Pros:
-As of May 2010, this is now an 18 hole course.
This is a nice, small town, rec course.
-For being a small park, the pins placement was very well done.
-There is a nice map at the first hole. (Take note for how to get from #16 to #17)
-Well manicured park. Someone took the time to make this course look very nice!
-The Fairways were lined with pinestraw or woodchips.
-Garbage cans on some of the holes
-Course was easy to navigate. Runs the outer perimeter of the park, (You must turn right at the road, and cross over to get to #17. Signs are soon to be added.)
-Porto is near the Parking lot and Garbage cans throughout the park.
-Holes 3-6 are tight shots through the woods. (Hole 3 is past the Amphitheater on the right)
-No special footwear. (Although, it can be sloppy after a rain)
-Family friendly park
-A course like this, will help introduce the sport to the Town of Loris as well as people in the Grand Strand. (Myrtle Beach area)
-Great for Beginners or the casual player.
Regarding the new holes
-Good long distance drives. Most are defined by a dense tree line on one side, and a stream on the other.
-Good distance drives that are +400ft. 436ft to be exact.
-#17 is 625ft. (I used a measuring wheel)
-There is now a pond shot on #18.
-The fun factor was increased here for me.
FWIW
-There is a small Dog "Bark" Park
-Playground and picnic shelters.
Cons:
-No Tee area, just a marker with the hole # on it. Leaving one to guesstimate where to tee off.
-No Signage, again, just a marker with the hole # on it
-Tee Marker for #5 was missing at the time of this review.
-Hole #7 plays way to close to the playground!
-10 and 11 share the fairway down and back
-Long walk between 16 and 17
-Really long walk back to the parking lot from 18
Other Thoughts:
I thought this was a well designed REC course. Somebody put the time and effort to make this an attractive course. The fairways are well manicured and maintained. A path covered in woodchips leads you around the wooded part of the course (Holes 3-6). The designers compensated for length, by incorporating the trees to create enough obstacles making for some challenging play on the front 9. The lack of distance on the front 9 is made up for on the back 9. Some of the distance holes can be a little repetitive, but each hole gets progressively longer. You will still need to focus on keeping your drives straight and controlled. There is a creek that runs along side of the fairway, and you'll have dense trees on the other. FYI: The woods are very dense and thick. Your odds are better at getting your disc out of the creek, as opposed to finding your disc in the woods.
Hole 3 has an interesting S shape through the woods, and Holes 4 and 5 are short, but have horseshoe shaped fairways that require one to get creative in their throws. Holes 10-14 are the distance holes, that play along an closed off gravel maintenance road. Hole 15 is a dog leg right and 16 plays through the woods, with a wide wooded defined fairway. 17 really impressed me, with a shot that is 625ft (I used a measuring wheel when I got the measurements for the course) Just past 17's basket, you'll go down the trail, and hang a left at the pond. The pond shot, can be a little intimidating when you first walk up on it. 18 will require a strategic placement, as you cross the pond at an angle. Getting across the pond is the easy part. If you overshoot the basket, you will be in another round of dense woods. If this is a bit too much, just go tee off on the other side of the pond.
I was very impressed with this course, and it had a good "fun factor" for me. I still consider this a rec course, but it's an 18 hole rec course with ambition. Loris Nature Park had a good fun factor, and was a very enjoyable to play. Since they added the back 9, I plan on visiting the course more often. This course offers enough of a challenge to make it worth the drive from Myrtle Beach. The first marker is about 10ft behind the Park Sign, along the sidewalk that leads to the playground. #7 plays alongside a playground, so please be careful when playing this hole.
For your GPS: There was no physical address for the Park, but the High School is directly across the street.
Loris High School
301 Loris Lions Road
Loris, SC 29569
Or try
301 Heritage Road Road
Loris, SC 29569
These are separate roads, but both addresses for the High School. Loris Lions road may not be in all GPS's yet. There are signs leading to the park, along Hwy 9