Every once in a while, I get the urge to imagine I am someone other than me.  The web site FindYourSpot.com is a good place to do it.  FindYourSpot is one of those sites that asks you a bunch of questions -- in this case, about what you want in a place to live -- and then provids a list of towns based on your responses.  When I first tried FindYourSpot a few years ago, it told me, quite emphatically, that my responses indicated I wanted to live in the Texas Hill Country.  That is one of the reasons I intend to visit the best golf course communities between Austin and San Antonio in the coming months.

    With a little free time today, I decided to "pose" at FindYourSpot as a serious golfer who is concerned about little other than identifying a place where I could play all the time.  I answered the climate questions in that regard, indicating that summers were meant to be long and hot, and when it asked if I needed to play golf often, I provided a "Strongly Agree."  Virtually everything else I marked as "Neutral," including the question about whether I like weather that is neither too hot or too cold; I went "Neutral" on that one on one taking, and then "Strongly Agree" on the next.

    The results were interesting, and dramatically different just by switching my responses on the not-too-hot, not-too-cold question.  When I empahsized long, hot summers, my top five selections came up, in order, Key West, Naples, Hilton Head Island, Opalousas, LA, and Covington, LA.  When I opted for the more moderate annual climate, FindYourSpot found me locations in Tennessee and Kentucky.

    The thing is, I have no interest in living in Kentucky, Tennessee, or the hottest places in Florida, although I am intrigued by the Texas Hill Country, as I mentioned above.  But maybe FindYourSpot knows something I don't know.  If I fall in love with the Texas hills, you will be the first to know.  In the meantime, FindYourSpot is a pleasant diversion, if not a deadly accurate one.

    This is the second part of an updated review that was mistakenly 'buried' on the site earlier this week.  We repeat it here and apologize to those for whom this might be a repetition. 

    The Reserve's Greg Norman golf course winds its way through the live oaks and scrub pines that are indigenous to this part of the world.  Green complexes are roller-coaster contoured but not heavily trapped, and we were delighted that we could putt on some holes from 15 yards off the green.  The course is always in nice shape too.  The community brackets Route 17, the main north/south thoroughfare through all of the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach.  To the west of the road is the largest part of the community with single-family homes that range generally from the $400s to $1.5 million.  Across Route 17 and within walking distance of the beach, a small group of single-family homes are set up in a Charleston-type row house configuration, but separate from each other.  These sell for more than $1 million and are within a three-minute walk of the beach.  At the beachfront are a number of high-rise condominiums that are rented out by their owners.  At prices in the low-mid-six figures and up, they are one alternative for second-home owners who want oceanfront living and aren't unwilling to live in close proximity to others.     

    Wachesaw Plantation is also west of Route 17, and a river runs through it (the Waccamaw).  The community had some marketing and image issues when it first opened in the 1980s, but those seem behind it.  The excellent Tom Fazio golf course can get a little moist after heavy rainfalls, but the layout is unmistakably Fazio, with large cloverleaf bunkers and roller coaster fairways.  Some grasses (see photo below) grow long, adding a Scottish links cachet to the routing.  Wachesaw is probably the most reasonably priced of the communities; the quality of housing and cost per square foot are relatively low for the area, which probably has something to do with its west of Route 17 location and some marketing problems in the community's early years in the mid 1980s.  But Wachesaw is closest to the best variety of shopping and other conveniences, including Myrtle Beach International Airport, which is about 25 minutes away.  The beach is about 10 minutes farther away than it is from the other communities, but the scenic and lazy Waccamaw River provides plenty of watery compensation.         

    The South Strand offers a wide range of high-quality daily fee courses to supplement the private ones.  The renowned Caledonia Golf & Fish Club is in Pawleys Island, along with its companion course, True Blue, both designs by the late Mike Strantz.  They could not be more different.  Caledonia effects a bit of Augusta National with azaleas and other flora in profusion; True Blue has an abundance of sand off the fairways and around the greens, a desert-like course in the Low Country that is vintage Strantz, which is to say "muscular."  Nearby is Heritage Golf Club, more of a parkland style course that is always in peak shape.  And coming later this summer is the redone Sea Gull Golf Club, renamed The Founders Club, whose distinctive notes will likely revolve around the significant mounding we saw in the early stages of reconstruction.  And if all that is not enough variety for you, Litchfield and Murrells Inlet add another seven courses, including Willbrook, The Tradition, The River Club, Litchfield Golf Club, Wachesaw East, Blackmoor and TPC of Myrtle Beach.  And for a wondrous if expensive day trip of golf, Kiawah Island and the Ocean Course are about 90 minutes away.   

    Although there are many art galleries in the Pawleys Island and Georgetown areas, and Charleston is within 70 minutes or so, the area is a little short on culture and entertainment, except for the excellent restaurants.  Shopping, though, is ample enough for any but those who crave Nordstrom nearby.  A large number of outlet stores are available within a half hour.  Myrtle Beach airport, with non-stop service to Washington, Charlotte, the New York airports and a few other northern cities, is within 40 minutes.  Much of a couple's social life in the area will revolve around the clubhouse and friends' homes in the communities.

    We have excellent real estate contacts in the Myrtle Beach area who are familiar with all the golf communities.  One of our pre-qualified agents can help you cut through all the marketing hype and see any houses you want...at no cost or obligation to you.  Contact us if we can help.