An Old Favorite

Return to play a round at Long Bay Golf Club, but watch out for snakes.

- Francis X. Gallagher

LONG BAY GOLF CLUB is a regular on our annual trip to Myrtle Beach, as it offers challenging features including long traps and a fierce 18th hole. And if you are a herpetologist, you will find the surrounding rough and nearly every pond a garden of creatures to study. On just about every par 3, we spotted five to six snakes swimming away from us as we approached, and much to my surprise, a gigantic rat snake rested right by the hole marker on 15.

Aside from the wildlife, this Jack Nicklaus “Golden Bear” Renowned Signature Design Course has some tricks for players at every turn. The secret to success at Long Bay, besides long pants, is to realize traps front many of the holes and, for the most part, there is room behind the greens. So be sure to take enough club, as you will likely land in the sand otherwise. In addition, the course can be a shot maker, as there are some narrow openings and hazards to avoid. In fact, some in my group refer to Long Bay as the “second-shot course,” where often you can drive away, but then you need to reel in your excitement and control the second shot to the green. Nicklaus used bunkers to sculpt the course and added fairway

moguls and mounding to create an appealing view from tee to green. Aerial shots of the fairways clearly show the difficulty caused by Nicklaus’ vision. For the round I paired with John Ecklund, IBM executive; Mike Donahue, FXExpress Publications, Inc. Advisory Board chairman; and my brother, Gerry Gallagher.

HOLE 1 | 408 yards, par 4