Let’s face it: Myrtle Beach golf is all about gimmicks, the gee-whiz factor and everything up to and just short of windmills and fire-breathing dinosaurs to putt through on the last hole. And there are plenty of those mini-golf places to visit up and down U.S. Route 17. So at first glance, it’s easy to dismiss Waterways Hills as just one of those gimmicky places. Because to get to the golf course you park your car, load the clubs into a ski-lift gondola and ride up and over the Intracoastal Waterway. Then and only then do you get loaded into a golf buggy. But one ignores the 27 holes here at their own peril. These are classic Robert Trent Jones courses. They have all the familiar characteristics of the Old Man’s best work: long runway tee boxes; lots of doglegs, left and right; big bunkers parked on the corners and surrounding almost every green; and plenty of water hazards, left, right and center. The greens are smallish and crowned, and the piney woods cut in on almost every hole. Waterways Hills is always in top-notch condition, which is another plus. And because it is so isolated, away across the Waterways and away from housing and traffic and mini-golf windmills, the setting and the golf are very natural. So is the wildlife. Whether you are scheduled on Lakes, Oaks or Ravines, you’ll find one strong hole after another. And there’s no gimmick that can deliver that kind of experience.