Barefoot Resort - The Dye Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 9.3

Golf - Resort Private Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
North Myrtle Beach, SC
Website
· Stay & Play

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Barefoot Resort - The Dye Club Review

The Dye Course is one of four courses at Barefoot Resort and like most Dye courses it penalizes any wayward shots and par may be difficult thanks to over 175 waste and sand bunkers, water on 5 holes, uneven lies, some tricky holes, and challenging small undulating greens.  The Dye Course at Barefoot Resort is a true players course and each hole is very different and unique with some type of new challenge to keep you on your game.  But don't let that discourage you from playing this fantastic and fun course. 

The first hole gives you a good feel for what you'll be up against on the next 17 - a 425 yard dog leg left par 4 (#6 handicap) requiring a good drive to avoid the 5 huge natural sand areas that line the small roller coaster and contoured fairway all the way to the green which is surrounded by berms, sand bunkers, and  grass mounds. 

Most of the course plays like a links style course - open and few trees - and along the way back to the club house you'll need to manage surprising elevation changes, forced carries, steep and deep bunkers, some strong winds, and uneven lies.   

The front nine is fantastic with several outstanding holes like:

  • #5 with over 20 bunkers and mounds, a generous rolling and contoured fairway with an open landing zone off the tee box but a tough approach to an elevated and sloping light bulb shaped green
  • #6 which is a tough 195 yard par 3 with water from the tee box to the well guarded green with little to no room for error
  • the fantastic 543 yard par 5 #8 with a forced carry (a great risk reward opportunity) over a natural area and  a couple of long skinny sand bunkers and than an approach to a sharp dog left green protected by  5 pot bunkers in the middle of the fairway followed by a lake and sand bunkers on the left 

The fairways vary from open to tight, all require accurate shots to avoid the water, bunkers, berms, waste areas, and grass and sand bunkers.  Most of the fairways are rolling and contoured and you'll need to manage a lot of uneven lies.  When we played in June they were in excellent condition.

Dye must have a loving relationship with bunkers and natural sand areas - the Dye Course is loaded with them!  You'll find small pot bunkers, lots of grass bunkers, and plenty of huge natural sand bunkers of all shapes and sizes.  Some of the bunkers are very steep and deep and if you land in them par will be tough.  You can drive in the natural sand areas and on some holes the sand areas were so huge that it felt like we were on a stretch of beach on the Atlantic Ocean with a small grass patch and a putting green - I was tempted to park the cart, plant an umbrella and lawn chair, pop a beer, and enjoy the scenery, but there was no surf or pretty bathing beauties and I knew I was likely to get bonged by a golf ball or driven over by a drunken resort golfer.    

The bent green complexes are medium is size and mild in undulation, but surrounding swales and collection areas make for some tricky up and downs. The greens and fairways were live velvet - soft and spongy.  The fringe was also smooth and puttable.  The greens were rolling a little slower than normal (11 to 12 is typical), held well (but don't miss), and thanks to slope, subtle breaks, and undulation two and three putts were not uncommon for us. 

This is a fantastic 18 holes of course - very challenging, very unique, and very fun. 

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 6,834 73.2 145
Blue 5,678 67.6 125
White 5,292 65.8 119
Gold 6,350 70.8 136
Red 4,820 68.0 115

Course Information

Course Architect:
Pete Dye
Greens Type:
Bent
Greens Condition
10.0
Greens Difficulty
9.0
GPS:
Yes
Walkable:
Yes
Scorecard
Beware of water on 5 holes and the 175 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
9.3 out of 10
Beauty:
9.0
Difficulty:
9.5
Variety:
10.0
Fun to Play:
10.0
Value:
8.0
Condition:
9.5
Front Nine Rating:
10.0
Back Nine Rating:
9.0
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The club house and pro shop are first class and well appointed. The staff is very friendy and the service is excellent. Pace of play is also very good.

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.