course to reveal . Created by Mark McCumber , the Tunica property began its evolution into golfing grounds as a flat stretch of arid soil , good for crop growing . As casinos sprung up in the area , golf and tennis were added to the offerings , to ensure a sure thing in the midst of so much gambling . McCumber and associates didn ’ t take all the risk out of their golf course , but they certainly made it a playable venture .
Two handfuls of ponds , large and small , dot and define the scope of the golf course . Judging from aerial views of the surrounding area , they were dug for the dual purpose of irrigation and challenge . Any trees on the golf course tend to stand apart from their kind ; the fairways and greens lie exposed to the vagaries of the winds that move in different directions , depending on season and time of day . Given these predispositions , the course has the potential to play not unlike a traditional layout in the British isles , assuming that the playing surface is firm . Despite recent rains , when I played the course , there were significant run-out of shots and opportunities to play both high and low balls .
Caledonia was the final stop for me on a mini-tour of sorts : the last , east-coast public course designed by the late Mike Strantz . I had previously played neighboring True Blue , the Williamsburg duet of Royal New Kent and Stonehouse , and the Pinehurst pairing of Tot Hill Farm and Tobacco Road . Mike Strantz died far too young , in the mid 2000s at the age of 50 . He had interned with Pete Dye and then struck out on his own . His architecture combines the formal artistic training he received in school with the laborious guild training he received under the watchful eye of Mr . Dye . Strantz courses are deceivingly minimalist ; at first glance , they are mistaken for overworked eye candy . After a hole is played , the golfer looks back and sees the variety of avenues that Strantz made available for shotmaking . Rarely is a shot a desperate , all-or-nothing affair over water or some other hazard . Turn your head enough and you ’ ll find the alternate route .
Caledonia is formally known as the Caledonia Golf & Fish Club . Seated against the Waccamaw river on Pawley ’ s Island , just south of Myrtle Beach , South Carolina , proper , it is understandable that the rod might be as important as the driver . We are here for the golf , and the first glance of the antebellum-style clubhouse , framed in drooping moss , is enough to take someone away from the world of paved roads , into a natural one . The entire Caledonia layout is squeezed into a smallish property , the smallest on which Strantz created 18 holes . Despite this size restriction , no drive ever feels crowded , no fairway arouses claustrophobia , and no putting surface is anything but just the right size .
As with the great architects of yore and the neo-classicists of the modern era , Strantz was never handcuffed by the standardized notion of golfing par . If a course offered more than four par-3 holes , he bit . If there were fewer than 10 par-4 traces , he took that route . Caledonia supplies three long holes and five short ones , balancing the rest with par fours . Rice was grown on the golf course grounds before Strantz arrived , irrigated by the finger of the Waccamaw that extends through the golfing property . The architect himself utilized every inch of the property to its fullest .
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