<img decoding="async" alt="King's North Par Three 8th Hole" src="/media/images/par_three_8th.png" style="width: 600px;height: 300px" />
Story by Ian Guerin
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. | Tyler Vaught finished the last of the Par 3s at <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/myrtle-beach-national-kings-north">Myrtle Beach National’s King’s North </a>and immediately recognized how little distance three of them had. Falling between 107 and 119 yards, Nos. 4, 12  and 17 each had the Myrtle Beach resident swinging a wedge from the tee and hoping for the best with just a touch of wind, each time blowing in a different direction. When it was brought up that Arnold Palmer’s mid-1990s redesign heavily shaped that distance, Vaught &#8211; who, for the record, went double-bogey, birdie, par on those three &#8211; put it all into perspective. 
From the white tees, King’s North isn’t meant to be a long course. And those shorter Par 3s are a microcosm of the 4s and 5s. All of it is packaged into one of the South Carolina Grand Strand’s nicest rounds.
“It’s an absolutely beautiful course,” Vaught said after a recent round. “The greens are in great shape. The fairways are in great shape. Everything worked out pretty well.” 
At a hair over 6,000 yards from the whites, players aren’t going to be overwhelmed by length here. Even average hitters who can find the fairway off the tee are going to have short irons into the green on basically every Par 4, with at least two of them (Nos. 3 and 5) leaving open the possibility of a bump and run shot to the flag stick.
It was all part of Palmer’s plan.
Reward those who can keep it straight, maybe even more than some of the neighboring courses in the immediate, and certainly many of the other top-flight options in and around Myrtle Beach. 
It all leads back to the overall popularity of <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/myrtle-beach-national-kings-north">King’s North</a>, especially when factoring in that it is priced right along with its status as one of Golf Capital U.S.A.’s best. Middle-of-the-road players can find success here. And those looking for more of a challenge have two sets of tees (gold and black) that can stretch the overall distance by as much as 1,000 yards. 
For all, they are going to find challenges in other ways. There are eight forced water carries, oversized greens that roll differently at 9 a.m. than they do at noon, a few key doglegs that change shot selection and even the seemingly out-of-nowhere design of No. 18, where nearly 40 bunkers dot the landscape. 
Then, there’s the “The Gambler.”
THE ONLY APPROACH TO ‘THE GAMBLER’<img decoding="async" alt="King's North at Myrtle Beach National Golf Club" src="/media/images/Gam.png" style="width: 300px;height: 225px;float: right" /> 
Was there any way Vaught was going to pass up his shot at one of the most famous holes in all of Myrtle Beach? 
“No. That’s not the way I play golf,” he said. “You’re out here to have fun. If I’m having a really good round, maybe I take the long way around just to make sure I can cut a birdie or get par. Otherwise, I’m going after The Gambler every time.”
The Par-5 sixth hole at <a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/myrtle-beach-national-kings-north">King’s North</a> got its Kenny Rogers-inspired nickname back in 1996. There’s a plaque just behind the black tees and a view that leads to more than its share of pictures. 
The island fairway smack dab in the middle of a lengthy pond gives players the opportunity to then advance toward the green with the second shot. Anything placed onto the back half of that island leaves the putting surface within reach.
Those who see fit can go from the tee box up the right side, bend around and make their way to the green with only a sliver of water in play near the final yardage. 
But, where’s the fun in that?
Ian Guerin is a DJ and freelance writer based in Myrtle Beach. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/iguerin?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@iguerin</a> and Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/IanGuerinWriter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facebook.com/IanGuerinWriter/</a>

King’s North Places Premium On Quality And Shot Selection, Not Length

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King's North at Myrtle Beach National

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