A Mystical Myrtle Beach Golf Vacation, Courtesy of the Wizard—Claude Pardue

Another birthday to celebrate is no big deal. Celebrating it in Mrytle Beach, playing the three Mystical Golf masterpieces, is a big deal! All courtesy of the Wizard himself, Mr. Claude Pardue via the Golf Travel Writers Association (GTWA). Staying at the ocean front Sea Mist, drving out to one of the terrific trifecta turf tracts—The Witch, The Wizard and Man O'War, dining with the Divine Dining Group, and celebrating love of country and freedom at the Alabama Theatre, with friends, was one heck of a birthday celebration! I am no Dorothy, I didn't want to go home to Florida, but maybe Claude Pardue is really a wizard? The Witch was Mystic Golf's first entry into the Myrtle Beach golf market. As with the other two, this eerie and fun-to-play golf course was designed by golf course architect Dan Maples. Based in Pinehurst, North Carolina, the Maples family golf heritage goes all the way back to 1895 when Frank Maples worked with famed Scottish designed Donald Ross. Claude took his time "looking for land that we could build something magical with," and found it be carving out 500 acres of a 23,000 acre natural South Carolina swamp. Though the routing of both nines is clockwise, they never intersect and the golfing at The Wizard is a meandering through beautiful and pleasantly wide enough holes with nature so close you feel a part of it. The cypress knee stumps you see from the bridges through the swamp areas become the tee markers upon arrival at the next hole. A solid, fun and engaging golf course for all skill levels and not to be missed on Halloween! Where Pardue and Maples had to bridge over the waters at The Witch, they created a massive 100 acre lake and built The Wizard and Man O'War across from each other in a 48,000 acre International Paper timber forest. The dirt they carved out to make the namesake Portuguese Man O' War at home with water on all 18 holes was used for challenging sight blocking hillocks on the Scottish Wizard links. This shift of sand makes both golf courses challenging for golfers of various temperaments and ball-striking abilities. Though the smooth and true bentgrass greens allow for fun and scoring once your ball lands safely on the green. Also intriguing in the use of water on the Man O'War are back-to-back island greens on the par-5 14th and par-3 15th. The golfer is playing well to score level par of fours on those two holes let alone the entire 18 holes. CLICK here for a VIDEO INTERVIEW with Claude Pardue, President & CEO of Mystic Golf. If you have met Claude Pardue you know he is an affable character in the golf business. If there was a Golf Character Hall of Fame he would be in there with the likes of George S. May and Danny Thomas. May was the first to broadcast golf nationally on television, in 1953 from the Tom O'Shanter Golf Course in Chicago. He was rewarded when Lew Worsham holed his approach shot on the final hole for an eagle two to win by one stroke. Danny Thomas, of course, fulfilled a "starving actor" vow that  “no child should die in the dawn of life” when he founded the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Maybe they would call it the Golf Hall of Big Hearts? Claude is not really a golfer and has an interesting story of how he came to own three of the top tier and most successful golf courses in Myrtle Beach, the Golf Capital of the World. Of course I, along with the other Andrew the Saint, have a problem with that, not Claude but the Myrtle Beach moniker. I think Ponte Vedra Beach is the Golf Capital of the World with the PGA TOUR and THE PLAYERS Championship here and the World Golf Hall of Fame and the golf television mecca known as Orlando not very far away. With Myrtle Beach hosting the 4,000-plus World Amateur Championship maybe they have it for amateur golfers and Ponte Vedra Beach claims the title for living and dead professional golfers? We'll give it to St. Andrews for an honorable job incubating the game back in the 15th century. Back to Claude. Must I always digress? Claude's hobby is business and the family insurance business didn't float his boat or his golf ball in the witchy swamps of life. He observed that in the early 1980s, millions of golfers and their dollars were getting into the golf business. All he needed was 'a property to match his business formula of being in the upper end and offering something unique to golfers.' He found that in a swamp and did such a remarkable job that International Paper came to him and asked him to build a showcase 36-hole golfing facility so that they could develop their land around it. The rest is history they say. But the Pardue story doesn't end there. The innovator, who believes that every person and every company has a responsibility to give, did just that and starter a Myrtle Beach Foundation called 'Pardue Children in Need Fund.' This charity interacts directly with the disadvantaged youth with respect and a willingness to have them enjoy regular childhood experiences, like movies and picking out a favorite pair of new sneakers, that their current situation does not allow for. Supporting the charity with time and energy focused on the children is a Mystic Golf organization commitment so everyone is involved. Not only do the children benefit but the organization benefits in terms of enhanced teamwork and bonding, that arise from doing good service acts together. Once again Claude seems to have taken a couple of separate ideas and initiatives and brought them cohesively together under one umbrella, whether it is building golf courses or running a charitable organization. Tony Award ® -winner and Broadway legend, Ben Vereen,will do a fundraising show to benefit the 'Pardue Children in Need Fund' at the Alabama Theatre in North Myrtle Beach on Friday evening January 25th, 2015 at 7:30 pm. Country music stars ALABAMA opened the theatre in 1993 as a way to return to their musical roots in Myrtle Beach where they started out playing for tips at The Bowery, a local nightclub. It's a great theatre with a great ongoing show called 'ONE the Show.' Their website describes it as a combination of "extraordinary talent, iconic production numbers, sizzling visual elements and extravagant costuming with hit songs from many exciting musical genres," and I agree for sure! So entertaining and so patriotic it was a wonderful way to spend an evening with friends celebrating my birthday! The Sea Mist Oceanfront, established in 1954, is celebrating "sixty years of fun in the sun!" Long time General Manager Jim Leach is retiring. Things change and so has the Sea Mist over the years. As their website states: "the property has grown to a 15 acre oceanfront playground with the largest variety of lodging types and family friendly amenities in the Myrtle Beach area." Change, even transitions in life, always turn out for the better and the same is true for the Sea Mist. One thing that never changes is the oceanfront. This year I slept with the sliding door open so I could be serenaded by the surf all night long. What a beautiful view to awaken to! Maybe I got this right? Claude Pardue is the Wizard and I am too by invoking the Eagles' Witchy Woman to celebrate another birthday with the Sea Mist, Mystic Golf, and the Alabama Theatre. Here's the tune I am singing these days: He held me spellbound on the Witch, Wizard & Man O' War Swampy swamps, hilly hillocks and watery water Crazy laughter in another foursome but serious golf in our twosome We drove ourselves to victory avoiding the swamp, the hill and the water. Another birthday golf vacation to Mystic Golf in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina... priceless for sure! For more information about The Witch, Man-0-War and The Wizard, please visit www.mysticalgolf.com, or call 843.282.2977.