Review: Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Caledonia, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is the final par 5 on the course, playing 550 yards to a fairly generous fairway with the entrance road right and a bunker left that only longer hitters really need to concern themselves with. It's the second shot here that's important; a massive waste bunker right of the fairway dominates the last 150 yards, forcing a decision on how you want to play this hole. For long hitters looking to hit the green in two, the waste bunker must be fully carried, as the very small green is tucked behind the sand, though with enough fairway around it to make the long fairway wood approach actually possible. For most golfers, the choice is how close to lay up to the bunker, as the closer you get, the more green you'll have to work with on the third. Play all the way out left – and the fairway in the lay-up area is extremely wide, so you can go pretty far – and the angle will be almost impossible for your third, as the green is extremely narrow and has two smaller bunkers immediately left. 

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth green (right side, behind the bunker).

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole isn't quite a Redan, but it does have some of the Redan's playing characteristics. At 165 yards, it's a lot shorter than typical Redans, but the angled green is in full effect here, tucked behind a stream, with a pond (or maybe part of the river inlet, I'm not 100% sure either way) looming just left. The left-hand hole location we saw for our round is one you really don't want to challenge. Much better to aim at the center of the green and let the central ridge run the ball down toward the hole. Even if you don't get that friendly roll, it's obviously much smarter to play safe and accept the long putt, or even short chip. That's a lot more better than a ball in the water. 

The eleventh hole.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is a mid-length par 4 playing over the last portion of the river inlet to a fairway that bends from left to right around a pair of large bunkers and some very tall pines. Using driver here is a questionable choice, as you run out of fairway pretty quickly on the left side, and skirting the right tree line obviously comes with its own risks. A 3 wood is plenty, and will leave you with a short iron or wedge into a narrow, hourglass-shaped green with several small bunkers around it. 

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

If the tee shot on the thirteenth hole was just a little more interesting, this would be the best hole on the course. It's not even a mindless drive, as you have to avoid the left side to avoid being blocked out by trees while keeping the ball from going too far into the trees beyond the sharp dogleg on this 400-yard par 4. Unfortunately, while it's something you do need to think about, it's still not an exciting drive. A 3 wood up the right side of this very wide fairway is all you need. 

The story changes dramatically when you turn the corner, however, and you're confronted by a veritable island green sitting in a moat of sand, with just a narrow 10-yard strip of fairway in front connecting the green to the rest of the hole. It's a fairly small green, and while it's not as undulating as some of the others at Caledonia, it definitely isn't flat. Also, with the river inlet in the background, the view heading down toward the green isn't bad either. Even with the relatively mundane drive, this is still a really good, memorable hole.

The thirteenth hole.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is a 415-yard par 4 that plays directly alongside the river inlet for its entire length, though interestingly, you really don't want to play down the left side along the water. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the main one is a large live oak sitting about 75 yards from the green right along the edge of the water. Any shot that strays too far left but doesn't go in the water (say, if you end up in one of the three bunkers bordering the water) will be blocked out completely by that tree. It's far better to play conservatively down the right side; this leaves a longer shot but you'll have a clearer view of the narrow, multi-tiered green. That's not an easy iron shot, as there's a deep bunker front right and, of course, water left, but that's better than having no shot at the green at all.

The fourteenth hole.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is the longest par 4 at Caledonia by a wide margin, coming in at just over 460 yards. The hole bends left significantly, with a large bunker in the corner of the dogleg that has to be challenged if you want to use anything less than a long iron on the second shot. In addition, playing out right means a pair of bunkers 20 yards short of the green become something you need to worry about. Successfully skirt along the left fairway bunker, and the second shot becomes relatively easy, as the green is nestled in a shallow punchbowl; there are also no bunkers directly abutting the green. So while it's not an easy hole, the fifteenth isn't as tough as its length may lead you to believe.

The fifteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

The Mike Strantz courses I've played have all struggled to stick the closing stretch, and while Caledonia has the best of the three, the sixteenth hole is definitely my least favorite hole on the course. The drive of this 415-yard par 4 is fine, if a bit simple. There are multiple bunkers right and one on the left side almost exactly where you'd want to aim to avoid the aforementioned right-hand bunkers, but the only important thing is to be on the fairway for your second shot. A solid drive will leave a short iron over a pond (the only definitively artificial water hazard on the course) to a smallish green that's pretty much devoid of the interesting internal contours the other greens at Caledonia has had. This is the only hole on the course that feels like a generic Myrtle Beach hole, and I'm just not a big fan of it.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole, happily, is a much better and more fun hole than the sixteenth. It's a mid-length par 3 at 175 yards, and much like the thirteenth, this green is basically an island in a sea of sand. A waste bunker surrounds 90% of this green, even curling around the back. There is a small tongue of fairway in front, but it's almost comically dominated by a little pot bunker that really defines the entire green. It really does make this green stand out from the thirteenth, despite the fact they're both presenting essentially the same challenge. You really do not want to be in that little pot bunker, but it's right there, guarding the center of the green, the exact place you want to aim to avoid the gigantic waste bunker. I don't think it's the best hole on the course, but I like it a lot, and it works well as a penultimate hole.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is precisely what you'd expect from a closing hole at a Mike Strantz course. Seriously, it's almost exactly the same as the eighteenth at Royal New Kent and True Blue. The only point in this hole's favor is that the water is at least natural; the Waccamaw River runs down the right side, and the river inlet that influenced so many holes before this one meets the river here, splitting the green from the fairway. 

Oddly enough, I think this hole would work a lot better if it were 50 yards longer. At 380 yards, it's hardly overbearing length-wise, and the tee shot especially is nowhere as climactic as you'd like it to be. You have to hit an awkward fairway wood or long iron aimed out away from the water; this easily clears the narrowest part of the fairway, where a pair of bunkers about 200 yards away tightens things up, and gets you into fairway that's 40-50 yards wide. Move the tee back, and suddenly you have to hit driver to access that wider portion of fairway. If you're not willing to risk that, then you're going to have a full long iron for the second shot, and that's really not something you want. Alas, unless they went out and built a tee in the marsh like Atlantic City did with the fourteenth and sixteenth holes, we're stuck with the awkward tee shot.

At the very least, the second shot is a lot of fun and quite scenic, as the green is framed by both a very nice-looking clubhouse and a long view of the river. There are also four small bunkers around the green, which is massive and filled with little bumps and ridges to make putting interesting. I definitely wouldn't call this a good hole, but it does at least fit in better than the closing holes at the other Mike Strantz courses I've played.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

It's pretty obvious that Caledonia is an excellent golf course, one that I like quite a lot and genuinely enjoyed playing. It's a lot of fun, most of the holes present fun strategic challenges, and despite the tall trees closely framing basically every hole, you never really feel hemmed in. And that's saying something coming from a guy who struggles immensely with driver accuracy. The routing's not perfect, but considering the limited size of the property, it does pretty well, and you certainly always feel connected to the rest of the course. The start is a little slow, and I think I've said plenty about the last hole, but I particularly enjoyed 7, 13, and 17, and I think Caledonia earns a spot in my personal top 10 favorite courses. Eighth, if you're curious. 

All that said, is a round here worth the $200 price tag? Uh, no. I mean, if you've got the money to throw around, by all means, but I literally cannot physically bring myself to tell you people out there that a round at Caledonia represents good value. For example, the golf courses that place ninth and seventh on my personal top 10 list are Jeffersonville and Copake, both of which can be played for under $50. And then there's Leatherstocking and George Wright (third and second): Leatherstocking tops out at $150, which is expensive but still significantly less than Caledonia, and you can literally play George Wright three times for less than a single round at Caledonia. And they're both superior golf courses, at least in my humble opinion. Golf.com even agrees with me on George Wright; that's ranked 59th while Caledonia's down at 84th.

Ultimately, I think my opinion of Caledonia generally mirrors my opinion of Myrtle Beach: It's fine once, maybe twice, but after this second, longer trip, I've seen and played every worthwhile golf course Myrtle Beach has to offer, and I'm not really interested in going back and seeing any more. It's overpriced, overcrowded, and doesn't really appeal to the sort of golfer I am. Caledonia is a fine golf course, but it's also absurdly overpriced and incredibly overcrowded, and in the end I don't think it's worth seeing again.