A (very) wee bit o' the Scots

Aberdeen Country Club, Longs, SC

Last Played: March 2007

Aberdeen Country Club would like you to believe you’ll be teeing it up at a traditional Scottish golf course like its namesake, Royal Aberdeen.

Well, suffice to say Scotland – or the 200-year-old Royal Aberdeen golf course – hasn’t been remade in the Myrtle Beach area. And Aberdeen, while named after a course in the country where the game was born, isn’t anywhere near to the links-style layout you might associate with Scotland.

Yes, Aberdeen is a nod to the tradition of the game thanks to the mounding and some of its other cosmetic features, but this is simply a Myrtle Beach golf course with a Scottish name – the wetlands, nearby Waccamaw River and the ever-present pine trees you find in the Carolinas make it so. You don’t find too much water on golf courses in Scotland, but this Aberdeen has an abundance of it.

That doesn’t make Aberdeen a bad golf course or even one to be avoided. Far from it. It is actually one of the more popular stops on the Myrtle Beach golf trail. Aberdeen, located a little north of Myrtle’s main attractions on Highway 9 just outside Longs, SC, isn’t one of the ultra-premium golf courses you’ll find in the area – think Barefoot Resort, Caledonia or Tidewater – but the Tom Jackson design is on par with most of the other high-end facilities that dot the Grand Strand and surrounding countryside.

Aberdeen has something going for it a lot of its competitors don’t – 27 holes of golf on offer. With three nines of various lengths and difficulties, Aberdeen can be played in different combinations to give you a change of pace if you’re a repeat golfer. The Woodlands nine is the longest at 3,445 yards from the back tees and considered the toughest of the three; the Highlands is 3,405 yards long but usually plays as the easiest; and the Meadows is 3,306 yards.

For this exercise we will talk about the Woodlands-Meadows combination, the setup for our visit.

There is one similarity between Aberdeen and Scottish golf: you’d better be accurate and willing to use more than driver off the tee if you hope to score well. And pay attention to where the hazards are or you’ll likely find them.

Aberdeen, which opened in 1990 under the name Buck Creek, demands course management. As an example, the third hole on the Woodlands nine, a 502-yard par-5 from the white tees that has a small pond to the left and a larger water hazard on the right starting midway up the doglegged fairway that narrows dramatically about 230 yards out, requires an accurate drive short of the water to give you a manageable second shot. The problem we had at Aberdeen was sometimes the yardage indicated on the scorecard actually played shorter and our balls found the hazard. On a course that must be managed smartly, that was a real negative.

Players short off the tee might have some complaints, too. The sixth hole on the Woodlands, a 400-yard par-4 off the whites, requires a significant carry over water to find the fairway. In general, some in our group found Aberdeen’s landing areas small. Longer hitters won’t have the same issues with the course, though.

Water does come into play frequently, which again places a premium on accuracy. The Meadows, the driest of the three nines, has five holes that include water hazards but a couple of them would be tough to put a ball into, unless your shot is absolutely horrible. The Woodlands, though, has trouble in the form of wet stuff on every hole and most of it can be found by even a slightly errant shot.

The greens, as you might expect in the spring, were in good condition. Aberdeen has Tif Eagle Bermuda greens, which seem to play slower and with less break than most of the bentgrass greens our group was used to putting on. That said, there were no complaints at all about the greens.

The clubhouse facilities were adequate for our use. Although carts are included in the green fees, Aberdeen does allow golfers to walk the course, which is something many of the Myrtle Beach golf facilities don’t allow because it can affect the pace of play. If walking is more your cup of tea, Aberdeen should be able to accommodate you. Green fees top out at around $85 but packaging golf with accommodations will reduce that significantly.

All in all, Aberdeen is a pretty good course – it’s not one you’ll remember for years to come but it’s better than many of its competitors – for your money. It’s just not Scottish golf.