Rivers Edge Golf Course

Rivers Edge Golf Club is a salute to Shallotte (pronounced sha-loot), a beautifully laid-out stunner along the banks of the Shallotte River and the surrounding marshes, at the northern tip of the Grand Strand. Just don't let your friends coerce you into being Macho Man and play it from the back tees if you're a mid- to high-handicapper.

The slope rating is 149 from the tips, one of the highest in the low country, and will throw 10 forced carries at you, either off the tee, to the green, or both. If you fit the above description and try it from the backs, you'll end up tired and frustrated with a scorecard either bloated or unreliable.

A description of Rivers Edge wouldn't be complete without mentioning No. 9, a 570-yard par-5. You can get in trouble if you're long off the tee, in that the second half of the fairway rolls downhill to the marsh. However, if you're short off the tee, you'll be looking at either laying up well to the right of the green, where you will still be in marsh-danger if you venture too far left or are short, or trying to carry a broad expanse of marsh to reach the green, which juts out precariously into the marsh.