by Jack O'leary
There’s a new addition to everyone’s list of “must play” courses on the Grand Strand. The new Arnold Palmer-designed Rivers Edge Golf Club in Shallotte, North Carolina, is a course that has the potential to redesign visitors’ golf vacation plans and bring the area north of the border into more of a destination than ever before.The course can stretch out to a man-sized 6,909 yards, but the true challenge isn’t in its length, but rather in its shot-making demands. Extremely playable, Rivers Edge is one that really rewards precision. While the fairways may be generous, the true landing area consistently requires a very accurate shot off the tee to let you get near the hole on the next. Once on the green, however, you can count on a fair challenge of your putting abilities. Rivers Edge is also a course that avoids any feeling of sameness in the green complexes. If the green is large, distance is the major challenge. When the green is small, the slopes will keep the dreaded three-putts in play, and you might even get to break out the phrase “you’re still away” during the day.
Your interest is immediately peaked on the tee of the 425-yard first hole, a dogleg left where the play is to draw the ball off the directional bunker on the outside of the corner. But be careful not to draw it too quickly, or you’ll catch the large fairway bunker guarding the green. Prudent play might be a fairway metal because a creek crosses the fairway about 130 yards short of the green. The large elevated green is guarded by a two-tiered bunker complex that not only will challenge your ability to try to get to the back right hole position, but also supplies a dramatic visual experience that tells you that you’re in for a special round of golf.
Before the turn, you will play what should qualify as the signature hole of the entire Grand Strand. The Par-3 eighth hole is a downhill 200-yard tee shot to one of the largest greens on the golf course. A large bunker guards the left front of the green and the right side is protected by a series of large mounds. Be prepared, just in case you can’t take your eyes away from the breathtaking view from beyond the green. The putting surface backs up against the marsh, and the rush of a blue heron’s wings barely breaks the Shallotte River as it soundlessly flies low over the wetland. It is a beautiful sight that will calm every nerve in your body. It’s a good thing, too, because you’re about to have your senses jolted to the core.
The ninth is the hole everyone talks about, sometimes in whispered tones, often in shrieks of horror. The 570-yard Par 5 appears to be only a two-shot for those whose sanity is but a distant memory. Then you face truth.
You drive to an elevated, sloped and mogul-infested fairway. The left side is
the preferred side for the placement of your second shot. Once you reach your drive, you look across the marsh at what appears to be a pencil-thin fairway. On the left tip of the peninsula is a flag that appears to be sticking out of the marsh. Trust it, that is the green, but there’s too much work to do before you get there. Your next task is to calculate how much
of the marsh you can cut off on your second shot and what club to hit. What you can’t see is that the fairway on the other side of the marsh is amply wide and sloped toward you to better receive your shot.
After successfully negotiating your second shot, all you have to do is get the ball on the green with your third. Good luck. Even if you have a wedge in your hand, you’ve got a problem. You cannot miss the windswept green to either side, because all you have is a foot of fringe before you get to the marsh that surrounds three-fourths of the green. You’re going to have to fly your shot onto the putting surface because a shallow bunker encroaches on the run-up area that is severely sloped from right to left. Regardless of where the hole is cut, the middle of the green is your only target. As a final kick in your psyche, the ninth green probably has more subtle, unreadable breaks than any other on the course. Six is a very good score on number nine.
The 390-yard 18th is a classic cape-style hole with the marsh again offering challenge. It is mandatory that your tee shot be in the fairway to give you a straight-away shot to the green. Trust your yardage on this shot. There is a bunker in the middle of the fairway, and its proximity to the green is deceptive. It doesn’t come into play except in your mind. Your target is a huge green in an amphitheater setting. It is a classic end to a wonderful golf experience, and one which you will want to have time and time again.