River Club: Three Signature Holes
Share this story!
Experience the Tom Jackson-Designed Course This Spring on the Hammock Coast Golf Trail
Many of the courses included on the Hammock Coast Golf Trail were created by designers whose Grand Strand-area work often comes first to mind, including Tom Jackson, an accomplished architect who knows the area well and whose designs play to its natural beauty. Jackson’s River Club is one of the more challenging courses in the area. True to its name, it features water on 15 of 18 holes, in addition to more than 100 sand traps. Here are three memorable holes to look out for when you play River Club this spring:
A long dogleg right, the 413-yard, par-4 9th doesn’t leave a lot of room for error off the tee because there is a bunker on the right side and out-of-bounds on the left. If you hit a good drive, your second shot will be into a large, angled green that is well bunkered. Be sure to look for where the flag is and land your approach hole high to avoid rolling off the green or ending up in the bunker short.
The par-3 14th is a 186-yard shot played to a beautiful island green, and while the hole isn’t particularly long, danger still lurks from every angle. The best-case scenario here on a mishit shot is to find one of the three bunkers that guard the green. Otherwise, you’ll end up wet. That being said, the green is fairly large, so players don’t have to be firing darts to stay dry, and birdie opportunities will come for those who commit and hit a good one.
Finally, No. 18 at River Club is one of the more iconic par 5s in Myrtle Beach, with a tee shot so daunting and rewarding it will have you thinking about it long before you make it to the tee box. The dogleg left features a pair of bunkers on each side of the fairway off the tee and a lake that borders the green on two sides. First, players must launch their ball over the lake (a long forced carry) to a fairway that will allow, if successful, just a mid-iron into the green – which, of course, is also surrounded by water. There’s certainly a lot of risk involved here, but the reward to have such a short shot into a par 5 to finish your day brings the chance of an eagle very much into play.
Experience River Club’s signature holes for yourself this spring on the Hammock Coast Golf Trail!
