Source: The Myrtle Beach Sun-News (South Carolina)
Belle Terre Golf Courses has become Belle Terre Golf Course.
The construction of S.C. 31 onto the property eliminated nine holes of the executive course built by Rees Jones, and the other nine holes has closed.
Future plans for the land, which is on the northeast side of Belle Terre's 7,013-yard championship Jones design, have not been divulged by course management.
The executive course, which opened in 1995 along with the regulation course, was one of just two 18-hole executive courses on the Grand Strand. Tupelo Bay in Garden City opened a similar course featuring predominantly par-3s and a few short par-4s a few years ago.
Had S.C. 31 not encroached upon the property and eliminated both nine holes of the executive course and the facility's entrance off U.S. 501, its more likely the executive course would have remained part of the property.
The executive course is the second Rees Jones creation eliminated on the Strand. Jones' Gator Hole design was closed for redevelopment in 1999.
TPC sale stalled
The TPC of Myrtle Beach might just remain property of the PGA Tour after all.
The time frame for Medallion Golf's offer to buy the TPC from PGA Tour Golf Course Properties Inc. has expired, according to representatives of both parties.
"The Letter of Intent between the PGA Tour and Medallion Golf has expired, but discussions have not been formally terminated," said Chris Smith, Director of Public Relations for PGA Tour Business, in an e-mail.
The sale was expected to close in July, then was pushed back to Sept. 20, and was delayed a second time before the offer eventually expired.
"We're still hopefully going to get this thing done, it's just taking a hell of a lot longer than we anticipated," said Michael Kelly, vice president of marketing and development for Medallion. "We're still hopeful we can put something together."
The stalled sale is part of a five-course deal worth an estimated $40 million, according to Medallion president and chief executive officer Ron Jackson.
Other courses involved are the TPC at Eagle Trace and TPC at Heron Bay - both in Coral Springs, Fla. - TPC of Tampa Bay and TPC of Virginia Beach.
TSC involved in merger
TSC Golf Inc., which has managed golf courses on the Grand Strand for 11 years, has strengthened itself through a merger with Blythe Golf Group based in Charlotte, N.C.
The new company, known as Signature Golf Group LLC, will manage eight courses when the deal takes effect on Jan. 1 - including four on the Strand - and handle marketing for another three Myrtle Beach area courses.
"Together we think we bring an awful lot to the table," said Steve Taylor of TSC, now president of Signature Golf.
The new company will manage TSC courses Diamond Back Golf Club, Indigo Creek Golf Club and Wicked Stick Golf Links, as well as Cannon Ridge Golf Club in Fredericksburg, Va., River Bend Links in Tunica, Miss., Timberlake Golf Club in Chapin, Rivers Edge in Shallotte, N.C., and Palisades Country Club in Charlotte, N.C., which is scheduled to open in early December.
In addition, the company will market Brunswick Plantation and Golf Resort, Prestwick Country Club and Tradition Golf Club.
Taylor, Chuck Hutchison of TSC and Skip Blythe of Blythe Golf are the principal owners of Signature Golf. Blythe is the chief operating officer and Hutchison is the director of marketing. Former owners of both TSC and Blythe Golf have a stake in the company, as do some individual investors.
Blythe is tied to the Strand through his ownership and development of Rivers Edge, and has been a partner in Blythe Golf, which has built, developed and managed courses for nine years.
Taylor said Signature Golf is looking to expand in the Southeast market, especially the Carolinas and Georgia, and will consider courses on the Strand.
Sunbelt remains stable
The Sunbelt Senior Tour concluded its ninth season with the National Patriot Senior Invitational in late October, and continues to provide the most reliable place for Champions Tour hopefuls to hone their games while earning money to fund their dreams.
The Grand Strand-based tour staged 12 events in 2004.
Tour director Don Barnes of North Myrtle Beach founded the Sunbelt a decade ago, and despite the continued lack of a tour title sponsor, it appears to be as healthy as ever.
Barnes hasn't regretted his decision a few years ago to move tournaments around to other parts of the Carolinas and Georgia rather than stage all of them on the Grand Strand.
He's worked with pros and members of host courses to bring in local sponsors for the individual events. Eight of the Sunbelt's 12 tournaments had a significant sponsor and included a pro-am.
"We needed to do it, as much as we wanted to stay in Myrtle Beach because it's close to home and [the] quality of the courses and the accommodations," Barnes said. "But we couldn't get the sponsorships here, and any time players had a chance to go play somewhere else for more money, they'd go."
Barnes no longer has an event nearly every week during the summer, but solid purses created by the local sponsors have solidified fields and attracted a number of good players. The average turnout per event this year has been more than 40 players, and the smallest field still had more than 20 participants. Several years ago, an event at Robbers Roost attracted four players.
The tour's top events this year, held in Pinehurst, Savannah, Ga., Bald Head Island, N.C., and Gastonia, N.C., all paid $10,000 to the winner. Smaller events paid a minimum of $5,000 for first out of purse totals of nearly $20,000.
Twelve Sunbelt Tour members advanced to the final stage of the Champions Tour Q-School.
Long on recognition
Midway Par 3 at South Beach Resort was named by the Golf Range Association of America as one of the top 10 par-3 facilities in the country. A report commissioned by the golf research initiative Golf 20/20 estimated there are 5,500 golf ranges and short courses - including par-3s, executive courses and pitch-and-putts - in the country. Tupelo Bay received one of 23 honorable mentions for executive and par-3 courses.
Midway Par 3 opened 18 holes in September 2003 with "situation tee" areas that include bunkers, rough, pine straw and uneven lies. The 18 holes provide uphill, downhill, and sidehill lies, waste bunkers, greenside bunkers, fairway bunkers, pine straw, lob shots to an elevated green and bump-and-run shots off hard pan.
Another nine holes on the property, the North nine, offers only mats to play off. The East and West nines also have flat areas with artificial turf mats and rubber tees for beginners. An 1,800-square-foot clubhouse and pro shop also opened in September 2003.
Tupelo Bay has lights on the executive course's back nine as well as its 18-hole par-3 course, and also has a driving range as part of its practice facility.
Teaching center on way
A teaching pavilion near the driving range at Grande Dunes was scheduled to be completed by early November. The pavilion includes a V-1 video analysis coaching system and Accusport Launch Monitor, along with a pair of indoor hitting bays.
Grande Dunes Golf Club and Academy general manager Robert Harper is currently reviewing resumes, hoped to name a head instructor for the facility by early November. "We're looking for a top-100 instructor in America, is what we're looking for," Harper said.
An addition to the west side of the clubhouse toward an existing putting green is also being built. The enlargement will be done in part for the golf academy. The golf shop will be slightly enlarged to house more merchandise, and a classroom will be added.
Well-earned break
Some active Marines traded in their rifles for golf clubs and their bullets for balls on Nov. 6, if for only a day.
They participated in a golf outing at Belle Terre Golf Course as part the U.S. Marine Corps 229th birthday celebration organized by the Marine Corps League Detachment of Myrtle Beach and Second Force Service Support Group from Camp Lejeune, N.C.
The attending active Marines were from Cherry Point, N.C., Camp Lejeune, Parris Island and Quantico, Va. Many have served in Iraq or Afghanistan in the past two years, and some already have orders to return to duty in Iraq in 2005. They were joined in the round of golf by Marine veterans who have served in wars from World War II to the Gulf War.
Popular with police
Others who serve our country also came to the Strand in force.
The fifth annual National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Golf Classic, held from Nov. 8-12, was sold out with 620 players. The tournament was held at 10 area courses, including Tidewater Golf Club & Plantation, Pine Lakes Country Club, Grande Dunes and Farmstead Golf Links.
The event benefits the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and gave out approximately $250,000 in raffle prizes, according to tournament director and former police officer Dan Mophet of Longs. The entry fee of $500 included five nights of lodging, four competitive rounds of golf, cocktail parties and awards.
The sixth annual National Police Golf Championship, held Oct. 17-20, featured more than 150 golfers from 20 states, including South Carolina, North Carolina, Oregon, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida and Texas. It was open to all active or retired federal, state, county, municipal and industrial police.
The two-round best-ball team event for twosomes was sponsored by Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday and the American Association of State troopers (AAST). The event, held at Bay Tree Golf Plantation and Wild Wing Plantation, benefited the AAST scholarship fund.
