FEATURE STORY

No summertime doldrums for Myrtle Beach this year as golf rounds hit record high

(July 30, 2004) -- Summer in Myrtle Beach used to be a boom for family vacationers and a bust for golfers.

Motels, hotels, condos and every other conceivable form of lodging are usually bursting with families from the northeast, so the hoteliers are happy. Woe be to the golfer who decided on the spur of the moment to get a few rounds in at one of Myrtle Beach?s 120 or so courses; he might end up sleeping on the beach.

Golf course owners, beset with their own peculiar problems, have traditionally used the summer for various renovations, re-seeding, aerating the greens and other forms of sprucing up the courses for the coming fall.

It is still that way to some extent. But there is reason for those in the golf business to see summer as an extension of the profitable seasons.

"Summer is better than September, sometimes," said TPC Myrtle Beach golf director Rick Shoemaker.

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Rounds played in June are up 6 percent from last year, following a record number of rounds this spring ? a total of 1.43 million paid rounds for March, April and May. Last year, there were 1.42 million spring rounds played, ending three straight years of decline.

Better weather, better access and a general economic upturn are some of the reasons cited.

It?s showing in other areas as well, and the number of commercial construction permits are soaring. More entertainment options are coming -- the opening of Jimmy Buffett?s Margaritville Restaurant at Broadway at the beach has golf packagers happy, for example.

That isn?t to say Myrtle Beach golf courses aren?t going through changes. Here?s a roundup of some of the better-known courses:

? The good news at Ocean Ridge Plantation is that Leopard Chase, the plantation?s planned, fourth course is now about six months ahead of schedule after falling behind due to a change in ownership.

"It looks like now it might be open either the end of 2005 or the first of 2006," director of golf Tom Plankers said. "The weather?s been very, very good. We?ve been fortunate, it?s been dry. And there?s not a whole lot of golf courses being built, so once you get a crew in here, you get quite a few crews in here."

Architect Tim Cates has said the new course will be better than Tiger?s Eye, ranked the 83rd best public course in the nation by Golf Digest. Cates also designed that course.

? The International World Tour Golf Links will break ground in the next 60-90 days on condominiums ? five buildings, three stories each, will be going up around the St. Andrews holes, No. 1 and No. 9.

Director of Golf Dennis Nicholl said the condos will have an "old-world" look to them so as not to intrude on the atmosphere.

That?s only the start. Phase II will see two additional wings coming out of the antebellum-style clubhouse, and five more buildings will be added by the guardhouse in phase III.

"We?ve got over 300 units planned here in the future," Nicholl said. "We?re pretty excited about that. We?ll do our own golf packages and put people right there on the course."

The club?s plans to add nine holes through a nearby parcel of residential housing was abandoned last year when financiers decided they would be better off building more houses instead of golf holes.

(The Reserve Golf Club, which will be the fourth course at St. James Plantation outside of Southport, N.C., is proceeding on schedule with 18 holes, instead of the originally-planned nine. The course has 12 holes already roughed in, with bunkers shaped, ponds dug and grass seeded.

Designed by Michael Nicklaus ? the youngest of Jack Nicklaus? four sons ? it will measure 7,100 yards when completed in 2006.

"At Nicklaus (Design), we?ve always placed a higher premium on precision rather than power, but you will see enough holes that place an emphasis on power and precision," the younger Nicklaus said in a release. "You will also see a fair share of risk-reward holes."

? The Members Club at Grande Dunes has started grassing the course that will become the sister course of the existing resort course.

Co-designers Nick Price and Craig Schreiner have been tinkering with the layout since construction began in August 2003, with their last visit coming last month.

"We?ll continue to refine right up until they grass the course," Price told reporters, before the grassing had begun. "Attention to the minor details at this stage is what makes a tremendous difference."

The designers have been making refinements to bunker shapes, fairway contours and putting green surfaces, most of which have been focused at making the course more playable, especially at Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9.

The par-3 fourth hole, for example, will play alongside a creek with a series of waterfalls, and changes to the ninth green are intended to make it easier for the high-handicapper, while still keeping it interesting.

"The ninth has really shaped up to be a terrific golf hole with a nice balance of strategy, risk and reward," Price said. "There is a great variety in the ways this hole can be played."

The course is scheduled to open next summer.