The Golf Shop Radio Show: Wachesaw Plantation East

Speaker 1: Joining us now, he is the head golf professional down at Wachesaw Plantation East on the Waccamaw Trail, Mike DeLuca joins us. Mike, what’s going on this morning?

Mike DeLuca: Hey guys. How are you this morning? I’m doing well. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1: Doing great. You know, I haven’t had a chance to play Wachesaw East down there, so give me like a 60-second commercial for the track down there.

Mike DeLuca: All right. Well, we opened in 1996. From 1996 to 2000, we actually hosted a couple of, or five, LPGA Tour events, and they were called the Kathy Ireland Classic. In 2007, we were Myrtle Beach Golf Course Owners Association Golf Course of the Year. It’s a Clyde Johnson design.

We’re just south of downtown Myrtle Beach. We’re actually located in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. The golf course is playable for any golfer, honestly. We have tees anywhere from just under 5,000 yards, and we have tees just under, or just right around 7,000 yards.

We have five different sets of tee boxes, a little bit of everything out there on the golf course. We have some tight par fours, some long par fours, some wide open par fives, short, easy par threes, a couple of challenging par threes … so a little bit of everything.

And also, combine that with a great food and beverage department, before the round for some breakfast or lunch, or afterwards for some lunch or some dinner. So, it’s a great facility, family-friendly, and if you haven’t checked it out, come down and see us.

Speaker 1: You lost me at Kathy Ireland. As a 48-year-old, back in the day, she was the premiere Sports Illustrated swimsuit model.

Speaker 3: Smokin’.

Mike DeLuca: “I lost you at Kathy Ireland.” That’s funny.

Speaker 1: No. I’m just kidding. I mean, you know, we talk about is, It seems like there’s a lot of opportunities when you go down to the Hammock Coast Golf Trail, that you can play golf courses that all really have a different look and feel to them.

You know, on this particular course, on the 18th hole, you’ve got a footprint bunker. It’s awesome-looking.

Mike DeLuca: We do. I was actually going to get into that a little bit with you guys. You almost beat me to it, but number 18, yeah. That’s our signature hole. It’s a fairly long par four, depending on what tee box you play from, but it’s a challenging par four. But it’s also extremely scenic.

So, off the tee box, it’s a tight, tight two-shot hole. Got to put it in the fairway. You’ve got trees to the right. Also to the right, you have our driving range, so if you blow one right and you slice it, you might want to just leave it there, so you don’t get pelted with any range balls. But, to the left, you also have some hazard and some water areas.

The second shot is to a little elevated green, or into a little elevation to the green, and like I said, it’s just a challenging hole all around. It’s a great hole. It’s scenic. It’s one tee shot I do hate, though, personally.

But, no. It’s a great hole, and it’s a great challenge.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, you know, it looks like this golf course, just from the pictures, it looks like that there’s, you know, there’s a little bit of bunkering, there’s a little bit of water, there’s some tree-lined fairways, so it looks like it’s a nice combination. It’s not like you constantly have to be dealing with water hazards, or every fairway’s a really tight tee shot, or there are a lot of bunkers around the green. It seems like there’s a nice balance between those three elements.

Mike DeLuca: Exactly. I mean, pretty much what I said earlier. It’s got a little bit of everything. Our hole No. 5 out here, it’s pretty basic. It’s just a straightaway par four, and that’s two little bunkers on the left side. And then you go to our No. 17 hole, has water on both sides. It’s a challenging par five.

So, it’s a great mix-up. You go from one hole to the next. It’s something different. You’re not going to get the same look at, you know, back-to-back holes. You’re not going to get the same look multiple times out here. Even with the par threes, you’re going to have a couple of short par threes, you’re going to have a par three that’s challenging, that’s a little elevated green, but it’s a great, great mix-up of different holes, different shots, and like you said, any playing-level golfer can come out here and play with our five different sets of tee boxes.

Speaker 3: Yeah. And Mike, you don’t get Myrtle Beach Golf Course of the Year and host four LPGA tournaments without being a really good golf course, so obviously, it’s renowned for that. I love the look of the golf course. I’d love to come down there and play it.

Mike DeLuca: I’d love to have you guys.

Speaker 3: Mike, Mark always asks the question, and I’ll ask you. I think you kind of answered it a second ago, where … What shot do you not want to hit when you’re out there? And I think you just mentioned the 18th tee shot. And what would be your favorite hole to play on your golf course?

Mike DeLuca: You know, No. 18 is a love/hate relationship for me. I’ve had some good rounds going in to that hole, and you know, taken maybe a double or triple bogey on that tee shot. It just doesn’t set up to my eye very well, but I know guys who love that hole and you know, can birdie, par, maybe at worst bogey that hole every time. But, for me personally, like I said, that hole is great. It’s a great finishing hole. But, it’s just one hole that’s just challenging, you know? Every golfer has that one hole, that one course, right?

But also, No. 7 out here is pretty cool. So, if you’ve never played out here before, it’s a double dogleg par five. Off the tee box, if you hit a little fade, or a little cut, it favors that type of golfer, because it’s going to dogleg a little bit to the right. And then your second shot, or your third shot, is going to dogleg back to the left. So, if you’re a long hitter and you can get there in two, you have to place your first and second shots. You’ve got to be a pretty long hitter, and you have to hit your first and second shot just completely accurate. If you’re not, you’re going to be in some trouble, but if it’s a three-shot hole for you, you know, that’s fine, as well.

You start off the tee box a little dogleg. You hit your second shot down the fairway. You lay up and then you knock the third one back to the left on the green, so, trying to make a birdie or two-putt for par, and get on to No. 8. But it’s a great hole. It’s got some bunkers guarding the right side on your second or third shot, and it’s a good setup, you know? Like I said, it’s a double dogleg. You don’t see too many of those when you’re on really any golf course, so it’s a pretty cool setup.

Speaker 3: Mike, what’s the tee sheet look like today? Because I just checked the Myrtle Beach weather, and it’s 60 degrees today. It looks like really good golf weather down your way today.

Mike DeLuca: The weather today in Myrtle Beach is awesome. It’s going to be mid 60s. It’s going to be high. I mean, when I got up early, before the sun came up, it was actually low 50s, mid 50s already. We’re getting ready for some cold weather for a couple of days. Shouldn’t last too long, but the tee sheet today, really not too busy.

This is the time of year you can get good deals here at Wachesaw Plantation East, or other golf courses on the Hammock Coast Golf Trail, or any golf course that isn’t on the Hammock Coast Golf Trail in the Myrtle Beach area. This is the time of year our golf courses are still in great shape. There isn’t a whole lot of play most of time out on the golf courses.

So, we’re not wide open today, but we’ve got some availability, so if anybody’s in the area, they want to come check us out today, feel free to give us a call. Our phone number here in the golf shop is 843-357-5252. Also, check us out on waccamawgolftrail.com.

We’re all over social media, so if you guys haven’t checked us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, feel free to like us. We try to update those pages multiple times per week, almost every day throw some new pictures up there, current pictures, anything that we’re doing to update the golf course. We try to keep our customers updated on what we’re doing here at the golf course, as well.

Speaker 3: If I was down there right now, Mike, and I called you for a tee time, say 1 p.m., would that be something you could accommodate me with, and about how much would I pay for a cart and greens fees?

Mike DeLuca: Oh, without a doubt you’d be able to get on out today. Today, well two things to answer that question. One, I mean, this time of year (winter), we’re under $60 right now to play golf, so-

Speaker 1: Nice.

Mike DeLuca: … Like I said, check us out, website, give us a phone call in the golf shop here. You know, even after 1 p.m., our prices drop. It’s going to be under $50, maybe even under $40, to play 18 holes with a golf cart (in the winter season). And we also include free range balls to warm up with, with a round of golf. So, you come here, you’ve got an extra 20 minutes or so, you want to hit a few putts, hit a few chip shots, you want to hit a small bucket of balls, that’s all included in your round of golf.

Speaker 1: Mike, man, we really appreciate you coming on with us. Have a nice day today, and hang on for some cold weather, and then it’ll get warm again soon, won’t it?

Mike DeLuca: Yes. Yes. Thank you, guys. Really appreciate you having me. Hope to see you guys soon. Come on down and hopefully, we’ll try it again soon.

Speaker 3: Thank you, Mike.

Speaker 1: Thanks a lot.