By Greg Walker

Dramatic population increases have occurred in the past decade in the three-county area that comprises the Grand Strand region. North Carolina’s Brunswick County, as well as Horry and Georgetown counties in South Carolina, are all among their states’ fastest-growing areas, with often-explosive increases in lot sales and building permits.

Nearly all of the 14 area golf courses that have already closed or are wrapping up operations this year will be the setting of future residential development. Most notable on that list are the three courses at Bay Tree Golf Plantation, a family-run operation for 30 years in North Myrtle Beach, and three of the four layouts at Wild Wing Plantation in nearby Conway.

“Wild Wing had a great run as a four-course public golf facility,” said Tim Tilma, General Manager and Director of Golf for the Wild Wing Company. “Our new owners are very successful local developers who recognize the need for a first-class residential community in the Conway area. We’re going to have about 700 single-family homesites with a great selection of waterway lots with boat slips.”

Tilma also noted that plans envision three additional communities of townhomes and condominiums at Wild Wing. By the end of this year, only the Avocet course will remain open for public play, with golf membership programs offered for new Wild Wing community residents.

SWEET HOME CAROLINA
Not all new real estate initiatives have resulted in course closings. The large, multi-community residential developments at Grande Dunes and Barefoot Resort & Golf, which arguably helped to ignite the current boom, have contributed top-rated courses that are available for visitor play. Even “The Granddaddy” hasn’t been immune to the trend: Pine Lakes Golf Club and owner Burroughs & Chapin recently received approval to build 322 new residences adjacent to the historic course, which itself will get a major renovation.

“Overall, I think that the golf industry in Myrtle Beach will be healthier and better than ever in terms of quality,” said Archie Lemon, Director of Golf Operations for B & C, which owns five local courses and manages an additional three. “I think what we’re doing at Pine Lakes is a good example.”

Lemon noted that the 80-year-old Pine Lakes course will close this November and reopen in 2008 after a total renovation that will include all-new grass surfaces on the tees, fairways and greens. “We want to offer the player a fresh experience on the course,” Lemon said, “while retaining the site’s history and tradition. The historic clubhouse will remain, but we’re going to add new facilities for better service and convenience. The changes at Pine Lakes are part of a natural evolution in the life of any great golf course. Our goal is to make sure that ‘The Granddaddy’ will always be ‘The Granddaddy’.”

“It’s supply and demand,” said Jim Woodring, a 14-year veteran of the local golf business and Vice-President of Marketing and Golf Operations for the Myrtle Beach National Company, which owns and operates nine Grand Strand golf courses.

“We’ve still got 100 courses open for public play in the area,” Woodring continued, “so we have plenty of ‘supply’ for visiting golfers. And our total rounds and revenues have actually increased in the past year. But I think those dozen or so courses that are closing got hit by the ups and downs we’ve had in recent years, and they all had very attractive real estate offers on the table. What would any of us do?”

“I frankly think it’s a win-win situation,” said Tom Plankers, the President of Sea Trail Golf who’s been a part of the Grand Strand golf industry for 19 years. “For the course owners that sold to developers, I’m glad that they had an opportunity to make some money for their families and investors. They had ‘the right place at the right time.’ So if the rest of us can absorb their bookings and continue to improve the quality of our product, then everyone, including our customers, will come out ahead.”

“Myrtle Beach will always be a vacation destination, especially for golfers,” said Bill Golden, Vice-President of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, the region’s marketing cooperative that includes 85 golf courses and 54 accommodations hosts. “As the recent Golf Digest article points out, we not only have the most courses, we also have the most top-quality courses.”

The article which Golden cited came with a national accolade that reflects the changes in the local golf market. In its June 2006 edition, Golf Digest ranked the Myrtle Beach area No. 1 on the list of “America’s Greatest Golf-Home Towns.” The overall top rating was based on a combination of golf and non-golf criteria. The Grand Strand scored a nation-high point total in the golf category, with the magazine noting the unique quality of the region’s courses: 28 with ratings of 4 1/2 or better of a possible five stars in the current “Best Places to Play” guide and nine of those ranked among “America’s Top 100 Public Courses,” both the most for any US golf destination. Low course congestion and a high number of “golfable days” also contributed to the region’s superior golf score.

But what earned the Myrtle Beach area the No. 1 ranking among all residential communities in America was its strong showing in the non-golf category, with factors that included home prices, living costs, local amenities, crime rates and other lifestyle variables.

“What the No. 1 ‘Golf-Home Town’ rating acknowledges,” Golden said, “is that many of our vacationing players are becoming seasonal and even full-time residents. They’ve looked around and decided that the Grand Strand is a great area to invest in a villa or condo, or they’ve bought a home for retirement or relocation. And if they’re golfers, the very reasonable prices for golf-oriented lots and residences make Myrtle Beach a great place to live.

“But the tourists who come to the Grand Strand, whether they’re families in the summer or golfers in the spring and fall, will always be the engine that drives our local economy. So those of us in the golf business need to keep improving the quality of Myrtle Beach golf and creating new opportunities to grow our share of the market.”

UPGRADING THE LINKS
The most recent reports of Grand Strand “golf numbers” seem to paint a somewhat contradictory picture. While overall play in the spring this year was down about 3.7 percent from 2005, the average paid rounds per course in March, April and May were at their highest levels since 1999. Fewer courses to factor into that latter number probably accounts for the increased average.

“While increasing total rounds is our objective, the underlying trends are positive,” Golden said, reflecting an optimism that seems to be shared within the industry.

“We’re bullish on Myrtle Beach golf and we’re putting our money on it,” said Wayne Weldon, Director of Marketing for the five-course Classic Golf Group. He noted that major improvements at Classic Golf’s Indian Wells and Burning Ridge clubs had resulted in MBGCOA “Course of the Year” awards in 2004 and 2006, respectively.

“Sometimes a golf course closes for the right reasons,” Weldon said. “Take Black Bear, for example. We closed it earlier this year to make some important upgrades and we’ve gotten great feedback on the improved quality since it reopened in August, especially about the new Champion Bermuda greens. And we’ve closed the old Sea Gull course so that we can completely refurbish that great layout and I think people will be really impressed when we reopen next fall as the Founders Club of Pawleys Island.”

Legends Golf Group recently acquired the Tournament Players Course (TPC) of Myrtle Beach, expending its roster of local layouts to six. Director of Marketing Jim O’Neil said his company sees future demand in the visitor and residential market. “Legends has earned a great reputation for putting money back into our courses to keep them among the top tier in Myrtle Beach. And we’re moving ahead with work on our new conference center, which we expect to open by the end of next year.” The Legends facility will have 196 hotel rooms, extensive meeting space, an indoor pool, a spa and health club and a fine-dining restaurant.

“And our residential community is also continuing to grow,” O’Neil added, “so were building new townhomes to meet the demands of people who want to work or retire here.”

Brunswick Golf Plantation & Resort has also been serving both markets for over 15 years and isn’t resting on its reputation. “The time was right for a facelift on our course,” said Resort Director Billy Bernier of the 27-hole layout he manages, “for the benefit of our members and the public.” He noted that, in addition to resort accommodations and services, Brunswick Plantation has about 300 homes (with room for another 500) and 200 non-equity golf club members.

“We closed for 10 weeks this summer,” Bernier said, “to refurbish all of our greens with the Champion Bermuda, which plays like the bentgrass we had, but tolerates the heat much better. The course has a great new look with expanded tee boxes, wider landing areas, new cart paths and some very lush new landscaping. We needed to make those improvements to stay competitive among the area’s high-quality courses. And our members love the changes, which can only help to drive our real estate component.”

The Glens Group owns four golf courses, including the centerpiece of the growing Shaftesbury Glen residential community in the West Myrtle Beach area. President Jack Himmelsbach noted the need to invest in people, as well as layout improvements. “We’re committed to building a reputation for great customer service and top-quality course conditions,” he said, “because those are the factors that bring visiting players back year after year. We’re in this business for the long term.”

“Pawleys Plantation debuted in 1988 and we’re proud to say it has matured into a wonderful property," said Laura Rippy, general manager for Pawleys Plantation. "Our real estate sales have remained strong over the years and we will soon introduce some new luxury townhomes. We have a full-service conference center that recently helped Pawleys Plantation capture a prestigious 'Best of the South' award as one of the best meeting places in the Southeast. And, with the recent addition of ValleyCrest as our golf course maintenance company, we have seen our Jack Nicklaus signature course taken to new levels of conditioning, improving the entire golf experience at Pawleys Plantation."

Changes at World Tour Golf Links appeal to dual demands of daily-fee players and the local housing market, according to Director of Golf Dennis Nichol: “We’re closing the International Nine, but we still have 18 holes open to the public, with significant course and clubhouse improvements on the way. And we’re actually reworking the International into a private executive walking course that will be a unique amenity for our residents. We’ve already pre-sold about 200 condos and we’ve got plans for up to 800 more.

“At the same time,” Nichol said, “we’ve had our busiest summer ever this year, with many of those rounds booked by local golfers. I think that more year-round and off-season residents will eventually help us and other public courses, especially if we continue our resident-discount programs.”

MBN’s Woodring echoes the need for reinvesting in the quality of local courses. “At Willbrook, for instance, our company has made a major commitment to what we think is one of the best designs in on south end of the Strand. We totally upgraded the drainage system and expanded the greens back to their original sizes. And we installed the new Champion Bermuda hybrid that’s proven to be so great at Caledonia and Long Bay.”

“So you really have to get beyond the headlines,” Golden said, “when you read about a course closing. Yes, we’ve lost some for good in the past few years, but when owners shut down courses temporarily to make millions of dollars in upgrades, that’s a sign of a healthy, forward-looking industry.”

COME ONE, COME ALL
One of the ways that Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday attracts new visitors to the Grand Strand is through the promotion and management of the region’s impressive list of annual golf events. From the weekly Summer Family Golf Tournaments and instructional clinics to the Spring and Fall Palmetto High School Golf Championships, Myrtle Beach has established itself as a regional magnet for junior players from beginners to top-ranked competitors. Events like the Veterans Golf Classic and the FDNY 9-11 Memorial Outing draw participants from around the country to tournaments that support their favorite causes.

Local charities also benefit from the annual Hootie and the Blowfish Celebrity Pro-Am Tournament. Golf Holiday’s signature event, formerly the DuPont World-Am, had a new title sponsor and the PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship remained the world’s largest on-site tournament with more than 4,000 players.

“The golf events that Golf Holiday is involved in, along with dozens of others sponsored by individual clubs or resorts,” Golden said, “are a gateway for Myrtle Beach golf. The goal is to give that first-time visitor a positive experience so that he or she will come back, hopefully with some friends and family members.”

Two new events on the Myrtle Beach golf calendar highlight efforts by local companies to expand the market’s reach. In cooperation with sponsors of the Fall Harley-Davidson Rally, Classic Golf will host a one-day tournament event specifically for bikers on October 4 at Indian Wells. “We’re planning a party with golf and great music,” Weldon said, “and if it’s successful, we’ll do it again for the spring rally.”

Golfweek magazine and the Georgetown Country Visitor and Convention Bureau are sponsoring a new themed event set for May 2007 and called the “Glory Days Alumni Challenge.” Golfers will be invited to put together teams of college and university alums to represent their schools in a full-handicap tournament with gross and net divisions. The four-day event will highlight courses on the county’s “Waccamaw Trail” with rounds at Pawleys Plantation, Caledonia, Willbrook and the TPC of Myrtle Beach.

Woodring also stressed the importance of continuing successful initiatives like the “Kids Play Free” programs now offered by many Myrtle Beach area courses (which waive fees for juniors 16 and under when accompanied by a paying adult), as well as discounts and golf-only packages for locals and non-resident homeowners. “Making golf more affordable for families and newcomers,” he said, “will help to keep everyone operating on the positive side of the balance sheet.”

ACCESS POINTS
Local golf leaders were unanimous in their support for improved access to the Grand Strand as a major way to boost business.

“We’re all watching the expansion plans at the [Myrtle Beach International] Airport very closely,” Golf Holiday’s Golden said. “Our members appreciate the importance of having the ability to handle more passengers and non-stop flights. The new Spirit schedule is a great step in the right direction because it puts all of New England just two hours away.”

Spirit Airlines on August 15 began daily, non-stop flights from Boston’s Logan International Airport. The addition brings the total to 13 US cities with direct flights into Myrtle Beach International.

Road improvements all over the region also won praise from local golf executives. Many cited the Carolina Bays Parkway (Highway 31) for relieving traffic on Highway 17 Bypass and hoped that the extension to Surfside Beach can be completed soon. Also noted were the new Veterans Highway (Highway 22) and the realignment of Highway 501 that both have thinned congestion for arriving and departing drivers. Next on the agenda is the Interstate 73 connection between 1-95 and the Grand Strand. A final route is expected to be chosen soon, with completion currently projected for 2010. The Myrtle Beach area is one of the largest in America without direct interstate highway access. Golden also noted ongoing improvements in “virtual access” to Grand Strand golf. “Many of our members, as well as Golf Holiday,” he said, “are enhancing their web sites with better content, more streamlined booking and features like downloadable video. And we’re working together with aggressive marketing in print and on TV.”

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
The golf and real estate industries in the Myrtle Beach area, once mostly separate entities with different markets, seem destined to become even more intertwined in the years ahead.

“New golf courses in this area will definitely be real-estate driven,” Plankers said. “I don’t think we’re going to see any new stand-alone public courses built for quite a while. Those days are gone.”

“The real-estate market will continue to be the biggest factor in our local golf business, Woodring said. “I think that over the next three to five years, you’ll see plans for new courses in golf communities all over the region. Some may be private clubs from the start, but others will be semi-private to generate revenue and attract potential buyers. It’s a natural progression for an area where so many people want to live.

“Golf in Myrtle Beach is a passion and a business,” Woodring said. “We love to play the game, and we wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. So, sure, we’re all sad when a golf courses closes down permanently, but we understand it as a business decision and part of what was probably an inevitable transition in our area. And it reminds us to all work a little harder to keep our golf customers happy.”