Some of the Grand Strand's best-kept dining secrets are flanked by lush fairways, hidden off manicured greens and often tucked away inside spacious club houses.
The region's multitude of golf courses provide more than just ample sporting opportunities for locals and tourists. They also offer a variety of options for eating out. The problem is few people realize the choices exist.
"So many people don't know this place is back here," said David Elliott, chef at The Grill at True Blue Golf Plantation in Pawleys Island. "Most people think the club house is just open to golfers."
In fact, many golf course restaurants are open to the public, further enriching the area's culinary environment.
The gates in front of golf communities might give off an air of exclusivity and discourage would-be diners from coming inside, said Mike Bodjiiak, director of culinary standards at Sea Trail Golf Resort and Conference Center in Sunset Beach, N.C.
"When you come through those big, imposing gates, you might have the feeling someone would be chasing you down, and that's not the case," he said. "We are starting to draw a bigger crowd of people who understand we are open to the public."
Sea Trail's restaurant, Magnolias, serves breakfast and lunch daily, and The Tavern on the Tee provides a fine-dining option for dinner Tuesdays through Sundays.
Another important and sometimes overlooked detail about many golf course eateries is their culinary quality. Of course, most restaurants near the links offer the standard 19th hole fare such as burgers, hot dogs and grilled sandwiches, but several eateries also provide a more upscale and creative spin on food. The Dining Room at Grande Dunes is known for its fine dining offerings, and Pawleys Plantation recently hired the former executive chef at Thoroughbreds.
Bodjiiak, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., has worked in restaurants and resorts throughout the country. He spent 11 years in New Orleans before moving to North Carolina, and the Creole influence shows up on The Tavern on the Tee's menu.
"I believe everything should have flavor to it," he said. "Cooking in Louisiana is not necessarily hot - it's well-seasoned. That's what we do here."
The True Blue restaurant's menu reflects its Lowcountry surroundings with selections such as crab cakes; crab- and shrimp-filled quiche; cornbread salad; and spicy, pulled barbecue pork, which is cooked fresh in a brick oven at neighboring course Caledonia.
In addition to golfers, True Blue attracts a steady crowd of local lunchers, said grill manager Cathy Causey.
Causey and her staff know many of their customers' names and favorite dishes.
Al and Helen Howell of Pawleys Island dine at True Blue at least twice a week.
"Al always gets coffee," Helen Howell said. "When they see him come in, they bring it out."
The couple discovered the restaurant when checking out the clubhouse one day and have been hooked ever since.
"The best three things are the people, the food and the atmosphere," Al Howell said.
Server B.G. Woodbury, who is able to recite the Howells' orders before they have a chance to sit down, knows most of her customers by name.
"It's good to have golfers, but it's good to have people we can rely on part of the year when the golfers aren't here," she said.
Causey said the local clientele keeps the restaurant open during summer and winter months when the golf business is slow.
Wishbone's Restaurant at Wild Wing Plantation in Conway also has carved out a similar niche among locals, but its main patrons come from the surrounding business community, said executive chef Roger Miller.
The golf course, off U.S. 501, features the Players Pub, which serves sandwiches and quick meals for golfers. Wishbone's offers more upscale selections such as specialty salads, sauteed chicken, pasta of the day and fish of the day.
"In June, July and August, the golf numbers aren't as high as in the spring and fall," Miller said. "But Wishbone's lunch, the locals support it."
Despite posting "open to the public" signs and advertising, golf course restaurant chefs and managers said they still find it hard to lure the masses.
"Most of the public, they don't think about coming to a golf course when they've got Murrells Inlet, Broadway at the Beach and Restaurant Row," Miller said.
So the golf course restaurants have to develop ways to set themselves apart from one another and the thousands of other eateries along the Grand Strand.
The Tavern on the Tee offers live entertainment on weekends. The Grill at True Blue features blue plate specials with homestyle treats such as meat loaf and pork roast on Sundays. Wishbone's serves a Sunday brunch buffet.
Word has spread in the Pawleys Island church community about True Blue's Sunday blue plates. Folks often line up for a table, Causey said.
"People talking, that's the best advertisement," she said.
Source: The Myrtle Beach Sun-News
