NEWS

Belle Terre likely
the latest Grand
Strand golf course
to close shop

(Sept. 12, 2005) - The Grand Strand continues to follow its trend of becoming a little less grand, in terms of the number of golf courses.

It appears Belle Terre Golf Course will be the latest Myrtle Beach area golf course to close, the victim of declining rounds in a saturated market where real estate has become more lucrative than the golf business.

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The course told packagers that it's not accepting tee times after Nov. 11, and a source at the course said employees have been told of the impending sale.

Co-owner David Singleton also told the Myrtle Beach Sun News newspaper the course is under contract to be sold. Due to a confidentiality clause, the potential buyer's name was not disclosed.

With land becoming more valuable than some golf businesses, some courses are selling out, while others are struggling. The Grand Strand has lost several courses recently and others are pending, while 12 have filed for bankruptcy.

"They're building so many homes around here you aren't going to be able to move," said Lee Harrison of Calabash Golf Links, another affected course. "It's kind of interesting - people move here for the golf and the weather, but at some point people are going to say, 'well heck, if they're going to close all those courses that we can afford to play, what's the sense?' You're between a rock and a hard place."

The development trend is pretty much true for most of the U.S., where golf participation has been stagnating since 2000, but it is particularly visible in Myrtle Beach, so dependent on golf.

The area's courses once boasted an average of about 50,000 rounds annually; that is now down to about 36,000. Some courses are finding they must have a residential component to remain afloat, like the Pearl in Sunset Beach, N.C., which has embarked on a five- to 10-year construction project that will completely transform the little seaside town. Many stand-alone golf courses in Myrtle Beach face uncertain futures.

Belle Terre, French for "beautiful earth," is a 7,013-yard, par-72 course with a noticeable lack of housing developments. It's a typical low-country course, winding through wetlands and low-country vegetation, off Highway 501 west of the Intracoastal.

The course was impacted by the construction of South Carolina Highway 31, which intruded onto its property in 2000, forcing the closure of nine holes of its executive course and closing its entrance off 501.

Of the recent Grand Strand courses to close, Belle Terre will be one of the newer ones. Opened in 1995, it would be the second Rees Jones design to close; Gator Hole closed in 1999 to make way for a housing development and shopping center.

Other Myrtle Beach courses have fallen victim to the times: Burning Ridge West closed nine holes in January for a housing component, Robbers Roost closed in 2003 and Raccoon Run is scheduled to close this month, to be replaced with housing.

In North Myrtle Beach, Bay Tree Plantation plans to close 36 of 54 holes next year to make way for housing. Two Calabash courses are being affected: Calabash Golf Links is expected to close in November for housing and Marsh Harbour closed in 2002.

Others affected are Ocean Isle Beach Club, which has received offers for sale, Angels Trace Golf Links, currently negotiating with prospective buyers, and Crown Park, which closed nine of its 27 holes to make way for new homes.