Barefoot Resort & Golf includes four of the top-rated golf courses in the Myrtle Beach area. Designed by golf's foremost course architects, the courses range from the beautiful to the challenging to the sublime and will challenge and impress even the most experienced golfers.
Barefoot Resort & Golf opened its four championship courses simultaneously in 2000, a move that was unheard of in golf circles, before or since. The golf resort has been rated as having the Golf Course of the Year in the Myrtle Beach area and South Carolina state, and is among Golf Digest’s Best Places to Play and Top 100 Courses in America.
Here's a look at the courses:
Dye
The only semi-private course at Barefoot (it borders an exclusive housing development in a gated community) is the Dye course, designed by architect Pete Dye.
The course borders the natural white sands of the Carolina Bays and incorporates Dye's characteristic use of pitfalls to trap errant shots. It is the most challenging course at Barefoot Resort, players say, although with Dye's use of a wide range of tees, the course can accommodate an equally wide range of skill levels, according to golfworld.com. Notable on the Dye course is his use of native grasses, including fairways of GN-1 Bermuda grass, approaches of Tifdwarf Bermuda grass, greens of Champion UltraDwarf, and Centipede and Zoysia grass used in the roughs for a spectacular visual appeal.
The Dye is a par 72, 7,343-yard course with a driving range, rental carts and clubs available, an on-site pro, no metal spikes allowed.
Norman
Seven holes of the Norman course at Barefoot Resort are set along the Intracoastal Waterway, offering natural vegetation and spectacular waste areas to frame each hole. Fairways tend to flow through the wild areas surrounding the course, and golfers will be challenged with occasional sod-wall bunkers. Bump-and-run shots are a big part of play on this course, as designer Greg Norman wanted, according to golfworld.com.
According to Barefoot, the Norman course resembles courses of the deserts of the Southwest, but without the desert. There are no angular or artificial lines in the shape of the course, according to the resort, and natural landscaping is abundant.
The course uses A-1 bentgrass on the greens, which are large and gently undulating for fun play. Fairways and tees are GN-1, a turf developed by Greg Norman Turf.
The Norman is a par 72, 7,200-yard course with a driving range, rental carts and clubs available, an on-site pro, no metal spikes allowed.
Fazio
This is a classic low-country course that, like many European courses, doesn't return to the clubhouse after nine holes. The Fazio, designed by renowned architect Tom Fazio, is filled with live oaks, pines, sand, natural areas and native grasses, all filling out a rolling landscape that also provides elevation changes that are interspersed with waste areas and bunkers, according to golfworld.com.
Water is visible from 15 of the Fazio holes, but not all of the water features are in the line of play. That, combined with the four sets of tees, make the course approachable for all skill levels.
Tees and fairways are GN-1 grass, with approaches of Tif-Sport Bermuda grass and roughs of 419 Bermuda grass. The greens are Champion UltraDwarf Grass.
The Fazio course is a par 71, 6,834-yard course with a driving range, rental carts and clubs available, an on-site pro, no metal spikes allowed.
Love
Architect Davis Love III's Carolina background is apparent in his signature course at Barefoot, an homage to the Lowcountry.
The Love course features wide, open fairways and even uses the recreated ruins of an old plantation house along four holes. Fans have declared this course to be visually striking and parts of it to be similar to Pinehurst.
Tees and fairways are done in GN-1 grass, while approach areas are Tif-sport Bermuda grass. The greens are Champion UltraDwarf and the rough areas are 419 Bermuda grass.
The Love course is a par 72, playing over 7,000 yards, with a driving range, rental carts and clubs available, an on-site pro, no metal spikes allowed.
(Posted: 10/14/2014)
