Tee It Up Grand Strand – How to Play No.3

Arcadian Shores has several challenging golf holes and No.3 is on that list and on this edition of Tee It Up Grand Strand we will take a look at how to play it.  The front nine starts off with a really unique stretch of holes.  In the first three holes golfers are greeted with a par 5, a par 3 and another par 5.  That is one heck of a greeting.  Hello.  Good morning.  How are ya?

Standing on the tee on the par 5 3rd hole will not visually intimidate golfers.  Reading the yardage on the scorecard (415 from the front tees to 508 from the back) will not make golfers sweat.  The hole is deceivingly tough.  Most golfers play the white tees and that yardage is 465 yards.  If players can walk off the 3rd green and write a 5 on the scorecard when they get back to their cart they should be happy with themselves.

For the first 175 yards or so there is water along the right side of the fairway.  It should not come into play other than the fact that about 50 feet left of the tee is a road that boarders the golf course.  All of a sudden the landing area looks a bit more narrow.  Once off the tee the fairway does open up but there is a slight up slope the rest of the way to the green, making the second half of the hole play longer than the yardage.  There is the main reason why this hole is so tough.

For most golfers the next shot is a layup which does not present a problem.  The landing area is wide and easy to hit.  The approach is a bit tougher.  There are two large bunkers short left of the green, one to the right and a large on right behind the putting surface.  The bunkers make for almost a blind approach since the green is elevated, players cannot see the left side of the green.  Take a wedge and put a solid swing on the shot.

The putting surface does have a fairly pronounced back to front slope that makes putting tough if players find themselves above the hole or having to putt across the green.  Again, a subtle part that makes the 3rd hole much tougher than it looks when players walk onto the tee box.  Most golfers look back at playing this hole thinking they will play it different and better the next time they come to Arcadian Shores.

To make a tee time click on the “Tee Times” tab at the top of the page or call the golf shop at 843.449.5217.