Hole Spotlight: The 15th at Willbrook
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Hole Spotlight: The 15th at Willbrook
Architect Dan Maples has designed some of Myrtle Beach’s most popular courses, and Willbrook Plantation is somewhere near the top of a list that includes Heritage Club, Oyster Bay and The Witch.
Located in Pawleys Island, Willbrook plays through a beautiful piece of Lowcountry property with fairways lined by live oak trees draped in Spanish moss and abundant wildlife. The property, once home to a thriving rice plantation, is rich with history, so it’s worth taking time to read the signs that detail the land’s past.
While all that is great, you come to Willbrook for the golf – and we are here to feature one of the course’s most underrated holes.
- No. 15
- Par: 5
Handicap: 1 - Yardage: 572 yards (blue tees), 538 yards (white), 448 yards (gold), 438 yards (red)
This is the hardest hole on the course, according to the scorecard, and your eyes will tell you much the same thing, but visual deception is one of the hole’s challenges.
The tee shot dictates how golfers play this true three-shot hole. A slight dogleg left, players must find the short grass, lest they could be forced to layup short of the water that crosses the fairway approximately 200 yards from the green.
The second shot plays to an elevated fairway that appears more difficult than it is. Your goal after two shots is to be inside 150 yards, which will leave you well positioned to reach the green, flanked on both sides by bunkers, in regulation.
There isn’t a shot on 15 that is exceedingly difficult, but at 538 yards from the white tees, it is long and a wayward swing could lead to trouble. Holes 14 and 15 are the most difficult tandem on the course, so survive here and you will be positioned to close the round with a flourish.
