NEWS

Grand Strand loses
another golf course,
this one to the north

(Sept. 20, 2005) - Ocean Isle Beach Club closed its doors for good recently, another Myrtle Beach-area golf course victim of declining rounds versus rising real estate value.

The closure marks the fourth time a Grand Strand course has closed at least nine holes since January, and the third Brunswick County course to be affected by the over-saturated market. It is the eighth Grand Strand course to close in the last six years.

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"It's going to be developed," said an Ocean Isle source who wished to remain anonymous. "No golf course."

Employees were given a 10-day notice that the course would be closed, according to the source. Ocean Isle, designed by Russell Breeden, opened in 1976.

"We don't know how much longer we're going to be working," the source said. "We don't know if it's going to be another week, or two weeks. We don't know anything."

The news comes barely a week after it became known Belle Terre Golf Course would close. Belle Terre told packagers it is not accepting tee times after Nov. 11, and a source at the course said employees have been told of the impending sale.

Brunswick County is known as the quieter end of the Grand Strand, away from the noise and hustle of Myrtle Beach to the south. Just over the North Carolina border, Brunswick County boasts well-known courses such as Ocean Ridge Plantation's Tigers' Eye, Oyster Bay and the Thistle.

Grand Strand courses once boasted an average of about 50,000 rounds annually; that is now down to about 36,000, according to some estimates. 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 5-10 year construction project that will completely transform the little seaside town. Many standalone golf courses in Myrtle Beach face uncertain futures.

Other Grand Strand 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.

Angels Trace Golf Links is currently negotiating with prospective buyers, and Crown Park closed nine of its 27 holes to make way for new homes. Calabash Golf Links is also scheduled to close in November and Marsh Harbour closed in 2002.