Pawleys Island emits a southern plantation feel all on its own. With draping willows and towering oaks to accompany the plantation style homes, you feel as though you've stepped into a modern Gone with the Wind. Built on the site of the True Blue and Midway Plantations, Heritage Plantation reflects this image. It is also home to one of the "50 Best Public Courses in America," accentuated by over 600 acres of magnolia trees, 300 year old oaks, fresh water lakes, and marshes. Many of the you'll find here are over 250 years old, giving you the feel that the course has been here forever, standing the test of time.

But it hasn't. Heritage Golf Club was developed by Danny Maples and Larry Young in the late 1980's. They fully accomplished their goal in developing a true Southern Plantation-feel golf course. By incorporating some of the most severely sloping putting surfaces in the Southeast, routing holes around protected wetlands and the Waccamaw River, and sprinkling bunkers to and fro, Maples and Young also created a golf masterpiece.

The course which was redesigned with the help of Mike Strantz in the mid 1990s, measures 7,040 yards from the longest tees for a par of 71. With a course rating of 74.1 and a slope rating of 142 on Bermuda grass, Heritage features wide rolling fairways and large undulating greens which are surrounded by lush landscaping. After the redesign, many of the mountainous areas were lowered, but still remain hilly to provide challenge.

Holes 13, 14, and 18 are infamous. Thirteen is 235 yards from the back tees and all carry. Fourteen plays to 440 yards and requires a tee shot over water to an extremely thin landing area. The finishing hole plays to 530 yards. From the white tees, you have a good risk/reward par 5. From the gold, it's a true three-shot hole. If you like driving, the par-4 15th will definitely feed your hunger.

Best feature of all? Once you finish, you can relax at the Southern Colonial clubhouse and enjoy the view of the Waccamaw River before leaving down the magnificent avenue of oaks that lead to the exit.