Courses set for 2013

This years dates happen to straddle the rate change.  In an effort to keep the rates as affordable as possible and to play courses we know we would like, I chatted with the old-timers who attended the VT/UNC game and from e-mail and other exchanges with folks during the year, came up with the following package.

Hearing no complaints and several, "I would like to play those courses again."  Here is this year's package.

Prestwick Country Club

May 31 arrival with 1:32 PM golf at Man O War (lunch included), June 1 AM golf at The Wizard (lunch included), June 2 AM golf at The Witch (lunch included), and June 3 AM golf at Prestwick Counry Club.  June 4-departure.

Total cost, including bets will be $415.

Lodging will once again be at the Legends Resort.

Dates set for 2013

No specific package details yet, but we have dates 2013.  Based on our survey, the dates for this year will be May 31 - June 4. 

I have requests out to packagers and we will do a similar package to last year.  Based on comments, I will look at various packages, but several people commented that they really liked the courses from last year and wouldn't mind repeating them.  Therefore, one of the packages I will check on will be the Mystical/Magical 3 we did last year with a different 4th course.

Will get back to you soon with details.

Pairings for 2012

In case the new guys didn't know, every day is a captain's choice.  As we are on vacation, the last thing any of us needs is to get upset about our golf game.  So, several years ago we shifted to a captain's choice format and added a little friendly competition.  I think it originally started when Charlie was looking for the cart girl at 8 AM for shots of Jack because his game had gone south.

Here are the pairings for this year. As is always the case, there may be someone you don't play with, but you will not play with anyone more than twice.

The program that I was able to use to generate tee sheets in the past has gone to a pay site and I didn't feel like that was something that was needed.

Using another program with a spreadsheet here is the "rotation".  Sixteen spots A-P that rotate.

I initially drew names at random to fill spots A-P.  However, I wanted to make sure that new guys played with their "sponsor" or at least someone they knew on day one so when either the new guy or the sponsor was drawn I added the other.  Other than that the draw is purely random. You can click on the pairings to zoom in.

Information and Basic Rules

Man O' War Clubhouse

Basic Information -

We are approaching two weeks til Myrtle.  Be reminded that with our golf package this year, lunch is included Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We also get a couple of free beers at the clubhouse those days also.  Breakfast is NOT included.

The way this works, once we check in at the course with the golf vouchers, meal and drink vouchers will be given to us.  I have the golf vouchers.

On Friday we need to meet at Man O' War (see info. below for directions).  The New River Valley crew plans on arriving Friday around noon.  I will check in at the pro shop upon arrival to get the vouchers, so we can get our lunch that day prior to playing golf.

Our first tee time at Man O' War on Friday is 1:56 and we'll need to group up before hand for pairings, etc.  Hopefully all will arrive in time for lunch.

Man O' War is at 5601 Leeshire Boulevard, in Carolina Forest (about a 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile west of the entrance to Legends off of Rt. 501).  From 501 turn at the light into Carolina Forest (Carolina Forest Blvd.).  After approx. 1/2 mile, turn left at the school.  At the fork, Man O War is on the right.

 We can check in at Legends after the first round.

After each round, I will distribute the prize money for the day. The winning team receives $160 each day.  In the event of a tie I propose we declare a definitive winner based on a tie-breaker (going with the lowest score on the #1 handicap hole and if still tied, moving to #2 handicap, the #3 until a winner is determined).  Like last year at Heathland, if there is a tie and we cannot complete the round due to weather, the money will be split.

I might even have another award up my sleeve.

For dinners on Saturday and Sunday, we will follow the tradition of spaghetti and jambalaya respectively. Randy and Brent have already coordinated the transporting of the spaghetti sauce from Northern VA.

After conversation with a few people, we will go with this rooming list...
1 - T Wilson, K Burhdorf, K Mathers, G Dunn
2 - D Lane, CK Allen, M Tadyk, G Jones
3 - R Haswell, C Higgins, D Dentsen, T Isenberg
4 - T Haswell, M Thompson, B Swarthout, M Neebe

I will announce pairings (basically random) on May 25.

Rules for the course -

We do have to get to courses early.  It is suggested that we arrive no later than 20 minutes before the first tee time.  I tend to go by the half hour rule.  It does take time to unload cars, get balls, tees, etc. together, load up carts and get out to the tees, etc.  What you do with the extra few minutes (practice putting, go to the range, go to the john, check out the pro shop or try to get a preview of the cart girls) is up to you.   I will have directions to courses for people and I'm sure some will have GPS in their cars. 

No metal spikes allowed.  I know most people have gotten rid of metal spikes by now, but just in case.....................

No jeans allowed. 

Collared shirts are required.  No one has trouble with mock turtles, just make sure there are no t-shirts.

Condos do have washers/dryers, so don't hesitate to pack light and do laundry there.

In an unusual situation in Myrtle Beach, at our first three courses, coolers are allowed.

When we go to Heather Glen, we will have to go without coolers. So, be subtle if you take beer on the course. Some have coolers in bags which seem to be OK.  Of course, you can buy beverages at the course.  Telling the starter that the cooler doesn't have beer, but contains your insulin might work at some public course in Virginia, but the starters in MB will ask to look in the cooler.

Remember to bring any medication you need.  That includes aspirin, Pepto or anything else for your stomach or head.


Pool and Common Sense Rules -

Remember to take sun screen to the pool.
Stories from a couple of years ago will be told - relax and enjoy others stupidity.
No glass bottles allowed at the pool.  
If you do go to a gentleman's club, don't spend more money that night than you do for golf and lodging.
What happens in Myrtle, stays in Myrtle.

Heather Glen - Day 4

One month to go.  Are you ready for a little trip to Scotland to finish the week?  Heather Glen, voted best new course in the U.S. in 1987 and rated 4 1/2 stars by Golf Digest brings a distinctive Scottish feel and closes this year's trip.

Much like the Witch, in that housing is non-existent on Heather Glen, we head north for our final round at the NC/SC border.  Sorry guys, lunch isn't included with this round, but there are plenty of options on the north end of the strand.  Waterway view dining or a trip to Hooters or BW3 for some trivia competition, there are options after the round.

Heather Glen is highlighted in this article.

Here are the reviews and video for our final course.

Review 1
Review 2
Review 3

Video 1

The Witch - Day 3

The Witch

Day three takes us to the dark side.  Actually this is one place I might not want to be after dark.  This is due to the isolated nature of the layout.

This is a return trip for many of us and was a requested by more than one person as a course to replay.  The third leg of the Mystical Three, lunch and two beers is also included today.

This 4 1/2 star course, as rated by Golf Digest, is located on nearly 500 acres of a combination of dense forests and wetlands.  The Witch, and Heather Glen on day four, are different from most courses in Myrtle in that there is no housing to be seen and there are no parallel fairways.  Once you step on the course, you are isolated from the rest of the world and other golfers on the course.  This course has been listed as the most under-rated course on the Grand Strand (which is hard to imagine with a 4 1/2 star rating).  However, it is also the least expensive course in the Southeastern US with that rating. 

I have requested that we start on the back nine (wooded) and finish on the front side (swamp).  

Check out these reviews and videos.
Witch Review 1
Witch Review 2
Witch Review 3

Course Video 1
Course Video 2

History of the Golf Trip

I was asked the other day about how long we have been coming to the beach and how the trip started.  Well, here is a little history lesson.

I won't go into the history of how we met other than to say when I came to VT to work on a masters degree, I knew Kevin's roommate.  After a few Saturdays watching baseball at their apartment (back when you could only see baseball on Saturday afternoon) I also met Brent and, new to the trip this year, Mark Neebe.

After we all graduated, some more than once, most eventually settled in the greater DC area and after many trips back and forth for Tech games, Oriole games, etc., I noticed signs for the Shenvalee Golf Resort in New Market, VA and suggested we meet in the middle sometime and play golf a couple of days.

Well, that never happened, but years later after Kevin met Kyle at a reunion the three of us managed to sandwich three rounds of golf around the 1993 VT Spring Game and the burning of David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound in Waco.  During that weekend Kevin noted that his mother-in-law owned a condo in Myrtle and he suggested we go there the next year and a tradition began.

In 1994 the three of us made the trek to Myrtle Beach.  When we first began the trip, we played some of the worst, but cheapest courses MB had to offer.  Over the years the group has managed to play all or parts of 58 Grand Strand courses.  We have also upgraded the course quality to include some of the best Myrtle could offer but have tried to keep the cost very low.

Add some mutual friends, the random brother-in-law and others and we have grown from three to sixteen this year.

Below is a history of courses played (and lodging)

1993    Golf Tradition begins in the NRV (Virginia Tech, Draper Valley, Virginia Tech)

1994    Mytle Beach Tradition begins at Heron Point, Quail Creek, Sea Gull - MBYC

1995    Aberdeen/Buck Creek, Lion’s Paw (9)/Panther’s Run (9), Sandpiper Bay (9-rain out) - BT

1996    Black Bear/Myrtle West, Brunswick Plantation, Cypress Bay - TW

1997    Bay Tree Gold, Calabash, Gator Hole - BT

1998    Azalea Sands, Burning Ridge East (9)/Burning Ridge West (9), Meadowlands - BT/CB

1999    Bay Tree Green, Colonial Charters, River Hills - BT

2000    Angels Trace North (13 holes-hail/tornado), Angels Trace South, Possum Trot, Member’s Club – St. James - BP

2001    Diamond Back, Lockwood Folly, Pearl East, Player’s Club – St. James - BP

2002    Sandpiper Bay, Pearl West, Carolina National, Crown Park (9/18 – cart in the pond) - BP

2003    Diamond Back (3 holes – Lightening), Lion’s Paw, Panther’s Run, Tiger’s Eye - SC

2004    Quail Creek, Belle Terre, Myrtle Beach National – West, Wachesaw East - RO

2005    Arrowhead, Wild Wing Falcon, Wild Wing Hummingbird, Wild Wing Woodstork (4 holes-rained out-went bowling) - RO

2006         Wizard, Myrtlewood – Palmetto, Witch, Legends – Heathland - RO

2007         Waterway Hills, Willbrook Plantation, King’s North, River Club - RO

2008     Litchfield Country Club, Arrowhead, Tradition, Prestwick - LR

2009    Wicked Stick, Legend’s Parkland, Legend’s Moorland, Heritage Club - LR

2010     Legend’s Moorland, Legend’s Heathland, Oyster Bay, TPC - LR

2011     Legend’s Heathland, Legend’s Parkland, Oyster Bay, Heritage Club - LR

2012     Man O War, Wizard, Witch, Heather Glen - LR

1993 – The tradition begins – Tom, Kevin, Kyle (VT, Draper, VT)

1994 – Myrtle Beach begins

1997 – Charlie joins group

2002 – Group expands to eight with Randy’s crew

2008 – Group expands to 12

2009 – Group expands to 16 (make that 15)

2010 – Group back to 12 (thinning of the herd)

2012 – Group expands to 16

Lodging Key

MBYC = Myrtle Beach Yacht Club

BT = Bay Tree

BT/CB=Bay Tree displaced due to AC issues, moved to Cypress Bay

TW  = Tidewater

BP = Brunswick Plantation

SC = Sun Colony (Rt. 9)

RO = River Oaks

LR = Legends Resort

Wizard - Day 2

As we approach two months until our trip, lets take a look at our second venture into the Mystical Three.

June 2 finds us next door to our first course (Man O War) with a visit to Dan Maples' Wizard.  Wizard has been rated 4-stars by Golf Digest.

Like our visit to Man O War, lunch w/two beers is included today.

Check out these reviews of the course.
Course Review 1
Course Review 2

Here is a video look at the Wizard.
Video

Photos from 2011

Here are some photos from last year's trip, courtesy CK Allen.

Dan D at Oyster Bay

Right in the drink

The only birdie of the day

I think your ball is right over here

GATOR!!

There is no such thing as a gimmie for Terry

All those negative comments about St. Joe's comes back to haunt Randy.

Kyle, Terry, Kevin, and Randy

Bounce

They may be in the middle of the fairway,but let me see if I can hit into them

Lizard, Higgins, G, and Double D

Pretty Boy, Tom 2, CK and the Fireman

My Guess, 150 yards into the rough on the right

Beer doesn't help your dancing

Kevin standing in Oyster Shells.  We don't ask questions.

Big Boy at Oyster Bay

Whoa!  How did this picture get in here?

OK, this isn't from the golf trip, but I couldn't resist including it.
Who looks more uncomfortable?

Squirrels dig Skittles

Who Are the New Guys? #3

Installment #3.  Who is Glyn Jones? 

Glyn Jones (pronounced Jones) is a 40 something year old father of two and husband of one amazing wife that he hardly deserves. Born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Miami, Fl, Glyn spent his College years funding the various bars and one particular golf course surrounding the University of Florida, occasionally making his way onto the campus and even into classrooms (there was one?). Promising never to make a career of the restaurant industry, but rather, using it only as a means to support the financial burden incurred by a dutiful commitment to beer drinking, golf and more beer drinking, Glyn vowed to study hard and eventually get a real job.… Then there was Plan B: a life of beer drinking, golf and more beer drinking didn’t sound like such a bad thing so Glyn etched out a career in the restaurant industry where he has languished ever since. Owing to his heritage, Glyn currently works for PF Chang’s China Bistro  and lives with his family in Raleigh, NC when he is not otherwise traveling to the NC, SC coast.

Picking up a hand me down set of pro sticks from then UF golfer, Dudley Hart in the early 90’s, Glyn began the grinding ritual of daily outings to the driving range where he managed to teach himself well enough to drive and hit mostly straight, and eventually made his way on to the course. After enjoying years of two times a week golf, Glyn’s regular outings were sidelined in the late 90’s by 3 monumental events that would prove to be the greatest treasures of his new found life, but sadly, the end of his carefree, leisure golf career; Wife, Child 1 and Child 2. Glyn now plays golf more on occasion than as a regular hobby, but more importantly, accepts that he does not play enough to be frustrated by the more often than should be permitted errant hit or putt.

Glyn does claim to be friends with Mike Tadych and recently served as commentator and general sh1+ stirrer in his latest, successful run as president of the pool and racquet club for which they both belong. If the food truck empire is in Glyn and Mike’s future, it would be to serve only humanely, and responsibly grown foods and not to contribute to the rampant obesity of our culture. Unless of course it makes us incredibly rich, in which case, to hell with everyone and everything, I’m going to Disney World!

Who Are the New Guys? #2

Installment #2 Who is Mike Tadych?

Mike Tadych (pronounced ‘toddy’) is married to David Lane’s wife’s sister, Denise. That means Mike and David are not at all related and haven’t been for more than 21 years. Mike was raised in Northeast Ohio; educated at Indiana University (in Bloomington, IN, not the fake one in PA) and later broke bad and went to law school at Case Western Reserve University. Yes, that’s a real place. Look it up. A recovering Clevelander, Mike lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with Denise and their three kids. He represents newspapers and TV stations; sues insurance companies; and keeps licensed professionals out of hot water with their draconian licensing boards.

Mike’s previous golf experience includes time spent with C.K., Kevin, Bentley, David and several others following around Aaron Baddeley’s wife at The Heritage while gnawing on BW3s and swilling cargo short beers in 2006. Mike and Glyn Jones are friends owing to the fact that their wives play tennis together. When Glyn isn’t traveling for “work,” he and Mike play on an adult water polo team together. They dream of owning a food truck empire.

We'll introduce you further to Glyn in the near future.

Who are the New Guys? #1

Installment #1. Who is Mark Neebe?

Mark Neebe lived in Lee Hall with Brent and Kevin while earning his EE degree at Va Tech.  He, along with his hall-mates, specialized in carding 103’s on the lush, textured fairways of the University Course while in school.

  

Despite a delicate putting stroke, more closely resembling a slapshot developed during his hockey playing youth in upstate NY, he has managed to radically improve his golf game thanks to the schmoozing, country club lifestyle afforded by his “work” at Northrup Grumman outside Bal’more.  

A big time Ravens fan, he’s an accomplished tailgater, and is especially helpful if you need advice on putting a pig on a spit at your next backyard BBQ.  A word of caution: his business clientele includes upper crusty French Corporate types, and as he has developed a taste for the finer French cuisine and libations.  Keep a close eye on your Grey Goose.

Man O' War Golf Club - Day 1

Man O' War #9

We are now a mere four months until our first tee time.  Our first three courses are all part of the Mystical Golf Group.  Here is a preview of our first course for 2012.

After drives or flights in on June 1, we will meet at the Man O' War clubhouse for our free lunch and then see what the golf gods have in store for us. At the risk of losing all our earthly possessions in a bizarre golf cart accident, we begin this year's journey in the middle of a lake.

Constructed, in and around a 100 acre lake, this course contains all the challenge that are the hallmark of architect Dan Maples. Kevin, I'm not sure if Maples put any trees in the middle of fairways to mess with your head, but there will be enough water in play to make anyone playing with Randy nervous.

The lake at Man O' War winds throughout the course.  However, reviews say that the water only comes into play on the most wayward of shots.  Have they ever seen us play?  Man O' War features large Bentgrass greens, a practice range and a unique marina clubhouse and is rated 4-stars by Golf Digest.

Here is a review of Man O' War done last year, as published in Myrtle Beach Online.

To give you more of a look at Man O' War, here are a couple of course videos.
Video 1
Video 2

June 1 - Can You Get Here Sooner?

Well, winter has finally put in an appearance in SW Virginia.  Hope all had a restful holiday season.  Now let's start to get our minds on golf in Myrtle.

Over the next few months I will profile the courses we will be playing and post some videos.  I will also plan to put up a little introduction of our new members of the group. 

 Our first tee-time on June 1 will be at 1:56 p.m. at Man-O-War (see above).  Our first three rounds include lunch so we will gather at Man-O-War prior to the round.

Think warm.