A Taste of Scotland on the Carolina Coast
By Craig Distl
When you’re one of approximately 120 golf courses in a region, it’s difficult to stand out from the crowd. Yet along Myrtle Beach’s Grand Strand, Thistle Golf Club does just that by offering 27 holes with a distinctive feel of Scotland.
The course, which opened in 1999 and added nine more the next year, was built to resemble golf in the Scottish countryside, where the game originated. Everything from Thistle’s name to its stonework exudes a Scottish flair, and architect Tim Cate did an exemplary job of designing a links-style course just across the state line from Myrtle Beach in Sunset Beach, N.C.
The layout is punctuated by the type of open expanses commonly found on courses in Scotland. The routing
and bunkering are reminiscent as well, while the developers went so far as to plant grasses and vegetation that resemble the wispy, heather-like surrounds of the Scottish Highlands.
Director of golf Gene Weldon, a Grand Strand veteran who joined the club in February, is one golf aficionado who’s duly impressed by Thistle’s links.
“I’ve been fortunate in my career to go to Scotland several times, and this has the playability of a Scottish links course,” says Weldon. “When you are out there, it’s just you and the golf course. There’s nothing taking away from it.
“I can stand on No. 6 on the South Course and I feel like I’m in Scotland. I don’t get that feeling anywhere else.”
Of course, it’s impossible to totally replicate Scotland’s landscape on the Carolina coastal plain. Thistle’s main differences are water hazards and course conditions. Thistle features far more water than the occasional burn and bog of Scotland, while superintendent John Pridgen maintains Thistle to higher standards than Scottish courses with lush, Bermuda fairways and excellent greens of L-93 bent grass. Don’t expect the hard-pan fairways and weather-worn greens famous in the Old Country.
“It’s always in excellent shape,” Weldon says. “Many of the people who play here say the reason they return is that they can always count on the golf course being in great shape. They’ve come to expect that.”
From the moment you drive into the parking lot and see the hulking stone clubhouse that is under construction, it is clear that Thistle is not your ordinary Grand Strand tourist course. In fact, the bag drop and stone restrooms out on the course probably cost more to build than some Myrtle Beach clubhouses.
Once inside, a friendly staff explains a policy that’s music to the ears of any golfer who’s ever trudged through a five- or six-hour round. Thistle schedules tee times in 12-minute intervals, virtually unheard of in today’s golf world. The vast majority of courses run eight-minute or 10-minute tee times, but Thistle has spaced its times a dozen minutes apart since the day it opened.
“By the time you tee off, the group ahead of you is putting out or has cleared the first green,” explains Weldon. “On a normal day, people play in four hours to four hours and 15 minutes, and that’s due to 12-minute tee times. What backs a golf course up and makes it slow is putting too many golfers on it.”
Some in the golf industry argue that this spacing of tee times costs revenue. However, Thistle believes just the opposite. When golfers enjoy the pace of play and have a pleasant round, they’re more likely to be repeat customers. In this manner, Thistle avoids the loss of future revenue that occurs when unhappy golfers vow never to return.
The course itself is challenging, but not overly so. There is only a smattering of the famous pot bunkers of Scotland, and they’re not quite as deep. The greens are extremely large, averaging better than 7,000 square feet. Cate did a nice job of building gentle slopes and undulations on the greens. There is no severity as they blend into the open expanses.
Many courses hail themselves as “playable” based on five sets of tees. The logic is this – pick your correct set of tees, and you will be fine. Thistle did probably as good a job as any course in this area. The back tees, which measure more than 7,000 yards, are not just longer than the others, they also bring more trouble into play. As Cate built the tee boxes forward, he did more than shorten the yardage, he positioned them to avoid dangerous areas and improve angles to fairway landing zones.
“There’s a totally different look to the golf course from all the way back,” says Weldon. “If you’ve got some strong players that want a challenge, if offers them all they want.”
Thistle’s crown jewel falls into place in late 2005 with the opening of a 15,000-square-foot clubhouse. Like the course, the clubhouse resembles its Scottish counterparts. The centerpiece is a massive stone fireplace with an eight-foot high pit.
“We have assembled a fantastic collection of golf memorabilia that will be on display in the new clubhouse,” says Weldon, “along with an authentic Scottish pub with a great selection of single malts and a great selection of cigars.”
The main bar and dining room will feature large windows overlooking the expanses of the course. It is here, Weldon believes, the true golfer will sit and reminisce on a traditional day of golf.
“When people ask me about Thistle Golf Club,” says Weldon, “I tell them, ‘Reserve your tee time and discover the difference between a round of golf and a golfing experience."
For tee times or information
Thistle Golf Club
Wilmington, NC
Phone: 800-571-6710
Website: www.thistlegolf.com