September 17th:
After a fairly sleepless night, I left Baltimore at 8:00 a.m. on U.S. Air for Charlotte. All flew U.S. Air and met in Charlotte. The flight out of Philadelphia was significantly delayed, as 2 of our group landed in Charlotte only 15 mintues before our flight to Myrtle Beach. They managed to make the flight, but when we landed in Myrtle, we learned that their bags and, more importantly, their clubs did not make it. It was raining in Charlotte due to the remnants of Ivan and I was fairly sure we would not be playing in Myrtle on that day. Our flight was rocky, either due to the weather, wind, or the fact that the pilot was a rookie or drunk. On approach the plane was shimmying and dipping all over the place and there was some quiet applause when we did finally touch down. I was pleasantly surprised to see the sun shining in Myrtle with lots of clouds. As stated earlier, the 2 guys from Philadelphia did not get their clubs and were told they would be coming in on the next flight, which left Charlotte at 12:20. Apparently, the airlines in Myrtle Beach are prepared for these problems as both guys were comped clubs, shoes, gloves, and balls. We got the minivan through Dollar at a great rate and headed off for our opening round at...
WILD WING - WOODSTORK
We've played Avocet and Hummingbird in previous years, and were very pleased with those courses, so we decided to try a third course there. A little disappointed at the rate of $82.00, but the course was in very good shape especially considering the amount of rain Myrtle Beach has had in the last month or so. Other reports mentioned the bunkers were in terrible shape, which was true, but I attribute that to the rain and had no problem with them. Hummingbird has less of the forced carries of the other courses and is fairly straight forward. We played from the magenta tees and amazingly one of the guys playing with rented clubs birdied the first hole. Later the other guy playing with rented clubs also fired a birdie. We were cart path only because of the rain but the bent grass greens were in very good shape as were the fairways and tee boxes. Wind was the toughest thing to deal with as it was a solid 20 miles per hour with strong gust, and each hole played harder or easier depending on the direction of the wind. We got to the 18th tee when the skies opened up and the horn sounded for us to xcome in. We packed up and left. Overall, I guess Wood Stork could be considered a solid warm-up course. Good conditions, but fairly unspectacular layout.

We left Wild Wing and went back to the airport to pick up the clubs that had arrived with no problems. Had dinner at T-Bonz near Broadway By the Beach, which was actually pretty disappointing. Small portions and not very good. Then headed to our hotel to check in. After years of staying at the dive Mystic Sea on the beach and wasting money on cab fare to and from Broadway, at least a couple of times during our trip, we decided this year to stay at the Holiday Inn Express at Broadway. Apparently, staying on the beach costs an extra $50 as our rates at the Holiday Inn were $50 for the weekend and $41 for weeknights, which was great for us because we have no interest in the beach anyway. They have continental breakfast in the morning and complimentary USA Today papers. Room was the same and the convenience to the courses we played confirmed that we will continue to stay there. That night we grabbed some beer for the room and then headed to Crocodile Rocks. Place was dead without the college girls around, which also confirmed that we will be returning to our August dates. Things got a little out of hand at Crocodile Rocks after at least 1 too many shooters and someone's bright idea to do tequila shots. We managed to get home and after sending the dinner from T-Bonz into the toilet from the wrong end finally crawled into bed wishing I would die with a 6:30 a.m. wake-up call.

September 18th (Saturday)
Woke up at the 6:30 wake-up call and expected not to play because of the lingering effects of the night before. Amzingly, our foursome rallied and got ready for our 7:45 tee time at FARMSTEAD. One problem, in my drunken stupor the night before, I had apparently thrown the car key somewhere in the hotle room and it was not to be found after an exhaustive search. Managed to find it at the bottom of the ironing board in the closet and headed otu now extremely late for our tee time. Called the course and informed them we were running late and was told it was not a problem. Arrived, checked-in and actually asked if Keith Stanzel was around, thinking you worked there. Was told you weren't there, but Mac Hood introduced himself as a forum member. Played the back 9 first from the white tees and it was cart path only. Disagree with others who have posted that this course has no memorable holes other than the Par 6 18th Hole. Thought it was a great layout with several memorable holes. I thought the Par 3's were all different and unique and was overall, pleasantly surprised with the course. Tifeagle greens were in great shape and rolled true, although I still couldn't get one in for birdie. Got on the Par 6 in regulation but missed the birdie putt and settled for par. I think the rest of my group didn't like the Par 6 and thought it was stupid. Overall, a solid course, much better then I expected it and I think we'll be back, especially since it replays Tidewater and Grande Dunes.

You may recall that we were scheduled to replay at GRANDE DUNES, but I had concerns about the aerating of the greens about one week prior. We set up a tee time at 3:00, but shot over to Grande Dunes to check on the conditions. From the clubhouse, you could see that something was wrong with the fairways. We asked some other players and were told that all of the fairways were "burned out" and shaved extremely tight. I actually stole a cart to check it out and questioned somebody in the 18th fairway who said the fairways were annoying but playable and that the greens were "okay" but not spectacular as they usually are. Still fearing we would get out on the course and quickly realize we had made a mistake, we decided to bag Grande Dunes. Several alernate suggestions were thrown out and we finally decided on:
ARROWHEAD
Had also played here sevweral years before and remember being pleasantly surprised. It did not diappoint this time around. We were told that there were some problems with some of the greens, but it appeared they were only referring to soem "chewed up" portions on the edges, which did not come into play. Otherwise, the greens were in great shape. We played the Cypress 9 to Waterway 9 as the Lakes is closed for maintenance. Everything was in great shape from tee to green. We were finally allowed to go 90 degrees on the fairways and the course was not very crowded, so we zipped around 18 fairly quickly.

Dinner was pizza in the room and we were all asleep by 10:30 after the rough night before and a 6:15 a.m. wake-up call coming the next morning.

September 19th (Sunday)
INTERNATIONAL WORLD TOUR
Had a tee time for 7:30 a.m., which apparently is the first time off as we were the only ones there. Woke up to windy and downright cold conditions and fired some shots at the range in the howling wind. Got off on the Open 9 with the St. Andrews replica. Despite a wide-open double fairway, I managed to top mine off the tee and we were off. Had played IWT once before, but missed out on the open 9. The holes are fun and the course is in great shape. Overall, enjoyed the round but struggled mightily. The courses were all extremely difficult and there was some talk as to whether or not we had selcted the right tees. I don't think the tees had much to do with my terrible play. Have now played all three 9's, and at $150, I think it will be awhile before we get go back.

Had scheduled an early tee time, so we could find a place to watch football, specifically Ravens-Steelers as one of our group is a Steeler season ticket holder. Went to Murphy's Law, a Steeler haven and found a table there. Enjoyed the surroundings but not the game as the Ravens opened up a can of whoop-ass. Towards the end of the game, someone joked, we should got out and get another round in. Flipped through the Golf Holiday Magazine and after a few phone calls decided on the INTERNATIONAL CLUB.

We had eyed the International CLub before, but never pulled the trigger. But at a $25 afternoon rate, with no chance of getting all 18 in, it was the perfect deal. We arrived just after 4:00 p.m. and the bag drop guy appeared not very happy that someone told us we could get out as he somewhat reluctantly loaded our bags. We finally got out at 4:30 due to a 9 hole tournament they were having. Course was in good shape and the Tifteagle greens rolled just as well as those at Farmstead. They didn't hold approach shots very well, but we adjusted. A solid but unspectacular layout, which was in great shape. We had the back 9 to ourselves, but it started to get very dark. We managed to get through the 15th hole before it was pitch black, so we pulled around to 18 and decided to tee it up there, anyway. I managed a bogey in the dark without losing a ball and we finished up. No trouble finding our car as we were the only ones in the parking lot. Dinner was an Italian restaurant at Broadway, Amici's, which was very good. In bed by 11:00 for two more rounds the next day.

September 20th (Monday)
BAREFOOT FAZIO and LOVE
Played Barefoot Fazio in the morning. Teed off at 8:44, with once again cold and windy conditions. We've now played this course 4 times and love it every time we play it. Maintenance had been done several weeks before and was not an issue. Everything was immaculate as usual and we had no complaints. Wind was a huge factor on all holes, but there were no other problems.

We broke for lunch and headed back to play the Love course. Love generally one-ups Fazio, if only because of our annual attempt to drive the short Par 4 4th hole near the ruins. Managed a solid drive just short of the green buut left myself with an awkward chip over a bunker to a tight pin. Hit my best chip shot of the trip and drained a 5 footer for birdie. The front 9 was backed up due to a group in front of us that must have had some money riding, since they seemingly putted out every single putt. It appeared we would run out of daylight, but that group stopped after 9 holes so we were wide open on the back 9 and managed to tear around in just over an hour and a half.

Dinner was at The Blarney Stone at Broadway so we could watch the Eagles on Monday night. The place was dead other then a few local whores looking for at least one of my friedns to by them drinks, which he declined. After the third quarter we headed back to the hotle and fell alseep as the Eagles wrapped up their win.

September 21st (Tuesday)
Our last day of the trip. We were scheduled to play The Surf Club, but they had done green maintenance several days before and we were told the greens would likely be very sandy. Again, not wanting to risk playing in bad conditions, especially in out final round, we cancelled and decided to go to the HERITAGE. We had also played here several years ago, but no one could remember the course, and based on everyone's love for the course on this site, we decided we couldn't go wrong. The wind was finally quiet on our last day and we were not disappointed although the course was pretty tough. In my humble opinion, the undulating greens border on ridiculous and mini-golf-like, but that's coming from someone who's not that good. I did mange a par on the Par 4 12th (?) with the flag all the way in the back against the water. That green seemed really ridiculous. Greens rolled true and we were all pretty pleased.

The other great thing about the Holiday Inn Express is they let as check out at 4:00, so we were able to go back to the room, clean up, pack and head to the airport for our flights home. FLights home were uneventful and we're looking forward to MBBC IX. Incidentally, my buddy from Pittsburgh won the championship with 6 birdies, which may not be impressive to some in this forum, but it was a solid number for our group and we had a good time. We would probably rank the courses as follows based purely on how we liked them, as we had no problems with any of them:

Barefoot Love
Barefoot Fazio
Farmstead
International World Tour
Arrowhead
Heritage
Wild Wing - Woodstork
International Club