I guess I’ll have to pay more attention to those e-mails that arrive daily from Myrtle Beach. Skiing has always interfered with most opportunities to head south for golf, and even though the Golf Writers of America meet annually at the South Carolina golf coast, I had never been there until this month.

The occasion was a trip put on by another publication I write for to check out a new service by Pan-Am. We met at the Manchester, N.H., airport at 6:30 a.m. for an 8 o’clock flight with a 12:30 p.m. tee time at Barefoot Resort and made it easily. The next day we teed off at 8:30 a.m. at Farmstead GC and finished in plenty of time for our flight at 4 p.m. We arrived back in Manchester just after 6 p.m., and I was back in Westbrook at 8:45.

Normally I wouldn’t take an overnight trip, but this proved that you can play the day you arrive and the day you leave. Naturally, I would prefer to add a couple of days in between. The key is the direct flight and two hours air time, which has been selling for $238 round trip. And the golf was well worth it. Barefoot has four courses designed by Davis Love III, Greg Norman, Tom Fazio and Pete Dye. We played the Fazio course from the second set of tees at 6,350 yards (70.6/133). Three more sets play 6,850, 5,678 and 4,820.

The scorecard suggests the back tees for 0-5 handicaps and the ones we played for 6-12, which may explain my score. The course starts with a 360-yard par-4 with a slight dogleg and water down the left, but No. 2 is 432 and other par-4 are 467 and 427. The rest average around 365 with three par-5s all over 500. The par-3s are 142, 150, 167, 185 and 178. I definitely need to work more on straightening out my driver to play those long par-4s successfully.

The topography doesn’t allow much in the way of elevation changes, but generous use of water and doglegs elevate the challenge, along with large undulating greens. The other factor is the Bermuda grass, which places a real premium on hitting fairways. We watch the pros try to hit out of the stuff. Finding your ball sitting down in it is almost certain to require hitting out to the short grass with a lofted club, giving up all hope of reaching the green in regulation.

If the other three courses match the one we played, Barefoot Resort could keep a golfer well occupied for four days.

On Day 2, we headed out early for Farmstead Golf Links, a course on the North Carolina border which hits the ocean at the north end of Myrtle Beach. Golfers familiar with the area know that 20 or more of the courses actually lie in North Carolina.

Less than a mile away is a sister course, Meadowlands, by the same architect, Willard Byrd, that opened in 1998. Farmstead opened in September 2001, and the excellent condition of the course was testimony to how much faster turf can mature with the longer growing season.

The signature hole on this layout is No. 18, a monster par-6 that starts in South Carolina and ends on a huge undulating green in North Carolina. From the back tees, this one plays 767 yards, part of a 7,242-yard championship layout. Once again I conceded to the lower handicappers and played from the next set at 6,566, (Only 712 on No. 18). Three more sets play at 6,097, 5,638 and 4,998, so we were actually a set back from the middle.

It helped that we were playing with Mac Hood, the Director of Golf. His advice saved us grief on several occasions. Tall native fescues referred to as “Love Grass” bordered many of the fairways, and we were informed that these were to be treated as a lateral hazard. Take a quick look along the edge and drop, because even if you find your ball, you may not be able to hit it out from this thigh-high stuff. The par-72 (71.8/128) layout was a good test with plenty of water and few wooded areas along the open links style setup. The par-3s ranged from 143 to 228 and the par 4s from 348 to 406, most closer to the 400 mark.

Naturally, we all wanted to see how we would do on the 712-yard 18th. Leaving the driver in the bag left me hitting a fifth shot from 115 yards, and that’s when I thanked the Bermuda grass. My pulled shot was kept out of the lake by the thick, gnarly stuff. All I could see was the top of the ball, so I hit it harder than usual for a greenside shot. If it hadn’t hit the flag, it would have left me at least a 20-footer for bogey. Instead, it dropped for a par.

That hole made the round and convinced me that Bermuda grass does have some pluses, but I’m still thankful it doesn’t grow up here. The greens were the fastest we’ve played.

We only played two courses, and our beachfront lodging at Long Bay Resort was comfortable and convenient with all the amenities. With some 126 courses and every kind of lodging, Myrtle Beach has plenty to call us back. And with the new Pan-Am flight schedule, it’s easier than ever to get there. For more information, check www.golfholiday.com.

For now, Mrytle Beach will have wait, because we have some golf left to play here. Next Saturday, Province Lake has a unique event. The fourth-annual Big Birdie Tournament will start with a 9 a.m. shotgun. The entry fee is a 15-pound frozen turkey and/or canned goods to be donated to local food banks.

Freelance writer Dave Irons lives in Westbrook.