<img decoding="async" alt="Tradition Golf Club 17th Hole" src="/media/images/Tradition_Finishing_Holes_600x300.png" style="width: 600px;height: 300px" />
Story by Ian Guerin
The scorecard sometimes lies.
Because the scorecard only tells so much.
At <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/tradition-golf-club">Tradition Golf Club</a>, a course that features some influential doglegs and a pair of island greens, the final three holes couldn’t be lazily thrown together &#8211; something you may assume if you’re only looking at a card pointing to three Par 4s with similar distance. Architect Ron Garl added creativity with crafty bunker placement, varying degrees of fairway width and some imposing tree lines framing them all.
Those finishing touches usher players through a swing deserving of Tradition’s excellence.
NO. 16, 399 YARDS
Earlier in the round, the danger of No. 16 maybe wouldn’t come into play. But as the arms start to feel like jelly, a pair of fairway bunkers up the right maybe don’t seem so easy to fly. Some choose to aim left just to make sure, but anyone trying to score well on this hole improves their chances by hugging the right side of the fairway &#8211; beyond those bunkers, of course.
Even that comes with some additional problems in the form of the prevalent rough up that right side. The window will feel much smaller than it appears, but Garl also wanted to set the tone for the next two holes.
NO. 17, 379 YARDS (top photo)
With a slightly shorter distance to navigate, Garl added another dynamic here with a slight bend to the right that distorts the target. Like No. 16, he dropped in a fairway bunker, this time on the left. Avoiding it is even more difficult this time around, thanks to a tree partially blocking the path to the right from the back three tees.
Getting over that bunker isn’t for everyone &#8211; it’s 250-plus to carry from the white tees. But if you can manage that distance or stay slightly right of it in the fairway, you’ve just hit what was probably the best shot of your round.
NO. 18, 407 YARDS (pictured right)<img decoding="async" alt="Tradition Golf Club 18th Hole" src="/media/images/Tradition_18.jpg" style="width: 300px;height: 169px;float: right" />
The finisher at <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/tradition-golf-club">Tradition</a> is going to feel longer than its listing. The back tees here are going to give players no more than 295 yards to really pump into that opening shot as the waste bunker curling up the left side is going to prevent anyone not on the Tour from flying the longest tip of that sand.
That 250-yard mark is going to max out for the rest, leaving a solid 150-190 yards into the green. And that’s if you hit it dead center. The creeping first cut on the right is sneaky since it leads directly into the thicker grass and a bevy of pine needles. If you miss left, it’s the sandy stuff. Scale back, finish strong and brag about not trying to do too much like the previous holes.
Ian Guerin has been covering sports and golf in South Carolina since 2004. His game has ebbed and flowed like the Atlantic, but he&#8217;s never had to explain to his kids why his round won&#8217;t be televised. You can follow along with the day-to-day conversation on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/iguerin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@iguerin</a>

Tradition Golf Club’s Closing Trio Provides Some Punch

Courses in this Article

Tradition Golf Club

Additional Myrtle Beach Golf News