Hole spotlight: No. 9 on Thistle’s Stewart side
Located in Sunset Beach, N.C., just a short drive north from the hustle and bustle of central Myrtle Beach, Thistle Golf Club’s three nines (Stewart, Mackay and Cameron) were all designed by Tim Cate. Each nine is quintessentially Scottish, with design features like wide-open fairways, large undulating greens and hazard areas of thistle and thorn, but in a unique Lowcountry setting that makes the club a true must-play on your springtime golf vacation with MyrtleBeachGolf.net.
One hole, in particular, embodies what Thistle is all about: No. 9 on the Stewart side. The hole is a pulse-pounding par 3, and if it is your finishing hole of the day, it’s definitely one that will keep your attention until the final putt drops. Two strategically placed bunkers front a large, elevated green that is angled away from you. There is also a marshy water hazard which protects the green front, right and long. The wind is known to howl directly in your face, especially toward the end of the day as the springtime sun begins to fade. As for the green complex, it slopes and undulates as you’d imagine at a Scottish links-style course, making it difficult to read and hole putts from a distance.
With very few places to bail out, our recommendation is to take an extra club and aim for the center of the green. There’s a real chance you could catch the right slope and end up close to the pin, and at the very least, you’ll avoid the trouble of the bunkers and hazard. The plan sounds simple. But on a hole like this, three is a great score to finish off your round.
The par-3 9th on Thistle Golf Club’s Stewart side has everything you could ever want in a finishing hole: risk, reward, and a mental challenge standing on the tee – all with that beautiful Scottish-Lowcountry background Thistle is so known for. Be sure to play the hole this spring on your MyrtleBeachGolf.net vacation!