True Blue Golf Plantation: 5 Things You Need to Know

Thursday, August 4, 2011 by Chris King

True Blue golf course - you better stay focused for this Myrtle Beach golf tester!True Blue Golf Plantation has been one of Myrtle Beach’s most talked about golf courses since its 1998 opening. Everything about the golf course is big – fairways, bunkers, greens, you name it – and the experience rises to the challenge of expectations.

Located in Pawleys Island, True Blue is one of Myrtle Beach’s best and most popular courses, but before you tackle this Mike Strantz monster, here are five things you need to know:


Stay Focused: There are multiple ways to play nearly every hole at True Blue, a good thing, but players have to stay focused on the task at hand. Just because you have room to try a shot doesn’t mean you should. Identify what you do well and play to your strengths.

How $#%% Did that Happen?: The fairways at True Blue are enormous – upwards of 100 yards wide in spots – but players miss them because they don’t have a target in mind off the tee.

“If you miss a fairway, you look back when you get to your ball and go, ‘How could I have possibly missed that?’” Bob Seganti, True Blue’s director of golf, said.

Don’t let the massive bunkers and undulation play tricks with your eyes. Pick a spot in the fairway and aim for it. There is plenty of room.

Be Ready For a Day at the Beach: Instead of tree-lined fairways, True Blue surrounds the short grass with waste bunkers. Water comes into play on only five holes so sand is the course’s primary hazard. High handicappers tend to struggle out of waste bunkers, but hit it like any other shot and success awaits.

Hit the Ground Running: Generally speaking, architects allow players to ease into a round, but Strantz is nothing if not unconventional. The hardest four-hole stretch at True Blue golf course is at the outset, including two par 5s and an island green par 3. Players that survive the first four holes at close to their “personal par” are setup for a good scoring day. So be ready at the first tee.

What’s in a Name?: The course’s name was inspired by the coveted indigo that was harvested in the area in the mid-to-late 1700s. The layout is set on the grounds of the old True Blue indigo plantation, hence its name. 

 

Comments for True Blue Golf Plantation: 5 Things You Need to Know

Monday, August 15, 2011 by Bill Casey:
Since it first opened I looked forward to the chance to play True Blue because I loved it's sister course, Caledonia, so much. True Blue is gorgeous but extremely difficult. Unless you're scratch, you will be in the sand waste areas all day long. You will be looking for golf balls all day long. You have to be prepared for a 5+hr round. To compound matters are the obnoxious and completely non-helpful Rangers who hassled us constantly. The favorite technique was to pull up about 240 yds out to a hilltop in plain view as we teed off, see us all hit, do nothing to point out where a ball went astray, and then hassle us on the green. When we finished, we had a beer and watched as 35 min went by before the group behind us finished - all the hassle was pointless. We never held anyone up. Never, never again.