_Bay_13a11.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 169px;float: right" />
Nicklaus ripped off the Band-Aid with an unlucky 13th (pictured right) that has a tiny island green to finish off a tiny hole. Anyone playing from the whites is looking at a minuscule 123 yards. The green itself is buffered by a a slight area of rough grass in 360 degrees. But don’t count any of that as a good thing; it may just roll right off.
UP, UP &amp; AWAY
So, we’ve seen large bodies of water, and we’ve seen postage stamp greens buried in the middle of them. But this is just… different.
On No. 15 &#8211; a 449-yard Par 5 &#8211; Nicklaus utilized a not-so-uncommon (however, rare for him) way to add real distance when it didn’t really exist. In this case, it comes in the form of a stream that cuts from the left side of the middle portion of the fairway diagonally up toward the right side of the green. What does that mean for you? You’re not smashing anything off the tee unless you want to see your ball whisked downstream.
THE NIGHTCAP<img decoding="async" alt="Long Bay 18th Hole" src="/media/images/Long_Bay_18.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 169px;float: right" />
We didn’t mention a few of the front-nine holes where speckles of water affect a shot here or there. But it would be unavoidable on the finisher. On No. 18, the 386-yard Par 4 (pictured right) is driven entirely by the right-side pond that helps squeeze the heaviest section of fairway landing area and then forces a dogleg right. Players who can clear the initial portion of it off the tee eliminate most of the concern for the last third of the hole. Those who don’t find one more reminder that Nicklaus had a soft spot for ball divers.
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>

Nicklaus’s Water Usage Not To Be Overlooked At Long Bay Club

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Long Bay Golf Club

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