Winyah Bay Golf Club, a 50-year-old piece of Georgetown County history, closed on Wednesday afternoon and will likely be redeveloped.
The course was shut down by its owners - members of the Marlowe family - and is contracted to be sold to an undisclosed buyer, though the contract hasn't closed, according to course owner and Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce board member Scott Marlowe.
The Marlowes purchased Wedgefield Plantation Country Club in Georgetown in August and recently reopened the course following extensive renovations. Winyah Bay's closing was planned in conjunction with Wedgefield's opening, but comes more than a week early. Tee times at the course, from mostly members, have been moved to Wedgefield.
Winyah Bay is a cramped 6,107 yards and is located on a prime piece of real estate overlooking the bay in Georgetown.
It features a picturesque four-hole closing stretch, as well as noticeable elevation changes, marsh, Spanish moss and large live oak trees.
It was built as a nine-hole course by Alfred Tull in 1955 for International Paper, but Matt Sapochak expanded the layout to 18 holes and nearly created a new course in '98, as only four original holes remain.
The Marlowes prefer to operate Wedgefield because of its other amenities and the value of the Winyah Bay property, and have indicated they'll welcome other offers for Winyah Bay if the current deal isn't consummated. Wedgefield has a swimming pool, tennis courts and large manor house that previously operated as a bar and restaurant.
The Marlowes plan to renovate the entire property and build its membership base back up to supplement tourist play.
Wedgefield closed on Aug. 10 to begin renovations, which included upgrading the greens from 328 Bermudagrass to a thinner-bladed TifDwarf Bermuda, and taking them back to their original size with a new sand mix.
Additional work was done on bunkers, drainage, tee boxes, weed control and the restaurant, and improvement projects will continue.
With the previous closings of Ocean Harbour, Marsh Harbour and Robbers Roost since a course last opened on the Strand in 2001, the total number of courses from Southport, N.C., to Georgetown has diminished from 120 to 116.
The privatization of the Surf Golf & Beach Club dropped the number of Strand courses open to the public from a high of 117 to 112, and a proposed deal to redevelop Bay Tree Plantation's three layouts threatens to further decrease the number in a market that is considered oversaturated with courses.
The agreement between Bay Tree's owners and Centex Homes has been stalled by zoning concerns but could be resubmitted to Horry County Council in the near future.
