Little is expected to change at Legends Resort, Heritage Club and Oyster Bay Golf Links now that Century Golf Partners is the ownership group as well as the management company.
There appears to be synergy between the area golf professionals and employees the company either inherited when it took over management in August 2009 or has hired since. Director of Operations Larry Woodberry was retained by Century Golf Partners from the previous owner, Legends Group.
"Larry Woodberry will continue on as the manager," Century Golf Partners chief executive officer Jim Hinckley said. "We've been working with that team for over a year now, we're confident in the team and we know they're excited about the future, too."
Hinckley said he didn't expect any immediate changes with employees.
The five courses have been managed by Arnold Palmer Golf Management, a company owned by Century Golf Partners, for the past 15 months. General Electric Capital Corp. hired the company shortly after foreclosing on the five Legends Group courses and presenting winning bids at auction for ownership of the four South Carolina courses and a lease through 2032 for Oyster Bay Golf Links in Sunset Beach, N.C.
GE bid $10 million for Heritage Club and $33.5 million for the Heathland, Moorland and Parkland courses at Legends Resort.
Dallas-based Century Golf Partners paid approximately $32.44 million for the three courses at Legends Resort, according to Horry County property records.
Billy Casper Golf, which operates more than 120 courses in 28 states, was poised to take over management of the five courses in October. But the sale of the courses to an owner contracted to hire the company was never consummated.
Legends Resort first assistant Matt Veltman said the facility's workers are pleased by the outcome.
"Everyone is happy with the final decision, and I think everyone is relieved we can move forward and not have to second-guess everything," Veltman said. "They've been a good management company to us.
"I know all our management was very comfortable with the corporate system that runs out of Dallas."
Hinckley said Century Golf Partners has been happy with the response of golfers in the market to their specials. "We've met and exceeded our expectations," Hinckley said.
The company's aggressive pricing - which includes deals such as golf, a cart, breakfast, lunch and two drinks for $32 - will continue, with some new promotions possible for the spring golf season.
"It should be a positive moving forward to local golfers with the local deals they've been running," Veltman said. "They have new things they've been planning that they'll be running in the spring. It's going to change the golf market here.
"They're looking to give local customers a quality product at a rate they won't be able to beat. I think they've done a heck of a job at it, but deals with the locals and packages with package providers will be very aggressive this spring."
Vandals deterred
There have been no more acts of vandalism at the four-course Barefoot Resort facility since resort officials offered a $15,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone who damaged the property last month.
In three separate incidents in late November, vandals used four-wheelers and at least one truck to damage a few areas of the Norman and Fazio courses and property around them. No one has been arrested yet.
"It's healing up well and luckily we haven't had any more incidents for a few weeks now," Barefoot Resort head pro Mike Ross said. "The $15,000 reward has generated some interest. I know the police are working on a few leads but I don't know if they have anything concrete. They're still looking into it though. Anyone with any information we certainly would appreciate."
The majority of the vandalism was on the back nine of the Fazio Course, though an area near the Norman Course's 15th hole was also targeted. Damage affected some tees and fairways, and fringe areas of a few greens.
Touring with Champions
Though he's not entirely sure who he'll be working with, Myrtle Beach resident Mark Schoenwald intends to spend 2011 caddying on the Champions Tour for the 17th consecutive year.
"I've got some possibilities," Schoenwald said. "Nothing I have firmed up, but I will be out there caddying for sure."
Schoenwald caddied for Bruce Vaughan in 2010. With Schoenwald on his bag, Vaughan won the 2008 British Senior Open, but the two were unable to recreate that type of success this past year.
Vaughan's $314,310 in earnings placed him 52nd on the 2010 Champions Tour money list. His best finish was a tie for fifth in The Principal Charity Classic in Iowa, and that came one of the rare events Schoenwald did not caddie for him. Vaughn's son continued a tradition of caddying for him in that event.
Though Vaughan, who battled minor injuries, had three other top-20 finishes in 24 starts, it was his only top 10. "It was a bad year," Schoenwald said.
Schoenwald said he will travel to the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Ka'pulehu-Kona, Hawaii, from Jan. 21-23. It's a winners-only tournament and Vaughan is exempt for five years based on his British Open win. But Schoenwald isn't sure if he'll be caddying for Vaughan there or not.
"I'm going to be there, I just don't know if I'm going to be caddying," Schoenwald said. "I'll either be on vacation or on vacation and working."
Grants for grass
The Carolinas golf industry has announced grants of almost $100,000 to turfgrass researchers whose work benefits golf courses throughout the Carolinas.
The grants to Clemson and North Carolina State universities are the first generated by Rounds4Research, an annual online auction of tee times across the region administered by the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association.
Nearly 700 tee times were available to the highest bidder on several Grand Strand courses as well as some of the top private and public courses in the Carolinas. The 2011 auction runs April 10-17 at Rounds4Research.com.
The $94,225 raised will be shared between four research projects delving into efficient use of fertilizers, water conservation, and control of doveweed and nematodes. Two of the projects are collaborations between researchers at the two universities.
Besides courses in the Carolinas, layouts in Georgia, Virginia and Texas were added to the auction in 2010.
Strong credentials
The Coastal Carolina University golf teams claim to be the first NCAA golf program to have both the head coach and the strength and conditioning coach as Level 3 and Level 2 TPI Certified Instructors, respectively.
Strength and conditioning coach Bryan Lewis recently completed his TPI certification, which director of golf Allen Terrell had already attained. The CCU golf workout plans consist of numerous exercises that focus on fitness as well as swing biomechanics, and they are created, monitored and assessed by Terrell and Lewis.
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