Island Green Golf Club may reopen in near future

Island Green Golf Club may be reopening early in 2012.

The Marlowe family, which owns and operates Wedgefield Country Club in Georgetown, has been negotiating a purchase of the property from Island Green’s ownership group based overseas.

Though a deal reportedly isn’t complete, the Marlowes feel confident enough about its consummation to begin offering 2012 annual memberships.

The 31-year-old Bill Mooney design off S.C. 707 in Myrtle Beach closed on Aug. 19, the apparent victim of a tough economy and competitive market. It was managed by the now defunct Signature Golf Group.

It would rejoin approximately 90 other courses vying for public rounds between Southport, N.C., and Georgetown. The 6,382-yard par-72 layout has perennially been on the lower end of green fees in the area.

Island Green was a 27-hole course until nine holes closed in 2005 for redevelopment, and lots and homes are still being sold on that property.

A course superintendent has been readying the course for a possible reopening for a few weeks. Wedgefield superintendent Hans Sapochak is expected to oversee course maintenance.

Members of the Marlowe family declined comment when reached Monday, and attorney Gregg Evans of the Evans & Evans law firm in Conway, who represents the course’s owners, did not respond to messages.

According to information posted at Island Green’s amenities center, individual annual golf memberships are $950 and family memberships are $1,200, with a 5 percent discount if purchased by Jan. 15. The literature states memberships require an $18 cart fee for each round. Another membership that includes use of the community amenities center is $241 for an individual or $349 for a family, and requires a $29 charge for every round.

A letter from the Marlowes in the Island Green amenities center offers golf at Wedgefield for past or prospective Island Green members for just an $18 cart fee through Dec. 31. The invitation states: “Come spend the day on a beautiful golf course and see for yourselves the potential for the new Island Green.”

Members of the family met with Island Green homeowners and former members in November. The Marlowes previously operated Winyah Bay Golf Club in Georgetown before it closed in 2005 for redevelopment.

The expected reopening of the course is welcomed news for homeowners and businesses around it. Marie Keegan has owned and operated the Above Par Vacations rental business at Island Green for 25 years, and the golf course has always existed.

“[The renters] don’t all come to golf but it’s nice to have the golf course there,” said Keegan, who handles rentals for approximately 200 privately-owned properties, with the majority in the Island Green community. “It would hurt my business some if it never reopened. We would have to look for other alternatives. We would have to build golf packages for people and book rounds on other courses. We would have to get creative and find a way around it.

“… Right now we have a big snowbird population that comes down and they want to play the golf course. They don’t want to drive somewhere.”

Housing sales at Dogwood Estates on the former Dogwood nine holes would certainly suffer if the course remains closed. “It’s positive to have the golf course for the homes they’re selling and building,” Keegan said.

Johnson back in fold?

Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday president Bill Golden said he expects former Coastal Carolina All-American and Myrtle Beach resident Dustin Johnson to continue his role as a spokesman for the marketing cooperative and Grand Strand golf market.

Johnson signed an agreement in April with Golf Holiday that ends Dec. 31. “We’re working on a contract now, but we’ve come to agreement in principal to have him back as our spokesperson in 2012,” Golden said.

Golf Holiday used Johnson in television and radio ads, and plans to do so again next year. Under terms of the proposed new one-year agreement being worked on with Johnson’s agent, David Winkle of Hambric Sports Management, Johnson would make promotional appearances on the Strand and film commercials here.

“Really all our advertising will have a reference or image of Dustin,” Golden said. “It’s pretty similar to what we had last year, though last year didn’t really kick off until late April or early May.”

Johnson finished fifth on the 2011 PGA Tour money list with more than $4.3 million earned and is ranked seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking,

Back at the beach

Johnson was scheduled to play a round with a sweepstakes winner and three of his guests, and take part in a clinic and demo day featuring his equipment sponsor TaylorMade on Dec. 15 as part of his marketing agreement. But he had arthroscopic surgery to repair damaged cartilage in his right knee on Nov. 29 and was unable to participate.

Michael Swanson of Pittsburgh won a series of free golf trips to Myrtle Beach in 2012, and the gift package included the round with Johnson.

“He will return the first quarter of the year to fulfill that commitment,” Golden said.

Johnson is expected to return to competitive golf sometime in January, and it’s doubtful that he’ll be ready for the PGA Tour’s season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions from Jan. 6-9 in Hawaii.

In late September, Johnson said he was hoping to have a pro-am tournament on the Grand Strand in 2012 that would benefit his charitable foundation and include fellow PGA Tour members, and he was tentatively targeting May.

Johnson generally plays in the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte and The Players Championship in Florida the first two weeks of May. They are followed by the HP Byron Nelson Championship from May 17-20, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial from May 24-27, and Memorial Tournament from May 31-June 3.

Johnson has played in the Memorial and Byron Nelson all four years on the PGA Tour and hasn’t played at Colonial since his rookie season, so a May pro-am would likely occur the week of May 21-27.

Vets collect clubs

Representatives of the Wounded Warrior Project at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., and Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga., picked up a couple van loads of golf clubs Monday donated from the Strand for the Wounded Warrior cause.

Strand resident Fred Kane, president of Tee Off Fore A Cause Inc., helped collect the clubs for use by wounded veterans, as golf plays a part in the rehabilitation process for many injured vets.

Kane said approximately 30 sets of matching irons were picked up, along with between 200 to 300 woods, 500 or so odd irons, four bags of putters, four bags of wedges, about 6,500 golf balls and an additional 30 empty golf bags.

Two pickup trucks full of clubs came from the River Hills Golf & Country Club community and Precious Blood Catholic Church in Pawleys Island was a large donor. Two locations of both Martin’s PGA Tour Superstore and Bandit Golf were dropoff points, and collections are ongoing.

Clubs for kids

Representatives of the Golf Academy of America’s Myrtle Beach campus donated more than 200 golf clubs to the First Tee of Myrtle Beach in a presentation Thursday.

Woods, irons, wedges, and putters collected from members of the community were cleaned, repaired and regripped if necessary by GAA students using the college’s state-of-the-art clubmaking equipment. The collection campaign was dubbed “Clubs Fore Christmas,” and GAA students offered 30-minute lessons as a reward to club donors.