True Blue Golf Club

My son, Patrick Smith, and I, Dolly Bevan Manion, drove over 3 1/2 hours to play True Blue (a misnomer) for the first time on Sat, the 27th of Sept. With cart and green fee it was $186 for each of us. We have been playing golf at many different courses for more than 30 years and it was the worst golfing experience ever. I will recount the experience -saving the BEST for last. We were not allowed to take the cart to the car to load up. Thus, had to tip the attendant at the bag drop for putting our bags on the cart. No outside coolers allowed so you had to purchase any beverages from the hospitality cart of course at a highly inflated price. you could USE a small cloth bag cooler WITH ICE the size of a small purse if you purchased a six pack of beer for $28.00. There was GPS in the cart but not only to give yardage and relevant playing info, but to advertise and repeatedly to caution that railroad ties are slippery when wet. It was also used to send messages to the players. Shockingly, the attached disgusting message appeared around hole 17. Now for the BEST part- While waiting to go to the first tee, we were informed there was another couple playing with us- a very nice young couple from NY. The guy was a good golfer. Patrick is a very good golfer. Regardless of how we are playing on a given day, we pick up after we have reached double bogey on a hole. We DO NOT play behind schedule unless we are being held up. The female of the pair should not have been on the golf course. She never picked her ball up until it went in the hole- mostly after 10-12 strokes. She putted out each hole- putts less than a foot. She took at least 15 seconds to line up every shot. At the green she lined up each putt by squatting and holding her ball at eye level! What was that about? Naturally, we fell behind. The rangers kept approaching us and telling us to move on. Verbally and on the screen we were informed that we were going to be forced to skip holes unless we caught up. I explained to one ranger, "Barry", why we were behind. Rather than telling the female that she was taking too much time, our foursome was warned to speed up. On the back nine, True Blue's pressure and the frustration of playing with a pure novice, destroyed my concentration. Both Patrick and I seriously thought about quitting- something we have never done. At the end of the round at the bag drop, an attendant asked Patrick how he enjoyed the game and he told the guy it was unpleasant due to the constant cajoling to speed up. The response unapologetically was that "they" tried to get as many golfers "teed off" as possible and Saturday was a busy day. Well, we were totally "teed off" and will not play at "True Blue" or sister course, Caledonia, again. Oh, and by the way, it took 5 1/2 hours to play.

You pay $135.00 and you have to wait every single shot on every hole is ridiculous.

Then you find out the jamb a foursome in in front of you and all the ranger can say is it great out here.

I do get waiting on some tee boxes but EVERY shot for 18 holes. Stop trying to steal everybody's money and make this course enjoyable.

Probably will never go back but I don't think they care.

True Blue was an early revelation for me. When I played it for the first time, it opened my eyes to how creative golf course design could be. The sandscapes bordering every hole and the huge, sculpted greens were eye candy that made a deep impression on me. A recent round stirred the familiar warm feelings and nostalgia. Although the greens have shrunk considerably and are due for regressing in the next couple of years, a round at True Blue is as close to a must as the greater Myrtle Beach area provides.

We travel to Myrtle Beach year for an annual golf trip. Been playing True Blue for 20 years and it is truly my favorite. Bring your long game, brush up on how to hit out of fairway bunkers for starters. Conditions were great. I cannot say enough about how great this course.is On the 9th hole I hit a long drive that landed 3 feet from a large gator. Took a drop which the crowd on the back porch appreciated. This course is a slice of heaven.

I played True Blue and Caledonia in the same day. Maybe because Caledonia gets more acclaim that I wasn't expecting so much, but I loved True Blue, maybe even more than Caledonia. They are quite different: Caledonia is a tighter layout with a beautiful scenic environment. It's holes are strategic but in a way that blends wonderfully throughout the property. True Blue is big and bold, with big features and wider hole corridors that time and again make you think about how to play the hole.

Caledonia is a bit more target golf with the playing strategy apparent on most holes. They bend and roll and the variety is good. True Blue has more visual deception and risk-reward options. True Blue is also a pretty course, but Caledonia is amazing in that regard. True Blue has more very long green to tee distances if you are a walker.

The green sites on both are very fair. You generally have a preferred open angle in from one side or the other, except for shorter holes meant to be attacked with a short iron. The greens have interesting slops and tiers but are not severe. These are two great courses.

Play True Blue/Caledonia/Pawleys and Tpc last week-Weather was perfect.These courses are all decent but they all lack something.The greens were too slow at all 4 courses to take seriously as top notch courses.Too bad.The layouts are not bad.Expect lots of hackers and slow play.People were nice but would never return for a golf outing with guys.Its just blah

True blue is a gem. The layout is true links style and conditions were great. The only downside is the greens. They were a little fuzzy when we played Master weekend on 4/9/22. Other than that it was one of my favorite courses ever played. The course will penalize you if you if you dont get off the tee well. Its long from the tips and from the blues which is where we played. It was very windy when we played so that was a factor. The amenities are solid too. Good range. I would give it a 10/10 if the greens were better. Heritage is still my favorite on the strand and True Blue is right behind there.

I've probably played 30 courses in the Myrtle Beach area and this one is my favorite. I love all Mike Strantz designs. True Blue is similar to Tobacco Road, but has less blind shots. This staff is always excellent and everytime I play here the conditions are great. Playing from the correct tee box is a must here.

Played True Blue on a guys golf outing. Course is awesome. Love the Mike Strantz design. Was cart path only which made for an extremely long round, Course was pretty wet especially in the low lying areas. But overall tee boxes and fairways were good. Green's were fantastic. Putts rolled true and had very few bumpy putts from the group. Clubhouse and restaurant are excellent. But the layout of the course is the real treat. It is visually intimidating which is normal for the designer. Can't wait to go back.

Unlike it's sister course, True Blue is a full-on Mike Strantz layout, featuring wide fairways, challenging greens and a huge number of waste areas and water hazards.

True Blue gives you a taste of what you're in for on the opening par 5. Even with a good drive you're left with a challenging layup, and then an approach to a perched green. It takes 3 good shots to make par here. You'll continue to find that as you play your round. Good shots are rewarded, but poor shots are punished.

The condition of the course was average when we played. The fairways, tees and rough were similar to other courses in the area, including sister course Caledonia. However, the greens were bumpy and slower than expected. This made putting a bit of a crapshoot.

All of the bunkers are True Blue are treated as waste bunkers, meaning you can ground your club and take practice swings. I highly recommend doing both!

Overall, I really liked True Blue. I believe it's more challenging than Caledonia due to more difficult greens and significantly more penalty areas. If you're a fan of Strantz's work at Tobacco Road, you'll like True Blue. You can see some Tobacco Road flair as you traverse True Blue.

My favorite hole on the course is the 18th. It's just a great finishing hole, and caps off a memorable experience.

When I have my sons Friends visit me , I like to Take his Buddies and my family to the Best Courses . We had a Blast . Highly recommend this course to Locals & Tourists !!

For what we paid, $160,, the course did no match. Booked through recommendation of MB golf arranger. Tee Boxes, Fairways and Greens needed attention. The layout was good, but all grasses were need of watering. Lots of hardpan in chipping areas. Should have spent $40 more and played Caledonia

Course layout is OK. Not a fan of Mike Stranz design, too many blind shots, just my preference. On course experience was the problem. Teed off at 9:48 and on the third hole, a par three, there was a group on the green and three groups on the tee. Ranger showed up and drove off to investigate the backlog, three holes later he came by and told us he hoped that the lead group would speed up. The round took five hours. Unacceptable for the $160 fee. Added to that there was no sand in the containers on the carts. Considering this was a destinations, more disappointment than memorable.

Pick your correct tees and enjoy the scenery. This is a course to enjoy and not beat yourself up because the course will challenge you enough. Missed the traditional cool mint towel after the round due to Covid

This is my third Mike Strantz-designed course, the other two are in my top 4 of the 132 courses I've played, so you could say I'm a bit of a fan.

True Blue is another stunningly beautiful example of Strantz' masterful creativity and artwork applied to a golf course. Even in a setting very different from the others I have played in, you can instantly recognize the styling cues Mike used to create incredible shapes and sight lines.

Overall style and design aside, each hole is very well done and the set of par-3s here rival those of any other premiere golf club, and they are personally my #1. Other favorite holes include the par-5 9th, par-4 8th, and par-4 6th.

The staff and amenities here are very good. It was decently busy when I arrived but there were no pace of play issues despite not seeing a course ranger at any point. Social distancing policies may have attributed to a slight lack of attentiveness by the staff so I won't knock them for that, we'll all still trying to adjust to these new norms. Grass driving range and free range balls are what you'd expect at this price and were present.

Speaking of price, that's where I start to struggle on this one. I am a value-focused golfer, rarely paying more than $75 for a round of golf and True Blue charges well over $100 per round. For that price I would expect a little better conditions and a bit more of an exclusive feel upon arrival. Again, this is nitpicking, but such a high greens fee sort of demands it. The course conditions overall were very good (no points taken away for the recent aeration) but the fairway grass was a tad scruffy for my taste and on a couple holes there was some minor evidence of wrong grass invasion on the greens. It didn't affect play at all but was noticeable nonetheless.

Perhaps though, the premium charge here isn't about carpet fairways and valet service but the chance to take in one of the best designed public courses in the state. If I were to judge the course solely on how much fun I had playing and taking photos of it, then the premium price makes more sense.

This is one heck of a great golf course, and if the greens fee doesn't scare you off, you should definitely not think twice about playing here!

I've played some of the best courses in the world and the architecture of True Blue is up there with the best. There are no boring straight away holes with the imagination and artistry of Mike Strantz being something to behold. The condition of the course wasn't as good as I had hoped but it was early season and everything else made up for it. I am a good golfer so I didn't find the course too difficult, but I could imagine it being a stern test for the lesser player.

Playing True Blue once a year with a local golf group of 100 is always a treat for me. It's always in Dec and the course with the overseeding is in great shape. The greens were the best I have played all year. Highly recommend putting it on your play list if your in town.

Great layout w/ best 3 finishing holes on Strand. Every level of golfer can be tested thru assorted tees. Classic test