Everything Real Big--Strantz's True Blue

[Tim Gavrich]

I played True Blue today with a friend and his father.  It's been discussed a lot in the past, so I won't sully the pictures with obsequiousness (EDIT from "obsequies," thanks to Bill McBride).  I will say that if given ten rounds to split between True Blue and Caledonia, I'd go 7-3 or 8-2 in favor of Caledonia.  It might go to 6-4 if True Blue played properly F&F.

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#5


Yours truly, on the 5th tee


#6 (forgot a pic from the tee...you're not missing a heck of a lot)


#7


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#11


#12 (again, no tee box pic)


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Cheers.

--Tim

[A.G._Crockett]

Wow! A second set of great pictures!  Thanks for posting these, Tim.  The course looks great.

I'd more or less agree with you about the 10 round split between Caledonia and True Blue; I'd put it at 6-5 Caledonia, but only because of the beauty of the surroundings at Caledonia.  True Blue as a golf course has really grown on me over the years, and I have an easier time remembering the holes there.

When I'm at MB in July, we try to play TB in the morning, then have lunch at Caledonia and play there in the afternoon.  Not only is that a great 36 hole day, but we get to finish on 18 at Caledonia as the sun is setting; the marshes and the clubhouse are just unbelievably beautiful.

The thing that I always tell people about TB is that you have to pick your tees very carefully; it is too hard from the tips for even good golfers to enjoy it very much, IMO.

[Anthony Gray]

  Tim,

  Thanks for the pics and the effort. I love threads like this. I am going to MB in august. This is agreat help. Well done.

  Anthony

[Tim Gavrich]

Wow! A second set of great pictures!  Thanks for posting these, Tim.  The course looks great.

I'd more or less agree with you about the 10 round split between Caledonia and True Blue; I'd put it at 6-5 Caledonia, but only because of the beauty of the surroundings at Caledonia.  True Blue as a golf course has really grown on me over the years, and I have an easier time remembering the holes there.

When I'm at MB in July, we try to play TB in the morning, then have lunch at Caledonia and play there in the afternoon.  Not only is that a great 36 hole day, but we get to finish on 18 at Caledonia as the sun is setting; the marshes and the clubhouse are just unbelievably beautiful.

The thing that I always tell people about TB is that you have to pick your tees very carefully; it is too hard from the tips for even good golfers to enjoy it very much, IMO.

A.G.--

I definitely agree that players should take care to play from the correct set of tees at True Blue, but I would posit that the better the player, the easier TB gets, much like Tobacco Road.  The fairways and greens are so huge that it's really difficult to miss them on most holes.  I didn't hit the ball especially well off the tee and I only missed one fairway, playing as far back as possible on each hole.  Maybe TB sets up well for me, but I have never thought of the course as terribly difficult at all.

Anthony--

Thanks for the kind words.  If I'm in SC in August, perhaps we'll be able to get together and play somewhere.  Let me know if you have any questions about specific courses down here; I've played a good number of them.

[Ronald Montesano]

"I'd more or less agree with you about the 10 round split between Caledonia and True Blue; I'd put it at 6-5 Caledonia,"

Who wants Crockett adding the scores up at the end of the round?

[CJ Carder]

Tim,

Great pics and I'm amazed you cared enough to take pictures as cold as it was!  I posted some of my pics a while back from True Blue when I played there early last summer.  I made the comment then that I felt like True Blue equated most closely with Tobacco Road when comparing Strantz's courses for shot values and visual intimidation.  What's your feeling on that?

You also left out a shot of what I thought was the coolest view on the course - the approach to #2.  I still wish I could've taken a picture to illustrate how narrow it was around that flag back there.  I think it shows some of what I like about Strantz so much - even on the harder shots, he truly won't beat you up TOO bad, though the penalty for missing that area is at least a half shot.  I'm also too lazy to look it up to see whether Caledonia or True Blue was built first, but I think this green fits more in the Caledonia mold of being bold, but not too over the top.  Certainly not over the top in the way that Stonehouse, Royal New Kent, and a few at Tobacco Road are.

[Eric Smith]

Thanks for another great set of pics Tim.  True Blue looks to be a great place to have been today (9°  here). 

I can't help but be impressed with your position at the top of your backswing -- looks pretty much d.s.p.   Keep up the good work.

[Sean_A]

I never really pay much attention to MB courses, but perhaps I should.  This course looks very good especially in the middle part when holes seem to transition away from the water.  I am not overly keen on all the sand which I assume much or which is waste areas, but that sand looking like beaches on the early holes is wonderful and a far better than what I normally see with bunkers adjacent to water. 

Tim - Cheers.

Ciao

[James Boon]

Tim,

Thanks for another great photo thread.

I also quite like the look of the beach / bunkers, though it does seem to be quite a prominent feature rather than an occasional quirky one. Whats the ruling as far as the edge of the water is concerned? Is it the water line or is it actually the lip of the bunker?

When I first joined this site a couple of years ago now, I'd never heard of Strantz, but the more I see the more intrigued I get.

Cheers,

James

[Ronald Montesano]

Sean,

Despite the malaise that many associate with Myrtle Beach, a GCA aficionado could put together a 10-course tour with ease that would rival any other, in any other part of the world.  An opening four might be these:

RTJ's Dunes
Strantz's True Blue
Doak's Heathlands
Strantz's Caledonia

Another grouping might include
Brauer's Wild Wing Avocet
Love's Barefoot
Dye's Barefoot

Tim Cate has four "big cat" courses, none of which I've played.  You could add a pair of those, leading to...

One of the surprises for me was Clyde Johnston's Wachesaw Plantation East.  It absolutely winds through a housing development, in the same way that Sanctuary Ridge does near Orlando.  However, when the value of the holes is extracted, it is surprisingly high.

[A.G._Crockett]

"I'd more or less agree with you about the 10 round split between Caledonia and True Blue; I'd put it at 6-5 Caledonia,"

Who wants Crockett adding the scores up at the end of the round?

That's pretty bad, isn't it?  Living proof of why I've been teaching HS social studies for the last 36 years instead of math.  Really, ANYBODY should know that 6+5=12, not 10!  So, I'd split my 10 rounds at True Blue and Caledonia dead even at 6 and 6.

[Michael Taylor]

Nice set of pics mate. Good job. 

What is the 7th hole? Is it a driveable par 4 or is it a long par 3, how long is it? And I assume 6 is a par 3, correct?

[A.G._Crockett]

Wow! A second set of great pictures!  Thanks for posting these, Tim.  The course looks great.

I'd more or less agree with you about the 10 round split between Caledonia and True Blue; I'd put it at 6-5 Caledonia, but only because of the beauty of the surroundings at Caledonia.  True Blue as a golf course has really grown on me over the years, and I have an easier time remembering the holes there.

When I'm at MB in July, we try to play TB in the morning, then have lunch at Caledonia and play there in the afternoon.  Not only is that a great 36 hole day, but we get to finish on 18 at Caledonia as the sun is setting; the marshes and the clubhouse are just unbelievably beautiful.

The thing that I always tell people about TB is that you have to pick your tees very carefully; it is too hard from the tips for even good golfers to enjoy it very much, IMO.

A.G.--

I definitely agree that players should take care to play from the correct set of tees at True Blue, but I would posit that the better the player, the easier TB gets, much like Tobacco Road.  The fairways and greens are so huge that it's really difficult to miss them on most holes.  I didn't hit the ball especially well off the tee and I only missed one fairway, playing as far back as possible on each hole.  Maybe TB sets up well for me, but I have never thought of the course as terribly difficult at all.

Tim,
Don't forget that you are a far better golfer than 99.9% of the players that tee it up at True Blue, or most anywhere else for that matter.  What happens at TB is that a lot of 20 handicappers automatically go to the 2nd set of tees a play a 6800 yd. course and just get killed.  From the 3rd set of tees, which are 6300 yds., it is still a LOT of golf course, but egos/ignorance keep a lot of people from going up to that set.

Your comparison of True Blue and Tobacco Rd. is spot on; I've told people many times that TB is a coastal version of TR.  But one KEY difference is that True Blue has bermuda greens that just do NOT receive shots like the bent grass greens at the Road, and for high handicappers hitting long clubs into the TB greens, it becomes a quantum leap tougher than what you experience.  And getting up and down at True Blue is NOT an easy proposition, even for good golfers.

If you played the tips at TB, my hat is off to you; you're a stick!  

All the MB golf talk is getting me excited about my yearly trip in July; unfortunately, it's January and 12 degrees here in Atlanta, which is why I'm at the keyboard instead of getting ready to play in the Sat. a.m. points game at my club.  I'm dying here...

[A.G._Crockett]

Nice set of pics mate. Good job. 

What is the 7th hole? Is it a driveable par 4 or is it a long par 3, how long is it? And I assume 6 is a par 3, correct?

#6 is a "short" par 4 (400 yds. from the tips) with a drive that has to carry a marsh with a landing area that very quickly narrows down with waste areas to either side.  The most interesting thing about #6 is that there are two greens that are alternated, and the hole can be either a dogleg right or left, depending on which one is in use that day.  If Tim's picture is of the green on the right side, he may not even be aware that there was another green!  The hole plays about 30 yds. longer to the left, and is somewhat more difficult, IMO.

#7 is a longish par 3 (176 from the back) with a green that is about 50 yds. deep!  It also plays slightly uphill, and the green is a bit of a saddle, so it is a very tough par.  Great hole, IMO.

[A.G._Crockett]

Sean,

Despite the malaise that many associate with Myrtle Beach, a GCA aficionado could put together a 10-course tour with ease that would rival any other, in any other part of the world.  An opening four might be these:

RTJ's Dunes
Strantz's True Blue
Doak's Heathlands
Strantz's Caledonia

Another grouping might include
Brauer's Wild Wing Avocet
Love's Barefoot
Dye's Barefoot

Tim Cate has four "big cat" courses, none of which I've played.  You could add a pair of those, leading to...

One of the surprises for me was Clyde Johnston's Wachesaw Plantation East.  It absolutely winds through a housing development, in the same way that Sanctuary Ridge does near Orlando.  However, when the value of the holes is extracted, it is surprisingly high.

Ronald,
Good call.

Of the big cat courses at Ocean Ridge, Willard Byrd did Lion's Paw, which was the original.  The best by far, though, is Cate's Tiger's Eye, which holds its own with anything in the area.  BTW, a 5th course is scheduled to be opened in the fall of 2010, also by Cate, using 18 of the corridors of the NLE 36 hole Angel's Trace property. That could be very interesting.

[Tim Gavrich]

Tim,

Great pics and I'm amazed you cared enough to take pictures as cold as it was!  I posted some of my pics a while back from True Blue when I played there early last summer.  I made the comment then that I felt like True Blue equated most closely with Tobacco Road when comparing Strantz's courses for shot values and visual intimidation.  What's your feeling on that?

CJ--

I immediately regretted not taking a good picture or two of the 2nd green from the landing area.  It is one of the more interesting wedge shots I have encountered anywhere--just a cool, cool greensite.  As it turns out, the first three holes at TB are my favorites, which may be part of the reason why I'm not too too high on it relative to some others.

I would agree that if you aim to associate TB with any other Strantz course, it'd be Tobacco Road.  But Tobacco Road is quite far beyond what TB presents in terms of visual drama and on-the-ground undulation, largely by way of the nature of their respective sites--True Blue's being quite flat.  It is worth noting that there are a couple holes at Caledonia that one might reasonably expect to find at True Blue.  And having looked at Bull's Bay in the past, there are a lot of True Blue-type things going on there, as well.

A.G.--

I cannot disagree with any of those points about the sets of tees at True Blue.  I find it pretty silly that they even have a 6,800 yard set of tees when the vast majority of players who are good enough to play a 6,800 yard course are also probably able to handle a 7,100 yard course.  I have noticed when I've played True Blue in the past that the blue (i.e. 6,800 on the card) tees are moved up on many holes so that the course plays shorter.

[Cliff Hamm]

Obsequies??

I do like the look of the sand going right up to the water.  Not seen very often and looks natural as in a pond with a beach.

[Michael Whitaker]

A.G. - Here's a overhead of True Blue #6. It's important to get the tee shot in the correct position for the green in play... too far left and you can be blocked out for the left green... not far enough and/or too far right and you can be blocked for the right green.

[Bill_McBride]

Obsequies??

Cliff, "obsequies" are defined as "funeral ceremonies."  Nothing to do with obsequiousness (pandering to, over praising perhaps).

I saw what Tim wrote originally and sent him an IM to tell him I made the exact same error in a freshman English class exactly 50 years ago!

The more things change, the more they remain the same!  (Every time I see the word "obsequious," I remember the caustic note my English instructor wrote on my blue book!)

[Germain Pepin]

Thanks for these great pictures Tim. It is very appreciated.

[Jay Flemma]

Tim, I'll agree there are a few moments f TB at Tobacco Road, holes like 2, 4, and 5 for example.  I'll also agree with you that the grand scale of it makes it feel larger than life.  Strantz liked to do that, especially with width.

He had to come back and soften a few things at TB...like the par-3 3d had part of the green hidden by a hill he lowered.  But I remember when I interviewed him, I had just finished playing there and told him I didn't know what all the ruckus was that it was so hard because it's actually pretty negotiable if you play the right tees.

Of course if your opponent is a 6-handicap playing form the forward tees and getting strokes it can be hard...especially is she screams BIRDIIIIIIIEEEEEE in your ear every other hole   But hat's off to "The Queen Bee,"  she's quite a stick and fun lady...I just want her on my team next time   (That's a Dixie Cup joke for those of you scoring at home...)

[Jim_Kennedy]

Cliff,
It seems a little overused though, doesn't it?

[Matt Kardash]

I have fond memories of this place and especially hole 3 as it was the site of my one and only hole-in-one!

[A.G._Crockett]

Cliff,
It seems a little overused though, doesn't it?

Jim,
Not really; it is actually only 3 or 4 holes.  There are several pictures of some of the greens, especially #4.

[A.G._Crockett]

A.G. - Here's a overhead of True Blue #6. It's important to get the tee shot in the correct position for the green in play... too far left and you can be blocked out for the left green... not far enough and/or too far right and you can be blocked for the right green.

Mike,
Great picture; thanks!  Where did you get that?

Tim,
It looks from your picture that you were playing the right side green; if so, were you aware that there was another green?

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