FEATURE

Central location and seniority don't always equal repeat play

By Leigh Hallenberg,
Staff Writer

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (June 1, 2003) -- Simple mathematics can show us why some of some of Myrtle Beach's most established courses have had a rough go of it over the past decade. With so many new courses and without a similar increase in visitors, money has been stretched thin for some courses.

Even a central location near the airport, in the middle of the action, doesn 't necessarily translate into success. Central Myrtle Beach courses like Arcadian Shores Golf Club, Azalea Sands Golf Course, Bay Tree Golf Plantation, Beachwood Golf Club and Robber's Roost Golf Club have found this out.

Some have coasted through the rough times and are still among the best values on the Strand. Others haven't found a light out of the dark and are officially on hard times.

Arcadian Shores Golf Club, opened in March of 1974, found not even a model Myrtle Beach layout and its designation as popular designer Rees Jones' first course could keep it from a rough stretch.

What Arcadian Shores did find is that a few changes worked to its advantage. In 1994 the course switched to Tifdwarf Bermuda greens. With its traditional design still intact, its No. 2 and No. 13 holes were able to twice earn a spot on the Myrtle Beach Sun News' Dream 18, a collection of the 18 best holes on the beach.

Along with the Dunes Golf and Beach Club, Arcadian Shores is also one of only two courses on the Strand to have been named to Golf Digest's top 100 courses in the country. While this notoriety helped the course, it could not provide the financial boost the course needed.

A larger and more influential change came last year when Arcadian Shores changed ownership. Now affiliated with Kingston Plantation, a Hilton and Embassy Suites resort, Arcadian Shores' future is a bit brighter than several years ago.

"We went through some tough times.some lean times," Aubrey Apple, Arcadian Shores' director of golf, said. "We've always had probably one of the best locations and best layouts, we just didn't have the money to spend on the golf course."

As Apple attests, the course's change in ownership has greatly helped the course improve itself and gotten it back to its old form.

"We were given the green light to go out and spend some money on the golf course," Apple said. "We bought a couple hundred thousand dollars of equipment and we're upgrading every day as we go."

Along with Arcadian Shores, courses like Beachwood and Bay Tree Plantation have made it through the gauntlet. While not necessarily unscathed, these courses continually provide some of the most traditional and best conditioned golf in the area.

Beachwood Golf Club, a Gene Hamm course opened in 1968, is one of the host courses for the DuPont World Amateur Handicap Championship every year. In real estate terms, Beachwood has always been sitting pretty. Set between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway, it has one of the better locations on the beach. Its attention to detail hasn't changed and its green fees are relatively low compared to similar courses.

Bay Tree Plantation has also had to work hard to keep its spot among the top courses in the area. Opened in 1972, this four course facility set the standard among multi-course facilities. A recent renovation project has adapted all 54 greens to modern USGA standards. Senior tees were added to all holes and irrigation and bunkering systems were updated.

• Venerable Grand Strand golf • Myrtle Beach Course Guide • More Myrtle Beach golf features • Rees Jones Sounds off

"These days I think mainly golfer are looking for price," Jordan said. "They (Bay Tree) promote good rates and have a good course."

Not all of Myrtle Beach's oldest golf courses have remained so venerable. As new courses crowded the area during the past decade, courses like Azalea Sands and Robbers Roost have struggled.

"You tend to get the golfers that played it years ago and want to play it again," Jordan said.

However, as Jordan says, after a few rounds at the Strand's newer and more extravagant courses: "It's hard to come back to the others."

This leaves some Myrtle Beach courses in a situation they aren't used to. Robbers Roost, which opened in 1969, is a Russell Breeden designed course that has seen better days. Rated by GolfWeek in 1989 as one of the top 50 courses in South Carolina, is now having trouble getting business. While Robbers Roost still has life left in it, it is not know as the same course it once was. It is now in a position that many courses, like Gator Hole Golf Course, faced before they closed.

"Robbers Roost I never book just because I don't know anyone that wants to play it anymore," Jordan said. "It might go the way of Gator Hole (and close)."

Robbers Roost may be in need of some of the same types of changes that recently gave Arcadian Shores a boost. Nevertheless, if anything can be taken from the stories of these courses it is that hope is never lost in the world of golf courses. As courses like Arcadian Shores and Bay Tree Plantation prove, the "hot-spot cycle" nearly always comes back around to include Myrtle Beach's oldest and most respected courses.

Robber's Roost closes for the summer
Lease expiration, capital improvements and slow business cited

The Roost is in need of a serious boost. The venerable North Myrtle Beach course has stopped taking tee times, effective immediately, and no reopening date has been set. The existing 30-year lease on the course, held by Lewis Young, expires on Sept. 30 and will not be renewed. The course is owned by the Tilghman family, including former North Myrtle Beach mayor Phil Tilgham. Robber's Roost opened in 1969 and was one of the original 12 courses to open in along the Grand Strand.