The summer of free golf comes to an end September 22nd; well maybe not free but it was certainly cheap. Legends Resort offered up summer deals back in June for its ‘Loyal Member’s’, those card carrying ones eligible to receive two beers, breakfast and lunch with every round played.  The deal almost looked too good to be real. We dissected the summer deal for any hidden clauses or secret disclaimers but could find none. Back in June, all we had to do was pay up front, $139 per person and be granted the privilege of playing unlimited golf, any day of the week, including weekends and holidays, providing we secured our tee times at 2 PM or later.  Right we figured, just how difficult was it going to be to reserve a descent tee time. We agonized over paying up front, thinking we’d be placed at the back of the line when it came getting the ‘preferred tee times.’ Oh well, four of us decided to take the gamble, roll the dice and see what happened. How could we pass over an opportunity to play three Legends’ golf courses in Myrtle Beach, Heritage Plantation in Pawley’s Island and Oyster Bay just across the N.C. border for one entry fee? Unlimited golf at our finger tips all summer long; sounded like a sham but we took the bait. 

To our surprise, all of the courses were extremely accommodating. We’d call and almost every time be granted the tee time we asked. Show up a the designated course and present our summer pass card and we were done; no additional money passed hands except for the one dollar tip for the gents loading our bags on the carts. Long summer days ensured we could easily play after 4 PM weekdays, Legends Resort just minutes from our workplace, eastbound Myrtle Beach on 501. Good fortune would have negative results on my play. After months of our house being for sale, wouldn’t you know it; we had an offer and accepted. While happy with the sale of our house, the pending move/packing and actual move, all but took me out of the two to three days of planned golfing for the next six weeks or so.  I slipped in about one time a week when I could. I only got back in the weekly rotation after we moved in and unpacked, got our house in some semblance of livable condition. Two of my playing partners managed to play about thirty times to my less than half that many rounds.

Still, I should manage to get in between twenty and twenty five rounds by the 22^nd of September. That should equate to approximately $650 in savings for the summer, so I’d say without a doubt, the $139 investment paid off. It will be tough over the fall and winter months pulling out the old credit card to supplement my rounds. Flashing that summer special card at the pro shop will be sadly missed. We sort of received VIP treatment, celebrities for the summer. An average round of golf for me for the past three months was $5.56 if one wants to look at it that way. Two of my cohorts averaged less than $4. Heck, you can’t play a round of miniature golf here at the beach for that. For me, it averages out to about 30 cents per hole to play with cart included. Living large on the grand strand, at least for the summer, while those poor tourists were caring the load, many of them paying almost a much for one round as we paid for our entire summer, ain’t life grand on the strand.