Heathland at Legends: Early Doak Doing His Thing.

So, I played the Heathland course at Legends in Myrtle Beach, one of Tom Doak’s earlier designs, and honestly - it’s pretty solid, considering what he had to work with. You have to manage your expectations. It's Myrtle Beach, and no course is bursting with natural jaw-dropping landforms, but Doak still managed to pull off a fun, strategic round with a nod to classic heathland courses. Regarding Myrtle courses, Legends Heathland is unique and helps balance the monotony of 100's of water holes across the Grand Strand and fairways lined with cookie-cutter homes.

I'm not sure how to best characterize Doak's courses, but he seems to have a lot of variety, and every caliber of player enjoys their round. Wide fairways, sneaky bunkers, and greens kept you guessing and wondering, "How did it turn that way." It’s not his flashiest work, but you can see glimpses of the genius he’d become later on. The 8th was a great Par 3, maybe because I hit it within a foot of an ace. The 9th hole stands out; it’s a par-4 with risk-reward bunkering that makes you not just grip and rip it. The 16th seemed to pop visually as you looked down the length of the green with greenside railway tie bunkers.

What I like most about Legends Heathland is that it doesn’t try to be something it’s not. It’s not overly artificial or obnoxiously dramatic, but it’s playable, approachable, and fun. It’s the kind of course where you can focus on your game, enjoy the wide open spaces, and not worry about losing a dozen balls. For an early Doak on a flat piece of Myrtle Beach land, it’s impressive that he managed to bring some character into it.

Here’s what I didn’t care for, and honestly, it really drags the experience down. The Legends facility is built for high-volume visitors, and I mean busloads—literally. It felt like we were being shuffled through a buffet line, with groups pushed out every 8 minutes off both the front and back nines. Anyone who’s been through this setup knows the drill: if you’re lucky enough to be the first group out, you’ll blaze through the front nine only to hit a massive bottleneck at the 10th tee. We ended up waiting nearly an hour to tee off again, which is just plain frustrating.

Sure, they try to add some charm by playing bagpipe music at certain times from the clubhouse, but it’s hard to appreciate that when you’re stuck watching five groups in front of you tee off at the turn. I understand that courses need to make money, but this felt excessive—cramming as many golfers as possible onto the course, even at the expense of the overall experience. It’s a shame, really, because a Tom Doak design deserves better than to be part of such a chaotic atmosphere. It’s hard to fully enjoy the course when the logistics leave you feeling rushed and then stalled.